McKenzie Belize Adventure

So much has happened these last two months. Let’s start with the church dedication in Pueblo Viejo. In the pictures below you will see many of the people that arrived  by bus from surrounding villages to help dedicate this beautiful new church. We estimate that there were about 200 in people in attendance. For these people to come out and support the dedication of a new church is a big deal. First, they have to rent a private bus to take them to the church. In some cases, it could easily be a two hour bus ride. It will cost them about $5.00 each to ride the bus. If a family of 5 does this, it costs them $25. The average wage that a Mayan man makes is $76 a week. This is a real sacrifice for these precious people. It’s tradition here  to have a ribbon cutting ceremony at the entrance of the church. All the people stand outside the church, which is beautifully decorated with braided greenery, palm leafs, crepe paper and colorful balloons 🎈. First, a minister says a prayer of b...

We were blessed to be in the Harvest service at the English speaking church in Belize City, Grace and Truth Pentecostal Church.  In addition to the fruits and vegetables 🌽 there were many baked goods as well.  We brought 3 small cakes we made and was able to buy one back at the sale after the service. In that service we had visitors from three towns outside of Belize City.  They were from Corozal, Orange Walk and Hattieville. We hope to have an established work in each of those towns soon.

For those who are looking for good jokes....... We found this post at the banana farm tour and what to share it with everyone.

We wanted to do some fun things with the evangelistic team from Texas while they were here with us in Belize. One of the things we chose to do was to visit a local banana farm. The tour was very educational. We were amazed at the technology and amount of work it took to get bananas from a small starter plant to the point where they are ready to be packed and shipped. The commercial bananas grown here in Belize are shipped to the UK and Ireland. It takes 22 days for the bananas to reach these countries. During the time the bananas are being shipped, they are kept in refrigeration at 58 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that we have seen what it takes to get a banana from the farm to the store, 59 cents a pound, suddenly seems cheap. The last picture you see here is some warm, fresh out of the oven, banana chips the farm staff served us. They were absolutely delicious!

Following the Youth Extravaganza in the Toledo District, we had the Youth Extravaganza in the Stann Creek District.  Again over 200 were in attendance and 17 received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Pastor Dewayne Sims and the Texas team did a magnificent job in ministering to the young people.

We were delighted to have the evangelistic team from Morgan Texas. The group consisted of their pastor, Dewayne Sims, his wife and children, their assistant pastor, Theo Heartsill, his wife and daughter, and the Clint Murphy family. They ministered in a mighty way through preaching, teaching, music and praying with and for those that attended the Youth Extravaganza. In the second picture, the assistant pastor, Theo Heartsill, his wife, Trudy, and the missionary to Belize, Dewayne Abernathy, are praying with some of the young people. In the third picture, Pastor Sims daughter, Delayna, is praying with some of the younger girls. This fourth picture is Pastor Sims preaching the main message. The fifth picture is assistant pastor, Theo Heartsill teaching a great lesson on evangelism.

I know we women like details when it comes to things like people getting a new house 🏡. So I am going to tell you a bit more about our new place. The house is small, but charming. It’s only 600 sq ft. I know this does not qualify us to be part of the tiny house movement, but it is pretty close. When you walk in the front door you step into the living-room/kitchen area. Behind that is the bedroom and bathroom. Below the house is a small laundry room/storage area. We even have our own small fenced in yard area. The house is about 10 minutes from Placencia, a popular tourist area. Well there you are girls. Hope you appreciate the additional information. Carolyn

Finding housing in Belize has been a challenge and we took another step in finally getting long term housing.  We first stayed in a cabana on the Caribbean Sea then found a vacation rental home we called the Victoria Lookout. Getting affordable and adequate long term housing was our next step.  We know the Lord lead us to our Sunset Marina house. Coming back from the village of Placencia, Carolyn noted a sign posted on tree.  We inquired about the property and turns out to be a new house build and the owner was there. The owner was in the process of taking photos and preparing to post it online.  We found the house had what we were looking for, affordable and in a desirable area so we came to an agreement then and there.  Turns out, three other prospective tenants came by after us but the owner have agreed to let us move in.  The house is in a compound with another house which has two units in it. We found it is not unusual for multiple homes to be in a...

This past Sunday afternoon we were privileged to attend the dedication of the new church in the village of Hicattee in Southern Belize. Getting to the church was a challenge with the recent rains and poor road conditions in the village. Both the members of the church and neighboring churches helped in the construction.  There were some many people that most of them had to remain outside because there was not enough room inside. Our missionary Dwayne Abernathy delivered a message about the tale of two temples.  One which had the presence of God and one which did not. We are delighted there is a lighthouse for the village of Hicattee.  After the service, the church members served lunch to all those who came. There were a number of people from the village of San Marco who came.  As we were leaving, I found out that they came thru a shortcut thru the rainforest to get to Hicattee.

