July 14, 2013

Last day in Belize - it rained the first day we were here, it poured the last day we are here.

Had a good lesson this morning at Sunday school in San Narciso.   A team of 14 from Omaha are at the church this week(arrived yesterday).  We were divided into 6 groups of 4-5 people and each group had to discuss and cross reference verses on WSC question #82 "Is any sin greater than another?"    It was really good to hear from each group and their insights - first in Spanish and then English, representatives from each group explained what they had discussed.   Sunday school meets from 9 am to 11 am every Sunday morning.

For lunch we drove out to Patchekan to eat lunch in Romalda's mom's kitchen.   Dark clouds were forming in the south as we drove the 8 miles or so, and just as we arrived the clouds let loose and did not let up for a couple hours.    There was water everywhere!    But we did have a delicious lunch of stew chicken and rice and beans cooked over an open fire.    It smelled so good in Mrs. Chan's kitchen!   It brought back memories of camping trips in the high mountains of Colorado when I was a kid - it often rained like that in the afternoon and we were stuck in the tent smelling the smoke of the campfire until the rain passed.  We had to wade through about 4 inches of water to get to our cars.

We went back to the Zantingh's for a short afternoon rest and to start packing for our trip home.    The worship service tonight was held in San Victor at 4:00 (instead of 6), which meant we had to be in San Narciso at 3:15 to catch a ride with everyone on the school bus.   It was still raining and the pot holes were full of water and rivers flowed along side the roads.   Alvaro drove the bus and teased us that, if he got stuck in the mud, he would have plenty people to push the bus out of the mud.  There was one spot on the road home that I thought his tease might become a reality.

Dale did a great job preaching tonight to a crowd of about 40 people.  He preached  on Phil. 3:1-10 - on Christ, our Righteousness.

In San Narciso, after church and the bus ride back, we said goodbye to many of our friends and headed back to Corozal to finish packing.   It will be an early morning to make the  two hour trip to the airport and head home.  

It has been a joy and a privilege to be in Belize again this year!   Thank you all for making us feel so welcome, and a special thanks to the Zantingh's for their friendship.

Gasing up on our way to church.  Yes, that's $10.24 for regular!

Rice  & Beans in Mrs. Chan's kitchen.

Mrs. Chan and Romalda

The river flowing through the yard.

The flooding we saw on our way home.

Mama dog had brought her puppies to higher ground on the porch.  They are soaked!

Dale preaching in San Victor.

The bus ride - not easy to take a clear picture when you travel the road between San Narciso & San Victor.

Our good friends - the Patt family.

Mrs. Ek & Mitzy, her daughter.

One last tractor for the grandsons!

July 13, 2013

The next to our last full day in Belize - we spent the entire day with Albert & Romalda.   After breakfast, we went into town and walked around the town visiting some shops and the market.  For lunch we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant.    It was a cloudy day and while we were eating lunch a storm blew in and it started raining.   After lunch we visited the three Cinty stores - just for old times sake.   One would have to see these stores to appreciate the unorganized clutter - but I have to say the newest store is the neatest store.   'Nuf said.

We went back home to rest and watched "The Sound of Music", and this evening we went out to Cactus Plaza for some salbutes, panuchos, and tortas  and Dale's favorite drink - horchata.   They were FINALLY open!  

Now it's time to get some rest before a busy Sunday.   Keep Dale in your prayers as he will be preaching at the worship service in San Victor at 4 pm  tomorrow.

No, that is not Dale buying a watermelon from this van.

The south end of the market

So much improvement to the market over the years.

July 12, 2013

We got home too late last night to blog - so this morning, after sleeping in a bit and a delicious banana pancake and bacon breakfast, I will reprise yesterday's happenings.

In the morning Romalda and I went to town to the bank and to get some vegetables at the market.   It was a very busy day in town - Fridays seem to be the day most people come to town to do their banking and shopping.   There were lines out the doors at the banks and the market was bustling with business.   Many stalls set up with clothing - mostly second-hand clothes - and plastic ware,  and there were several pick-up trucks loaded with produce to sell - mostly watermelons &  pineapples.

For lunch yesterday we were invited out to Patchekan at Elsa and Tito's for lunch.    We were served blended beans (stewed beans that have been put through the blender, strained, reheated with some onion & habernero, and served as a soup), with fresh flour tortillas, fried chicken and french fries.   We had a great time - Kevin and Kristine love having us come to their house and wanted to play in the back yard, but it was pretty hot and the mosquitos were relentless.

After lunch, we gave Elsa and Tito a ride into town and stopped to visit some friends, Nehru & Norma.     They lived in the same neighborhood where Carla lived and where we also rented a house during previous visits to Belize.   It's always good to visit with them - dear Christian friends who have a heart for evangelism.

For dinner we went back out to Patchekan to Garry and Anita's.   (grilled chicken, baked potatoes, salad & shortcake for desert).  Garry is the MTW field director for Belize and Anita a nurse at the clinic.    Pray for them as they will be traveling to Haiti the same day we leave to speak at a conference for missionaries & pastors.  They were missionaries in that country for many years before coming to Belize over 10 years ago.    Another encouraging time of fellowship.    

I'm sure every one is thinking - the McLane's are going to return to the US carrying some extra weight with all the food people have been feeding us.    

The town square on a busy Friday morning.

OK - a road - the recently PAVED portion of the road to Patchekan.

With Kristine & Kevin in their backyard.  

Nehru & Norma

My favorite of the puppies.

Another view of downtown from the square - was trying to get a photo of how bustling the town was yesterday - but pictures just don't do justice.

