As of today - April 15

It's tax day in the United States, and it's update day for me here in Belize. I cannot believe (and I'm very embarrassed to realize) that it has been almost two months since my last update. Let me give you a taste, albeit in very broad strokes, of what has been happening on the ground here in Belize.

First, we are rapidly approaching the departure of Fr. Juan and Maria, my missionary co-workers here in San Ignacio, Central Farm, and Georgeville. They have been much more than supervisors to me: they have become beloved friends and companions in life and ministry, and I am going to miss them terribly. They leave Easter Monday (April 21), though I hope to visit them in their new home in Colombia the first chance I get.

This has meant too that we are approaching some big changes in the makeup of our ministry team on the ground. We don't have any hard-and-fast answers quite yet, though I anticipate that an up-and-coming visit from the visit the first weekend in May will answer many of our questions. For the moment, what is clear is that, while still vitally involved at St. Hilda's (Georgeville), I will be coming back into more pastoral responsibiltiies at the mother church, St. Andrew's (San Ignacio). As daunting as this new phase of ministry will be, I am also excited to see what the Lord has in store for his churches here, and for me as well.

Second, these tumultuous times have been paired with my application for permanent residency in the country of Belize (somewhat equivalent to a Green Card to the U.S.). April 11 I completed one whole year in Belize (without any departures), and I became eligible to apply for residency. However, applying has taken a lot of time, a lot of medical visits, a lot of bus rides and taxi fares, a lot of interviews, and a whole lot of patience. This process, just beginning, will take many months and, at the end, a significant financial investment on the part of the mission. But I believe that it is worth it, as I strongly see the possibility of serving long-term in the country.

For those who were praying about it too, I should let you know that I now am indeed licensed to perform civil marriages in the country of Belize, and I will be performing my first wedding on May 10th, followed by another wedding in June. There's nothing like a marriage, and preparing the happy couple for marriage, and I'm very excited to see each of them begin their own new chapter in life together.

Third, things continue well in Georgeville, and I am pleased to announce that we even had a cross-cultural missionary student from Messiah College (Pennsylvania) come and serve with me for two weeks as our intern. It was a great fit: Lauren did an amazing job, and we look forward to her coming back in May and spending another week connecting with families in our community. Unfortunately, her time as an intern was marred by my getting a cold, and her getting hit hard with her own illnesses. I've actually ended up sick a few times in the last few months, and it has affected my ministry in Georgeville, especially given the increased distance between my new house and the village.

But fourth, that has not stopped us from preparing for Holy Week and Easter. I am very excited for everything that we have planned. Palm Sunday went off wonderfully: the day before we joined up with Santa Cruz (Selena), Annunciacion (Santa Elena) and St. Andrew's (San Ignacio) as we made palm crosses, and then we welcomed our Lord as King before reading again the agonizing story of his passion and death. Wednesday (tomorrow) evening St. Hilda's will have a going-away party for Fr. Juan and Maria, Thursday evening we will have a foot washing, the (Last) Lord's Supper, and a stripping of the altar. Friday morning we will have a solemn Via Crucis in Spanish, read the Passion and pray the Solemn Collects in the afternoon, and in the evening join with three other churches for a Tenebrae service made up mostly of psalms and Scripture reading. Saturday evening, we will begin our celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead by lighting the Paschal Candle, recounting the history of our redemption from Creation to Consummation, and baptizing the newest Christian of our small church. And then Easter Sunday, we will sing, feast, and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, a moment that I expect to blow all others away and be most like heaven on earth. It is a lot of work, but it is worth it.

And so, with that, I wish you all Easter greetings! Thank you for your prayers for us here ... once again, please remember:

1. Fr. Juan and Maria's departure.
2. Our Holy Week and Easter celebrations.
3. My application for residency.
4. Guidance in long-term ministry directions.
5. My computer which is on the fritz.
6. Health, health, and health.
7. Sanity in the midst of these crazy times.
8. Holiness, love, and childlike trust in God.

Blessings,
David

As of today - February 17th

There is so much going on these days, and it is time for an update. Here goes.

First, let me say that much in ministry is going on as normal. Things at St. Hilda's are going well: we have some people who want to be baptized into Christ, others who want to get married, and prayer and worship, sickness and life continue on as normal. We are very blessed, and things (for the most part) are going well.

The big news that I've been wanting to share with you is that Juan and Maria Marentes, my coworkers and co-missionaries in Belize, will be heading out on indefinite medical leave to Colombia in April, and they won't be coming back. We are trying to assimilate this hard news, the pain of having dear friends leaving, and the questions surrounding the ministry here in Cayo and how it will carry on.

