December 31, 2017 - Commissioning - Leaving for Belize on Friday January 5th

Commissioning service today. Very nice send off! Rev. Parsons did a great job. 

Today we were presented with a cross made of wood from Tennessee and wood from Belize.

There are also pieces of desk tops from the school in Los Tambos. It is a beautiful piece

made by Don Grogran. 

We are very blessed to have the opportunity to to be the hands and feet of God in Belize. 

Belize mission trip 2018

Here are a couple pics inside
the house where we are staying.
This looks like it should work very
well.





2018 

We may have to do a little work on the window treatments.

Our trip is VERY close now! We will be commissioned tomorrow and leave on Friday.
Packing is just about finished and with a few last minute details to wrap up we will be on
our way.
I have been in the countdown mode since we made our reservations in March. We are excited
and so thankful for the prayers and support from our friends and congregation.

PROJECTS CONTINUE THROUGH THE YEAR

BUENA VISTA  - The ladies have been making shopping bags for market and small coin purses. 

Lots of pretty colors and designs. It's nice to see their finished projects. I can do that thanks to FB Messenger. I see what they do every week. I can also help them if they have a problem.

Some of the ladies have made purses decorating them with
lace and buttons donated by our
church family.

  PLANS IN PLACE FOR 2018

We now have tickets for Belize 2018.

We will be leaving January 5th 2018, at 5:52AM  

 Coming home on April 5th at 8:08PM

We are excited to be flying out of Knoxville!

This house will be our home base for the 3 months we are in Belize.  

 We will have electric, hot and cold water and a bed. 

Farmer's Trading Center is about
10 minutes away. We are about 30 minutes away from the market place and the church in
San Ignacio.






We are excited! 
A very long list of what we hope to accomplish during the 3 months we will be there.

Proverbs 19:21 -  Many are the plans in a persons heart
but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

BACK HOME AND PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR

ALMOST 14 WEEKS THAT WE HAVE BEEN BACK 

Hard a work is Magdalena doing the
cutting and Yolanda assisting.
I told them they need to smile on the
next picture.We will see..........

Everyone is still working away in Belize.The ladies in  LosTambos are busy making school uniforms. 

This is an interesting journey. 

four ladies who speak very little English, myself who speaks very little Spanish. Trying to coordinate the all the supplies needed for fabrication AND  ordering and paying for it. Getting the order placed and paid for took 6 weeks. Hopefully now that we've been there once it will get easier. 

We are so happy to have the ladies working on uniforms for the children.
They will someday soon be able to make and sell the uniforms to
others so they can earn money.

Tuesday February 7, 2017

I don't think we could have fit anything else into the day! Whew!

Preschool in Unitedville In His Will.
This is what we did first thing in the morning! Sharing the love.  We handed out quilts that Joe's aunt and uncle made. We also had dresses and shorts that were made by Grandma's PJs. The children loved them! These wonderful people put a lot of work into their projects and it is our honor to get to deliver them. We also get all the hugs.

People think that Belize is warm all the time. The nights can get very cool during this time of year.


At the end I got the BEST group hug ever!

Here we are in Buena Vista. We are having the ribbon cutting for the Buena Vista sewing group.

Norma is the one with the scissors and her assistants are Ester on her left and Alba on the right.

This is a great group they are all so talented. God has given them gifts and they are willing to share with the community. 

The ribbon cutting party then back to work....................................

 We made 8 quilts and they were so proud! They never thought that they had the ability to accomplish such a project.  We have four Singer Heavy Duty machines thanks to the generosity of many people. There are no words to tell you  what this opportunity means to them. Please keep them in your prayers that they will  seek God's guidance  We hope to grow this group each year adding a few new students.  The girls have a list of projects to do over the next year which should keep them busy and on track. We have also come up with a list of goals.

Still Tuesday.............

Finished up in Buena Vista and back to the mission house to clean up the Jeep and pack. Wednesday morning we left for the airport at 7:30am, an uneventful trip home! Thank you Jesus!

 I am writing this post from my rocking chair in Knoxville.

As I said earlier there are no words to explain the blessings and joy we have had through the past three weeks. God is so good! We are honored to be the hands and feet of this work.

Thank you all so much for each and every donation and prayer for the Threads of Hope Ministry. 

Sunday February 5, 2017

Another day of rain! Here we are again.

                                                    Clothes dries..............somewhat.

It was a quiet day....................lots of rain!!!!

Church in the morning and lunch afterward at the ElDorado where Otillia works.

Cleaning up getting things staged to go home and watched the Super Bowl.

Monday February 6, 2017

Wow what a day! It was full! Out to LosTambos for the ribbon cutting on the water filter system.

Celebration Day!!!  On Monday everyone gathered and we dedicated the new filter system. Filtered and cleaner water for everyone.  Five of the boys from Std 6 learned the process of backwashing and will take control of this regular process.  Five more from Std 5 will observe and be ready to take control of this process next year.

Ms. Lily cut the ribbon at the dedication.

Four of our LosTambos sewing group completed 10 uniform shirts. These were donated to the school to give children uniforms who do not have them. Rose is the group leader and they will continue to make shirts. They are now working on the skirts and are doing a great job. We are very proud of them and all they have accomplished.

Rose is showing her apron, towels and pot holders that she made in class.We worked mostly on projects that could be finished in one day.

 LosTambos school gave us t shirts with a picture of all the students.

