FPC-Midland Belize Mission: Where We're Going - The Country

From November 8th through the 15th, 2014, a team from 1st Presbyterian Church-Midland will be traveling to the Central American country of Belize, and working with The Word at Work ministry. This will be an opportunity to reach out and share the gospel with the people of Belize while working side-by-side with the local community and The Word at Work staff on a much-needed construction project ... all of this building upon a foundation of relationships that was laid early this year.

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WHERE WE'RE GOING - THE COUNTRY

An Overview of Belize
(from The Word at Work ministry)

Belize is located in the southern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula, bordering Mexico and Guatemala, with the Caribbean Sea to the east. The coast is at-or-below sea-level with swamps, mangroves, lagoons and sandy beaches. The Maya mountain range lies to the west and south, rising to over 3,000 feet at some peaks. The capitol, Belmopan, is in the center of Belize, near the Maya Mountain foothills, with Banana Bank and the El Salvadorian refugee settlement (called The Valley of Peace) right nearby.

Belize City, over 300 years old and the country's main commercial area and seaport, is the largest city with over 80,000 residents. The Burial Grounds is on the northern outskirts of the city where TWAW does a significant amount of ministry. This is also where St. Andrews Presbyterian Church is located (one of our ministry partners). Other areas of TWAW activity include Orange Walk and Corozal to the north.

Many come to vacation in Belize for its beautiful beaches, casinos, scuba diving off the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world, and its smattering of quaint islands. We spend 1 of the 8 days on TWAW mission trips recuperating and reflecting on the past week on a private island right near the barrier reef.

Climate

Belize has what's called a subtropical climate the entire year. The rainy season lasts from late-August through November, followed by a dry season from December through March. Normal highs all year are 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit, while temperatures never drop below the mid-60's. However, your comfort has something to do with where you'll be serving... Belize City is on the Caribbean, so the sea breeze keeps things feeling a bit cooler. If you're in the jungle regions of central Belize there is no breeze to speak of, so it does feel a bit warmer.

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At the start of it all, once more

Over the last nine-or-so months, I have talked about "WHEN I return to Belize" ... as opposed to "IF I return to Belize" ... and that has proven to be the case. Once again, I will be part of a team heading south on Christian mission ... once again, I will be seeking "adventure, discovery and illumination" in Belize ... once again, I will be giving and, in return, receiving so much more.

It was more than six years ago, in January of 2008, that I launched my West Texas Missioner blog with this post, the first of many over the ensuing months that would document our preparations for a mission trip to Thailand, and then the trip itself.

When all was said and done - once we were home, with the mission trip was behind us - I thought of retiring the blog ... but after some thought and some prayer, and some encouraging feedback from fellow bloggers here in the Tall City, I decided instead to continue the blog, but with a broader focus ... daily minutes for mission, news stories, efforts by my own church and by our brothers and sisters in Christ around the region, local opportunities for mission, and reports from our friends-in-mission around the world.

And now, here I am ... at the start of it all, once more.

From November 8th through the 15th, I shall be part of a team from 1st Presbyterian Church-Midland traveling to the Central American country of Belize, and working with The Word at Work ministry. This will be an opportunity to reach out and share the gospel with the people of Belize while working side-by-side with the local community and The Word at Work staff doing a much-needed construction project ... there may also be opportunities for mission through education, medicine, fellowship, prayer and testimony.

While my West Texas Missioner blog will continue to have a broader focus and will be managed by myself, this new FPC-Midland Belize Blog will focus particularly upon First Prez-Midland's missions to the Central American country of Belize, and will feature contributions by others in the times ahead as other teams from our church head south on mission.