Day 2 - Church & Acclimate

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 5” which are the 5 things we think about before making a decision, even if we are not aware of what they are. We also learned that we find what we are looking for, so if we are looking for Jesus, we will find him, but if we are looking for fault that is what we will find. Lastly, we learned the importance of being planted in the right place to be able to grow in Christ. 




From Avinash Sri-Kumeran


A few students and I visited a Catholic Church in Belize on Palm Sunday. We saw people getting palm fronds and heard songs in Creole. It was a new and interesting experience for them to see the mix of religion and culture.




From Natalie Chamness


We had a great day today settling into Belize. This morning we split up and went to different churches. Some of us went to a Protestant church called LifeNET and the rest of us went to a Catholic church called Guadalupe. We all had really great experiences and loved getting to know the culture a little more. When we got back to Jaguar Creek we had the chance to explore the creek and look at the beautiful wildlife. 




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A bit more about our evening time... After another delicious dinner form our hosts at Jungle Creek, we had group time in the large conference room. Natalie Chamness led us in worship before students shared what stood out from their church experiences. Those who attended the Catholic mass mentioned how interesting it was seeing all the different races, hearing the sermon in 3 languages (all spoken by  the one priest), and getting to experience Palm Sunday in a different culture then their own. Those who attended the more contemporary Christian service commented that they were surprised by how similar it was to our church services back home, but also that the paster spoke with more passion and the overall amount of energy in the church was higher. Students felt welcomed as the pastor asked for visitors to introduce themselves and we found that we were not the only visiting school from California! And no surprise, after our time together, Mr. Smithson took some students on a night walk to check look for some wildlife. 











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