Bishop Wright was here last week to talk with our pastoral ministry team about the next steps. Since there are various leaders here, at various stages of discernment, there will be a period of transition after April. The most likely scenario is that the Bishop will call an interim clergyperson from North America, probably a priest on sabbatical or a retired bishop, to provide pastoral care to St. Andrew's, St. Hilda's, and St. Barnabas' while we listen to how God is calling each of us to serve long-term in the future. This interim period will probably last for about three months, and we should know much more by the end of the summer.

For me, this could mean that I could be asked to take on more responsibility at St. Andrew's as well as St. Hilda's, overseeing all the congregations and schools here. It could also mean that I may be transferred to another part of Belize as the Bishop calls someone else to take a primary role in Cayo. There are also many other possibilities, as you can imagine.

In all of this, I don't expect much change to my placement to occur before the end of the summer, but please keep me, Juan and Maria, and everyone in our churches and schools in your prayers. And I'll keep you posted as news develops! Thank you.

As of today - January 29th

Hello everyone! There's a pause moment today in the hectic aftermath of the last two weeks, so I'm taking a moment to give you a little taste of how things have been going. God has been very, very good.

We said goodbye on Monday to nearly two weeks of retreats and mission projects revolving around SAMS's visit to Belize. Two weekends ago the board of SAMS began their triannual retreat, and we hosted them at a local resort in San Ignacio. The week following most of the board stayed on and was engaged in a handful of mission projects in our congregation: they installed a church bell at St. Hilda's (Georgeville), put in garden plants at the new property of Church of the Annunciation (Santa Elena) and at St. Andrew's (San Ignacio), led healing services in all three of our congregations, and held devotions for teachers and chapel services for students in all tree of our schools. We were busy! Following their departure by Friday, we commenced with our retreat for new missionaries, coming from far away places like Honduras and Peru. We all had a thoughtful and restful few days together before heading off to our respective homes. Things have been good, but they have really been busy!

There are many other things afoot here on the ground in Belize that I should be able to share in a few weeks, but for right now let's simply say that reintegrating back into parish life has involved a lot of work in just a few days. This Friday we are receiving a team representating the Diocese of St. Alban (U.K.) at St. Hilda's and St. Andrew's schools in preparation for the Feast of the Presentation (Feb 2nd). Our new teaching series on the life of King David continues unabated, and we're trying to gear up for Lent, Holy Week, and Baptisms come April. There is a lot on the plate.

On top of everything, I am still in the process of moving: there have been a few hitches and hang ups, but I think God is behind them all, and I'm patiently waiting for the living situation he wants to provide. The process of raising funds for a vehicle also continues, and at last count I have received $3,600 towards my goal of $5,000 - $10,000 (a necessary amount given the price of vehicles here and the need for a truly tough pickup truck). If you have any questions about the conditions which require this kind of a vehicle, simply ask the guests who have been with us for the last two weeks, and they will explain in detail why having a truck will be strategically essential in the months and years ahead!

Thank you again for all your prayers and emails! I look forward to checking in with you again in about a week!

As of today - January 13th

Happy New Year! The month of January is proving to be as busy as December was, and I'm excited to give you an update on how things are going.

I've really enjoyed the last few weeks. Not only have we finished our Christmas, New Years, and Epiphany celebrations, but I had a delightful visit from my mother and one of her work colleagues. We did a lot of exploring and tourism, but I was also able to introduce them to the rhythms of Belizean life, and ministry within that life. I'm so grateful that they were able to come down and spend the time with me and others here.

Now, we're just a few days away some other big arrivals. This weekend, the board of SAMS-USA (my missionary society) will be coming to San Ignacio for their once-every-three-years retreat, and I am looking forward to helping to make it goes smoothly and fruitfully. Most of the board members will stick around next week to help out as a team in a number of different missionary opportunities, including helping with chapel services at the school, construction, and healing prayer in our congregations. Finally then, the weekend following SAMS-USA will be holding in San Ignacio a retreat for its new missionaries (including yours truly) which will extend to the following Monday. In other words, we're booked and we're busy!

Before these groups arrive on Friday, I will be spending more time receiving a few other visitors and trying to nail down my housing situation (still up in the air until I get a firm word from the Ministry of Agriculture in Central Farm). In the meantime, I've begun buying some basic items of furniture to put in my new house when it becomes available. Please pray that this continues to go smoothly.

In other news, we are excited at the possibility of beginning our new Spanish-language service on Saturday, February 1st. Please continue to keep this in your prayers. Take care, and have a wonderful couple of weeks!

