Hello all from Copperbanks only 5-star hotel, let us rephrase that...Copperbanks only hotel.
So this is our second attempt at writing an update the first one was done but you know with this wonderful internet connection we have here we lost it so here we go again. This is Ryan and Andy.. So yesterday we went to Corozal with Artemio to get supplies for VBS and supplies for the crazy white people sleeping in tents working on a foundation. With us in the truck that doesnt look like its been cleaned in 5 years was Eric ( 16 yr old boy) and his parents and little sister. He had to go to the hospital to get his cast taken off his leg so we just took him there. While all of the men in our group work on random stuff in this hot weather the women swim in the pool and lay in hammocks.. isnt life just grand.. so going to Corozal requires us to crossa ferry and like 1ft deep muddy roads that we barely got through. Andy and I turned the gear on the ferry to make it go across the river. When isay that i mean that Andy did most of the work having to turn it twice as hard while i just looked like i had muscle haha giggle giggle chuckle<---the chuckle was Andy cuz he's a man ahahah. Corozal is a beautiful place.. well when you stay in copperbank for a couple of days every other place looks beautiful. After we got back we all walked around and saw the village and went to Marcos and Blanco's house. She wanted a coconut so she gave me a machetti while Andy lifted me up in attempt to cut a coconut down..that didn't go so well because I fell off but luckily neither of us got hurt. Blanco ended up just having to get the coconut herself haha.. Then we ate a delicious meal prepared by Artemios wife Noemi.
After lunch we had to go through a really really reallllllly hhoooootttt day of VBS and for some reason they are an hour longer each day which is just fun=). Well for me it was just because I'm in charge of games and we did water games the whole time.. everyone got soaked..mostly because of me dumping buckets of water on people but oh well. It's just been a stuggle for us because we had 101 kids yesterday and we have a shortage of materials.. but that doesnt really effect me.. haha kate (she's in charge of crafts=)). 16 kids got saved yesterday as well which is awesome yay! Praise the Lord!
One funny story from the flights to get to Belize was Ryan trying to get his didgeridu(4' long hollow stick-australlian instrument)on to the plane. In moline he got pulled aside and patted down by TSA. He also proceeded to tell whoever was listening that it was a weapon of mass destructrion. He got many interesting looks from people in the airports also. The best was when we where in Atlanta boarding the plane and the guy that takes the tickets, who was of jamaican decent, asked him "whats with the stick man".
Okay so now for a personal recap of what we've expirienced this week. I (ryan) have been viciously attacked by a taranchula while mowing, eaten to death by bugs, and now Todd and Ana are going to give me away to teen mission ( crazy white people from Florida sleeping in tents and building a foundation and now all of them are sick except for 12 of 30). So to tell you about Copperbank.. a stop sign to them is the word stop spary painted on a pole... Speed limits do not exist here either there are just a billion speed bumps everywhere.. but you can barely tell the difference between the normal road and speed bumps because the roads are so bad.. but for the most part i like it here..even though its a huge change in society and technology its been a good experience to see how God is working in every place throughout the world i mean even in places like this you can plainly see he is working in peoples lives.. oh and if you think that monmouth is small check out Belize you'll start to be thankful for everything you have.. like hot showers, electricity, clean water, air conditioning, cars, fast food, good internet service, and i could keep going on and on and on..so this is really making me look at the stuff i have in my life i could do without and just be so thankful for everthing..so i'm just gona stop cuz i could go on forever.. i love you mommy and i heart jesus!.. here's andy.
This is actually Andy typing...you should be able to tell by the abscence of teenage slang! This week is flying by and hard to imagine we only have 2 days of VBS left. As ryan mentioned the VBS is longer then we are used to at home and is also in 105 degree heat, but it has been a great experience. The kids are great and treat you like you've been a friend for years. I've got 5 boys in my group that i've gotten a chance to know very well. They are enthusiastic and fun to be around, just like my boys at home. I just hope that I can have as much of an effect on them as they have had on me. There are a few things that I'll never forget about my trip to to Copperbank. One would be how the kids pronounce my name "Ondy", another would be the openess of Artemio's family. They open up their house throughout the year to anybody. It is the busiest place in town after 6 pm. Artemio is a great people person and his "open house" is just part of his ministry.
ryan & andy...