Updates, Updates, Updates!

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Good afternoon everyone! I hope you all have enjoyed your time back in the States after your journey to Belize! I have quite a few updates that I want to cover, so hang on tight while I try and get everything in order.

First an foremost I would liked to apologize for the not getting as many updates out as anticipated. The internet connection in Belize was rather slow, and this year I gained a few more responsibilities. Again I appreciate your patience and understanding. I have also received a lot of special requests from the trip, videos, photos, etc. Currently I am trying to get all of those together for everyone and will try and have them to you ASAP!

As most of you know we are having a reunion party. In case you have not checked your email or have been contacted about the trip here are the party guidelines as according to Belize Team Leader Susan Phillips:

Well the votes have been tallied and the winner is…

Sunday March 11th at 5-7pm at RHCC.

I could use some help with set-up & tear down. That is next Sunday.  Please feel free to bring your family members who did not go on the trip.  We hope to have a few guests as well. some of our donors/supporters and a few people who might be interested in next year’s trip.

This will be a pot-luck dinner so please RSVP ASAP with number of persons attending and what you plan to bring. So far I have a broccoli salad and a corn casserole!  Don’t be surprized if you see beans & rice with stewed chicken!!!!! (Kathy, I will do the chicken if you want to bring the rice & beans)

Please also bring your photos and stories to share.  We will be asking for feedback on this year’s trip and any thoughts of how to enhance next year’s trip.

I have some fund-raising idea books for your personal trip costs.  The church has agreed to allow each mission group to do one fund raiser at RHCC each year.  This would be to raise money for construction/meds/screen, etc. and would not be towards the cost of any person’s trip fees.  Though if we raise enough money for construction and meds, the cost of the trip could decrease!!!!  That being said, we need some ideas for a great fund raiser.  Put your thinking caps on and let us know your ideas.

Sorry to those of you who cannot attend, but it is hard to pick a time when everyone can be there.  We will miss you greatly!

Love,
Susan

If have anymore questions about the party please email Susan at: smeadeep@gmail.com

Next on the list, I have been asked a lot about photos from the trip. I have an archive of photos taken by the team’s designated photographer, The Amazing Tyler Ficker, that I am currently attempting to get together to post directly here on the site. However, we have a great place where folks have been uploading their own photos from the trip! If you would like to check out the photos that have been uploaded so far CLICK HERE!

If you have not yet uploaded your photos to the site please feel free to do so. It does require a login. There has been an email or two sent out with directions on how to log-in and upload. If you have not received those or need instructions again please send me an email at: shay@riverhillscc.com and I will make sure to send the instructions again!

If you were not able to attend the service at RHCC on Sunday a video was played showing the congregations what the team was up to while they were in Belize. Below the video is available for your viewing pleasure!

There will be more updates to come in the near future! Please please please, email Susan or myself if you have any questions or concerns! Keep your eyes peeled, good things are coming!

-Shay

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Here We Come, San Pedro

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19 NIV) Seems fitting doesn’t it? I know we have heard this scripture over and over, but this morning it just seems fitting to reflect on such a bold and powerful statement. Go and make disciples of all nations,  ALL  NATIONS!  God is at work here in Belize and his presence has been undeniable through this entire trip.

Sometimes I think there are some people who feel called to the mission field who might not be comfortable to leave their country. If this is you, remember that you can be involved in so many different ways. Making disciples of all nations may not require you to leave your country or friends and family. It could be as simple as giving to your church’s missionary ministry, or maybe volunteering locally to help those in your community. I want to make sure that this week, those of you helping out from home with prayer, love, and financial support know you are just as important as those here ,working in Belize. We are all a team, working together to make disciples of all nations, we have heard the calling of God to go to work, and we are doing just that!

Today we are headed back to San Pedro village. This is the village that the construction, deaf, and salon teams have been working from the last few days the team has been in Belize. Later this afternoon we are planning on finishing the construction of a house and giving the keys to a local family to move in.  Last year, the team accomplished the same thing, and the house opening ceremony was very moving and special.

All of our other teams will be hard at work as well, giving medical aid to the villagers as well as spiritual aid. Last night Bryan Kaiser made a great point when he told the team, “if your trip has been simply humanitarian up to this point, tomorrow make it a trip about Jesus.” How cool is that? We have seen people coming closer to God this week. We have seen peoples’ lives being changed this week with the teams openness to talk about Christ. One group in particular is the screen team. The team has been praying with the families they come into contact with, and have been changing lives by showing support to the local families through prayer and heart felt concern.

As always we ask for your continued prayers and support today. We are going to finish strong on our last full day of work. We are going to do our best to make sure to see this week all the way to the end, never backing down, never giving Satan a hold on anyone. We want to show people the way, we want to show people that God exists and we are here doing what we do because of Him.