As of today - December 30th

Good morning everyone! We're in the middle of Christmastide, and the New Year is almost upon us, as hard as it is to believe. Here's a bit about how things are going in our neck of the woods.

First of all, our Christmas services went great! Our early service Christmas Eve (a service of "Lessons & Carols") was well attended despite heavy rain, in large part due to the fact that the Salvation Army and Pentecostal churches in town also participated with us. We had a wonderful time singing and listening to the story of our redemption, and I think it also helped to build relationships between our various churches in the community, certainly among the pastors. Our later service (11:00 PM) that same evening attracted some attendees, but it was our Christmas Morning service where many of us gathered together to take great joy in celebrating the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for all of your prayers for our special celebrations!

In these days, we've had some other blessings for our church and its worship. A few weeks ago St. Hilda's purchased its first projector and laptop computer, though it has wiped out the savings the church had accumulated. This is a huge blessing, and we were able to first use the new apparati (apparatuses?) for our Christmas services, thanks be to God! In a few weeks, we hope to have a bell installed at the church and so be more able to call the community around the church to worship. Please keep all of this in prayer!

My hunt for a house continues, and it looks as though I might be able to find a home in the facilities that the (government) Ministry of Agriculture owns in Central Farm. The structures aren't the best, and they're a little expensive, but it is some of the only housing that I can find in the communities I principally serve: Georgeville and Central Farm. As far as a vehicle, the last I understood things stand as they did a few weeks ago: I still have about halfway to go with raising funds. Please pray for God's continued provision, and that he would give me his wisdom regarding how to proceed.

In the next week, things will probably be quite busy! My mother and a friend arrive tomorrow (New Year's Eve) to spend a few days with me here, and New Year's Day we will have special services in the church. I plan to make pastoral visits to people in our community, and especially to the latino families in Georgeville. And then next Monday we will celebrate the feast of the Epiphany that evening ... we're still working out the details, but I expect it to be great!

Thank you all for your prayers and support for us in this ministry. Have a Merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and eat lots and lots of chocolate!

As of today - December 18th

It's been a muddy week in Georgeville and Central Farm. Yesterday I broke down and went and bought myself a pair of calf-high rubber boots, and I cannot imagine why I didn't do this  long ago. In short, ministry continues unabated, and somewhat hightened, as we head quickly toward the Christmas Feast.

The Youth Leaders Retreat that took place in Burrell Boom last weekend went well: representatives from all of Belize gathered and discussed the challenges we face, and solutions we've found, in our various contexts. For me, one of the best parts of meetings like that are the continuing relationships that can continue in the months and years ahead. The other highlight for me was helping facilitate the presence of some of the youth from our Spanish-speaking congregations: not only is it important to integrate the many (and often opposed) cultures in Belize, but we always have a good time when they're able to make it.

Speaking of Spanish-language ministry, we've been moving ahead with preparations for beginning a Spanish-language worship service at St. Hilda's, probably on Saturday evenings. Some of the youth from the Spanish-language Anglican church in Santa Elena (the splendidly named "Church of the Annunciation") have been accompanying me in visiting mestizo families in Georgeville, and time will only tell what fruit \these new relationships will bear in days to come. My hope is that our formal services in Spanish may begin as soon as mid-January, or at least in time for Candlemas.

In other news, our new children's choir marches on, preparations for Christmas march on, and ministry to the sick and the suffering march on as well. Please pray for our small community, as just this week we have had two chronic diagnoses: one of our 16-year-olds has developed an aggressive diabetes, and a 26-year-old woman has found out she has lupus. We're trying to assimilate these realities and discern how best to minister as a community to them and their families.

Finally, let me add that my house search continues! I am holding out hope that I may find something in Central Farm or Georgeville, though the houses for rent are very few and very far between. Please keep this process in your prayers, as well as my related search for funds to buy a vehicle (which will become increasingly necessary as I move out to the villages). Thank you, everyone, for your prayers for my ministry, our churches and schools, here in the Cayo District of Belize!

As of today - December 11th

Hello everyone! If things weren't busy before, we are now in full speed preparing ourselves for the Christmas holidays. Let me give you a brief update about how things are going.

The semester at our primary schools is wrapping up this week, and a good semester it has been. This week I held our final chapel services and teacher devotions, though the cycle of daily prayer will continue through the break. I will miss being with the children and teachers, but I will see most of them around in the villages even if they're not in school.

Last week had a good Clergy Advent Retreat with the Bishop in Burrell Boom, and we had a profitable conversation about many important aspects of leadership and direction in our churches. In particular, we ended up discussing ways to bring about successful change, particularly the changes and hurdles that will inevitably come in these years ahead. The diocese as a whole has great needs to revitalize its congregations, evangelize and plant churches, and raise up new leadership to push us into the next decade. It was great to be there and take part in the ideas being shared.

