Belize Mission Work
Ministry Highlights:
Ministry Highlights:
- Covered educational expenses for 8 students
- Provided Discovery mentors for each of the 8 students
- Purchased a van for First Stone Church
- Helping to support a feeding program that food for 100 kids per day
- Provide transportation for 90% of the people who attend First Stone Church each Sunday
Belize Mission Trips for 2020
When: March 18 - 24, 2020
Who: Anyone interested in learning more “Helping without Hurting” and Discovery’s efforts to “end generational-poverty.” Cost: $1100-$1300 per person Deposit: $200 per person ($300 per family) due by 2/13 @ noon. |
Discovery Church has taken on the initiative to “end generational poverty” in Belize through education. We have come along side Pastor Phillipa Miller and First Stone Church to financially support the continuing educational needs of the students in the Youth Leader Program at First Stone. We don’t want to be “hands-off” so we are planning a trip in 2020 to continue building the relationships we have begun to cultivate with these spirit-filled youths in Belize City.
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Belize Trip Summary – August 2016
Twenty-two people from Discovery were scheduled to travel Belize August 5-12, but two days before departure hurricane Earl forced other plans. In a scurry of activity, phone calls, and prayer the trip was delayed and team split in to two. Nine team members traveled August 13-20 and the remainder of the team will travel December 17-23.
When I tell people that our church took a mission trip to Belize, usually the first question is, “What did you do while you were there?” My answer is not a short one…
You aren’t going to fix poverty in a one or even a two-week trip. In fact, sometimes unintentional harm can be done in that one-week trip. Effective poverty alleviation happens when local leaders drive the change. This is because they live there, they understand the culture, they have worked to build the relationships necessary for lasting change. The north American church is at risk for believing that in our material wealth we know how to fix the problems in materially poor cultures. We “swoop in” to build a community center, hand out clothing, or lead a VBS. Doing so can undermine the work of the leaders in the community and damage the dignity of the community. What dignity is there for the father of the child who receives the clothing handouts?
Furthermore, mission trips are expensive. Couldn’t the money spent on a trip be better used to support local missionaries? The Discovery Come and See Belize team spent several weeks working through the study Helping without Hurting in Short Term Missions to try to discern what the objective of our trip should be and how could we could steward the financial investment of the trip to the work of God’s kingdom. We learned that every interaction on our trip should be about Learning, encouragement, and fellowship – or essentially about relationships.
So, what did we do? Yes, we worked on a building for a church plant, worshiped with local believers, and taught swim lessons, but not in the way that you might think.
We, Discovery, will be returning to Belize on a regular basis. The rest of this team will be going back in December, and another team is forming for a trip at the end of July 2017. We are committed to continuing to build on the relationships we have made so that we can continue to learn, fellowship, and encourage, while effecting change in change in Belize and in our community.
Peace,
Susan Hefner
Belize Short Term Missions Coordinator and Missions Director
Twenty-two people from Discovery were scheduled to travel Belize August 5-12, but two days before departure hurricane Earl forced other plans. In a scurry of activity, phone calls, and prayer the trip was delayed and team split in to two. Nine team members traveled August 13-20 and the remainder of the team will travel December 17-23.
When I tell people that our church took a mission trip to Belize, usually the first question is, “What did you do while you were there?” My answer is not a short one…
You aren’t going to fix poverty in a one or even a two-week trip. In fact, sometimes unintentional harm can be done in that one-week trip. Effective poverty alleviation happens when local leaders drive the change. This is because they live there, they understand the culture, they have worked to build the relationships necessary for lasting change. The north American church is at risk for believing that in our material wealth we know how to fix the problems in materially poor cultures. We “swoop in” to build a community center, hand out clothing, or lead a VBS. Doing so can undermine the work of the leaders in the community and damage the dignity of the community. What dignity is there for the father of the child who receives the clothing handouts?
Furthermore, mission trips are expensive. Couldn’t the money spent on a trip be better used to support local missionaries? The Discovery Come and See Belize team spent several weeks working through the study Helping without Hurting in Short Term Missions to try to discern what the objective of our trip should be and how could we could steward the financial investment of the trip to the work of God’s kingdom. We learned that every interaction on our trip should be about Learning, encouragement, and fellowship – or essentially about relationships.
- Learning - Learning what poverty and poverty alleviation is and how it is best accomplished from those who are in the communities every day.
- Fellowship - Fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ, recognizing that we are all broken and in need of a savior.
- Encouragement- Without judgement, encouraging those who are there every day working for the Lord.
So, what did we do? Yes, we worked on a building for a church plant, worshiped with local believers, and taught swim lessons, but not in the way that you might think.
- We taught a life skill to children and one adult who wanted to learn to swim because they live in a city surrounded on three sides by water and the vast majority of people cannot swim.
- We earned trust.
- We witnessed determination in the face of fear.
- We showed some young men and women what it looks like for a man to be dependable, patient, loving, kind, and all about Jesus.
- We showed some young women that girls can be strong, accomplished, and just as capable as boys.
- We learned about a culture where young girls cannot imagine why in the world a 13-year old, much less a 15-year old, wouldn’t have, want, or need a boyfriend.
- We stepped out in faith trusting that God would use something so simple as swim lessons in ways we couldn’t imagine.
- We learned about a culture where single mothers pray for a man who will not leave them, or who will not beat them, or who will have a change of heart and want to marry them.
- We learned about a fervent belief in the power of prayer so great that sometimes the guilt of answered prayers can be physically overwhelming and hard to reconcile.
- We learned about a group of 25 or so teens who apply and work to be youth leaders at a small church in Belize City. These teens then travel for three weeks to lead VBS to over 700 kids all over Belize. They are the church leaders bringing in the community to the church.
- We learned that our material wealth can mask our own brokenness and that an attitude of superiority and independence can lead to darkness.
- We learned the ugly truth about tourism in a beautiful country.
- We learned that it is our responsibility to use the gifts and talents that we have been given to make a change in our community. Now.
We, Discovery, will be returning to Belize on a regular basis. The rest of this team will be going back in December, and another team is forming for a trip at the end of July 2017. We are committed to continuing to build on the relationships we have made so that we can continue to learn, fellowship, and encourage, while effecting change in change in Belize and in our community.
Peace,
Susan Hefner
Belize Short Term Missions Coordinator and Missions Director
