Mark & Adrienne Parcher

Time to catch up!

2009-04-02T17:33:00.001-07:00

Wow - it's been a long time since we posted anything on this blog. Sorry! Be assured that God has been doing great things through PathLight in Belize.

First, a few highlights to catch you up:

We now have 36 students in our sponsorship program. These rural kids are not only getting a high school education, but they are having the opportunity to learn more about Jesus Christ and His desire for a relationship with them.

Our Teacher Training Conference last year was a huge success. Not only were teaching strategies shared with local Belizean teachers, but they were encouraged and a fun time was had by both the Belizean teachers and the US educators who came down as trainers. We are in the midst of planning the 2009 conference and it looks like it will triple in size!

Our third Teacher Volunteer is currently wokring side-by-side with a Belizean teacher in Armenia Village - being an encouragement, sharing ideas, and helping out.

Mark and Adie had the pleasure of taking 15 of our sponsored kids to YC Belize (a Christian Youth Conference) in mid-February. It was awesome! Great teaching from Roosevelt Hunter, fantastic worship, and a fun slumber party at our house! :-)

We have been in California for the last month or so and we are now preparing to return to Belize for several months. We'll be adding more students to our sponsorship program pushing us close to 50 students for the next school year. Praise God!

That's it for now. Hopefully it won't take us over a year to post another entry!

MSCC at JC!

2007-11-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

How fun and special it was to have a team from our home church, Mission Springs Community Church, here at Jaguar Creek. Eleven friends from home came to Jaguar Creek the second week of October. They worked hard on two construction projects, and had an opportunity to experience the wonder and variety of God’s creation.

The first project (2 days) was to put a new roof on and re-wire a school building (2 classrooms) in the nearby village of Teakettle. The group worked on the project side by side with several men from the community.

Paul Qualls spent hours in the heat working on the roof

Daniel Ohlendorf recruits some help with the wood

Darren Katin gets a scare from the snake (or at least he pretended to!).

Kirk Ohlendorf worked hard on the roof and on the ground.

Jon Pattison wires the outlets and lights.

Mary and Sean Campbell take a well-deserved break for lunch.

Mike Egusa takes some time to chat with some boys.

Scott Townsend and Mike McCullogh work on a picnic table with some extra wood.

Done!

Once the roof was finished, Stephanie Chao helped to move the furniture back into the classes.

It was really special to share a little dedication ceremony with the classes and principal of the Teakettle Roman Catholic Public School.
Daniel and Stephanie get a hug from an appreciative student.

A day trip to Xunantunich provided a nice diversion for the group as we prepared the materials and site for the second project.

The second project was to put a roof on the recent addition to the medical clinic in St. Margaret’s Village. This will provide a place for the Dr. to live so that more time can be spent in the village clinic.

Mary looks on while Mike and Stephanie mix cement - by hand of course!
Mary - the cement queen!

Almost ready for the zinc roofing material!

Paul, Jon, and Stephanie worked an extra day to finish the job.

A highlight of the trip for Mark and Adie was seeing their dear friend, Paul Qualls, baptized in Jaguar Creek.

May we always take time to thank God for allowing us to work for Him!

"Vision Trip" to JC

2007-11-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

The first week of October, Roy and D’Aun Goble visited Jaguar Creek with seven of their friends. What a joy it was to meet them, fellowship with them, pray with them, and learn with them. We were encouraged, and we believe that God used that week to help define His ministry in Belize.

Above are (from top left) Mark & Melody Rhode, David Sunde, Roy & D’Aun Goble, Vicki Cantley, Judy Rehfeld, Derek McNeil, Adie, Joe Rehfeld, and Mark.

The busy first 4 days included meetings with local leaders as well as some time to appreciate the wonders of God’s creation. Breakfast on day one was followed by a tour of the facility at Jaguar Creek and a chance to meet and chat with the staff. We then went on a hike to (and into!) St. Herman’s Cave in Blue Hole National Park.

After lunch, we jumped in the car and headed into Belmopan to meet with Jack Barnes from Marla’s House of Hope (a children’s home). We were able to tour the home, meet some of the staff, and then discuss some of the goals of the home and the challenges facing children in Belize.

Day two (a VERY busy day) started off with a walking tour of Armenia Village. Job, a recent addition to our staff, was able to arrange for us to visit several homes in the village.

