I'm back in Belize baby!!!

Hey All,

I made it safely to Belize today. I arrived just before 3:00pm Belize time (5:00pm Toronto time). The trip was tiring. I was up at 4:00am in order to get ready and get my stuff together to be to the airport on time.
I must admit, a big part of me was hesitant to come. Part of me wished I didn't plan to come and I was regretting making the decision to come here. Mainly because there are so many people at Wycliffe who are not going to be there when I get back, and I will not be able to say good-bye properly to them. So the trip itself was not the greatest as I was feeling like I was just coming to Belize to get away from saying good-bye, to get away from feelings about finishing up my degree and transitioning into work in Edmonton. That being said, it wasn't until the plane was flying over the Caribbean Sea and over the countryside of Belize that I started to get excited. The closer we came to the ground the more detail you could see in the trees. You could see the different features of the palm trees from others. The closer we got to the ground the more excited I got. I walked through the plane and walked down the stairs onto the plane runway, the heat and humidity of Belize hit me and I felt like I had just come home, I was home!!

Lorna Sampson and her grand-daughter met me at the airport and we took a nice long drive through the city. It is a really neat experience to come back to a place that you once lived and that has become home, to see what has changed, and you make a big deal out of things that others would not. For example, consturction that was happening around Belize City has been finished and dirty, dusty, pot-holey roads are paved. I was so excited by this. A park in the middle of Belize City where a lot of homeless people took up residence has been renovated, re-painted, and now is a clean park for Belizeans to hang out, again super excited by this. The Sampson children are growing, Dawn and Ralph (Lorna's daughter and new son-in-law) are married, things have changed, God has been at work. It's wonderful a wonderful thing to witness!!!

I head to Mango Creek early tomorrow and will spend time with Ms. Lorna Longsworth and Shanton. I can't wait, it's going to be great. I will try and blog again tomorrow evening and update you on what my day entailed.

I'm so happy to be back, and completely blown away by how much Belize continues to feel like home, even after being away for a year. It's a real testament to the hospitality of the people hear and the work of the Spirit within the community!! It's going to be a GREAT week!!

In Christ,
C.