Jan 31,2009: On our Way

We left Raleigh this morning at 8:30 AM flying Delta out of Raleigh/Durham’s beautiful new terminal. Thanks to Charlie DeFancis for being our transportation to the airport at the early 6:00 AM when we met. The Trinity van delivered us and our 14 bags and trunks full of tools, gifts and sustenance for the week.

We changed planes in Atlanta and got a little off schedule when they discovered that someone had checked baggage but not boarded the plane. It took an hour of unpacking the cargo compartments under the plane to find and remove it. We thought that was a good idea for security though, so we didn’t mind waiting.

Our flight from Atlanta took us over the Gulf of Mexico to Belize. The great circle arc of our flight path actually traveled over Mobile Bay and then the majestic Mississippi delta south of New Orleans on our way. From our windows, we could see the sandy white barrier islands south of Mobile. We could also see huge ocean going freighters cruising up the channel through the delta towards the heartland of America.

Landing in Belize we gathered all the luggage and made it through customs in about 45 minutes. It was great to verify that all the signs were in English! They actually had us unpack several of our bags, but we were glad to be passed without problems. We did have to pay charges for some of the gifts we had brought, and need to work out how to get permission to bring things in to churches in the future without the customs fee. We were met by Cecil who had a large white van to collect us and all our stuff. Cecil is an associate of Henry Bazair, the Executive Director and Treasurer of the Belize Baptist Association.

Cecil drove us to Henry’s home, a pretty white fenced compound with palm trees and flowers, but Henry was still at the pastor’s conference. My reflections on the hour ride towards Camelote include seeing a cricket match with the competitors all dressed in white, beautiful brightly colored homes interspersed with rundown shacks, circling large brown hawks, a highway with little shoulder and no middle line, coconut trees, snowy white egrets in the marsh grass beside the road, and children on bicycles.

Cecil drove us towards Belopan where we found a roadside restaurant that he recommended for dinner. There were amazing “fan palm trees” beside the road that looked like they had been carefully maniured to be a huge beautiful fan. The building was quite an interesting place with a high thatched roof and “Amigos” in lights on the side of the entrance way. Inside, the walls were paneled with a bamboo like honey colored wood and the floor was dark wooden planks. Here we met briefly with Henry and Carolyn Bazair, as they were returning from the Annual Pastor’s Summit. Henry was in the military for 15 years, served as a policeman and has been the Fire Chief for the country of Belize before he became a pastor.

For dinner, I had barbequed chicken, rice and beans, potato salad and a flour tortilla – the guys had similar things including homemade lemon pie. After we ate, Hal became our chauffeur on to the Camelote Baptist Training Center. It was dark when we arrived, so I will have to send pictures later. Eric Maas with CBF met us here and showed us our arrangements. We will be sleeping on the second floor (yikes – all the suitcases had be be carried up stairs) in one building and have use of a large yellow kitchen for our meals and gatherings next door. For our devotion we read Psalm 139 and reflected on how we are blessed and why we had come on mission and prayed for each other. Rick Jordan from the Christian Education staff of CBF from North Carolina came by for a visit. Eric showed me that I can get wireless internet in the yellow kitchen, so hopefully I can update the blog everyday.

Pray for us as we lead in worship at Lagoon Road Baptist Church on Sunday, and we will pray for you.