Saying Goodbye!

Peace! Peace! Peace! I pray everyone has had a blessed Triduum and is living in the joy of the Resurrection as we celebrate Easter for these 50 days! Ali and I were both blessed to visit Franciscan University for the Triduum and immediately following, we made an 8 day silent retreat. Brother John Ignatius (formerly known as Aron Little) graciously directed us every day. The trip was very anointed and the retreat was incredible. I tell you, the Lord is talking all the time, but the world is so noisy and just teaches us to tune Him out. If you’ve never made a silent retreat, you should. After the retreat, I am confident that my time on San Pedro has come to an end and so I will be returning to the United States on Wednesday, May 17th. I am peaceful because I am confident it is the Lord’s will, but please pray for me as I continue saying goodbye to everyone. I also just ask for your prayers for future missionaries on San Pedro, and most especially that we receive at least one full-time priest. God Bless You!

Confirmation Day!

Confirmation itself went extremely well. The big day was on Sunday, March 26th. All week my students were practicing and were so excited that most of them didn’t sleep the night before. It was funny to see the ladies running around the night before with curlers in their hair. As you look at these pictures, I think you will start to notice what a big deal Confirmation is here and how dressed up everyone gets for it.

The opening procession that they practiced for 2 weeks straight! 

In line boy/girl and shortest to tallest.  This was a BIG deal!

Aren't they gorgeous?

No, this is not First Communion, no they're not getting married, these kids look so beautiful for the Sacrament of Confirmation!

Right before Confirmation my parent's came to visit!  Yes, the

Desmond's survived Belize.  They not only survived, I think they

loved it.  From, snorkeling, to fishing, to cave tubing and

sailing, it was a week of fun!

Franciscan Mission

I know it has been a long time since my last post. Things have been busy but are finally slowing down. We had an incredible team of Franciscan University students that were here on mission for their Spring Break. They put on a Seminar on the Power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, they ran my Confirmation retreat for all my kids and helped with classes and youth ministry as well. It was an incredible week and God came with power. He worked so many healings in the lives of people here and we are still seeing the fruits from it. On the afternoon of the Confirmation retreat, we had adoration of the blessed Sacrament. This is where we kneel down and adore Jesus’ real presence on the altar. At one point I saw all my students in praise, hands raised and voices singing. They even moved up closer to Jesus, right at the edge of the altar and surrendered their lives to the Lord. I was moved to tears to see the way Jesus transformed these kids and revealed Himself to each one of them. God is doing amazing things!

Saying goodbye to the FUS Team.  We were so sad to see them go!

They think they're so cool...

We took a boat to get to the place for Confirmation retreat.  As you can see they were pretty excited!

Some of my students just after the adults beat them in a soccer game!

The Mission Team introducing themselves on the BEST CONFIRMATION RETREAT EVER!!!

The Mission team from Franciscan University!  It was an INCREDIBLE

week.  We tried to steal their passports so they couldn't leave,

but we were not successful.

Baptism

Two of my students were baptized, Ariani and Keisha!  This was a huge thing for both of them, and I am so proud!

Carnival and Mardis Gras

What in the world are a bunch of kids and adults doing running around San Pedro covered in paint and raw eggs?  I mean seriously, are they crazy?  Nope, it's just the annual Carnival that begins the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and ends very late in the night the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, commonly known as 'Fat Tuesday' or Mardis Gras.  Yes, yes for years now Carnival has been a time where kids and adults just run around throwing paint on each other and raw eggs (don't ask me why).  It started this past Sunday and I didn't realize the seriousness of it until I was told that there are 2 streets I just can't go on or else I will get pegged.  Schools were either cancelled or they all had half days just so the kids would have a chance to run home if they did not want to participate.  Adults here do not leave their houses, especially tuesday night if they don't want to get messy.  I myself have remained at home doing work from 2 pm on.  I really don't know how this started or why we do it, but then again who knows how and why we started leaving cookies and milk out for "santa and his Reindeer" every Christmas Eve.  I am looking forward to Ash Wednesday this year when I will be able to bike to the Church in peace once again without people running up to me yelling "fresh meat" as they attempt to throw paint on me!  

Winter Olympics in Belize???

THE FIRST EVER WINTER OLYMPICS IN BELIZE!

Oh yes, ladies and gentleman we had a winter olympics last week for the teenagers with real snow (or shaved ice) for snowball fights!




We played Ice Hockey (of course the brooms were the hockey sticks and the block of ice was the hockey puck!)

And we don't bob for apples in San Pedro, we bob for limes!

The annual dance recital was last weekend.  It was an all out belizean affair.  On the right is Lexi and on the Left is Zeli, both first communion kids and both participants of our Sunday choir.  I didn't recognize them with all that makeup on!

