We were so thankful to arrive after months of preparation and 20 hours of flight that we didn't even care that our luggage did not arrive with us. It did arrive by the time we woke up. South Africa is beautiful. Not only the land and the Indian Ocean surrounded by mountains, but the people here are beautiful on the inside and the outside.

The first day (after adjusting to 8 hours advance in time) we had a prayer walk to start our day for the town ship of Khayelitshi. It is an area of town that only fills about 4x6 square miles but has a population of one million people.

As we walked and prayed for the area, we also prayed for the area set aside for the children's church and as we walked children followed and sang with us. Even though there is a language barrier, there is no barrier between sisters and brothers in Christ.

VBS was awesome! We had about 100 children show up the first day. The second day we had about 200 children! In the morning we leveled the sand for the children's church so that concrete could be poured and made the frames for the walls. Children all around helped us out including the parents and it was a beautiful glimpse of Heaven: all nations working together.

We had a Noah's Ark theme for VBS. Of course, I had to stress the importance of the rainbow. The children were so responsive and excited about the crafts, games and bubbles! As a team, we have reached most of our goals in a short time. God is like that. We have bonded with each other. We have fallen in love with the people of Cape Town and Khayelitshi. We have seen Jesus in the eyes of every child, in the hands of the children reaching for bubbles and in the ears of everyone singing.

We are so thankful to be serving in South Africa and so appreciative of the kindness and hospitality that African Leadership has shown to us. Be patient family, our internet is slowwwwwwwwww and hard to communicate. We will post more pictures as soon as we can! We have lots of God moments to share!

A special thanks to the 2010 Belize mission team: to the Butlers and the Mendez families, and to each person that brought something different to the team. We are thankful to God for all our goals being met. He, being the gracious Father, showed up in a HUGE way. We laughed, we prayed, we cried, we grew spiritually and formed relationships with the communities and with each other; and we were present for a journey that God intended. Thanks for answering His call and planting seed (Marci, Merrell, Shelby, Gabrielle, Alice, Betsy, Ashton, Mary Morgan, Dean, Trey, Charles)!

As we flew into Nashville we saw a rainbow in the sky through the clouds. It was a sweet reminder of the theme that we had in VBS in Patchakon and a reminder to me that God is faithful and continues to reveal His symbol to us all & that there is hope, complete healing in Christ spiritually, emotionally and physically and that God keeps His promises!

The first day of VBS in Patchakon was so much fun and so much more than we imagined. We were told in advance that we would have about 35 to 50 kids. We had 91 the first day, 105 the second day and over 125 the third day! The family that takes care of the church said that it was a record VBS for the village. The children were so obedient, so sweet and so eager to participate and learn in all the activities. We had a Noah's Ark theme for the week and the children colored, painted, made arks and a mosaic rainbow, had games and snacks, and grew in our hearts. They loved the songs and crafts and games. But mostly, they loved to be loved.

Every night of a H.E.A.L. Ministries mission team the team members share their favorite "God moments" of the day and we take turns sharing personal testimonies each night. For me, going with so many different team members, God gives me the blessing of hearing what God is doing in the lives of each team member. It is so humbling to hear the stories and I get overwhelmed with joy hearing what God does for each person. We were all supposed to be together and we were all supposed to be with these kids during this season of our lives. Daniel Butler gave a devotional to us one day and talked about how important it is to meet each person where they are and he talked about a single mom that just wanted him to teach his son to hit a ball. God is so awesome in His perfect planning and He knew that Trey (my son) would be present for that story. The next day at VBS Trey's job was to teach over 100 kids to hit a ball and standing back watching I was reminded how purposeful our God is and how He provided this story to come full circle.

As the kids left the church that final VBS day, the team formed a tunnel and the smiles on the faces were priceless as they left to receive their prizes and candy. A little piece of each of them remains with us. The children would come up to each of us and say "thank you" and "I love you". We started the week with a lesson on seeing Jesus through the eyes of the child and as they said the sweet words "I love you" we not only saw Jesus but heard Him as well in a little village called Patchakon.

one of my favorite projects that we did was the house that a local lady (Lydia and her mother) started for battered women. It will be used as shelter for women that need a place to go. The house is pictured above and we were humbled to be able to contribute in a very small way but it left a very huge place in our heart. When we finished the floors (cleaned them a previous day and painted them another day) I took a picture of the house both outside and inside. The new clean floors reminded us all of how Christ makes our hearts clean and it is through Him that all hope comes from. Lydia is pictured above with Marci and I. The team left five mattresses for the house until furniture can be purchased. I would love for someone to provide the funds to furnish the house. It just needs some living room furniture and bunk beds. The kitchen needs to be furnished with supplies. I'm praying that when I visit in August the funds will be available to assists with this with the women's team that is going.

There are not many opportunities for the men to make money in Belize. Many are without jobs and some are working and only make $5 to $10 dollars per week. Because of the hopelessness that many men feel, they have resorted to drugs and alcohol and some women are being verbally and physically abused. The only widespread business is the sugar cane business and they are even having problems in that area this year. This house will provide a place for women to run to if they need help. They will learn there that they need to run to the Lord for all things and there is always hope.

