Maria's sister Maria

It may seem like I am making up the fact that every woman we are in touch with here is either named Maria or Anna but I am not! :) Those two names are some of the most common within both the Mennonite and Spanish speaking people here.
I blogged a few months ago about little Maria who used to work for the elderly woman who owns this house. She has worked here for 15 years and even now comes about every other week to weed and keep up on the house. She lives in an outlying village called San Marcos which is about a 5 or 10 minute drive from here. Since we are located at the end of the dirt road which leads to San Marcos, (little) Maria parks her bike here at the house in order that the Mennonite ladies she works for can pick her up. We have really enjoyed getting to know her. We have driven her home many times.. not wanting her to ride her bike in the pouring down rain. The children were shocked at first to see how (little) Maria lives.. chickens running through their outdoor kitchen and living area.. no electricity and 6 people living in a shelter about the size of a shed. Now it is all familiar as we have been visiting many times now. Recently we had the opportunity to go and sing for (little) Maria's sick father at the house. Jim and Jake were able to come with us also. We were able to sing for him as well as pray for the Lord to heal him and deliver him from his pain. I was very grateful that the children did so well even though it was growing dark when we got there.. the small room where he lives was almost pitch dark except for one candle.. we all sang our hearts out to the Lord for this feeble man. Everyone was crying actually.. it was one of those special moments which has made this whole difficult path worth the while..
While we were there we discovered that (little) Maria's sister.. named Maria (!) has been suffering from severe headaches to the point of blacking out. She had a perscription which they could not afford to fill. Thanks to the donations from the States, we were able to return the next day with medication and a small amount of groceries. The sick Maria was so apprciative. She told us that the Lord was encouraging her so much just from us coming to visit her and helping them. She cried and thanked us so many times.. just for caring. I do not say that to glorify us in any way.. it is just amazing how much it means to others when we all just take the time to reach out a bit.. we can all do that, right? You see, our Maria works for $25 per day to provide for her family, her elderly mother and father and her sister and her children. It just has not been enough to provide the necessities for all three families. A story we are hearing all too often. Please pray for wisdom again as to maybe how we can help them figure out a small cottage industry which would provide for their family. And please pray that they would be encouraged to press on in their difficult situation. None of us can imagine the heartache of watching our children go to bed hungry. Lord give us all a heart for the poor.

James 2:5. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

Maria's Home

Kelly, Maria and Maria

(little) Maria's daughter

Xunantunich

Xunantunich {Shoo-nan-two-nich} is located across the river from San Jose Succotz where our friend Anna's house is, just a few miles from Belize's western border. The tallest point of the pyramid offers an impressive Panoramic view of the Belize's Cayo District and nearby Guatemala.

The river which runs along side Succotz is absolutely beautiful. There is a one-car hand crank ferry which carries vehicles and passengers to the entrance of Xunantunich.


After arriving on the park side of the river, Grady went to start the van and it began making a horrible noise. Upon inspection he discovered that the starter was just hanging there! The roads are so rough here many cars just rattle apart! :) They were able to nurse the car off the ferry and onto the side of the road. After throwing out a few options.. We decided to limp the car one mile to the ruins, let it cool off and try to tighten the starter then. Thankfully after we toured the park and the engine had cooled off enough, Grady was able to hand tighten the starter back where it belonged and we did indeed make it all the way home that night in one piece!

First glimpses of the ruins.

This was one of the smaller structures. Here at the top you can see Grady, Ryan and Grant

This rounded part of one spire amazed us.. rounded? Much planning and ingenuity went into the building of this amazing place.

Mandy heads up the stairs onto a plateau



Laura and I hung out in the grass while the others started the climb up the largest pyramid, El Castillo, which rises 130 feet above the main plaza.

Jim and Jake start climbing the largest pyramid



Now what is this? As I settle myself on to the grass and the others set off to climb the high tower, we see three men with machine guns.. hmm I just hoped that these guys are *supposed* to be here! After a few uncomfortable moments on my part, I just prayed and started talking and asking them questions.. it took about one minute to realize that they indeed were perfectly harmless. They were Belizean military men who were posted there to guard the tourists from being robbed by guerrillas. That was comforting... Kind of! Actually we ended up having such an amazing half hour talk about the Lord. Both men were struggling with things spiritually and were asking me what my husband and I thought about this.. and what does the Bible say about that?.? I get teary eyed just thinking about that half hour! When the rest of the crew joined me again, these 2 soldiers asked if Grady would pray for them. We all stood in a circle and prayed for these men and their needs. Spiritually and physically. Truly the Lord did a work in their hearts that I was privileged enough to stand back and watch. Isn't it incredible what God can do if we just open our mouths and let the Lord speak? We do serve a mighty and glorious Lord!



This was taken from above, about half way up the stairs. The others were only mildly alarmed by the scene below. Notice the nice Mennonite-looking lady with her cute baby toward the center of the photo.. and the scary guys with machine guns in the left side of the photo!

