(Update:  March 25, '10)

I am now discipling a 14 year old girl named Melissa who comes to the girls study.  Please pray for her and her growing relationship with God.  Pray that our friendship deepens.

I leave on Monday for my individual missions trip to Cayo, Belize for 5 days.  I am staying with a missionary lady who lost her husband over a year ago.  She has adopted 2 Belizean boys.  I  will be helping her out in her ministry.

(Update:  November 13, '09)

Wednesday we drove 3 hours to Belmopan to apply for our work permits.  The paperwork was accepted smoothly so now we just wait for it to go through.  It could take about 3 weeks, but us girls should be permitted to work in the cafe immediately.  Praise God!

MMT weekend retreat  begins tonight!  I am teaching the lesson tomorrow morning on Mercy.

Prayer requests:  For Briyan (a Belizean staff) and his sister, who  is very ill with a brain infection.  I am still trying to sell my car before this Christmas.  If it doesn't sell, I may have to return home to Canada.  Pray it sells for my asking price.  We need prayer for the girl's study which had an amazing first night last Tuesday.  Pray that more girls are drawn out and have a desire to learn and grow. 

(Update:  November 10, '09)

Had a whirlwind of a summer.  Camps went great.  The Machaca year-round staff took an end of summer trip to Chetumal, Mexico for a few days.  We had a month-long break to re-group and relax from the summer's insanity.  I flew home to Canada from
September 18-October 12 and had an amazing, much-needed, visit home.  Caught up with friends and family and ate everything but beans and rice. 

Since I've been back, classes and outreaches have begun and the internship program is officially underway.  We've started up our Girls Only study as of tonight and this weekend is MMT weekend retreat (when all the youth in town are invited back to camp for worship, games, good, Bible study, and fellowship).  Our cafe in town had it's grand opening
October 21, and has been quite successful with the community.  We have spent the last few weeks getting trained on the menu and setting the place up.  God is doing great things with this cafe.

(Update:  June 29, '09)

Camps have finally begun!  Our Sr. High retreat started last night and has been going awesome so far!  Up until the campers arrived last night we had been running around like chickens with our head's cut off, trying to finish up some last minute things.  We were still adding music to the powerpoint and painting the stage as campers arrived!  But all of the important stuff was done, praise God, and anything leftover is in God's hands now! 

We also had an outreach event this past weekend.  Four professional basketball players from the States have come down for the next week and they helped us put together a huge b-ball tournament in town for the youth, and the professional ballers played the winners.  Sports are a HUGE part of Belizean activities and Belizeans are also very competitive, so they loved the idea of being challenged by some professional ballers.  The event was two days, and a good number of youth from town showed up and it was a great time.  Some of the youth from town have even come out to Sr. High this week, so that was encouraging to see.

PRAYER REQUESTS:  Please pray for camps that have begun, and currently Sr. High.  They can be the toughest bunch sometimes because of their age.  Pray for energy and enthusiasm for the staff, as we were exhausted before camps even started.  Staff morale was getting on the low side from all the work and preparations we've been doing, but we've had an adrenaline boost since the campers arrived.  Please ask God to be making us aware of any bad attitudes amongst us and to give us a spirit of joy.  Continued prayer for Jayme is much appreciated.  She has been incredibly responsive, and although she has not outwardly stated that she has made the decision to believe, she has said that a lot of stuff has been starting to make sense.  Please pray for continued financial support for me--the Lord has been pouring His blessings upon me, and that is a huge praise item!  Lastly, it has been very difficult to not be overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, not just with camps, but with all my responsibilities for back home too.  And I am still surprised by how little free time we have around here.  Trying to keep on top of camp work, stay connected with home, keep up with my online responsibilities, and stay consistent in my personal time with God can be stressful for me.  Thank you for your prayers!

(Update:  June 17, '09)

PRAYER REQUESTS:Please pray for Jayme, a young lady from Idaho who has come down for a few weeks, and who does not know God. She has a warm heart and appears receptive to the Gospel, but has been burned in the past. I am convinced the Lord is strongly pursuing her.

(Update: June 14, '09)

Arrived safe and sound in Belize on Friday. All my luggage arrived as well. I had friends waiting for me at the airport. Everything worked out! Since then we have just being prepping for camps--handing out promotion flyers, cleaning up the camp ground, etc. I am loving being back and it's like I never left!

Date of Departure:  June 11, 2009    6:55AM

(Update: June 11, '09--see blog update)

Was up at 4:00am this morning to be at the airport for 5:00am. There were no problems going through Customs; however, after arriving in Chicago for my first connection, I discovered my second connection to Dallas was cancelled due to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. To make a long story short (to hear the long version, check out my blog), I was transferred to Miami, Florida, where I currently sit. I am here for the night--please pray I make it all the way to Belize tomorrow! And because the Gotz family do not have phone access, all I could do was email them from the airport and hope they got it in time. Otherwise they will be concerned when they go to pick me up today and I'm not there!

PRAYER REQUESTS: That I make it to Belize safely tomorrow, and have people waiting to pick me up. That the Lord would give me a spirit of excitement and enthusiasm despite the emotional rollercoaster I've been on the past few weeks, and having said goodbye to my friends and family these past couple days. That once I arrive, I would be received with lots of welcome, and immediately feel back at home!

(Update: May 26, '09)
Lots to do in the remaining couple weeks! I move all of my belongings into storage this coming Friday and will be living out of a suitcase until I leave. This coming Saturday (May 30th) I am having a garage sale to get rid of anything I won't be taking to Belize or won't need when I return. I am hoping this will raise a bit more funds for my trip, as I am about half way there financially. Sunday May 31st I will be giving a presentation on my trip at Rideauview Bible Chapel here in Ottawa at 11:15AM.

Current prayer items--FAITH! It is easy to get discouraged when I still have quite a bit of money to raise and leave in such a short time! I am also finding it extremely difficult to think about leaving my friends and family shortly. But God is good! And even though I'm leaving behind people I love, this I know: "...that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."