editing this post and adding pictures after the fact: Join the Heal Ministries Facebook group or join my personal facebook, Tina Weir and you can see all the pictures from the Belize City Unity church and school. It has been such a blessing to be here: as such a time as this. I'm not sure if I am helping them nearly as much as they are helping me.
It is great to be back in the field where the focus is totally God and looking at the children through the eyes of Jesus, listening to what they are saying through the ears of Jesus and praying for God to use me as Jesus in the skin is humbling. I continue to pray daily that God would give me His ears, His eyes, His mouth and His direction in all that I do. I will be blogging about the school, church and orphanage in Belize City, Corozal and Orange Walk.
Belize City has a school and church that Heal Ministries is partnering with: Unity Presbyterian Church and School. It is located in the burial grounds of Belize City and is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country. Most of the students live in the neighborhood and walk to school. The school teaches education in a Christian setting and has many needs that I have discovered while I am here. The majority of the students have uniforms, but there is a need for about a dozen students to have uniforms. The cost is $25 Belizean, which equals 1/2 of that in U.S. dollars. They are in desperate need of a feeding program at lunch time. The school gives a 1-1/2 hour break for lunch so that the students can go home to eat. However, many children do not go home. They stay around the school to play and usually eat a popcicle for lunch or maybe a piece of fruit. There is no money for extra food. I have purchased a meal from a lady that bakes beans and rice for only $2 a plate. It would probably only costs about one U.S. dollar to feed every kid a nutritional meal. While I am here, I am looking into this. The principal is going to help me look into getting some moms of the school to cook which would help them get a little money for their family while providing a nutritional meal for every student in the school. We could get volunteers to help sponsor a student: for $225 a year one person could provide a uniform and a meal five days a week for one student. That is changing one heart at a time!
Another need the school has is volunteers. They have about 200 students: 145 students are in the primary classrooms and the remaining 50 are in the preschool. The classroom size is large: averaging 25 students to one teacher. Each teacher is in need of a teacher's aid. Please pray that God would send volunteers to help the school.
There is alot of love at Unity. One can easily see how happy the students are while assisting in the classroom. The children are eager to love, eager to smile and hug, eager to feel loved by someone. Many children are babysitting their siblings and going home to an empty house and the attention they receive at this school is priceless. Learning about God's unconditional love is the primary focus. It is so amazing to me that these children that come from difficult circumstances are so eager to be kind and show love. Their laughter is contagious and I have seen Jesus in their smiles and felt His warmth in their hugs. It makes me eager to help, eager to pray, eager to remain faithful and eager to follow God's lead.
Please look at the pictures in the Heal Ministries Facebook group. I apologize that the service here is slow and I cannot upload pictures tonight onto the blog. Blessings and please pray for the children of Belize tonight!