TKA Belize 2024

We are wrapping up our final evening here at beautiful Jaguar Creek. We had a fun and informative day at Xunantunich, ancient Mayan ruins. We have started packing for our 7:15 am departure to head to the airport. As it is Good Friday, Mr. Smithson read from scripture focusing on the 2 men on the cross next to Jesus, encouraging us to be like the robber who respond to Jesus with faith.  We continue to covet your prayers for the team as we come back with change hearts for God. More from students... By Selva Smithson Today we explored the Xunantunich Mayan ruins with the help of friendly tour guides. We learned about the history of the ruins while also getting to climb to the very top. From up there, we were able to see the border between Belize and Guatemala. We learned about human sacrifice, about their ancient games,   and that there was a female leader who was buried with a jaguar and a deer.   After visiting the ruins, we had the opportunity to do some souvenir shopping at the market

Another morning here in the jungle of Belize where we are greeted by tropical bird calls and howler monkeys. The heat wave continues, but we are only looking at a high of 92 degrees today. ;) We are heading back to the school right after breakfast for a morning of sports games with the school children. Thank your for your prayers that the kids would have fun and feel loved. More from students... By Cyrus Sid Today we all went over to the Armenia Government School to do our final half day working. We taught the kids some of our sports we play in the United States, such as kickball, frisbee, and American football. It was a frigid 92 degrees out. We taught them our sports for a couple hours until 12. After that we said a very emotional goodbye to the kids and then we started heading back over to Jaguar Creek for lunch. Later, we started to head over to the caves. It was a very short walk and we went into a pretty big cave in the middle of the rainforest. After that we drove over to a wate

Good morning! It's 7:30 am, 81 degrees, and we are about to enjoy another hearty breakfast prepared by the amazing kitchen staff. We will be heading back to Armenia School today. The VBS team of students and leaders have prepared a fun, Jesus-filled morning for the 3rd and 4th grade students here. We don't appear to be getting much of a break with the weather for the rest of the our TKA students who continue to work on school projects outside, but mandatory water breaks will be reinforced. Thank you for your prayers for soft hearts for our team and the students to learn more about Jesus, for connection with students and for physical health and safety. More from students... By Jeremiah Lai  We started the day playing freeze tag with the kids, then after starting off camp activities with worship. I then moved on to continuing the work from yesterday, making holes for the concrete base, which were for the fence posts. We then moved to mix concrete, and pushed a barrow full of conc

Here we go! We are off to meet the kids at Armenia School and start our first morning camp, along with construction projects. It’s just below 90 degrees at 8 am. The prayers page has been updated and we appreciate all your support! Student posts... By Olivia Chamness Today we woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed to the Armenia Village School. We began to set up our materials for the art and science rotations. I was in charge of Art 1, where we had supplies for the 3rd and 4th graders to create tissue paper collages, drawings, and had other materials they loved like pompoms and pipe cleaners. Many of the girls used pom poms to make butterflies and caterpillars, and the boys tended to make jungle animals and were excited to write “Messi” with his number 10 and a soccer ball. I was immediately impressed with the kids’ manners. With every request they had for me, whether to ask for materials, or cut a pipe cleaner, they always added “Yes, Miss. Thank you Miss Olivia.” I got a few giggle

Today, Monday, we spent the morning visiting the office of Pathlight International , an organization with close tie to Jaguar Creek. We returned for lunch and then headed to Armenia Government School, just about 15 minutes away by van. The heat made us cut our afternoon a little short, but we had enough time to get acquainted with the school projects we'll we working on, as well a lay of the land for classrooms that we will be using over the next few days. A team of students started clearing the area where they will build a new concrete walkway between buildings, while others collected trash pieces all around the school to help prepare for the 75 students we are expecting starting tomorrow.  More from students... By Daniel Min Today started with a beautiful hike along the loop trail. it was a refreshing way to start our day, and a key reminder to where we were staying. Unfortunately, we were unable to see any wildlife. But, being in nature really reminded me of God’s creation and t

We spent our first night here getting used to the heat and some native bugs and animals. (Fun Fact: Howler monkeys start chatting well before sunrise.) Due to it being overcast yesterday, we dipped down to a low of 69 last night, likely the coolest temp we'll feel all week. The forecast shows a high of 103 on Tuesday. Now's a good time to mention the Prayers page, next to the Photo Albums and to say THANK YOU for all your payers for the team!  After breakfast at 7:30 am, we split into 2 groups to attend local churches. We all returned for lunch here at Jaguar Creek before an afternoon to help us acclimate before the week ahead. We are feeling incredibly blessed to be able to stay here.  Tonight after dinner we'll have a group time of reflection of our day.  More from students... From Bella Giles Today we visited the lifeNET church in Belmopan. Everyone at the church was so friendly and welcoming to us as newcomers. We started off with worship and then learned about the “top