The tour ended at Armenia Government Primary School where we talked with Mr. Carlos Uck, the principal. He shared with us some of the joys and challenges of running a rural school in Belize.

Michael Thoeresz, a local Peace Corps volunteer, shared his experiences of living and working in Armenia Village with us during lunch; and then we headed out to meet with Mr. Norman Willacey, the principal of Belmopan Baptist High School.

Before heading back to Jaguar Creek for dinner, we stopped by to visit and tour King’s Children’s Home. It’s always a joy to share time with Leonie.

Dinner was followed by a meeting with several members of the Armenia Village Council where we were able to hear about the growth of the village and the challenges facing the residents.

Above are Roy & D’Aun (left), Adie & Mark (right) and four members of the council, Armando, Pedro, Job, and Augustine.

After falling into our beds (beneath mosquito nets, of course) and sleeping, we were ready to tackle another day. The Belize Zoo was the first stop. It was a fun visit enjoyed by all – even though Scotty, the tapir, did try to pee on us!

Lunch was followed by a meeting at the University of Belize. The Univ. President and the Dir. of Development met with us and shared the goals of the university as well as a discussion about education in Belize. This is where we learned that roughly 70% of children in Belize will complete primary school, around 35% will complete high school, and only 7% will go on to any kind of tertiary education.

For many, dinner on Day 3 was the highlight of the trip. There are currently 14 teenagers from Armenia Village who are attending Belmopan Baptist High School through the Jaguar Creek Scholarship Program. Those 14 students and their parents joined us for dinner and a time of fellowship. How sweet it was!

The next morning, it was time for the group to say goodbye to Jaguar Creek. We loaded up the van and drove west to Xunantunich. There’s nothing like a tour of Mayan ruins to give you a new perspective on “old.”

After lunch in San Ignacio, the group settled in at Chaa Creek for a short time of relaxation, hiking, and reflection. Saturday afternoon we all gathered to try to discern some direction from the last several days of sharing and learning. We were encouraged to receive affirmation about the work we are doing in Belize, and appreciated the feedback and advice that was offered. One major result of the discussion was the new name for our U.S. based ministry – PathLight.

Hmmmm…….. was that our idea - - - - or God’s?

Adam and Ingrid are married!

2007-10-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

On September 22, 2007 we were thrilled to celebrate the wedding of our eldest son, Adam. He married Ingrid Franzen, a wonderful woman. They were married in a small, intimate ceremony on the beach in Carmel, CA. Again,,, the photos will speak louder than our words could. Enjoy!

Lisa & Anthony Rodin are married!

2007-07-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

God is so good!

On July 7, 2007 our 'baby' got married. It was a beautiful day. We have prayed for years that God would bring Lisa together with a Christian man who would love her and adore her. What a blessing to know that Anthony's family had been praying with a similar request for him.

They were married at 4:30pm in the outdoor pavillion of Colbert Presbyterian Church, and the reception was at the Service Station in Spokane. These pictures probably tell the story better than words could . . . . . . .

Ryan, Linda, Anthony, Scott and Lindsay Rodin

Ryan, Calvin, Sandra, Bill, Bobbie, Lisa, Adrienne, Mark, Ingrid and Adam Parcher

Our baby - all grown up

A touching ceremony
Mr. & Mrs. Rodin

Scholarships Awarded in Armenia

2007-07-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

We are happy to say that on the morning of June 19, 2007, we were able to award scholarships to 17 students! Fourteen students received full scholarships to Belmopan Baptist High School, and 3 students received scholarships to the 4-H program which will provide training for improving their PSE scores as well as training in some valuable life skills. (Now we need to get busy with our fundraising!)

High School Scholarships for Armenia

2007-06-12T19:35:00.001-07:00

Jaguar Creek is proud to be starting a new high school scholarship program for students in Armenia Village. Our goal is to serve these children by providing educational opportunities that integrate faith and learning.

We currently have applications from about 18 students who would like to go to high school, but wouldn't be able to without financial assistance. (Even the public schools in Belize are not free.)

The students have filled out applications, written essays about their desire to attend high school, and this week they are sitting through an interview with us (Mark and Adie), Miss Rivas (their Standard 6 teacher) and Mr. Uck (the principal of the Armenia Gov't Primary School). We hope to be able to offer full scholarships to a large percentage of those who have applied.

