Memories from Jaguar Creek...

Last week CDF had the opportunity to work with the highschoolers from Belize Christian Academy.  We covered a variety of topics including; Child Abuse, Help for Abuse, Sexuality from God's Viewpoint, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Making Good Decisions About Relationships and Sex.

The students worked hard taking notes, participating in small groups, and making their presentations... 

 

And they played hard during the lunch break...

 

We are grateful to Pastor Jerry, the board of Belize Christian Academy, and the staff for supporting this event.  And our prayer is that through providing a safe environment to discuss difficult topics like this...that a lasting impact will be made on the youth from this school..and that it was a life changing event for at least one student!

Tune In!

If you are looking for us on Saturday this is where we will be! 

Tom is one of the speakers for this one day event sponsored by CDF to train Youth Pastors and Youth Workers.   Please pray for those who will attend and for all of the people who are working to make this event a success.  And for all who take part in the seminar to come away feeling more equipped to handle emergency situations with their youth.

If you are here in Belize and work with youth come on out and join us!

Girl, if only this chair could talk...

Each week we have clients who sit in this chair.

Male, female, young and old...all with one thing in common...pain.

If this chair could talk you would hear it gossip about the intimate details of those who have suffered through various traumas.  Thank goodness that chair keeps the confidence of those who sit for an hour or so seeking relief.  

We cannot talk about the details either.  However, to update you and to ask for prayer I can say that this was a tough week.  We had a few new people in the chair.  Word of the counseling center is spreading and we have gotten referrals from schools and other programs in the area.  And we are grateful for that.  

Please pray for the teens here in Belize.

Pray for the children.

Pray for those struggling underneath the weight of a secret that they feel could destroy them or their families.  

Pray for more social workers to be appointed in our district. 

Pray for the lone social worker here in Cayo and her staggering work load.

Pray for students that Tom is currently training in the Christian counseling class he is teaching on Saturdays.

Pray for the upcoming Healthy Woman Conference that CDF is putting on next weekend.

Pray for us to have wisdom, insight and compassion to relate with each individual who sits in that chair.  

We truly appreciate your prayers...we are already seeing the payoffs of working here.  

We give praise for the referrals we have received.

We give praise for school principals who see the needs of their students and take action.

We give praise for foster moms, youth workers and teachers who care enough to intervene.

We give praise for the breakthroughs a few of our clients have experienced.

We admire the courage of those who choose to sit and share their pain with us.

We are grateful for each one of you who are supporting us with prayer.

Those petitions are truly valuable...and we cherish them!

Road Trip!!

So excited about tonight...we are taking a group of youth up to Belize City for a worship concert. 

 We'll have an hour on the road each way so the car time will most likely be filled with laughter and snacks.  

So what are your plans for the weekend?

what are youth facing in Belize?

I was thinking about a couple of the dramas we watched last week at Legacy.  Alcohol and drugs are a major problem.  Suicide came up more than once.   I realize these are universal problems that young people face all over the world.  But the one that keeps haunting me is suicide.  This has even come up a time or two in our counseling office.

People feeling as if they have no hope or purpose in life.  People feeling as if they would be better off dead because they cannot live without a loved one who has passed away.  People feeling as if a demonic power is telling them that suicide is the answer to all of their problems.

We listen, we encourage, we tell people how much they are valued and loved.  And we keep praying.  Today is not a holiday here in Belize so we are at work in the counseling office.  Please keep us and those who walk through these doors in your thoughts and prayers.

Still counting the gifts:
246. youth who are willing to speak out and bring awareness to others.

247. finally hearing from our youngest son who is on a mission trip.

248. our oldest son started a new job that is perfect for him.

249. being able to work and live in such a wonderful place.

250. homemade doughnuts!

1000 gifts...

I had started counting blessings on my other blog...but for one reason or another I keep forgetting to post over there.  As we get busier here it is becoming even more important to slow down now and then to count the gifts of life.  So I will take up the counting again.

238. quiet moments outdoors with a flower and a bee.

239. late night with the youth from church performing at Legacy...Fired Up!

240. all of our friends in Tropical Storm Irene's path are safe and well.

241. enjoying music from Belizean musicians

242. little ones trying to get a peek at the service

243. being allowed to give the message at church on Sunday morning.

244. watching the youth dance with joy.

245.  young tourists who choose Belizean hairstyles.

What is in the news in Belize?

We were!!

Our time in Orange Walk Town this weekend was incredible!  I cannot find the video but here is a link to the transcript of two of three interviews>> CDF Holds National Youth Rally

The news cameras showed up near the end of the rally while Pastor Antoinette, a local pastor, was leading the youth in a purity pledge.  They even filmed Tom, Patrice and I handing out New Testaments. As people were clearing out they interviewed Jadine, a CDF board member, along with Patrick and Esmerelda, members of the drama team from Mt Hope. We had 130 youth show up and some parents too.

The program began with prayer and then the Belizean national anthem followed by several performances from the youth group that went up with us from Mt Hope Church in Unitedville. We had worship and then I gave my testimony, followed by Patrice, a volunteer, giving a talk on who CDF is and what we do.  After lunch we split the large group into three small groups.  Jadine took the kids under 12 and she taught them about personal safety.  Patrice, took the parents and taught them how to talk with their kids to protect them from abuse or exploitation.  And Tom and I, had the largest group, ages 12-18+, and we took turns teaching about the emotional, psychological and spiritual effects of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.  It was an awesome day!

Getting ready to start

Youth from Mt. Hope performing a rap song

Drama team from Mt. Hope

Late comers in the bleachers

Worship

Father-Daughter

Mother-son

Belizean flag

Break time

Signing in

Everyone was given lunch 

Pastor Antoinette

New Testaments to be handed out

Patrick being interviewed

We had to cancel the Saturday event because of Tropical Storm Harvey coming through.  The plan is to reschedule so that we can go back and do a presentation to the community and the surrounding churches.  Parents were very receptive to our message and the teens were engaged all throughout the day.  We hope that word of mouth along with the story making the news will draw out even more people when we go back.

Thanks for all of your prayers!