Gracie at the top!

It is a mighty way down!

Um, did anyone notice that there are no guard rails here?

An amazing view in all directions

On top of the world

Doesn't this look surreal? This is such a lovely place! We would highly recommend Xunantunich if you ever find yourself in Belize. One of our favorite touristy places yet!

One more photo of Mark. Here he is writing down our address in order to send us an invitation to his upcoming wedding. What a special day today! Thank you Lord for family and friends.. and for your protection; for lovely blue-sky days, and the ability to spread your gospel and take in your breathtaking creation.

Village Life

This precious family consists of three adult sisters who are unmarried, raising their own children as well as their deceased sister's children. In addition the elderly mother also lives here. So two women raising and caring for 8 children and their older mother. One of the sisters travels to Belmopan, close to one hour and a half by bus, looking for work. Most weeks they have only 2 days worth of income to survive on.. $50 Belize.

We first met them a few days after we arrived in country. Anna, her sister and Anna's son Rudy came here to the house, asking if they could pick our mangos. At that point, we didn't even know those mango trees were on the property of 'our' home! Of course we said yes but could they pick us a few also? :) The two sisters showed up again a few weeks ago, asking if we could spare any used clothing for their children. After some prodding, we found out that they did not have any food in the home. We did the best we could to send them off with a few provisions but they continued to be laid on our hearts.

A request went out and we want to thank all of you who donated to our Help-A-Family fund. Rudy's family was one of those families who we have been able to help, thanks to you. If you would like to donate for further support you can email us at libertyjoyforme@gmail.com and we can give you the paypal address for a tax-deductible donation. We would appreciate your prayers as we seek the Lord for wisdom on how to help these dear ladies start a cottage industry that will provide for them, long term.

We head down the path to Rudy and Anna's house. We were able to distrubute warm blankets, socks, clothing, rice, beans and a little money all in Jesus name. We know that their greatest need is spiritual. We were able to pray with them. A few do not attend church and one of the ladies attends the Catholic church. They need Jesus.


We approach the front door with a bit of hesitation.. but we soon saw Anna's familiar face who graciously invited us in for a visit.


Albeit very small, their home was so clean and orderly. They were so hospitable to us!



Laura and I sit with Roberta, the elderly grandmother to this special little boy, Ivan
whose mother died just a few months ago. She seemed to be taking her job as stand-in mother very seriously. We were so touched by her devotion to her grandchildren.

The guys head outside to play soccer with the older boys

Gracie visits with some of the girls

What precious little friends

Grady watches the soccer game

Brother Jim joins in the fun

Mandy too!

Anna's sister with Miss Laura. We were so blessed to visit this precious, precious family. Please continue to pray for them.

To market, to market!

We missed you, San Ignatio market! We haven't been to the market for over a month! Today proved to be the perfect day.. we were able to take the Sebens along too!

Waiting for the ferry to take us from Spanish Lookout to Cayo, where the market is located

Being Saturday, there were a lot of passengers on the ferry as well as a food vendor and this Spanish man singing for donations..

Some of the handcrafted wares at the market


Yum, looks like lettuce is in season.. there are a lot of produce vendors.. most of which carry just about the same selection at just about the same price. Sometimes it can overwhelming to choose who you want to give your business to. This week we decided to purchase only one or two items per vendor so as to give sales to various sellers as opposed to just one or two.

One of the fun finds this trip was a pet store vendor. We saw baby turtles, puppies, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits and these cute parakeets.

This fifteen and a half pounder was for sale. For $50 Belize! Christmas dinner?

This cute calf was tied up and left. It was tied up outside of a butcher. Hmm.. maybe veal cutlets for Christmas dinner instead?

We just love visiting the market for it's delicious produce and truly 'multi-cultural' experience. Sharing with friends has made this day even that much more special.

Making Memories

I know that I have said this on the blog before but it is worth repeating.. a best friend of mine back home always reminded me that 'these *are* the good old days!'. And she is so right! We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends.

Ryan has fun milking the cow while Jake looks on. Ashley and Amanda figured it was about time the boys start learning to milk too!

Doesn't Mandy look like the quintessential milkmaid here?

Gracie Elizabeth

Grady, Ashley and Abe peer into the long awaited box

from Scroll Publishing. Thank you so much Hertzlers!

Jim occupies my girls while everyone else in the house scurries around

doing various tasks and chores. Gracie has been so much happier lately

but now Laura is the one who is being high maintenance.

The girls doing chores in the barn on a cold morning..

All bundled up! Yes, it has been chilly here.. down to 55 one night! :)

Jake has been such a blessing to have around. A very kind and helpful young man.

Little Miss thoughtful.. ( I wonder if she will ever walk??)

We are truly blessed around here. Hectic at times? Yes, especially having company amidst constant chaos. But I wouldn't trade these days for the world.