Happy Canada Day!

First of all Happy Canada Day!! It's defintely weird being in Belize while so many friends and family are celebrating Canada Day!! I decided to treat myself to some Canadian food for lunch. A little beef and french fries!! It was wonderful!! Last week was probably one of the busiest weeks I've had since arriving in Belize. Between work and play I tired myself right out, but was able to experience a lot of the culture and ministry of Belize!

Thursday, June 26:
I hopped an Express Bus from Mango Creek to Belize City at 7:00am. I was a bit tired as I didn't get much sleep the night before so figured that I could catch some z's on the bus. It was a fixed up Greyhound so I knew the seats would be comfortable. Forgot that the bus was air conditioned and froze my buns off the entire way to Belize. As little request to anyone who I may end up riding with upon my return to Canada, can we please cool the vehicle off by opening the windows.....we can introduce air conditioning back into my life, but I think we need to take it slow :) Anyway, apart from the coolness of the ride it was great, and short, because it's express, it doesn't stop as often on the highway as the regular buses.
I arrived in Belize City at 11:00am, had just enough time to run to the Sampson's house, have a quick shower and get to the Diocesan Office for a Clergy Meeting that Bishop Wright had arranged to have before his departure for the Lambeth Conference. The meeting ended up being just under 4 hours, as we had a lot to cover. It was so wonderful to finally meet some of the other clergy of the Diocese, and was a huge eye opener to me. For the entire Diocese here there are less than 20 clergy persons. About 12 of us were able to make it to the meeting. I was the youngest person at the meeting by about 25 years. In the last couple of months I have realized that the country of Belize may look small on a map, but is actually quite large. With 5 districts to look after the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese have done an incredible job. But you could tell that, the number of clergy that they have right now just isn't enough. One of the Canons who lives in Dangriga about an hour north of Mango Creek looks after 5 different parishers. So needless to say I was blown away at the lack of clergy that they have down here, while at the same time blown away at the leadership that the clergy has undertaken and the faith that they have. Being able to sit in on the meeting was a great experience. The Bishop discussed the vision of the Diocese, that is how the church can be a more unified church in the larger community. He envisions the church acting out this mission and vision by being a "Christ-centered, spirit-filled, vibrant, and growing community." As I listened to him lead his reflection on his vision for the Diocese and listened to some of the presentations by some of the clergy on how they are working at meeting this vision I couldn't help but hear the passion in their voices, and the excitement they had to be a more unified church. Bishop Wright and the clergy in the Diocese are certainly embracing the vision by being allowing their leadership and ministry to be Christ-centered, spirit-filled, vibrant and growing. I envision wonderful things for the Diocese and hope to see with time, more clergy in this Diocese.
During the meeting I also met for the first time Rev. Ruth Lambert. I had met her husband Father Malcolm on my first Sunday here. They are serving in Belmopan (St. Anne's and Anglican Theological Institute) for the next 3 years. They are originally from England. They arrived in Belize about a month before I did, so are still in the process of settling in here. It was so lovely to meet her, she is such a warm, gentle, hospitable woman. We had a wonderful chat and she and Malcolm invited me to spend an day and evening with them at their home with the hopes that we might be able to chat about our experiences thus far. We have plans to meet in a couple of weeks after Mango Creek's VBS is up. I'm really looking forward to it!!

Friday, June 27:
I stayed in Belize City at the Sampson overnight, and hung out at their place for the day. Earlier in the week Lorna's daughter Dawn, who I have become good friends with asked me if I would like to make a trip out to Caye Caulker with her as she was asked to judge the Miss LobsterFest 2008 Pagaent there. The LobsterFest committee put us up in a beautiful hotel. All we had to pay for was our plane ticket and meals. I jumped at the opportunity. I've seen pagaents on t.v. but never in real life, and I was curious as to how different the pagaents would be in Belize. They aren't much different. Less technology, but they basically shadow what you would see on the Miss U.S.A pagaents on t.v. just with younger and less contestants. It was a great experience however, as one of the competitions that the girls had to do was a skit about what the appreciate and like most about the culture in Caye Caulker and Belize. Many of the girls talked about the easy going attitude of the people, and acted out how they grandparents would teach them how to cook, or crack open a cocunt or make baskets or hammocks....and other survival methods that their ancestors would have had to be good at. It was actually quite educational for me.
We arrived back to our hotel and I decided to jump into the shower before heading to bed. It's a routine I've made for myself as going to be with wet hair keeps me cool at night. Whlie in Canada I was a master at taking short showers. I could be in and out in 10 minutes tops. And here at the rectory there isn't hot water, so my ability to take quick showers has come in handy on cool evenings. I think the shower I took on Friday night may have been the longest shower I've taken in my life. It was the hottest shower ever. I was in heaven. Definitely sang a lot and ended up enjoying the warmth of the water and the pressure of the water for half an hour. The bathroom was steamy after I got out. It was the first hot shower I had had in two months.....it was amazing!!! (*sigh*) However, upon my return back to Mango Creek, it was nice to have a cold shower waiting for me in the evening as it's been a bit hot the last couple of days.....it was nice to come home to that familiarity!!