The last few days in Belize has been so much more than we expected. I could not write a script to express all that God has done. And, I didn't have to. God is so evident in every detail, every smile and each team member. Saturday was a great day of showing the team all around the village and the city. In the afternoon, we cleaned the house that is being prepared as a shelter for women. We swept and mopped the old wooden floors 3 times so that we can paint the floors in a few days. Sunday, we enjoyed the church in Corozal with our friends, the Mendez family. Our team members taught the children in Sunday School some songs and shared it during worship. The beauty of being in a different country and worshiping together is that each team member gets to experience a small glimpse of heaven: everyone singing in his own language and all prejudice thoughts disappear. They disappear, not because of who we are or what we do but because we have a God that teaches us to see and hear everyone through a different lens. A much better lens. The lens of the Heavenly Father.

After lunch in the Mendez home (pastor's family) on Sunday, we were able to do my VERY favorite thing to do on mission trips. We walked around the village of Patchakon where our 3 day VBS was going to be. The most rewarding walks that I have ever taken have been in these humble communities. Walking around handing out flyers to the children in the village announcing the VBS serves several purposes. First, it gets the information out to the children. Second, the team gets to see how the children live and third, the families are so appreciative that the time is taken to visit them. They learn that we truly want to be relational. We had a mute man come to us earlier that day and ask us to please help. Through his gestures, we thought he was asking us to help him with someone that had been delivered to the clinic because Susie Butler, the doctor, was with us. We rushed back to the clinic. There was nobody there. We rushed back to the village to try and find the man's house. We could not find him. While passing out the flyers to the children, we walked upon his house where he stood at the front door smiling and clapping because we had visited him. He showed us all the members of his family and it dawned on us that he just wanted company. We saw God show up in that moment and we were so thankful that God led us back to his house.

One of the greatest things about taking pictures is that while looking through the lens and capturing moments of team members handing out flyers, the photographer sees the expressions, the smiles and the eyes of those all around. It's through the camera lens that I have learned to see through God's lens; not always, but sometimes. And when it happens it is priceless. Sunday there were several God moments. Thankfully, I'm able to post of few of those moments revealed through the lens of the camera.

Belize is HOT, BEAUTIFUL AND God's work is so evident here. We arrived Thursday night and had the pleasure of eating with the Presbyterian Church in Corozal with the Christ Presbyterian Team from Nashville that has been here for a week. They had a VBS awards program and it was so sweet to see the children getting rewards. Mostly, it was so sweet to sit back and witness the relationships that have been created bonding two very different lifestyles. To sit and watch a 15 year old boy from Tennessee laughing and talking with a 15 year old boy in Corozal is a small glimpse of Heaven. The unity between the two was so priceless. I knew while watching from a distance that one boy lives in a nice home in Tennessee and the other boy lives in a third world country in a humble home with some of the most poverty stricken villages in the world. What a beautiful image to see as we start our journey in Belize.

After being here only 24 hours, our team members quickly realize why it is so easy to form lasting friendships. The people here are so joyful and accepting. As we think that we are here to help and serve, we are reminded that God has us here for a very different reason: to grow spiritually ourselves. Our team of 12 will be staying with the Butlers in Patchakon. The Butlers are a family (Susie & Dan & Pete is the awesome son) that help run a medical clinic and a fish farm that serves as a rehab facility. They offer healing in both of these locations in two very different ways and always put Christ as the focal point.

Our team will be serving the clinic with some needs, working on a house that a local widow is making into a women's shelter, running a 3 day vbs in the village starting Sunday, hosting a soccer tournament and assisting with the fish farm one afternoon. While we have a full week planned out, we are also learning to be flexible! The Belizean time frame is a little different than our time frame back home. We brought painting supplies for the women's shelter and learned today that what they really need is the wood floors to be stained. So, we are humbly reminded that we are here to serve whatever they need. We are humbly reminded by God that as we look in the eyes of those we are called to serve that we are looking in the eyes of Jesus.

Today we saw the heart of Jesus in Helen Lacey. She is so loving and kind and so respected here by everyone. We took her to lunch in Corozal and when we left the cafe, a young man asked her about purchasing cleaning supplies for the clinic. Susie and Helen explained to the young man that they were not buying supplies at this time for the clinic and after talking to him and realizing that it was his only means of income, both ladies purchased some supplies. Both ladies were reaching out and feeding the hungry, offering hope and being Jesus in the skin.

We are honored and humbled to be a part of something much bigger than us. We have already been humbled walking around the village and talking to people in their humble homes. We were humbled talking with Ms. Helen Lacey, a missionary that has lived here 40 years. God used her to start the medical clinic and several schools in the area. To be part of something that God is directing is an experience that we'll never forget. We are already comfortable (despite the heat and no air conditioning) and laughing and having a GREAT time! Our team is excited to see what God does with us here in Belize this week!