Merry Christmas!! 2018

Our Fall has been very full, yet unscheduled. Full of joy and sadness, victories and seeming defeats, the past few months have challenged us with new opportunities to minister and failures to reach the finish line of maturity with some we love so dearly. Spiritual ministry stories don’t communicate “newsletter” well. Life here in Pomona is just life, not a newsletter in the making. The field is truly white with harvest…everywhere!

 You experience the same highs and lows as we do. The specifics of experience aren’t as important as prayer for one another in discerning the correct way to turn and having the courage and determination to walk in that direction resolutely. Please continue to pray for us.  We need the prayers of the saints more than ever. Many days the presence of prayer is palpable. We pray for you too, as much as we are aware of your struggles and joys! We depend on the Holy Spirit and know that He will answer all the prayers in His time and way, thank you!!!

We miss knowing all the intimate details of your lives and sharing those experiences. It has been painful to let go of intimacy in friendship and family, but comforting that God has prepared the most intimate of eternities to share with each of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We will know each other as we are known!! And not knowing the details of day to day life doesn’t diminish the love we have for all our friends and family stateside. We will fill our days with stories when we visit, we want to catch up and enjoy your stories.

Semi-newsie stuff!!

Our children, all grown up now!!

We couldn’t be prouder of them Michael (Todd) and Amy are expecting baby Henry Oliver in February! Shep will be the best big brother. Steven is living in Birmingham. He works two part time jobs and is finishing his Masters in Intercultural studies. Laura will graduate May 2019 with a degree in Global Business, Lord willingJ Pray for them, our life choices have made their transition into adulthood lonely and challenging in ways we could never have known. Our hearts long to be nearer to them.

Work at Hosanna House is becoming more focused for us.  Todd is doing many administrative and operations duties for the director, making her time available for the girls. I have focused on longer times, without planned activities, allowing me to engage the girls individually for encouragement and prayer.

Light of the Valley and St. Augustine schools are still our hearts and I’m proud to say leading their own large group weekly. It is a joy to see teachers leading those children in worship and bible teaching. We are so excited for that growth!

Light of the Valley church is our home church now. They are so encouraging to us, truly without the church family here we would have wilted long ago. We are blessed with the men’s and women’s fellowship/bible study we lead on Friday nights, but just being in fellowship the other days of life is the real blessing.

Just before Thanksgiving we had a weekend Ladies retreat at Legacy with NO agenda. We laughed, prayed, enjoyed good teaching and sang. NO technology would work, and we still had a GREAT time! What a testimony to the Spirit testifying among us of an eternal bond, it brought tears to my eyes to introduce a friend from my 7am Sat bible study days in Alabama, to teach me on a Sat morning in this new place, I call home.  Thank you to 3 friends from Atlanta area who came and became one of us for that weekend. My heart was so full when I put those 3 on the plane on Monday morning. God’s goodness is exceedingly more than I could ever imagine!!

We are thankful to God for your partnership in the gospel, truly! The medical clinics are reaching people and giving us entry into the lives of adults that we would never reach otherwise. Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus will begin 2019 with the 33^rd consecutive quarterly clinic. What a testimony to the power of long obedience in the same direction! The sweetest thing is to see some in our church pews as a result of those touches. Our church visitation on Monday nights does follow ups and our pastor is now attending to pray on the days we are at Light of the Valley. God is so, so good!

I know this is vague, and I wish I could personally have a cup of coffee with each of you and tell you the stories of how your support has changed lives here in Belize.

The truth is I can’t because I don’t know the working of the Holy Spirit that intimately, but I trust that He who began this work will complete it on the day of Christ Jesus. Until then, I pray this Christmas, you prepare Him room in your heart. May He lead you in this walk of obedience of faith and as you obey, may the world see your light and give glory to God!!

All our love,

Todd and Shirley

Specific needs:

We have an opportunity to partner with Alabama Baptist Children’s Home counseling arm in April 2019 to host 3 counselors to spend 3-4 days with the staff, to equip and encourage them in the very challenging work they are called to do. The counselors will donate their time and Hosanna will house and feed them, we need airfare or miles donated and some cash to cover their travel expenses. Contact me if this is a need you’d want to meet.