-Shay Nartker

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Chunox…Mission Accomplished

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

Tonight I have a short but sweet post. Today was absolutely great! The team finished up their day in Chunox on time and we are all back in Corozal safe and sound. This year we are pleased to say that we had no car sickness and no break downs on the bumpy road to Chunox. Thank you for the prayers asking for good weather. We had no rain today. That made the drive much much safer!

Today the teams saw around 200 total people in all. The kids were just as excited as ever to hang out and be around Randy and Josie! They always do such a great job at entertaining the local kids! The teams were all located in one central area. This is a great thing for the teams because everyone can experience the things going on around them, but it can be a little loud. One of our new ministries, the salon team, took their students to the village and gave around 25 hair cuts!

Thank you to everyone for your contented support and prayers. The love we are feeling from you is overwhelming at times and we could not appreciate it more. Tomorrow is our last day of full blow mission work. The teams will be traveling back to San Pedro village. While there they will be finishing the constriction of a home, providing medical aid, and visiting with the local villagers! It is going to be a great day of interaction with the local villagers!

Due to our slower internet connection here in Belize I would like to apologize for not having more media updates. Tomorrow I will be working along with Tyler Ficker to get photos and video onto the blog for everyone to see. Thank you for your patience and support! We are doing our best to stay connected with those of you back home! We love and miss you! More updates are on their way!

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Heading Out To Chunox…[Ch-noo-sh]

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

Good morning again from Belize! We are expecting a little rain today, so if those of you could please pray for the rain rain to go away we would appreciate it! This morning I wanted to get our a quick update to let you all know what we will be up to today!

As stated yesterday, the team is head out to the most remote village out of all of our stops during the week. The village is called Chunox, and has a population of around 2,000. The village itself isn’t all that far from where we are, what makes it a “trip” is the road conditions the team faces while getting there. Imagine a dirt road that has been washed out, and then washed out again. Not to mention we will be crossing two rivers via ferries. The ferries are hand cranked, and we can only load 2-3 vans onto them at a time.

The medical teams are expecting to see around 200 people. The trick today is to see these people in quick enough time that we can leave and head back before dark. We want to be able to navigate the roads with some day light left.

While in Chunox we will be stopping in to see a family RHCC has been supporting for awhile now.  A few years ago the mission team built a house for the Santoya family. The mother has several children with multiple handicaps. We always try to stop in and see them to help them out with whatever we can.

Also our salon team will be traveling with us and their students will be coming as well! They will spend most of the day giving hair cuts to the local villagers! It is such a great thing to be able to see training go into practice. We should be back into Corozal by 5:30pm-6pm CST. We want to wish everyone a great Monday! Thank you for your prayers and support!

-Shay Nartker

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Sunday Afternoon From Belize – 2 Day Re-cap.

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

Finally I am able to bring you a blog update! I am super pumped to be able to write on behalf of the mission team here in Belize. The last few days have been unbelievable, and the things we are seeing while here continue to show us just how amazing God really is.

Yesterday, the team headed to a new location, the village of San Esevan  . The village is nestled in a beautiful region of Belize next to the New River, with a population of around 2,000. We were told by the city chairman (mayor) that the village used to be much larger. However, during the 1970′s a pandemic of influenza came through the village and killed a majority of the people. Included in those who died was a missionary doctor.

There was a great turn out of villagers looking to see our medical team. There seemed to be a very steady flow of people throughout the entire day with the team seeing around 200 people. During our stay in the village, one of our newest members, Bryan Kaiser (who is creator of God’s Eyes Ministries) was carrying out an appointment with a 70 year old man who had too many grandchildren to count. Bryan is very big on taking time to talk to his patients about who Jesus is and that the eye glasses he gives are a gift from Jesus. At the end of the appointment, the 70 year old man prayed to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior!  YES!

The vision team also saw a young boy with down syndrome. When the boy first arrived he didn’t want to have anything to do with our medical team and decided he would stay as far away as possible. Finally, after some coaxing from Tracy Ficker the boy decided he would  sit down with Bryan to have an eye exam. After his exam was over and getting his new glasses, the boy came out of the exam room, hand extended and said to Tracy, “I really like you!”

Another blessing on our outing was the dental team got to work out of a trailer. The trailer was made up as an actual dentist office and had some extra equipment that allowed the dentists to do more than they normally could with ease. There was a constant line outside of their door with the villagers trying to get in to see them. At the end of the day, the dental team saw over 40 people!

The construction, deaf, and salon teams stayed back in San Pedro to help work with their ministries there. After all was said and done, San Esevan was one of the best villages we have  been able to travel to. God is at work, and we are always being shown that.