We plan to offer more than just financial help to our scholarship recipients. They will be required to attend a variety of events at Jaguar Creek including workshops and fun times. They will also be involved in community service projects. Our desire is to offer them hope – both spiritually and academically.

If you would like more information, or if you feel like God is calling you to help with this scholarship program, please contact us. We would love to have you partner with us!

BRH in Belize

2007-06-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

The Baylor Religious Hour Choir spent a week here at Jaguar Creek in May. It was such a blessing to have them here. We were encouraged by their positive attitutes and their desire to serve God and His children here in Belize. And,,, their music was amazing. We enjoyed each and every one of the concerts that they did. They shared their gift of singing at several schools and churches in the area.

In addition to the concerts, they worked their tails off in some pretty oppressive heat. A roof was put on the new cafeteria at the Armenia Government Primary School,

and a foundation was poured for the expansion to the medical clinic in St. Margaret's Village. We never heard one complaint!

We hope to see ya'll again sometime soon!

Meet the Jaguar Creek Staff

2007-04-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Antonio (Tono) Bol - Operations Manager - Tono has been working for Jaguar Creek for over 10 years. In his early years here, he led many of the construction projects, including our beautiful classroom/office building. Today he is responsible for the oversight of the operations at JC; including construction, maintenance, staffing, organizing service projects, and ensuring that guests receive a high quality experience during their visit. Tono enjoys the variety of experiences he gets when working with the work groups and students that come to Jaguar Creek.
Tono and his wife, Consuelo, have three children; 9 year old Marlee, 4 year old Joshua and Emily who was just born in December 2006. They live in Arizona (Tea Kettle) about 40 minutes away and attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Roaring Creek. Tono is 34 years old. His father was Mayan and his mother’s parents were from Nicaragua, which makes Tono “Mestizo” (a mix of Mayan and Hispanic). Tono speaks English, Spanish and Creole, sometimes all in the same sentence!. Tono enjoys coaching both children and adult football (soccer) teams and farming his land. He looks forward to continuing his education and working to the best of his ability to encourage everyone at Jaguar Creek.

Esteban (Steve) Bol - Maintenance Technician - Steve has been working for Jaguar Creek for about seven years and is responsible for maintenance of the solar, electrical, water purification, and plumbing systems on site. He also helps with construction projects and fixes almost anything that breaks (which here in the jungle is almost everything, eventually). He says that he likes everything about working at Jaguar Creek and is interested in furthering his knowledge of electrical systems.
Steve, who is the brother of Tono, is 30 years old and lives in Roaring Creek with his wife, Julie (our kitchen lead) and their daughter, Jadeh who (like her cousin) was born in December 2006. They attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Roaring Creek. Steve enjoys playing football (soccer) and basketball, and farming. He is currently working to re-forest a portion of his land that had previously been cleared and burned.

Mateo Chiquin - Security and Maintenance worker - Mateo currently has just over three years seniority with Jaguar Creek, although he worked here previously. Mateo is responsible for maintaining the grounds, boardwalks and trails, and helps with construction projects as needed. In addition, since Mateo and his family live here at Jaguar Creek, he also acts as security guard for the facility during non-working hours.

Mateo is Ketchi (Mayan) and is married to Rebecca who is Maya Mopan. They have two small children; Jessica who is 3, and Michael who is 1. They attend a Nazarene church in Armenia Village. When he isn’t working, he enjoys playing sports like basketball and football (soccer). Mateo appreciates the fact that Jaguar Creek is cool with lots of shade.

Julie Bol - Lead Kitchen/Housekeeping Staff - Julie has been working for Jaguar Creek for just over a year now. She is responsible for planning the menu, making the grocery lists, preparing and serving the meals, and cleaning of the facility. Although she is not directly responsible for managing the kitchen/housekeeping staff, she does coordinate their activities. Julie likes the quietness of Jaguar Creek.
Julie is 23 years old and is Creole. She is married to Steve (our maintenance technician) and has a 4-mo. old daughter named Jadeh. Julie enjoys cooking and hopes to one day have her own business designing and making wedding cakes.

Delia Sandoval - Kitchen/Housekeeping Staff - Delia has worked for Jaguar Creek for about 9 years (off and on). She came on as permanent staff here in January 2007. Delia is responsible for preparing and serving the meals, and housekeeping.
Delia is 27 years old and lives in Armenia Village with her husband, Daniel, and her three children (Luis – 8 yrs, Henry – yrs, and Xiomara – 4 yrs). She is expecting her fourth child in September.