 Daisy is peeking out the window at her house trying to stay out of the rain.

Jungle workroom doesn't work as well when it is raining! Makes everything a little humid.

In spite of all the issues Rosanna completed her quilt and is ready to move on to the next quilt.

Saturday February 4, 2017

AMEN!

 Here is what happens when it rains all day on Laundry Day. Your laundry becomes the room decorations for the evening. Needless to say it's a little humid in our room right now.

Joe and Mark worked on the Palapa house in Los Tambos in the morning securing the ceiling beams. After a few years the beams get rotten so a little reinforcing adds a couple years of life.

 This will allow a few more years of use before major renovation is needed. Hopefully reworked with trusses and a zinc roof.

Saturday evening was dinner at Hodies with the teachers of Los Tambos.

Fun way to end the evening. 

Wenesday Morning  - LosTambos  Today we are making pot holders!

The girls pointed out that so far everything we made had to do with the kitchen.

Not sure what that is about. 

 Flory and Leydi working on the cut out for their pot holders.

 Here they are!! They found a new way to exhibit their pot holders.

We may work but there is nothing that says we can't have fun too.

At the end of the day they are still smiling! That'sa good sign.

Thursday  back to Buena Vista

Joe and his new little buddy Natalie. She is the Buena Vista cookie monster. Natalie is wearing one of the dresses from the GrandMa's PJ Collection. She is the daughter of one of our students. Sweet little one, she helps Joe pick up the trash  around the community center yard. 

Friday, we had an extra day of sewing this afternoon. Our 3 machines will be delivered tomorrow! FINALLY!

We are trying to finish up quilts so we will have one more full day on Tuesday. There will be a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the Community center in recognition of the Buena Vista Threads of Hope sewing group. 

 This young lady is very close to putting the fill on her quilt and the backing. We have had some cool nights so everyone is anxious to finish them to use.

It was time to leave at 2:00, they were still there at 4:30, we told them they didn't have to go home but they did have to leave. It's nice that they want to stay and sew. Hoping they keep that up.

Today is Friday February 3, our 25th wedding anniversary so we had a nice night out with Carmen and Faye.

Tomorrow back to LosTambos so Joe and Mark can fix the palapa hut roof. I am going to set up Mrs. Miranda's sewing machine and get her started on a few new projects.

Tomorrow is also laundry day! Can't quite get used to this "no dryer" nothing ever drys here. 

  We completed the installation of the filter system today . . . . and NO LEAKS!!  We have two faucets on the outside for the kids to use and one on the inside.  A pre-filter has been added to help clean things up before the final filter.  We also have added a shower at the request of Ms Lily.
  Tomorrow we plan to demonstrate the back-wash procedure to the teachers and the older students.  Our plan is to make the older students responsible for the periodic backwash.
   On Monday we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony as part of the morning assembly.  Ms. Lily will be the recipient of the first glass of water from the system.  We hope this is just the first step to filtered and purified water for the community.  What a great thing to be  part of!!

 This is Monday morning in our out
door work room at Rosanna's house.
It was a little chilly that morning. During the night we had rain so there was mud and water everywhere. We are helping Rosanna get her quilt ready to put together. I think she is in a hurry to use it. The wind was blowing and it was hard to keep the squares on the table but we did get a lot finished.

I have never felt so blessed and humbled and so in awe of God's hand in the lives of these beautiful people of the villages.

This is the dining room of Chad and Stephanie. They are suppliers for all chefs on the coast and in Belmopan. There are herbs and greens in this collection. They also sell chocolate ( excellent chocolate) It was a fun evening with Chad, Stephanie and their children. Do you notice a trend here? Really we do more than eat good food. 

 Stephanie prepared a large salad and some excellent chili. Dessert was samples of chocolate bars!

Here we are back sewing today at Buena Vista. The ladies are basting the small squares together to make the rows for their quilts.  We are hard a work to get finished before it is time for us to leave. 

 This young ladies name is Jenny. Jenny has never seen a sewing machine that runs on electric. Her first comment was that "it is just like magic" She has never seen anything other than a treadle machine that her grandmother used. Unfortunately we have had problems getting the machines we have ordered. We only have one machine right now for 8 ladies. There were suppose to be here when we arrived. No one seems to know what the hold up is. We are saying prayers that they will get them delivered before we leave. Jenny and the other ladies have never had an opportunity like this. They are overwhelmed with the generosity of people who don't even know them. Some of the ladies  were crying. I think I was one of them when I saw how they reacted. They were so appreciative.

Saturday afternoon, the guys hard at work remodeling the book shelf so the TV can fit. Job well done!

Sunday morning church with Carmen and Faye then off to Duck Run 1 to find Otillia. Two years
ago we gave Otillia a machine to use but when we came back this year she had moved away. A few days ago Otillia saw Mr. Joe at the Farmer's trading center and gave him her phone number so we
could come to visit and see all the things she had sewn! Wow it was so good to see her again and
see all that she has accomplished. We had the machine cleaned up and we will return it to her before
we leave. It is so good to see ladies making such good use of the machines. Otillia is now working at a restaurant in Duck Run called El Dorado,which is where we had lunch there yesterday. Great food!

This is the ferry near Duck Run .We didn't use the ferry but maybe next time.

Sunset last evening, we were on our way out to dinner with Carmen &Faye at their friends house. This picture was taken across the fence at the mission house. The blue house is inhabited with extremely noisy people.