Still in Dangriga...

Hey to one and all!! Blessed news; Kayla and Derek Whittaker have a beautiful baby boy, Conner!! Sounds like everyone made it through okay; can't believe I have now missed two births while out of the country. I have so much baby loving to catch up on!!

Sorry about the long lapse between blogs; been more tied up than I thought we would be the past couple of weeks. We're coming home!! We fly into Minneapolis late Sunday night, July 24th!! Gotta meet Mom and Dad McGrail in Madison to pick up our new "home" for the next few weeks (aka the RV, to be parked in the Knuth's backyard!! They're the best, don't worry Kim, lots of ice cream to come, and Sarah and Kristin, bonfires whenever there's no rain?) We're in Dangriga again this week, though as opposed to last week when we commuted about an hour to the village we were working in, this week we walk about a block from the hotel to Dangriga Baptist Church where Pastor Caleb works and worships.

To catch you all up on last week as well, we worked with a great, amazing team from Raleigh, NC in a little village called Valley Community with Pastor Elvis (little hint on Mike's poll...) and his wonderful wife Geraldine. They are an amazing congregation, so filled with the Spirit, so hard-working, and so warm-hearted. And in combination with the amazing team from NC, this will be a trip we will not forget. We clicked with this team, they poured their hearts into their trip, and God did might things. A young man named James committed his life to Jesus that first Sunday night they were there in response to much previous ministering on the part of Pastor Elvis. VBS grew to overflowing with each day, we worked with morter and cement, building a side changing room on the church, painted as much as we could, and lead a bunch of church services and a men's and women's fellowship time.

Mikey did encounter a little snaffoo which I will let him tell you about at another time. But it turned into a blessing in disguise...

This week has been great too. We like Dangriga, little bigger town of about 8,000 people, right on the ocean. Little different cultural feel. Similar to San Ignacio, this seems to be a popular place for some international travelers, esp. backpackers. This is also where the Garafuna people have established themselves; they are descendents of escaped African slaves and native Carribbean people who settled here in Belize way back when. They seem to offer a much more paganistic lifestyle, definitely still prevalent today. In fact, this week is a big celebration week of some sort, during which they do much "worshipping" with native drumming and other practices difficult for us to understand. We're planning and outdoor evangelism service and concert with some local music from the church to try and shine some light in the darkness. We'll see what happens. Pastor Caleb is very excited.

I have to admit, I'm tired. Naps no longer seem to satiate the exhaustion, and I am anxious for a more regular schedule, at least for a few days or weeks. Janell and I were even talking yesterday as we planned a fellowship time for the gals on our present team, that we are even having a difficult time identifying what we are learning about God these days. I am so distraced by thoughts of sleep and rest that I feel little energy for anything else. We are blessed that this group is an easy one. They are returners from last year; this is the group from Ohio that flew in right after Lakeview last year who had lost all of their luggage and didn't get any until that Thursday of their trip; needless to say, they are excited this year about actually having VBS supplies to work with.

Think I'll wrap this one up for now. Going to take another nap before the service tonight. So looking forward to being home and seeing all of you! Love and miss you!!