Negro - Security and Hospitality - Negro (pronounced NAY-grow) is an active hound dog mix. He lets us know when someone new has arrived on site and then greets them with a wagging tail. He loves going into the jungle and will accompany Mateo anytime he goes out whether on the trails or deep into the bush.

Matt Lavin - Volunteer worker - Matt came to Jaguar Creek (from Montana) in January 2007 as a volunteer for six months. He works with the staff on construction and maintenance projects. He enjoys the “laid back” pace of life here and the focus on social work rather than just making money. Matt is 22 years old and plans to enter the Peace Corps later this year to work in Central or South America for a couple years. Outside of work, he enjoys music and reading. Matt offers the following advice to Jaguar Creek guests and volunteers, “Be open-minded and willing to experience new things.”

Emiliano Chiquin - Construction/maintenance worker - Emiliano works on construction and maintenance projects on an “as needed” basis. Emiliano is 17 years old and lives on-site with his brother, Mateo. He attends the Nazarene church in Armenia Village and enjoys playing football (soccer). He offers the following advice to our guests, “Be careful walking in the dark.”

Raul Chiquin - Construction/maintenance worker - Raul is another brother to Emiliano and Mateo and also does construction and maintenance as needed. He is 21 years old, and lives in Armenia with his wife, Emiteria, their three year old daughter, Rilla, and 15 month old son, William. They are expecting their third child this month. When he is not working at Jaguar Creek he enjoys working his farm where he grows corn.

Martin Choc - Maintenance worker - Martin helps out occasionally with maintenance projects. He is 16 years old, is Maya Mopan and lives with his family in Armenia Village. When he is not working at Jaguar Creek he enjoys working his family farm where they grow corn.

Preparing for the PSE

2007-03-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I (Adie) was recently able to spend a few days in a classroom of the Armenia Government School. The school system here is a bit different from the US in that the students attend Primary School for eight years and then (if they qualify and if their parents can afford to send them) they go on to four years of high school.

When I heard that the Standard 6 (equivalent to 8th grade in the US) was about to take their Primary School Exam (PSE), I thought that maybe I could help. The students have to pass this exam in order to be eligible for continuing on to high school. Of the 24 students in the Standard 6 class in Armenia, probably only a small handful of them will continue on to high school next year. The reasons are varied: some will not pass the exam, thus not qualify; some are simply not interested in continuing their education; some have parents that can’t afford to send them into Belmopan (the capital) for high school; and others will have to work rather than study in order to help support their families.

So, in an attempt to help, I offered to go into the Standard 6 class one afternoon to teach the students some test-taking strategies. I was welcomed with open arms! Most of the teachers are desperate for any help they can get – especially with writing. I had a blast working with the class on test anxiety, general test-taking strategies and multiple choice strategies. It was so well-received that the teacher (Ms. Rivas) asked me to come back again.
I did, and we worked on some review of math concepts and a short writer’s workshop. Writing (and especially timed writing) is a real challenge for most of the kids. Not only is Spanish, Mayan, or Ketchi their first language, but much of the spoken English is Creole which doesn’t do much to help their grammar and spelling!

This week I checked in with a few of the students. They had taken the first day of their PSE on Monday. The feedback that I got was that the Science was kind of hard (multiple choice) but they felt okay about the writing. Yes!! If I wasn’t able to do much about their skills in that short of a time, I hope I at least improved their confidence so that they could get something written on the paper. Gosh,, could God be using my time working at Sylvan to help serve children here in Belize?!

There is another thing that we are looking at to help more kids from Armenia have the opportunity to go on to high school. We have begun talking with a local Peace Corps Volunteer (living in Armenia) about working with him to establish a scholarship program. We will be meeting with him again next week to continue that discussion.

As another little point of interest, there is currently a big uproar here about teachers being unqualified. Apparently at a recent workshop, the PSE test was given to a group of Belizean teachers, and they performed very poorly on it. It seems that teachers here often have only a HS diploma and absolutely no teacher training. We also hear (and it’s easy to believe) that the better teachers are not coming to the small villages like Armenia.

