Tues & Wed

On Monday, we took the littlest kids (age 6 and under) to the local library.  Even though it is so close to DMCCC, they almost never get to go.  The head librarian was a local Belizean man and he was *so* great with the children. He gave us a tour of the different areas of the library and we ended with a story time and a "play" about a Belizean fable. While all this was happening I kept thinking about how wonderful it was to have a man in this role - reading out loud when literacy is seriously lacking in this country, showing love and care for these little children when positive male role models are few and far between, clearly educated when education is not a top priority. What a fantastic example for the littlest center kiddos to see!
Tuesday's VBS theme was "choices" - we talked about what types of choices we have to make and ended our session with hanging sand and a chain link on the cross to represent our the burdens of any bad choices we've made being taken on by Jesus - lifting the weight from our own heart.

Our craft on Monday was bleach pen t-shirts.  The kids loved making their own designs with a bleach pen, and we were very impressed with their results!

Laura and Natalie & Kris rented a house for the summer here, so we invited the teenagers to the house 

yesterday afternoon.  They helped make Rice Krispy treats and lasagna for dinner, both were a first time experience for most of the kids. They played futball, laughed, seemed so relaxed and carefree - they were getting along and enjoying each other's company without dealing with any of the stress that comes from the center.

Wed. afternoon was with the pre-teens at the house - 22 of them. They helped us make tacos for dinner and, for the most part, enjoyed their time here. This age group is tough - a lot of fighting, a lot of yelling, a lot of not getting a long very well so this afternoon was much different than our relaxed afternoon with the teenagers.

Our Math Camp team has been hard at work teaching a group of local teachers, within three live classrooms filled with kids.  What a great learning opportunity for the local teachers to hear about it, then observe, then do it themselves!  And Bev and Jodie finished up their two-day teacher training program today.  While yesterday was a bit rough, they said today it all came together and the teachers were extremely grateful, and had learned a lot! 

Praise God for this opportunity to share His love with all of these precious children and adults here in Belize, and thanks to all of you for your prayers.