Believe it or not, light weight jackets, blankets (thrift store new)

Flash drives, colored pencils, markers

White socks, shoes, underwear (children and teens sizes)

Baby clothes

New(er) vehicles-the current ones are more expensive every year to maintain.

https://kk4jesus.networkforgood.com/projects/62004-crossing-off-your-christmas-list-make-a-difference?fbclid=IwAR0APF8r8xnXg1Nf4-rfUa5YhWyfrvFyXzpKMvS_UvH9W-6lLr1pAFf5zjk

Long time coming...

I owe an apology to all my veteran missionary friends...I was the one back home wondering why in the world you couldn't communicate more often. That has become abundantly clear! As Todd and I have become more intimately involved in people's lives here in Belize, the details of life are simply not for internet consumption. I have struggled with what to write, you who know me well know it is not lack of words that constrains me, but a desire to be oh so careful with the lives of people and their stories. So, we decided to only share via email and not Facebook or this blog site. If you have stumbled across this blog and wish to know more about our journey, we covet your prayers and will be happy to correspond with you by email. 

Please send that request to shirley@kk4jesus.org.

God is moving in mighty ways in Belize, we are blessed to witness and continue our walk in obedience of faith here. Life lived following Jesus is NEVER boring:) even the waiting is full of expectation.

Thank you for your prayers and interest in ministry here.

Shirley

Merry Christmas from Belize!!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

The Fall season has been full of new ministry opportunities and challenges. We are ministering weekly at St. Augustine School in Middlesex as well as Light of the Valley. Thank you to Evangel Christian Community School from Alabaster for a great start to ministry this year with their team!! Children still ask weekly about their friends from the states. Reminder- we will be back in the states Dec. 22^nd –Jan 12^th. We would be happy to bring back any notes between friendsJ
We were encouraged by a visit from Kenneth Bruce and Ric Callahan in October. They spent a few days encouraging us and seeing what new ways Westwood can be involved in ministry here. We are excited about new leadership in Missions and Childrens at Westwood and look forward to more visits from those two:) The 20th Medical team was here to finish October, we were completely blessed and exhausted by Nov. 1!!

ECCS

Moving the Watts family into Hope Creek and helping them transition into life here has been a joy. God is so gracious to send our dear friends from Westwood to be a part of the KidzKonnect 4 Jesus team! We anticipate another couple from Christ Central Church in Calera, Alabama, Amanda and Casey Varden moving down in 2016. God has big plans for His church here.

Prayer Circle to move in the Watts

More gardens and less rice is the hope for 2016, gardens should be bearing vegetables soon at all of our partnered schools and communities. LOV and Evangel got theirs planted using old doors destined for the garbage.

LOV Garden

The sweetest moments these days is the time early every morning with those living at Legacy. Most recently we have had Clifton and Edward staying out to work on the Cabanas. These young men were with us in the beginning and have taught us more than we even realize. We are humbled to witness the life change happening daily through Gods word in all our lives.

We were blessed to have a short Thanksgiving visit with family. We actually spent time with brothers, parents and my grandmother and aunts and uncles too!! Our families have supported us with their love through this whole adventure and we are ever thankful! Worshipping with our children is still the highlight of life on this earth, and after church with Laura, Amy and Michael on Sunday and “seeing” Steven on Skype we had the best Thanksgiving ever!!

Worship at Redeemer in Bham!

Please keep Laura in your prayers, she is doing well at Troy and will be home soon. Her heart is still here in Belize, but she has enjoyed her time at Troy as well. 

Continue to pray for wisdom to discern the will of God and boldness to proclaim the truth of the gospel daily!!

Love to all,

Todd, Shirley and Laura

Cooler weather, rain

We are in another season here, finally of rain and cooler weather in the evenings and morning. Rain is much needed and even I am grateful. The citrus crop this year was affected by a blight months ago destroying hundreds of orange trees. Please pray for those who depend on seasonal work to provide for their families, this will be a tough time for them. 

We start the school year of ministry in October with the first ever trip by Evangel School from Alabaster.  It is too much to write here all the years of conversation and prayer and planning that has gone into this trip. Please pray it is the first of many in a fruitful partnership for the kingdom! They will minister with us at LOV and St. Augustine schools. Starting TODAY!

The month of September was very busy in preparation for this school year, re connecting relationships at the college, hospital and schools. We are very excited to be more involved at St. Augustine this year, having a large group worship with Preschool- Standard 6!! 

This is the year of the gardens!! Community Health Workers as well as schools are all on board to plant gardens across our ministry area and south. We have been praying for two years and this seems to have taken hold now with some new momentum. Pray we are able to see some real harvest!!