Alexi is the great granddaughter of lay-minister's Martha and Abel.  When we go to Martha and Abel's for lunch, it's like going to our grand-parent's house.  They have 4 generations of family members living in their 4 bedroom apartment and it is so beautiful to see a family so close.  They have become good friends and they let us do our laundry every wednesday at their house because they have a real washer and dryer, something that you  rarely see in Belize.  Alexi likes to play games with me and whenever she hears me coming up to the house she runs and hides, waiting for me to find her.  There are times when other people are coming into Martha and Abel's house and Alexi has run into the other room, thinking it 'might be me'.  This picture was taken at the barbecue last friday night.  Alexi came in and had no problem jumping up on my lap and grabbing one of my tortillas to eat!

Fr. Mark is a good friend and a priest from the Benque Mission, located in Belize right near the border of Guatemala.  He comes out every so often to cover for Sunday Mass and there usually are family's waiting at the door when he arrives so their kids can be Baptized.  This was at a Baptism just last Sunday.  Did I ever tell you that for all Sacraments you will see wedding-like dresses and tuxes?  Yes, for Baptism, 1st Communion and Confirmation these kids will get as dressed up as they would on their wedding day! 

Confirmation, Confirmation and More Confirmation!

Hello, hello everyone! Yes, I know it’s been a while since I have posted, but when you don’t hear from me, please know that it’s only because things are getting so busy! Confirmation is in just about three weeks and there is a lot to do to say the least. From getting Baptismal Certificates to preparing kids to be Baptized so they can get confirmed to classes and rehearsals and retreat and music; there just aren’t enough hours in the day! There is a lot happening, though.

Great News! On March 12th there is a group of students arriving from Franciscan University of Steubenville and they are giving up their spring break to come here for a mission trip. They will be putting on a Born in the Spirit Seminar during the week, speaking on the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives and His Gifts and Power that He wants to give us for the building up of the Church. They will also be helping me on Saturday with my Confirmation retreat. I am very excited to have male witnesses for the boys in my classes simply because they really have no role models here on San Pedro. We are going to be so blessed to have them here!

This week I am teaching on the reality of Death and Dying. We were talking today about how our world really doesn’t deal well with the reality of Death. We see it everywhere, we hear about deaths of people, but there’s not much else said. We talked about the Catholic perspective of what death is, and that we have to remember death is not an END, but simply a transition into what we hope will be a life of Eternity with God. Heaven is REAL, Hell is REAL, and Purgatory is REAL, and it’s good to remember that. God wants us all in Heaven with Him, for eternity, and if we make the right choices TODAY and put HIM First in our lives and seek Holiness, we will certainly get there. But we have to make the right choices and live faithfully today! He is so good and faithful and in HIS mercy gives us Purgatory as a gift if we still need to be purified from sin when we die. I asked the kids what this world would look like if people really realized the Eternal Happiness that God desires for us in Heaven; a place where God says there will be no more tears and no more pain, rather perfect love and unending joy. I asked them what they think this world would look like if people really were aware that any day could be their last day and that we need to live for God right now like it is our last day. Jesus was obviously right when He said, “if you do not become like children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. Their answers to my questions were so simple, yet so true and child-like. They said if people really knew and understood all this, then they’d love more; they’d let others know how much they are loved so that they have no regrets when a loved one passes away. They said their parent’s wouldn’t spend so much time drinking (alcohol and drug abuse is a huge problem down here) and they said they would spend more time in prayer, REALLY living out what JESUS calls us to. The reality of Death puts things in perspective, especially the little trivial things that I let myself get so worked up over, that really don’t matter in the scheme of things. I am so thankful for the way these kids are teaching me and calling me onto holiness. Please pray for them as they prepare to receive a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

Manuel and Joel the twins, Milton and Nicolas...some of the trouble makers of my all boys class on Mondays.  It's funny how the trouble makers will grow on you! 

Confirmation!

Oh, I love communication in Belize! So just this past Tuesday I had a meeting with Ms. Lena, who is a teacher at the primary school. She helps with Confirmation every year, and we were discussing the logistics of retreat, service project, rehearsals etc. We were told that Confirmation would be Palm Sunday, April 9th. It is a little hectic trying to cram everything in as it is since we started classes 2 months late, because the priest was in the states due to a family emergency. Ms. Lena asks me nervously if I had seen the Catholic paper. I said no, and she proceeded to show me a list of the dates for Confirmation. San Pedro, Catholic Church…Sunday, March 26th. Uh oh… so for the 4th time I am re-doing the schedule for Confirmation. 2 weeks earlier is a big deal when you’re preparing 70 kids for Confirmation. Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us here.

Just last week we were teaching on Moral Decision Making, and discussed the difference between objective and subjective truth. Since it was right around the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Ali brought that into the teaching and used it as an example. She simply explained that because one woman thought it was okay to kill the baby in her womb, she took this to court and a law was passed based on her opinion (subjective truth). The 12-year old boys interrupted Ali in an outrage, totally shocked and said, “Ms. that is murder, how can she do that?” It was very encouraging to see them so upset over this. I think we have a lot to learn from the simple and yet emotional reaction of the youth. It IS MURDER! And as they yelled it, I had to say to myself, “Courtney, don’t forget how outrageous this is!” I mean I know it is murder, but it’s been going on for so long that I’m not AS outraged, as I probably should be! Do we realize that 4,000 babies are murdered EVERY WEEK in the United States? We still talk about the Holocaust in history class and learn about the horrible deaths and murders from World War II, and they are horrible! But since Roe vs. Wade was passed, there have been 40 MILLION documented abortions in the United States alone. The Holocaust of abortion is at least 6 times greater than the holocaust of World War II??? And that only includes the United States. I don’t think it really hit me until I heard those numbers as Ali was teaching. I thought to myself, “There has to be something more that I can do”, even from a third world country.