Our new move to begin a children's choir in Georgeville has been successful, so far! We have about seven children who regularly come to choir rehearsals on Thursday, and we are trying to get a few extra songs ready for the ecumenical Lessons & Carols service we are planning for Christmas Eve (it will be an early service, with a midnight Eucharist later on that night).

We are also thinking seriously about beginning a Spanish-language service at St. Hilda's at an early point in 2014; in fact, simply bringing it up with our students has generated considerable interest, and ask you to pray for the Spirit's guiding about the decisions leading up to this kind of initiative.

In other news, some financial needs have come up for me in the last few weeks. First, I have remarked in previous missives that I have a great need for a vehicle, and I have received gifts that have brought me to half the amount necessary. I am getting great at hitchhiking, but it reallly isn't a long-term solution to my transportation needs! Second, I am expecting to have a significant shortfall from churches that are no longer able to give their full monthly pledge. Third, I have been given notice by the owner of the house I have been renting, and I need find a new place and move out by January.

All this to say, please pray that

• God provides me with the one-time funds necessary to purchase a vehicle.
• God provides me with the monthly giving necessary to sustain my budget.
• God provides me with inexpensive and decent housing a short distance from my ministry locations.

These are pretty immediate requests, and they go hand-in-hand together. Thank you all for your regular prayers and interest in what we're doing here in Belize. Take care!

As of today - November 25th

Hello everyone! I'm going to take a couple of minutes here to slow down and compose a little update.

Over the last couple of weeks I was hit with a disease that hovered somewhere between a cold and a flu. It wasn't bad enough to make me slow down completely, but it was bad enough that I had to slow down quite a bit. The worst however happened in the middle of the week, and I was able to give the sermon on our big feast day for St. Hilda, Nov 17! It was a wonderful day of worship, and we had escabeche soup and cake after the service, all of which was positively delightful!

We've made a few changes to our schedule recently: our Thursday evening time with the children is becoming a singing rehearsal for putting together a children's choir! There seems to be some interest, and a little bit of vocal exercises and good music seems to be holding attentions and inspiring some imagination. We'll see what comes of it.

We are now also gearing up for Advent and December, and the Christmas celebration that will eventually come. We've set our service times and plans, and now it's just a matter of getting things ready. There are songs and sermons to prepare, benches to nail, screws to install, locks to replace, children to hug, and a lot prayer, a lot of prayer, all to come in the next month. I'm looking forward to it, but it's still quite daunting as we prepare to dive in.

In preparation, I hope (Lord willing) to take a short day away this week, go to the coast and enjoy being somewhere else, even if it's only for 24 hours. Next week we will be having our annual Advent Retreat as the clergy of the diocese, and I'm sure it will be a fruitful time to compare notes and encourage one another.

So, please continue to keep me in your prayers! They are so important and so necessary, and I love hearing from you even if it takes me a while to write back. Have a wonderful week!

As of today - November 5th

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! We've had some extreme temperatures, as it's been getting down in the 60s at night, but still getting up into the 80s and 90s during the daytime. It's how we know that winter is slowly but surely coming our way. And now, down to the business of a brief update.

The past week at St. Hilda's Church was long and busy but good, culminating in Kahrin's baptism on Sunday. That afternoon I also attended the Salvation Army's "Harvest Festival" in Georgeville, and it was good to make connections with other pasors in the community. Apart from that, much of last week was routine visits to schools and parishioners, cleaning and reading and meetings and unwinding.

I neglected to give you an update last week on how my ongoing struggles paperwork has been going! Two weeks ago, God was gracious and opened the last few doors to my getting a year-long temporary work permit, which makes me eligible for a year-long work visa. Though I have until October of next year before having to firm up the paperwork again, I hope to begin applying for my permanent residency in April, a process which can be longer and more expensive than the other, but after which (Lord willing) I will not have to bother with any complications regarding immigration or employment. Please continue to keep this in your prayers.

Also, now that I have received some additional paperwork from the United States, I will be applying as soon as possible for the licence to serve as a legal marriage officer: that is, so that I could solemnize matrimony here in Belize in a civil sense as well as in a spiritual. I am praying that this too goes as well as my application for a work permit eventually did.

Thank you so much for your prayers, and please continue to hold us up to God. Our recent days have been filled with drama, and some heartache, but we believe (and sometimes even see) that God is at work in our little community. Take care and have a wonderful week!