Today, the entire team made their way over to San Pedro village. This village is only about a 10 minute drive from our home base of “Corozal.” When we arrived we were greeted by a traditional mariachi band. They were great! After being serenaded for two songs the bells were sounded to signal the start of the church service.

We headed into a smaller one room church for a traditional catholic service. The service was translated into four different languages: Spanish, English, Mayan, and Sign Language. It was one of the coolest things to see all of the languages being used at the same time! The church service lasted for about an hour, and the team was well received by the villagers. We were told by the leader of the village that it means “more than we know,” to the villagers that RHCC takes the time to go to church with them on Sunday.

After the service the villagers, a long with our mission team, were invited outside for a party. The local women had prepared food for us to eat. I must note here, that in order to pay for the food served at the party, and for the food the construction eats in the village through the week, the ladies start selling tamales in July for 25 cents a piece. We cannot express how much we appreciate the hard work of these ladies to make sure we are taken care of.

When the team finished eating the band played a few more songs. Soon thereafter the team passed out personalized cards for the children in the village that were made by the students of RHCC. Each and every local child received a card, and took the time to write back to the students of RHCC.  We had a very competitive wiffle ball game that a lot of people were a part of.  The also took some time to walk around to village to see the house the construction team is finishing and take in the local sights.

To finish things up we headed back to Corozal to take the rest of the day easy and to get rested up for tomorrow’s travels to Chunox. This is one of the most remote villages we visit. It will take our team around 2 hours to get there over very, very, bumper roads. Kind of makes you appreciate the road crews back home, even though they take so long to get anything done. Thank you to every one for sending your love and support! You comments are being passed out to your friends and family. We love you and are excited for what the rest of the week has in store! More updates on the way…

-Shay Nartker

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Louisville Belize…Day 1 Re-cap

Posted on February 18, 2012 by

Good morning from Belize! It is currently 6:43am, 77 degrees, and sunny! We wanted to get an update out to everyone this morning before we head out on our second full day of working in the villages. We landed safely in Belize City around 12PM on Thursday. As soon as we made it to Tony’s Inn the team got to work unpacking and getting our supplies organized.

To get a point of reference, the team is stationed in the city or district of Corozal. Most of the villages the team travels to are with in 20-30 miles. It doesn’t seem like a very far commute, but the road conditions here make traveling slow and VERY bumpy!

Yesterday, the teams went to two different villages. The medical team and screen team headed to the city of Louisville. This included all of the nurses, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, screen installers, and one of our newest additions to the team Bryan Kaiser, an eye doctor. Through out the day the medical team set up camp, and saw around 170 patients. Ailments were diagnosed, blood pressures were taken, new glasses were made, and prescriptions were prescribed. The team was once again well received, and we had a lot of opportunity to talk about Jesus and spread the good news!

Three other teams headed to the village of San Pedro . These teams included the new deaf ministry, salon team, as well as the construction team. The deaf ministry is teaching women of Belize to use sign language. They had 8-9 ladies, two of which made the journey to the class from Belize City, using public transportation. The trip takes around 2 hours taking the city busses.

The salon team had a class of 7 girls. All of the girls seemed to be excited to learn and came with open hearts and high spirits. The salon team leaders say the girls are learning quickly. The plan is for the salon team to take their students on location in Chunox on Monday to cut the hair of the local community.

The construction team is hard at work finishing the construction of another house for a local family! Everything is coming together nicely. Today they are planning to add in a wall and create two bedrooms. The house itself is only 320 sq ft. and will house up to 10 people at the same time. Makes one realize how fortunate we are to have larger homes to live in. (We will try and post photos of the size of the house.)

Today the teams are headed out to San Estaban! We will be working hard again today. Check back later tonight for updates! The team will be without internet the entire day today, thanks again for your patience! We love you and will do our best to keep everyone informed!

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More Updates Coming Soon!

Posted on February 18, 2012 by

Okay….sheww! It has been a VERY busy first day and a half! My sincere apologies to everyone for not getting a blog update up sooner! I would like to quickly let you all know that we are no longer at 32,000ft. Yes, believe it or not, the flight from Atlanta to Belize is only 3 hours, not a day and a half! Thank you to those who sent comments of concern that we were still somewhere flying around, we have landed safely and are hard at work!

Right now I am working working to release a video update, as well as what all went on in the village of Louisville today! (No, not Kentucky) God is working in our lives and those around us in more ways than we could have ever imagined! Thanks again for standing by and being so patient! The internet connection is a little on the fritz. The team sends their love to their family and friends and appreciate the comments and messages of encouragement very much! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a new update! (We will be back after the break…)

-Shay Nartker

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