We would appreciate your prayers:

that God would show us how Jaguar Creek can help with the education of His children in Belize

that God would inspire and equip the teachers who are trying to teach in difficult circumstances

that God would protect and reach out to the children at Armenia Government School

Nine Weeks

2007-03-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

Nine Weeks at Jaguar Creek
At this point in his life, Calvin, (our grandson) doesn’t like to waste energy with a lot of words in a sentence. Often, when he walks into a room and sees you, he will simply say “doin?”, which means “what are you doing?”. (My guess is that he learned that from his parents who often have to check up on him and see what kind of mischief he might be “doin”). At this point in our life at Jaguar Creek, you too might be wanting to ask what we have been “doin”, so in this blog we will tell you what’s really been going on down here.

Before we got here, we already had an Excel spreadsheet listing the key tasks and priorities. Roy told us that it would probably change as soon as we arrived and he was right.

On our first night here, a tree came down on the solar roof, damaging four tiles. Suddenly our list of tasks had a new high priority. Steve, our technician for solar/electrical/water/gas and almost anything else that breaks, moved some of the panels around to minimize the impact on the power output. Jim Beard visited in February and is working on a design for a complete upgrade of the solar system and water treatment facilities.

In our first day here, we realized that our internet connection (via satellite dish) was not working. We quickly learned about the local "Internet Café" (which didn't even serve coffee) in Belmopan. It took many days, and many hours of work to get the system going again and, in the end, we really don’t know what caused it to stop working in the first place, or what fixed it. Anyway, it’s great to be “connected”, and we even watch Survivor – Fiji on CBS.com when we have the patience to sit through the long periods of video “buffering”.
While “repairing” the satellite dish, Mark discovered that among the 700 acres of rainforest, 8 cabins, 4 staff houses, lodge, office, classroom, workshop and laundry facility there was only one screwdriver. Being sharp as a tack, he concluded that we might need to buy some tools. (Thank God for Kirk Ohlendorf who gave us a Gerber tool – it comes in very handy here).

Thus we launched a new priority, getting tools. It’s sort of like buying tools in the states, except you almost never pay the price marked, and you have to drive to six different places (in different cities) to find what you want. Of course we really didn’t find what we wanted, but we managed to get what we needed.
Matt spent several days organizing the tools and supplies in the workshop.

Repairs and cleaning the boardwalks were a high priority. With our newly purchased pressure washer (that has been back to the shop twice already, and is going again soon) and many days of work, we managed to remove the slippery slime from the boardwalks. And some of the worst sections got repaired.
One section is now named Egusa Gulch in honor of Mike, our pastor. When Mike and Jolie came to visit, there was a section of boardwalk that had been removed but not replaced. Instead there was a little “bridge” made of three 2x6’s . In their first evening here, we were approaching the “bridge” and Mark said to Mike “watch your step”. When Mike responded “step up?” we all knew that he didn’t get it, and it was too late. He missed the bridge entirely, and went down into the dirt. Fortunately he moves like a gazelle, and no damage was done.

Several of the roofs here are made of thatch. They blend with the local vegetation beautifully, but like any roof, need repair from time to time. The Bayleaf Palm tree provides the materials. About 1000 leaves were required to repair the dining lodge, and another 1500 leaves to replace the roof of both the small and large palapas.
Harvesting is a huge chore. It requires hiking through the jungle with a machete, finding suitable palms, cutting the leaves, bundling them (using vines for "rope"!) and hauling them out. We harvested the leaves from our own property. Mark and Matt thought they were in good shape until they tried working alongside a local man named Victor who carried twice as much, and worked twice as fast.
The next major construction project (in progress) is to convert the two staff houses into bunkhouses. Because of the humidity, two things don’t work well here, drywall and ceramic tile floors. Drywall doesn’t hold up very well when it is not dry. And while the tile floors look great, on many days the moisture condenses on them, so you are always walking on a wet floor.
So, in both buildings we are replacing the drywall with wood. In the “Large Bunkhouse” we are removing the floor tiles and also raising the roof that we can accommodate bunk beds, giving it the capacity to sleep 16 people.
Some of our less visible projects have included “re-hiring” the staff here, and establishing routine maintenance and cleaning procedures, a payroll system, employee benefits, lodging pricing and reservation policies. We also purchased T-shirts (that we were not allowed to import), cleaned and organized a ton of files, papers and books in the office and classroom, and sorted through piles of linens and mosquito nets.
Beyond all of the projects and tasks, the most important job in these first nine weeks was to develop our relationship with the staff. That’s going well. In our second week here we started a weekly devotional time with them so we can all pray for each other, pray for the ministry and keep focused on what (Who) is really important. Mark plays basketball with the guys during the lunch break (then complains for days about his aches and pains). We also play lots of “Uno” and “Phase 10” with Mateo and his family (who live here on site). We have a great group of people here, from a variety of backgrounds, and it has been fun getting to know them.

