Already, God has brought me to higher ground.  I got the following update from a church in Belize - the pastor and his wife are friends of mine and the church is a church plant from my home church, Calvary Chapel Eastside.  This is a young couple with a young son - who felt called to move to Belize City and start a church.  It is a tough place to live.  This email made me realize how grateful I am for things like running water, safety, and health.  It's so good to get perspective - and as usual - my own grief is lessened by realizing how fortunate  I am.  Shawna 

"On a darker note, there seems to have been an increase in crime and violence lately. Last week Denise and Marika, one of the young ladies from church were out riding bikes and they were mugged. Two young men forced them off the road and tried to take Denise’s purse. Anyone who knows Denise knows that she isn’t one to be pushed around or intimidated easily. Denise resisted and struggled to keep hold of her purse. Marika joined in the struggle and one of the guys threw her down on the ground. He then punched her in the head and began to choke her. When it got to that point Denise threw away the bag to get the guy to leave Marika alone. The guys made off with her cell phone, purse and house keys. Both Denise are Marika are fine, but they were shaken up.

Last Wednesday night as we were finishing up our Midweek study, shots rang out right up the street from the church. We saw someone, either the targets or the shooters speeding away on their beach cruisers a few seconds later. After church Michelle and Barrow, two of the young people were walking home in the direction that the guys rode off in when gun shots rang out again. Barrow, the young man, told me that he heard the bullet whistle past his head. They had to lie on the ground for a few minutes until the shooting stopped. Several of the bullets entered Michelle’s aunt’s house and broke up the microwave and a cabinet.  Just tonight we heard gunshots during our Men’s Ministry Meeting.  As I was dropping off one of the guys, we heard that there was just another shooting outside his house. Life is getting harder and harder economically for the Belizean people, and the people are getting desperate and turning to crime and violence to make ends meet.

Belize has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infections in Central America and the second highest in the Caribbean. We have several people in church who are infected, and statistically we likely have at least several more that I am unaware of.

Last week I found out that Cleanne, a very sweet little 11 year old girl in the church had contracted HIV. Her mother is also positive. The doctors say it was probably contracted through breast feeding before the mother new she was infected. The Mother also has several other children who have not been tested yet, one of which also breastfed.  They are going to be tested this week. Please pray for a negative test result for the other kids. The situation is especially hard because the mother is a single mother of 5 and is unable to get a steady job due to the fact that she is sick often. At the moment, the whole family is living in a room they are renting underneath someone’s house, and they don’t even have running water. Please keep that family lifted up in your prayers. Pray for health for the family and that the Lord would provide for them financially.

The Lord is doing some wonderful things throughout the country of Belize, and the enemy wants to see it stop. So many people that I have been talking with have been under spiritual attack recently. Please continue to lift PLCC and the other ministries here in Belize up in prayer."

God Bless,

Joel, Denise and Elias