I woke up this morning and it was so cool I almost had to put a sweater on. It felt wonderful! It’s been   rainy, windy and sometimes very stormy the last several days and this has brought down the temperature and humidity quite bit. I Never thought I’d get excited about cool, cloudy weather. After several months of several 90 degree days and 90% humidity, this is so refreshing! This is my husband, Craig, building us a clothes hanging rack for our new home. We have been living in what we affectionately call “the tree house”, for about 7 months now. The owners are coming back here to escape the cold Canadian winters, so we had to find a new place to live.  Here is a picture of our new place. It’s a beautiful, new, stilt house. When you walk in the front door, to your left is the living room area and to the right is the kitchen area. Behind the living room is the bedroom and bathroom. The upstairs is a cozy 600 sq ft.  Underneath the house there is a small laund...

While we were home visiting in the states our next door neighbor, Brian, acquired a new puppy. He named him  Rover. You can tell by the puppies name that Brian is a “pet owner”not a “pet parent”. This is pretty much what Rover looks like. 🐕. I think Rover should have been named “Generic”, because he looks like 90% of the dog population in Belize. Our gardener also got himself a puppy 🐶. I don’t know what his name is, but he is stinking cute, the puppy that is. The puppy looks like he is a mix of Doberman and Rotwiller (pretty sure I spelled that wrong). This little  guy only weighs about 3 pounds and is very sweet. We were supposed to go to the Toledo District today and Sunday to do some teaching, but our car 🚗 is not running right AGAIN. We really would like to sell this car and get another vehicle, but we have have more money invested in it than we could sell it for. We are praying that God shows us what to do about this. That’s all for now dear friends. Caroly...

Yesterday was our grandson, Riley’s, birthday. He’s 8 years old now. One of the things that makes it hard to be on the missions field,  is missing milestones such as birthdays 🎂 and other special events. Compared to what many Christians are facing all over the world, this is nothing, I know. I honor those of you who are “enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”, because, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a good soldier”. 2 Tim 2:3-4. You were CHOSEN to be a solider for Christ. What a great honor! You did not choose Him, he chose you. John 15:16 says, “ You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you”... When we started this blog we had no idea that so many people from so many other countries would be reading it. This has caused me to have a great sense of responsibility in what we write in this blog. I know many of you are Acts 2:38 born again believers, and I’m guessing some of you ...

We want to welcome two new countries to those that are following our blog. For their safety, we will not mention their names, but please know we are thrilled to have you following us and we pray that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the one, true, living God, blesses and keeps you. If you have been following our blog, you know that we have recently returned from a visit to the states. Liz was able to come along also, as the Airlines was offering special rates for female lizards 🦎. Below is Liz eating her first meal in a Chinese restaurant by our home church. Eli, our youngest grandson is sharing his “chicken on a stick” with her. Liz loved it! While we were staying at our son, Brandon’s, house, the boys decided to show Liz how to play video games. Much to Liz’s delight, Eli, had bought a new friend for her to hang around with while in the States. Liz said she really liked having someone her own size for once. Unless you are considerate and hold her up to your face w...

We were in the village of Armenia recently teaching a Sunday school class.  Meanwhile the men were  busy thatching a roof on the structure next to the church.  It is quite the event to see so many working together to accomplish this task.

We were delighted to be with the children in the village of Armenia.  It is such a special time to be with this children and young people.

We were invited to teach a Sunday school class in the village of Armenia recently.  There were about 28 children present. Some of the children were from the church families and many were just from the village.  We taught of being baptized in Jesus name.  We had the children each make their own friend from a clothes pin, colored pipe cleaner and marker.  Each child had the opportunity to baptized their ‘friend’ in Jesus name. All the children were respectful and happy to participate.

I just wanted to say a quick and heartfelt "Welcome" to the new readers of our blog. We are thrilled that we have some new friends from the following countries. . . Brazil Mongolia Ecuador Thailand Spain We pray that you enjoy reading this blog as much as we enjoy writing it. If you would care to leave a comment or would like to ask us a question, we would love to hear from you. God bless you dear friends, Carolyn

As you can see from the title of this blog, we have returned to Belize after a 3-1/2 weeks stay in the USA.  We had a wonderful visit with our friends and family. Most of that time we stayed with my sister, Donna,aka, Martha Stewart, and my brother in law, Marvin. She spoiled us! My room had a wide screen tv and Air Conditioning! Donna always had something yummy and fatting made up for us. I will not report my weight gain while staying at their house. The stinky part about that was,while I was gaining, she was losing weight. She even made my husband gluten free, fatting goodies. I think she is in cahoots with Weight Watchers.  But then I also think dentists created Halloween. When not staying at Donna's house, we stayed with my son, Brandon, and his family. This includes Brandon's four children, my daughter in law, Laura, and Clair Ann, their cat. I think Clair loves us even more than our grandkids because EVERY night we spent there, she spent most of it trying to get into o...