As of today - October 28th

I am knuckling down and doing today what I have neglected for far too long: an update. To be honest, I've been so busy that I was shocked to discover how long it's been since I've posted on my news blog, and I'm going to work on remedying the situation in the weeks to come.

At St. Hilda's Church, and the two rural schools (St. Hilda's and St. Barnabas'), we have been completely in the swing of things since early-to-mid September. On September 22 we began a new Sunday schedule and a new weekly schedule.

The new Sunday schedule involved a change in our morning service of Holy Communion from 11 AM to 10 AM, and we also added an Evensong service at 5 PM. This has meant several things for me personally. First, I am present in Georgeville all Sunday, preparing and leading services and visiting with people in between. Second, because of the new conflict in service times, Juan and Maria spend their Sundays exclusively in San Ignacio at St. Andrew's Church, and they do not come over and assist us in Georgeville on Sunday. Third, the musicians from San Ignacio don't come over anymore to Georgeville either, so I have been preparing all the hymns and music, and we are usually singing everything a capella or having me play guitar. Fourth, rather than preaching once every three weeks (rotating with Juan and the lay evangelist), I am preaching twice a week. Putting all these pieces together, things are going well, but my weekly workload has gone up tremendously on account of these changes to our Sunday schedule.

The weekly schedule has also had a considerable change. On September 22 we began gathering for Morning Prayer each day at 7:30 AM; and, although the bus schedule is convoluted and unreliable, I've been able to make the half-hour trek every morning without fail. I love it: not only is prayer happening in a big way in our church community, but it puts me present at the school(s) every day to interact with principals, teachers, students, and neighbors. I don't think we have even begun to see the long-term benefit that this may have in our church and community as we seek God's face together. Attendance has been variable: sometimes I'm alone, some mornings we have had fifty (yes, fifty!) gathered to pray, listen, and worship. Please keep these moments of prayer in your prayers.

The other activities of the week have also started up. I have weekly devotions with the teachers at alternating schools, and I meet for chapel with the students at our two schools every other week. Monday mornings I have begun tutoring the graduating class of St. Hilda's in mathematics, since their teacher resigned this month and will not be replaced before the New Year. I also go over to San Ignacio every couple of weeks to help with music and teaching at the St. Andrew's school chapel, and I have occasionally been counseling students there with various problems. We have begun an Adult Bible Study on Wednesday 6:30 PM, and though attendance has been small it has also been consistent, and I see it as a launching point for future leadership in the church. We continue to meet for fun activities with the children of Georgeville on Thursday nights, and in the other spaces of the week I occasionally have time for friends, for books or movies, for dates, or for quiet reflection.

We've had some big days recently as well! Here in Belize the celebration of the Harvest is a big thing, and children will bring a gift into the church as first-fruits of the harvest to give thanks to the Lord in grand Englishs style. This is particularly practiced at our schools: St. Barnabas' had its Harvest celebration on October 18, and St. Hilda's on October 25th. The church is intensely decorated, and as the children process by class to the front of the church to present their gifts before the Lord, we sing traditional Harvest/Thanksgiving hymns. The gifts usually are then given for a charitable purpose. This coming Sunday we will be having a baptism, and two weeks later (November 17) we will celebrate St. Hilda's Day with food and t-shirts and (hopefully) visits from Anglican churches all around our area. And, before we know it, Christmas will be upon us!

Does this sound like a lot? It is. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that though I am getting everything done that needs being done, I do not have a lot of margin in my life. A lack of margin brings with it stress, and in my case, can make me prone not only to frustration but also to lack of communication. I need time to process what's going on in my life, and if I don't have margin I can't do it enough. So, in the last few weeks I have been making margin in my time a priority, and I have been feeling better emotionally, and physically as a result. Please pray that I continue to do this, and remind me to give you an update if I don't get to it!

Additionally, please pray that the Lord provides the financial means for me to purchase a truck or other all-terrain vehicle. Walking and taking the bus are great ways to get around, but the unreliability of transportation adds to the stress of travel and to the time needed to get from Point A to Point B. God has provided almost half (just over $2,000) of the minimum funds I need to acquire a vehicle. Please pray that he provides the rest.

And finally, please simply continue to keep me and our ministry here in your prayers. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the Devil, the Flesh, and the World, and they have begun manifesting their wrath in our community against the purpose of our Father, the purchase of the Son, and the power of the Spirit. Our victory is assured by the blood of the Lamb, but we here must persevere and overcome by giving witness to Jesus Christ, by being devoted to his Word, and by fearlessly constant in prayer. Please pray that God would come to our aid, sustain us in our fight, and make us faithful and disciplined followers of Jesus Christ.

And congratulations for making it to the end of this super-long post! Have a great week!