This week I have been teaching on the Universal Church as well as the 10 Commandments. It is a lot to do in an hour and a half, that’s for sure, but the kids make it a lot of fun. Just yesterday I had 13 boys in my class and their questions amazed me! We were talking about the need for authority and I compared it to the classroom. I asked them to imagine what it would be like if a teacher had no rules; if she didn’t give any homework; if they didn’t have to study and never had to take tests. They started laughing and said, “She would be really stupid”. They admitted that they wouldn’t study or learn anything, and that they needed those rules. Thirteen, 12-year-old boys were able to admit that they need authority. We talked about how God in HIS goodness gave us the 10 Commandments. That He gave them to us in HIS GOODNESS and perfect LOVE; not as punishment, not as some rules we are supposed to follow, but as a way to live, SO THAT WE CAN BE FREE. The Lord knows what leads to sin, and the Lord knows that sin leads to death. He doesn’t want us to be miserable, or fall into despair, hatred and addiction. The Commandments that He gives us, as well as all that Jesus said in fulfillment of the Lord’s commands, are so we can live in His Love and know true peace, and joy! His Words are so we can get to heaven! So, why do we still reject authority?

The first commandment alone led into a great conversation. “I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other Gods before me.” I asked them how much TV they watch a week. The response: at least 10 hours. I asked them how much they pray each week. The response: not even one hour. They were all quite surprised to realize that they allow TV, or video games to become their god. As much as we hate to admit it, the time we spend with God is more often than not put on the back burner. Addictions to drugs and alcohol, money, greed, our jobs, our families, our homework, or what others think of us are so often the gods we are living for and putting first. As I was teaching I realized the first commandment is broken more often than I realized! Please pray for us and for my students as we challenge them to put God first, to pray, and to continue seeking Him in the Catholic Church. It amazes me that at least 3/4ths of my students are the only ones in their family going to Mass. The parents aren’t going; their siblings aren’t going. At least a few of them have parents involved in drug dealing as well. It is so encouraging to see them, at 12 year’s old coming to mass on their own and to class! My prayer has been that these kids can be a witness to their whole family, and the love and faith that they have will lead their own parent’s and family to an encounter with Jesus Himself.

Lifeteen and Little Antu

So, at least a couple times a week I go and take prayer time at the Church. It is guaranteed that at some point, while praying, I hear little footsteps in the back of the Church that eventually turn into running followed by a yell. Little Antu is his name, and he’s two years old. His dad works right near the church selling bracelets and other accessories to the tourists. With his hair-do he looks like he could have come out of the jungle. The girls I live with say that he looks like he could be my own child! Antu goes to work with his dad, sometimes all day, and just runs all over the place playing with whoever he sees. After running up to me and yelling, “hello”, (usually in Spanish), he jumps on my lap and we say a prayer together. I remind him to be quiet in the Church, and he immediately starts to whisper, says goodbye, tiptoes out and then within in 10 minutes is running in again yelling, and we repeat the whole thing; prayer, whisper, tiptoe out and then run in, yelling, once again. Last Friday we were having our life night for youth ministry from 7-9 pm. Little Antu was still there, and apparently heard us in the parish hall. As we are talking with the teenagers, I hear a little yell and see his face in the door. He runs through the teenagers and over to me. We were blessed with his company for the rest of the night!

Life Teen is meeting every Friday night for 2 hours. What is Life Teen, you ask? It is a youth ministry program that started in Arizona, and their mission is, “Leading teens closer to Christ”. The biggest thing we’re trying to get across right now is that it’s no ordinary youth group. We’re trying to get the teens to think outside of the box. There are nights that are all social, nights where the focus will be prayer, other nights there will be education and discussion on doctrines of the faith, and finally nights where we discuss the most common issues that teens struggle with. Everything we do is intertwined with fun and games, skits and prizes, music and food! We have fun and do everything we can to make sure the teens are having fun as well. Right now we are trying to transition smoothly out of the social nights and into our first issue night. Please pray for us as we do. We were all surprised and overjoyed to see that many of the participants showing interest are those teenagers who struggle the most. Most of them do not have God in their lives at all and have never gone to Church. God is doing something incredible here and we are extremely excited to be able to witness it!

Lifeteen Kickoff

As I said, the Lifeteen kickoff was a lot of fun.  Two teams competed in games for hours.  This one below was the M+M contest.  Who can get the most M+M's off the plate filled with whipped cream.  The trick is no hands allowed...  The things teenagers do for fun!  I was glad it wasn't me... :-)