First off, I want to apologize, once again, because it has been so long since our last blog post. So much has happened since we last posted. We have returned to the States for a brief visit home. Craig's Dad has stage 4 bone cancer and is in the early stages of dementia. Because of this, we felt it was a good time to come home so that Craig could visit with his father while he was still able. Craig's mother needed him to stay with his father a couple of times while I took her to some important doctors visits. We were glad to be able to help them out in this small way and it gave both Craig and his father some quality time together. They ate together, played cards, chatted and watched football. A typical father/son day. We dearly love these precious people and we are so glad to have this time with them. Of course, while we are home, we are trying to visit with as many close friends and family as time allows. My sister, Donna, has graciously opened up her beautiful home to us...

I was checking our blog this morning and I noticed that we have some new friends viewing it. We want to say hello and welcome to our new friends in Jamaica and Slovenia. If you would like to leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you. The same goes for anyone else reading our blog. It would be great to get a message from you and find out who is out there, hopefully, enjoying the blog. We suspect some of you are UPCI missionaries, and others are friends and family. Again, we sure would like to hear from you and find out who you are. God Bless you all, Carolyn

Life can be lonely on the mission field. If you have read our early blogs, you know we 'had' a kitten named Bobby. Bobby was a very affectionate kitten and I loved cuddling and playing with him. But Bobby is a feral cat. If you know anything about feral cats they are of a necesssity, very independent. The older Bobby got the less he let me cuddle and play with him. He would still come by to be feed, but this too became less frequent. He only comes about twice a week now. I really missed Bobby's companionship and gave serious thought to getting a puppy or kitten. But considering we have a very large croc in the canal next to our yard, this did not seem prudent. Then along came Liz and my desire to have a pet was fulfilled. We had a small house for sale (by small, I mean 8 inches by 5 inches) on our property and Liz came by to see it. Liz fell in love with this darling house. I mean, isn't it every females desire to have a sweet house with a white picket fence? As a b...

When I lived in the states my clothing style was very average, nothing special. But here among the Mayan Indians I am one spiffy dresser, a trend setter even. We are in the Rainy Season here, and almost very night we have huge rain storms with lots of thunder and lighting. (Have I mentioned we live in a metal roof house?) Because it rains almost every night, the dirt roads here don't get a chance to dry out. Below is a picture of the "road" to our church. It is just a dirt path big enough for a vehicle. This Sunday was no different  and brings me to my original point of being a fashion trend setter here. Because the "road" was nothing but deep sticky mud we felt there was a chance the truck we were driving may get stuck on our way into the church and that we may have to get out and walk part of the way into the church. Plus, the ground all around the church was also soaked and muddy. Usually I wear sandals to church, but I knew this would never do if we ...

We just finished having Children's Revival Services in three different churches. They were all well attended. The last church we were in there was about 125 kids present. Every time I looked out the door, another truck load of kids was being dropped off at the door. We began the services with fun action songs for the kids. We were able to use Dwayne's projector to show the action songs on a sheet hung over a chalk board or pulpit. This was a big deal to these children since they don't have access to this kind of entertainment very often. Then our Evangelist, Andy Gregg, presented the message to the kids. His focus was, "Jesus Loves You". He explained to them that they could have a personal relationship with Jesus even though they were just children. He also explained to them that they could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. As a result, 26 children and 3 adults received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so touching to see these little ones with their ha...

Some things that happen in our lives are only funny after the fact and IF they turn out all right. The following story falls into that category. If you read our last blog, you know that Dwayne and Linda were in Guatemala for a conference. Craig and I do our laundry at their house to avoid using my Suzy Homemaker washing machine. (You can read about that in a previous blog). While waiting on our laundry to finish, Craig decided to play a game of kick ball with Abernathy's little dog, Sam. Sam loves to play kick ball more than anything else in the world. Craig and Sam were having a great time when Craig kicked the ball to Sam and it knocked off the outdoor water pipe attached to the garden hose. The pipe fitting was old and off it flew with water gushing everywhere! The water shut off valve is in a locked utility room outside. Fortunately, the lock had not been closed all the way and Craig was able to get in and shut off the main water valve. He had to make two trips to the hardwar...