Greetings, Friends,
Back in July, our son Andy Jr brought a convoy of trucks and equipment he was selling down to Belize from Pennsylvania. Our grandson, Andrew III drove a pickup truck in the convoy. Andrew is 18 years old and graduated from Highschool in June. It proved to be a great time of bonding for father and son and they made some really good memories together. When Jr returned north, he gave Andrew the option of staying in Belize with his grandparents for a while. Andrew said yes, and it was a real joy to have him here for almost the whole month. We discovered that he was very good with small engines. Of course, his big goal was getting his dad’s go-cart and motorcycle running.
Rosvelt Thomacin arrived here on August 15th. He is a dear brother in the Lord. Rosvelt is Haitian by birth, but he holds Canadian citizenship, so he was able to travel here without any difficulty. It was his desire to bring one of the Haitian teams, a group of 5 young men, but they could not get their visas to travel here. Rosvelt truly has a servant’s heart and he is a carpenter by trade. He has been installing the gutters on the shop and the house so that we can capture the rainwater. He has also assisted Andy with various other small projects. Rosvelt was with us for about a month.
We have been spending a lot of time and energy trying to help a family that emigrated here from France two and half years ago. Theirs is a long, complicated story, so I will just share with you the basic facts. They were a regular French family of Christian faith. Michael is a fine furniture carpenter and Elizabeth home-schooled their 5 children ages 4 to 14. Changes in French laws regarding parental rights had them very concerned. They decided to sell everything and move their family to Belize. They had decided to become Mennonite and move into an old-order Mennonite community and live simpler godly lives. They invested all of their money in the community. Now it is not working out and they need to find a new place to live and work. One of the things that make their situation even more difficult is they have no vehicle and the community where they live is in a very remote area. (The old-order Mennonites are not allowed to have electricity, cell phones, or vehicles.) They have stayed with us for four weekends now. We have loaned them our short blue bus so that they have a way to get around. They say they are done with the old-order Mennonite church. We have taken them to Amazing Grace Christian Fellowship and the people there have been very kind to them. Michael speaks French and German. He is working on his English. Elizabeth’s parents were US citizens and she speaks English and French. Pray for them as they seek a new place to live and once again change their lifestyle. They are very stressed and worn out and we keep encouraging them to trust the Lord and to wait on Him. They are trying so hard to do it in their own strength and it is not working very well for them.
Now to give an update on the projects here. The Lord continues to use us as mentors in the lives of those we come in contact with. We host dinner gatherings regularly as we seek to build relationships. It is not easy working with people. We are just sinners saved by grace trying to share that grace and mercy with other sinners. It can be mentally and emotionally draining and we really appreciate your prayers for us. Andy has felt convicted to start up a Tuesday morning men’s prayer breakfast. As he has shared his vision, several other men from church have come alongside expressing a desire for such a ministry. One of them has a large upper room located in the Spanish Lookout community which they can use. So, on Tuesday, Sept 20th they will start, with Andy cooking breakfast for a small group of guys who will meet for prayer. When men pray together, God does powerful things in their lives, but we also know that Satan will not be happy about this. So please pray for this group to grow and for men to seek God.
The Toyota Rav 4 is still in the shop and not running. There has been one issue after another. In August, Andy was able to purchase a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 extended cab pickup truck. It has a 5.9 Cummings diesel engine and a 5-speed manual transmission, which makes it very economical to operate here. It has a few dents, the dashboard is gone, and it needed tires, front ball joints, and shocks. Otherwise, the truck is solid and will be a great asset to us as we traverse the rough and rocky roads of Belize. The little Mazda pickup is worn-out and needs a total rebuild.
The vegetable garden has produced a bountiful crop of sweet peppers which we have been eating all month. We should have some cabbages soon. We have wonderful eggplants, but no fruit. I do not know why. Nothing else has grown well. The neighbor told me this morning that August is a bad month for gardens and we should start to plant again now in September. We are always learning something new here.
Andy says we have won round two of the fight for strawberries! The plants are filling out and look great. One has blossomed and is bearing fruit. Andy’s screened cage is working well at keeping the pests away, and this morning he ate his first strawberry at breakfast!
Upcoming events in October:
- October 7 & 8 – participating in a country-wide Pastoral and Ministry Leaders Conference at Amazing Grace Church
- October 18 – fly to PA for visiting family and to see multiple doctors for annual checkups.
- October 30 – fly back to Belize
-Nancy Merrick
