My time here has already been incredibly, unbelievably blessed. God is truly faithful and good to His kids.
I figured i'd introduce you to the roommates, one of whom is no longer with us, unfortunately. One roommate didn't introduce himself properly so i was forced to ehhemm... dispose of him. Actually, this wretched thing below was hiding in my wet towel Saturday morning and yes, did manage to sting me in the finger. Like any decent, freedom-loving American I ran into my room, woke up my Belizian roommate to ask him how much time I had left to live and told him he could have my tabasco sauce if I died. Like any incredible, fun-loving Belizian Gary just laughed at me. Turns out as wicked as that thing looks the scorpions down here are not as dangerous as they appear.
There are currently 5 of us (ages 22-26) still alive in the boys house here at Machaca and I honestly could not ask for a sweeter group of dudes. Gary and I share a room, then there's Fredrick, Doyle (the worship leader) and Brian (pictures of them squashed on the kitchen floor are coming forthwith). They have been so kind and inviting to the new white boy that it already feels like we've been friends for ages.
I don't want this post to keep babbling on so i'll just end with some of the stuff I'mbeginning to understand concerning what i'll be doing with my very short three months here. Some things I would covet your prayers on are as follows:
- The opening of a coffee shop/cafe in town to help Machaca become self-sustaining (we're in the incredibly fun process of designing a menu with drink recipes and such)
- Encouragement of Doyle and the worship team to grow in their leadership and musicianship
- Helping with a new church plant in the nearby city (Punta Gorda)
- Designing a functional website for the ministry here
- Random tech and design needs (like getting Johns messages up in iTunes, camp t-shirt design etc...)
- Finally, The Gotz's (the missionary family that directs the camp and pastors the church) will be gone at from March 25th through the end of my stay here. This means that all of the above needs to be done more or less before then. This also means that a lot of teaching and leadership responsibility will fall to me. Please, please pray for much wisdom throughout this time. Pray that I will lead as much as needs be and allow the staff (my roommates) to step up at the same time.
Ok no one wants to read a page full of black and white so i'll stop there and let your eyes have a rest (assuming of course you've made it this far!)
Love you all and miss you already,
Chris
