My experience with the country of Belize is one I will never forget. Belize is a country with a little bit of everything. The inland country is a swampy, jungle that is full of critters. The costal area is rocky, with course sand and the sea is many colors of bl

ue and green. The country has a healthy and active mosquito population that was delighted we were visiting. The people of Belize are warm and friendly but from many different nationalities including Mexican, Mayan, Chinese, American, and many more. It was fun getting to know them and experience the differences during my stay.

We had three American groups with us, a high school group from Pennsylvania, an adults group from California, and a young adult group from Florida. It was an interesting mix we had some bumps but surprisingly the groups worked well together. Our ministry included visiting children’s and youth homes, a youth detention center, inner city outreach, VBS programs, prayer walking, and downtown plaza programs. I feel as though the ministries were effective and we had some great opportunities to lead people to Christ and encourage fellow Christians. It was an exciting time of ministry to the Belizeans, mixed with visiting a few tourist destinations, and encouraging the participants as well as my co leaders.

My favorite part of the trip was visiting a youth detention center. We were the first group they had ever let visit this state run detention center. The kids in there are hardcore and the guards are members of the Belizean military. It was a rough group of people. We walked in and they had all the boys seated waiting for us. In unison they all said hello then their director welcomed us. We presented a program including worship songs, testimonies, and a brief message. The room was dead silent as they listened. We then were allowed to take the boys out to play sports. An armed guard accompanied them.

I stayed back in the meeting area because I wanted to talk with the only female guard there. She looked tough. From the time we walked in and the whole time during the program her expression never changed from a cold stare. Something about her stuck out to me and I knew I needed to talk with her. After the program I walked over to her and asked her how she was doing. She seemed surprised that I had noticed her but was friendly with me. I asked her questions about her job. It began to break the ice and the expression on her face softened.

As she talked she softened more and more until finally tears were welling in the corners of her eyes. She shared with me how hard it is to work with these boys when she feels so much like a mother to them. She has two boys around the same age and it is a struggle for her to not view them like her sons. She had so much love and compassion for them it surprised me. As she talked my heart just broke for her. The reason she is working here is because she is in the military and that is where she is stationed. Her family lives 5 hours away and she misses them greatly. She does get to visit them on the weekends and that is what drives her. I talked with her for over an hour. During our conversation I was able to encourage her and pray with her. It was definitely a Divine meeting and I am thankful God allowed me that opportunity.

My experience in Belize was not at all what I expected. My expectation was the trip would be in this wonderful, tropical paradise and every thing would work out as planed. Of course it did not work out that way. My biggest surprise was the country itself. It was not a light and wonderful paradise. It is a heavy country with lots of demonic oppression. The entire time I was there it felt like I had a ton of bricks on my back. We had to pray a lot just to make it through the days because it felt like with everything we tried we encountered resistance. I am glad for the experience and that God used me there but I am glad to be back home. Thank you for the prayers those of you who were praying they were much needed. It is because of prayer that our trip was successful.