We thank God for our great staff, and also for keeping us healthy and safe here. Sometimes we really wish we were doing more "hands on" ministry (and Adrienne has helped at the Armenia school), but we do realize that this is a necessary time of preparation. Please pray for us, that God would help us to seek him every day and to just trust in his promise that "all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose". If we can do that, everything else will fall into place.
Blessings from Belize!

Wedding Day in Armenia

2007-03-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last month we had the honor of being the witnesses for the wedding of one of our employees. Mateo Chiquin lives on site here at Jaguar Creek with his wife, Rebecca, and two children, Jessica and Michael. Mateo asked us if we would be the witnesses and if Mark would be the ‘godfather.’ Of course, we said “yes!” even though we weren’t sure (and neither was Mateo) what that would entail.
There was no rehearsal; we simply bought the wedding rings and showed up ready to do what we were told.

Saturday, February 24, started with us driving to Armenia Village (about 4 miles from Jaguar Creek) at 7:45am to pick up the groom. Our car was washed, decorated, and prepared for the festivities of the day.
A little after 8:00am, we drove with Mateo and his mother to another house in Armenia to pick up Rebecca. I (Adie) was able to help a bit with her preparations, and when ready, she got in the car, and we all drove down the road to the church.

Let me back up a bit…. this wedding was a BIG deal in Armenia. Four couples were being married that day. Two Hispanic couples and two Mayan couples. Raul (Mateo’s brother) married Emiteria (Rebecca’s sister). Very cute!

The church was way too small for the occasion, so earlier in the week, they had removed the back wall of the church so that more people could see the ceremony. In addition, at least 4 or 5 people were hanging into each window on the sides.

We were all at the church, and waiting, by about 8:45am. The pastor arrived (for the 9:00am ceremony) around 9:30am and got things underway. The couples were each married one by one. Mateo and Rebecca were the last couple. We weren’t sure when we were supposed to walk in, so after the bride, groom, parents, and ring bearer had all walked forward, we asked a woman standing in the back what we should do. Her response was something like, “What?! You’re the witnesses?! You should be up front with them!” We quickly pushed between the guests and scampered into place beside the bride and groom. (I’m quite sure that no one noticed our late arrival.)
The ceremony was sweet, and we were blessed to be able to participate and pray for this commitment made by Mateo and Rebecca.

After the ceremony, we all made our way to the other end of the village to the Chiquin homes for the reception. There we feasted on the traditional meal of beans & rice, stewed chicken, and coleslaw. I have to say that I have never in my life seen such huge pots of chicken cooked over wood fires. It was impressive – and delicious! The cake (which was phenomenal) had been made by our very own kitchen staff, Julie. The party went on pretty much all day – and it clearly wore a few people out!
We headed home to Jaguar Creek around 5:00pm and heard the stories the next day about the party continuing late into the night. I wonder how our daughter, Lisa’s, wedding in July will compare…..

What a Zoo!

2007-02-15T15:59:00.001-08:00

"Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.' And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:20-21

When you spend all your time in the city, it is easy to forget some of the marvelous things that God has created. Last Saturday we visited the Belize Zoo. We got there early (9am) so it was relatively cool and almost all of the animals were active and visible. To me, beautiful animals such as these are all evidence of an incredible Designer.

This is a Black Howler Monkey. We have a lot of them near Jaguar Creek, and often hear them in the night. They make a sound that is hard to describe...if we didn't know it was just coming from a monkey we'd be terrified!

Belize has a wonderful variety of birds. Here are two; the Keel-billed Toucan, and the Scarlet Macaw (below). The Macaw is a 3 foot long parrot which unfortunately has been subjected to a lot of habitat destruction and also capture to be used as pets.

Can't have birds without cats. This Jaguar seemed very relaxed laying on this branch about 30 feet off the ground.

