Hallelujah Hattieville !

SO, Sunday Feb 5, Tati and I left Belize City and headed to Hattieville, a village outside of the city. We stayed with Pastor Mark Somerville and his wife Sheri and their two super fun and crazy kids MJ and Shadrach. The experiences just keep getting richer on this trip.

this is just us driving . . . after a long hot Sunday

I can't really describe the level of poverty in Hattieville, as you can see and smell sewage in front of everyone's yards . . . and I didn't get enough pictures. . . but as soon as we brought our bags into their house, we stuffed everyone into our cars and drove to church that night!

Shadrach and MJ

 

Look who's reppin' ! 

Muscles

    

So we get to church, and this small small small little church is FULL of children, and there is a drummer, and Sheri is leading worship and someone on a really old keyboard held up on a chair - basically this place brought me to a place that has changed my life. As we reapplied bug spray, as we were SO tired from the long day, the worship started and lasted hours and hours! Some of the kids had tambourines and passed them around when they got tired, but it was SO AMAZING. THE SPIRIT CAME! And I felt overcome with joy and praise for the Lord. We were dancing, doing motions, and as fifteen to twenty little poor kids were just dancing and getting down, and Tati and I were with them just getting lost in the worship, it was SUCH A JOY!!! As the last song was sung and it helped to bring the energy down, I sat on my seat with two or three little kids on both sides of me, and I just closed my eyes and started crying. I just felt like I was in heaven. I know it has got to be so much fun, so much energy, and I was just refocusing my world and my life, thinking, "How in the world did I get HERE?" Surrounded by love, by people who have nothing, but they have Jesus and the CHILDREN! They looooove Him. I just KNOW that heaven is full of laughing, giggling, whispering children.

During the lesson I asked the kids on my left and right (as they were distracted and unable to pay attention *I'm as usual in that boat with them*) to write in my journal anything they felt like God wanted to tell me. . . . another humbling experience that brought tears to my eyes. 

The next day Tati and I stopped by the nursing home in the town for our friend Angie who we saw in Grandbury - she knows and loves a lady named Olga that we stopped by and said hello to.

Here is a picture of her and Angie that was up in her room 

 Wheelchair

Another amazing encounter we had was with a lady in the room next to Olga's named Christina, and she shared with us her love for Jesus. We got to pray for her hurting hip and neck, and asked the Lord for healing for her body and heart. She was SO sweet, and when Tati prayed for her I could not help but start crying, just SO humbled and in awe of her love for Jesus. She pulled out this picture of him from under her bed, and started kissing his picture over and over and over again. She kissed that picture

probably 30 times. 

Check out Tati's cold turtle blanket thing that I guess you add water to and it gets cold. . . .quite the fashion statement

  We then drove back to the church to meet Mark and Shadrach, and we goofed off for a little while Tati and Mark did real business, and Shad and I did our own business . . . 

 

OH and GUESS WHAT - He likes Bieber haha

p.s. Here is a Stunna video of the dancing kids themselves :

http://youtu.be/pYmx7Z9Lmoo

I wish I could tell you how crazy and energetic these kids were. . . . haha

 And of course.... I got my hair did . . .  I kept it in for atleast one night . . . it was just necessary for the Belizean experience . . . but it didn't stick with me  :)

As we drive around with Pastor Mark, I had a lovely backseat experience

I am practicing my face for when the boys say "hey bay-bays". . . . we then look at them with this face

riiiight on

Goats crossed the street!

Pastor Floyd and Pastor Mark! Boys two of the coolest dudes we have come across so far. 

Leaving Pastor Floyd's House

This is Pastor Floyds CHURCH!! so cool

Belize City Sunday

 Here is Pastor Henry Baizner and his wife Carolyn and their son Harold. They have been so great to us this past week letting us stay at their house, cooking us meals, hanging out with us and more. Some memories we have with them include Carolyn playing my drum, Pastor Henry watching Courageous with me and Tati - even though I'm the only one who stayed awake! Sharing our gummy vitamins each morning with Pastor Henry :)

This is their house - not the best picture, but basically they have two guard dogs, Prix and Patch . . . and they have this very heavy gate we have to open each time we come in. 

    See Tati demonstrate

That's where we park!

  

MEET PATCH! 

  

He sort of run this yard . . . 

  

This is Tati and Patch's relationship

(observe the sharp, mean jaws ready to bite her arm off)

MEET PATCH AGAIN.

Hi PATCH. BE NICe to Tati!!!

This is mine and Patch's relationship. 

Look at him SMILING!

Yeah, we're getting pretty good. . . right now we are working on accomplishing a real twirl . . 

OK! So today is Sunday February 5th, and Tati and I are FINALLY leaving Belize city today. We are going to head to Hattieville, which is a city more south. Supposedly this city is much different than Belize city. I get the impression that it is less developed, more mountainous, and there is more crime. We got some bread, and a 5 gallon jug of water, and we are ready to go! We still have some snacks we got from the states that were mainly for our drive through Mexico (which btw I can't believe already happened) but I am actually excited to run out out of the American snacks and solely be living off of fruit and bread, water and instant coffee! Soon enough for sure. 

This morning we went to church at Pastor Eugene Crawford's church which is called Central Assembly of God. It was super lively, very full . . . I snuck a picture, mainly because I like the balloons up there! Worship lasted the longest which I enjoyed the most, and they had women with flags and twirly ribbon-dancer-like things (i have no idea what to call them!) that they danced with and it was awesome! Definitely different, very cultural feeling, energetic, freeing, and refreshing.

It just hit me that we have been here a week now, and I have not really been taking pictures! I really do want to record where we go, and the different feelings and environments of the city, the mountains, the North/South/East/West, the villages, the jungle areas etc. . . So here are some pictures I snapped on the way home from church, but it is on our way to Pastor Henry's house which is in Lord's Bank, a little village/town outside of the city

typical house in Belize . . slightly nice than average

Basketball courts!

I LOVE this tree! Look at it! it grows out like an umbrella! perfect place for a bench. Maybe I will go sit on it. 

The things I love the most are the green NATURE, the CLOUDS which are SO HUGE EVERYDAY! ... people riding on BICYCLES, people actually OUTSIDE being a visual part of the community, the FRUIT STANDS, the ISLAND MUSIC many times playing out in the streets, the WIND, and I really LOVE seeing all the LAUNDRY hanging outside! I don't know why I love that last one so much, but it is just refreshing and reminds me of a special memory I'll write about later.

Public buses

Yesterday we drove past this little water channel, and there was a canoe race happening!

Crossing the bridge

colorful little houses

two little kids at the house of Pastor Brooke's yesterday: Brighton and Rashawn

More pictures to come, I will make sure to take some more of Belize City on our way out