Saturday, June 28:
Dawn, Diroune and I woke up early, and headed out for a nice breakfast in Caye Caulker before I had to hop on the plane to make my way to Stann Creek District. I was scheduled to depart from the Caye at 11:00 however my flight was delayed an hour. And the connecting flight that I was supposed to catch in Belize City was to leave at 12:00. The laid back attitude of the Caribbean is officially starting to rub off on me. Two months ago I would have been freaking out, and on Saturday I just sat around, and waited for my plane. The men at the airstrip kept apologizing for the delay and my only response to them was, "No worries." It's a phrase I've been using a lot down here. I got to Belize City, and found that the 12:00 flight from Belize City was also delayed so I was able to catch the flight I had reserved under and got to Stann Creek District around the time I had originally planned. I picked up a box of bread and flour that had been left for me to bring down to Mango Creek. On Thursday, there was another storm that brought a tremendous amount of rain into the Stann Creek District. It flooded Sittee River again, so the temporary road was demolished and they need to rebuild it. So once again the south is disconnected from the north and we are beginning to see the effects that the loss of the bridge has created. Prices of food have gone up tremendously and bread, flour and rice continue to be scarce.
From Mango Creek I boated over to Placencia, put my things away and headed to the beach to enjoy my first ever LobsterFest. Two good friends of mine from Placencia, Shelley and Joseph, made me feel very at home. We enjoyed a couple of drinks together, sat on the beach while listening to Caribbean Music, the waves of the Sea and the conversations around us. It was a great great time. Lots of fun games for everyone to participate in and watch. I think my favourite was the stuffed Tuna throwing contest.

Sunday, June 29:
I woke up bright and early and headed over to St. John's to lead them in a Deacon's Mass and then boated to Mango Creek to lead them in worship. I love Sundays here. It's always so wonderful to worship with the folks here. You can't help but sense the presence of Christ among them. They are such a faithful group of people. Their hospitality is amazing and I am always so blown away at their eagarness to share that hospitality and their love of Christ with the people that they meet.
After the services, I headed back to Placencia to eat my first serving of Lobster ever. I decided to go with the Fritters. I loved them!!! I love Lobster!!! I can't wait to eat it again!!! During the day a woman came up to me to ask me if I would like to buy a raffle ticket. I decided it wouldn't hurt, signed my name on the piece of paper and my phone number. She looked at my name and said, "oh you're Chelsy! I've been reading your blog!" My computer books marks websites that mention Placencia. It was so neat to meet someone who I didn't know before coming here who's been keeping up with my journey, and who lives just across the Lagoon!! It's amazing how in a world that is so large and diverse, God still manages to find ways of connecting you to people in ways you didn't think possible.

Monday, June 30:
Bishop Wright made plans to travel down to Mango Creek before leaving for Lambeth on July 2nd. I met him at the airstrip and we made our way to St. Michael's where we talked about how I was doing and feeling about the internship. And if there was anything that I needed. We talked about struggles that I have been having both with the isolation of the internship, but also with some of the issues in the parish that I have become aware of and how some of those issues, (which were issues before I got here, just for the record) have challenged me in my internship. Bishop Wright and I both discussed the potential that we see the community of St. Michael's and Mango Creek to have. I think that we can both see God doing wonderful things in this community in the near future, and I hope that after I leave and after I've planted the seed that I have been sent to plant that God will continue to nurture the community and send to them a leader who can support and encourage them in their already strong ministry. As always, it was a very affirming meeting with the Bishop. He is a wonderful man with a strong faith, and love of the church. His vision for the Diocese is in my opinion a wonderful vision and the Diocese of Belize and Anglican Communion is so blessed to have him as a leader in the Church. He assured me that the work I was doing here was impacting peoples lives as young children would ride past the rectory and wave like crazy and call out my name in the middle of our meeting!! I really do hope to come back here regularly and continue to work closely with this Diocese. The Diocese of Belize and the people here, have a very special place in my heart!! I'm so thankful that God has called me here this summer to minister with the communities down here. I have seen the light of Christ in people and in ways I was oblivious to in Canada. And continue to be introduced to ministry in a new light that I have been oblivious to in Canada. God is definitely opening my eyes to see him present in so much down here. I'm excited to continue to be witness to the work of Christ in the community through the next month!!!

I ask that you continue to keep the residents of the Stann Creek District in your prayers. Tropical Storm Arthur really hit us bad, and it hit us early, and has basically determined what our Hurricane Season is going to look like. Construction on any means of bridge or road across the river cannot begin until the water levels decrease, and in Hurricane Season, Tropical Storms are expected and they often bring a lot more rain than hurricanes. Please continue to pray for the communities who were and continue to be affected by the floods. Pray that they will be able to rebuild their lives and homes soon. Pray for the people who were not immediately affected by the floods and who are beginning to see the after affects of it through lack of resources. Pray that God will provide us with comfort, peace, patience and care for one another.
Also continue to pray for the parish of St. Michael and All Angels, as we prepare to offer VBS to the children in the village. Pray that we may portray the love of Christ to the children who attend and that the children may know tht love through our actions and our lives!!