This one is an Ocelot. He is quite a bit smaller than a Jaguar, but would be a giant among house cats.

Two more animals that seemed very relaxed; an American Croc, and these Lesser Anteaters. I wish I could have got a picture of one of the anteater's tongues; they were amazingly long and fast!

Thanks for visiting our Blog....more later.

Tuesday is Falling Tree Day

2007-01-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

We arrived safe and sound at Jaguar Creek on Tuesday, January 16th. Shortly after saying good-night to Tono and the maintenance crew, we heard a very loud cracking sound, followed by a huge crash. A 60 foot tree which was rotten near it's base, decided to come down. The tree hit "Pepe's Hotel" (the former home of a pet chicken), hit the roof of the "DWP"* breaking a few of the solar panels and then hit our rental car, but didn't damage it. Today, Tuesday a week later, we heard another loud crash. This time a large high branch of another tree broke off and came down near the JC van. Fortunately no harm was done. So now we know what to expect on Tuesdays.

The other thing falling from the sky is water. This is far from the wettest month of the year, but it has rained almost every day. We noticed that people hung their clothes out on clotheslines anyway. They just waited four or five days until Saturday, when we had a nice long period of sunshine, then quickly took the dry clothes in. It is so humid here, that our floor usually becomes wet around mid-morning as the cool tiles condense water from the air. And most things that are shaded all day just seem to stay wet.

Because of the height of the jungle around us, we can't see the horizon. (We also don't have internet, TV or a radio). So, for weather forecasting we rely on the staff here. The maintenance guys are always willing to take a guess; "Do you think it will rain tomorrow?", "Yes, maybe it looks like it". The staff here are great; friendly down-to-earth people.

Here is a picture of our new home. We have a small entry porch, a little sitting area, two bedrooms (one of which will soon be occupied by our nephew, Matt), and a bathroom. The entire cabin has only screens for windows, so the cacophony of nighttime sounds from the jungle is amazing.

If you are willing to pray for us, we'd sure appreciate you keeping these things in mind:
1) For the ability to build a good working relationship with the staff here. This is one of our top priorities since almost everything we want to do depends on them.
2) For connections to people in ministry, and to children in need, so that we can develop great opportunities for people to come and serve.
3) For help adapting to the environment, protection from harm. So far everything's fine, but there are a few hazardous bugs, animals and geological features around.
4) For us to develop some local friendships. We still like each other, but "Uno" for two players is getting a little boring. We are looking forward to having our nephew Matt here for six months as a volunteer.

*DWP: Department of Water and Power, a small building covered with solar panels. It houses the water treatment system, the electrical system, a shop and laundry room.

Belize?

2007-01-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'll admit it, I (Mark) am geographically challenged. When my Spanish conversation teacher first showed us a map of Central and South America, with all the country names labeled, I had no problem naming them. But then she turned the thing over to the side that had shapes of countries with no lables and asked me to say the name of each in Spanish.... Needless to say, I had some homework to do that night. So, if you are not exactly sure where Belize is, don't feel bad.

Belize is the smallest (non island) country in the Americas with about 287,730 people (The City of Fremont, CA has about 210,000). It's area is about 89,000 square miles (about half the size of California). It is the only Central American country without a coast on the Pacific Ocean and also the only one where English is the primary language. That's because Belize was a British Colony for more than a century. It was known as British Honduras until 1973.

The climate is tropical and normally very hot and humid. Belize is home to the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere (second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia).

Jaguar Creek is located near the capital city of Belmopan. We saw one gas station there. With a population of 7100, it is the smallest capital city in the world. We know of two orphanages there, The Kings Children's Home, and Marla's House of Hope. A little closer to Jaguar Creek are two villages, St. Margarets and Armenia Village. There's a wide variety of people in these two villages including Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo, Maya, North American, European and Mennonite families. The first settlers in Armenia Village area were immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, who fled from civil war.

We know we want to work with the children of Belmopan and these two villages. Beyond that, a lot of details need to be filled in for the vision of Jaguar Creek Ministries. But we are starting at the right place, with a desire to serve and honor God. I'm confident that in time He will help us find great opportunities to help children in need, to encourage people in ministry, and to provide mission trip opportunities that will be not only rewarding and fun, but also spirtually transforming for the participants.

Come back to this blog often, we'd love to share the experience with you. And...don't forget to make a comment!