LOV church is seeing new believers come to Christ and we will be involved in their discipleship. Such a blessing, please pray for servant leadership to grow and multiply.

We began a concentrated effort this year with high school student leaders yesterday! We had 12 of the most servant hearted here at Legacy to kick off! We will pour into them and they will tutor and disciple younger children in their villages with tutoring in math and reading every Saturday. Please pray God guides us and gives wisdom to them in this new endeavor. It is a weighty thing to be an ambassador for Christ!

Blink...summer is gone!

I feel very old in saying summer is too short, time flies and all that, but it is true!

This summer has been a time of show off for God! The crisis of June, He brought to a good end, at least next step of healing. Thank you for praying. Teams here from Texas, Virginia, Minnesota, for Family Impact were amazing. Graduations celebrated at the end of June. Then a marriage conference here at camp with LOV and Pomona Churches, we had 50 out here...I think we know the max, but a great time!! A special present for us was Summer and Connor Sellers' visit...God continues to reconnect us with old friends on this adventure, at just the right time for encouragement. He is so faithful and most worthy of our praise and obedience!

I've had bible studies at LOV, Hope Creek and Steadfast in between the madness. Joy, joy, joy. It humbles me who God brings out each time, never who I expect, always who He designs. 

 July ended with the biggest medical clinic team ever...over 60 serving in the usual 5 locations. Students made the difference this trip with their energy and selfless serving, they really made the adults follow suit. We saw 860 patients and several salvations, and some plugged into bible study. I believe we counted 9 churches represented on the team. A special treat to have Les(Kyle) and Lacey Hughes with some of their Providence folks from Mississippi. I can report that he is all grown up and ministered on this trip like a champ. So good to see Gods faithfulness in his life! Several friends came early to help prepare for the clinics and I know all went smoother because of their hard work. Friends have blessed us so on this journey! Here and there, prayers and support from far and near...

We continue to pour into young lives here. Some of our after school kids have come and worked at camp this summer. Next school year, the scholarship high school students will begin tutoring Infant 1-2 students in reading and math in their villages. 

We are preparing to take Laura to college in a few short days. Even though we have done that twice, each time is different. This feels more like we are leaving her, the boys definitely left us;) the distance is daunting. God will have her, teach her and keep her. Grandparents and Michael and Amy are close. That's my mantra and I'm sticking to it!! Her heart will be sad, pray it is enlarged for new adventure and she will have the assurance love doesn't diminish in distance.

Pray for us always!

We pray for you, thanking God in every remembrance of you, thanking him for your faithfulness and love. We know that it is only Gods provision through your support and prayer that we are able to live in this adventure now! It is truly humbling!

Praise!

More spiritual focus in every medical clinic

Cabanas are increasing at camp...two more underway

Baptisms of adults at LOV

Pray!

Laura transition to college, our empty nest

LOV school and church and Todd's role on the Steering team next year

Ministry plans- balance in new normal of empty nest;)

Watts family as they move here ...Yay!!

Boldness in the Lord, humility otherwise.

Medical Team July 2015

Graduation celebration 

Marriage conference

Too long!

It's been a while since I've posted!

Three weeks in the month of May were spent stateside with family. Especially mothers;) a restful time at the beach. The highlight for me was time in the hospital with my 96 year old grandmother, I learned a lot in those few days about what will matter at 96. God encouraged me with important things that remain with her, despite memory loss. She is still hospitable, generous, full of manners and grace. She still recognizes our family. Much to be thankful for!

When we returned at the end of May to Belize, home and school routines were gone. A crisis need kept me tied up away from the "normal" ministry. We are still working through the details of a long range plan to help, please pray God will provide people and resources as only He can. Pray for our team on the ground to be unified in decision making with love abounding in knowledge and depth of insight so that we may be blameless on the Day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness. 

Laura FINISHED high school!! We are so proud of her, she persevered and was a huge help to us during time here. We will miss her in August as she goes to Troy University, but her heart is here. We will see her often, I'm sure!

Todd is singing with the worship team on Sunday's and I'm still teaching a few children through the book of John. I will start more studies in the summer...my joy! Opportunities are myriad with medical and school and church relationships building. Men's fellowship continues to deepen and Todd was added to the church board last month. 

The PSE (standardized tests for high school admission) scores are in! And LOV did amazingly well. The student with the highest score ranked in the top ten for the Stann Creek District. The fruit of very hard work by students and teachers. If you would like to scholarship a child to high school there is more info on kk4jesus.org. The blessing is improved scores, the reality is heartbreaking that some who pass may not go because of financial situations. 