A tractor for the boys. :)

July 11, 2013

It's Veronica's birthday - and we were invited to lunch at her house.   Several of her sisters were there, her mom, nieces and nephews, daughters, and grandsons.    She told us several of them had arrived at 7 am!   We got there at 12:30 and were handed, right away, the traditional plate of chips and cheese dip with a coke.   Next, a bowl of escabeche, and then a plate of tamales, followed by two slices of cake - oreo and strawberry.    It is always a joy to fellowship with Veronica and her kids.   Zair (her only living son) was at the church helping to pour the staircase to the sanctuary, so he missed out on the festivities.

After lunch, and a tour of her daughter and son-in-law's new house, we went over to the church to watch them pour the cement staircase.  It was like a three ring circus - a group of teens were having a pizza lunch under the carport at the manse, a group of men from the church and the team of men from Atlanta were working on getting the staircase cement work done, and the ladies from the team were holding a Bible School for the village children in the front yard and basement of the church.  So much activity in one place!

We headed back to Corozal around 4, and took a short rest before we went to meet our friends Elsa and Tito for dinner in town.   Our favorite Cactus Plaza was not open tonight - so no salbutes or tortas for dinner.   Instead we went back to RD's - the kids (Kevin & Kristine) wanted pizza.    We had another enjoyable evening with a young family we have come to love!    After dinner we went over by the water where there is a small playground and let the children use up some of their energy.

Right now Dale is watching a soccer match on TV with Albert & Romalda - Mexico vs. Canada.  We've had a full day!

Veronica, her daughters and grandsons.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl.

Elsa descending the stairs to Leydi's new house.

Preparing forms for the pour, the one in maroon is Veronica's son Zair.

Ring #1 - Bible School children playing games.

Ring #2 - the cement mixing begins.

Ring #3 - waiting for the next bucket of cement.

The staircase being poured.

Our friends Tito, Elsa, Kevin & Kristine

Dale with Kevin & Kristine

Puppies for Kate...

A horse for Lindsey...

Some soccer for Ryan...

and a tractor for Jacob & Easton.

July 10, 2013

Un dia lluvioso en Belice!  (But we see that it was as well in Pittsburgh today.)

We have had a full day of ministry!   This morning we went to the school where Dale met a friend and they headed back to Corozal to counsel another friend.  I stayed at the school with the office ladies - and had a chance to go over and see the library.   I have not had to work in there this year because I'm out of a job doing that - Romalda volunteers two days a week in the library and has kept it all clean and organized this past year!   I was so happy to see how neat and tidy it looked.    The library is in need of some new books because so many are worn out and falling apart not to mention the ones that have been checked out and never returned.

Dale came back to the school to pick me up around noon, and we headed back into Corozal with Elsa and Karon so they could pay the income and SS taxes and we could meet Albert, Romalda and Brittany for lunch.  For our noon meal we tried out a new restaurant - Corozo Blues.   The food was good, however a little pricey.  It is a new restaurant with very nice ambiance.    I had a "picante chicken burger" (a burger topped with carmelized onions and jalepeno peppers).   I most certainly was picante!

After lunch Dale and I headed back down the Northern Highway to San Narciso and spent a couple hours with a friend who wanted our encouragement and counsel.    

Before we left San Narciso to go back to town, a young man (we just met this week) named Joel was in the church kitchen cutting up some very sweet smelling oranges for the team's supper.   I asked him where he found the nice oranges, because Romalda has been looking for some  (right now good oranges are not available at the market).    He said his Tia (aunt) had a tree and she would be happy to give me some.   So Elsa and I got in the car and followed him about a mile to the back of the village to his Tia's house - only to discover it was the home of the ruling elder from the church.   Joel very kindly went in their back yard - in the mud - and picked me two large bags of Washington oranges.  

We got back to the Zantingh's in time for supper.   Romalda was thrilled with the oranges!

Lunch time at Corozo Blues

Washington oranges

Sweet and NO seeds!

The tidy library

A tractor - you know who for....

...and a horse for our oldest grand daughter!

July 9, 2013

It's an exciting day in Belize - tonight the Belize football (soccer) team is playing the US soccer team and it has been all the talk.   The game is just starting as I type, but we are not watching live- no cable here!  But the radio is on.

After breakfast this morning, Dale and I went out to Cornerstone where I spent a few hours helping Elsa with some mail merge techniques and some bookkeeping/invoicing set-up.  She taught me a few new things I did not know, and I taught here a few things she did not know - it was a mutually edifying morning!

This afternoon Romalda and I went into town so she could pay her monthly bills - water bill at the water department, phone bill at the BTL office,  electric bill at Courts - so we walked from each place to each place - and it was a VERY warm walk around town!   I explained to Romalda how paying my bills gives me no exercise other than for my fingers - I just log on to my bank account and pay all those bills on-line.

Tonight Dale did the Bible Study at the prayer meeting in San Narciso.   They have 'prayer meeting' every Tuesday - the service started with 45 min of Scripture reading, singing, interspersed with prayers of thanksgiving and intercession.   Then Dale had 30 min of teaching on the topic of forgiveness.   There was a pretty large crowd, which included a team from Atlanta, who today knocked out a window in the sanctuary to create a new door, and on Thursday will be pouring a cement staircase from the back of the church up to the door into the front of the sanctuary.  (see pictures)

We followed this truck most the way from Corozal to San Narciso tonight.

The new door (top right hand)

Dale & Elsa standing in front of scaffolding.

The new seating arrangement at San Narciso church.

The new door - inside view.

Dale up front at prayer meeting.

Concepcion Village soccer game (for my oldest grandson)

Fruita Bomba (papaya company) workers coming back from the fields (for my younger grandsons).