Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings from hot & sunny Belize. The dry season is upon us and all of wet areas have dried up and everyone is conserving water now. The harvest is done and farmers are busy preparing their fields for the new planting when the rains come back! Our daily life is very much dictated by our environment and it is very different from being in Pennsylvania.

I am happy to report that Andy is improving a little each day. We went back to the doctor last week and he added some additional medications that have been helpful. Andy’s appetite has almost returned to normal, but he finds it frustrating when his energy is not there. He needs to pace himself and take time to rest during the day.

Andy and I are flying to New York on April 5th and driving to Bernville from there. We are scheduled to return to Belize on May 1st. We are looking forward to spending time with our family and grandchildren! The other items we plan to do are doctor appointments, a church speaking engagement, an IRS tax filing, and hopefully we can get things lined up for the next shipment to Belize. Everything is in the Lord’s hands.

Last week our good friend and co-worker, John Debkowski had a massive stroke, and pneumonia. He was found in his room at CMTS unresponsive on the floor. Johnny is in the ICU at Tower Health in Reading. He passionately loves Jesus and serving others. Our hearts are heavy about this. Please pray for him, his doctors, and his family.

There is some exciting news. A Mennonite family that we had become friends with decided to move to Waco, Texas. They offered to sell us their hardwood house at a good price, because they wanted US dollars for their relocation. It is very common here for houses to be moved from one location to another and they are constructed to support this. We have tried to purchase a house at auction several times but the price went too high. It has been our plan to have several more houses on the property available for additional staff and guests. Plans are in place for the house to be moved to our location while we are in the states. Our neighbor, Alex will be overseeing the property for us, and he would appreciate your prayers, too.

We greatly appreciate you! May the Lord bless and keep you!

Nancy & Andy Merrick