One other specific need, our partners at Stop Hunger Now provide Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus with the fortified rice used in school lunch feeding programs and communities. The rice is free, the costs to get it here are around $5000 for each quarterly shipment. Please spread the word to anyone you may know. Thank you to Southern Ag for the last shipment we received in March this year! This area of Belize is primarily an agricultural economy, meaning seasonal work and seasonal pay for many. The rice has made a huge impact on the health and wellbeing especially in the LOV community.

Thank you for praying! Praises!

- relationships are growing and deepening

- Laura finished school

- Todd has his first bite at some conference call consulting work

- Michael (Todd) and Amy were here for the Father's Day long weekend. It was so wonderful to see them both and introduce Amy for the first time to life here.

Continue to pray

-  KK4 Jesus team- wisdom and discernment and unity as we plan next year's ministry schedule

- Laura starts college in August

- Gods continued provision for needs here, discernment to use as He desires

- Teams here for ministry June 26-July 6th and July 20th- 26th

- favor with local hospital and education authorities continue

- Financial partners to share costs of Rice shipments 

Grandmama in a selfie:)

The whole school cheers as each student emerges,

From the office with their scores!

He has done so much!

I've put off writing this to give an update on all the team trips in March, then Easter...Dental clinic last week. You get the picture, there is always something next!

 Buildings are happening and boy do they require a lot of work! Men from Virginia and from Cornerstone Church, S.C. have come ...but the cool thing is by far, the most work has been done by volunteers here. Both the Cabana here at camp and the new worship facility at Pomona church have consumed the hours of every able bodied man and a few women too! It's all a work of the Lord and exciting to see.

Families from Westwood spent a week at Light of the Valley school and focused on preparing the older students for testing and the younger ones we tutored in reading. Returning is building relationships in a good way. The teams aren't treated as guests anymore, but more like returning family. We work with teachers and are a part of normal for the kids. Sure they are excited to see their friends from the states, but it's sort of expected now. A very good feeling to be a part of ministry there.

The week before Easter we experienced the first Westwood / Light of the Valley Church mission week! We started with worship and Family Day on Sunday, full of games like sack race, Dizzy Lizzy, water balloon toss and lime in the spoon. Even the women got involved in a hair braiding race! After a fabulous lunch visiting families got to meet their Belizian partner families for the week. Each morning started with worship, the kids made the best leaders:) followed by a Bible lesson and then small group activities and discussions. After lunch each day we had harrowing games of UNO, Headbanz, basketball and did puzzles together...you learn a lot talking during games! And character does show through;) Mid week we all walked the neighboring communities to invite families to church services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The week culminated with Good Friday worship and communion, our hearts were full! My favorite moment: after visiting the first house with an invitation to church, one woman to another, "I can't believe I just did that!" She could be heard repeating that phrase throughout the day;) together we are better! Courage is contagious! Pray we are all bolder with our faith and live in a manner worthy of the gospel to which we are called.

West Bradenton friends had a similar week in Hope Creek Community, building on the same kind of ministry done in that community last summer. We believe we have found the way to best connect friends and families here with visiting teams. I'm sure Karen will continue to tweak each trip, but the concept of pairing Belizians with visiting teams in small groups to learn from one another is by far the sweetest and most fruitful we've seen, discipleship happens best that way! Check out kk4jesus.org for opportunities to come alongside us this summer!

Last week a dental team will be here from N.C. With one dentist, one hygienist, a husband for details and a son for fun...this team of 4 proved to be small, but mighty. We had a smooth 2 1/2 days at Pomona Church and took care of about 90 people! Our church family in Pomona really stepped up to help, could NOT have done it without them! 

 And finally, at the end of the month the Medical team will return for trip number 18 !! Come join us!

This has been our longest time in Belize. I've struggled with tears, more than a little from just plain missing family and friends. God is good, He DOES give me more than I can bear...almost every day. I'm grateful that He is able when I am not. Maybe the hardest and best truth yet!

Please pray:

We continue to grow closer to LOV church family.

Teams from the States come to share in ministry.

Buildings happen injury free!

Laura can balance ministry and school:)

Our family will manage to stay close in three countries!

Praise God:

Amazing weeks with teams during Spring Breaks.

We have completed a year!!

Cabana # 1 is done!

Michael and Amy celebrate a year of marriage April 20!

Steven sounds really good in Africa!