"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." -2 Corinthians 20a
I chose this verse as my mission statement because it describes not only the mission of my trip but also the life mission of those who follow Christ. We are His representatives, and the purpose of our actions and words, whether in Belize or at home, is to invite others to a saving faith in Jesus. We plan to live out that purpose in Belize this summer; just keep on reading if you want the juicy details!
I am going to the Cayo District of the country of Belize, which is located just south of Mexico and east of Guatemala.
We will live and work at the Cayo Deaf Institute near the Mennonite town of Spanish Lookout, Belize.
"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and harship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you."
In Belize, my team and I will also live and work with believers. We are serving at the Cayo Deaf Institute, a Christian boarding school for destitute deaf children which is run by a local Mennonite community. Like Paul, we will be sharing our faith and our lives with the people of Belize and working day and night while we're at it.
As I shared in my support letters, I believe that God called me to this trip. He brought it to my attention after I had been praying about possibly doing mission work this summer, and it turned out to be a perfect match for some of my interests: Spanish, sign language, kids with communication disorders, and (above all) Jesus.
The school was started within the last decade by the Mennonites in response the many abused and homeless deaf children of Belize. The 50 acre farm and school were originally the facilities for delinquent boys but had lain abandoned for many years before the deaf institute was established. The institute is a Christian boarding school for about 25 youth, who are sought out and brought to the Institute where they learn about God, learn sign language, get an education, and learn to make a living with their hands by doing chores and farmwork.
While many of the students will be away on summer break, we will still get to interact with any students who are at the school when we are. (Some of the older students may not have homes to return to and may stay at the school over their summer break.) The main work that we will do is maintainance and repairs on the buildings, many of which are run-down. In addition, we'll be worshiping with local churches, doing outreach projects in the community, and sharing the Gospel of Christ with the Belizeans in any way we can.
Coming soon... if I take time to upload/download/transload them. Otherwise, there are interesting photos at the Cayo Deaf Institute article I linked to above.
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