Sunday in Succotz

Today we had our first taste of what it means to worship in Belize. I think we all agree that it was an experience we will treasure in our hearts long after we leave Belize. 

Jenny is going to debrief about the day:

Today we experienced our first church service here in Succotz, and it has by far been the highlight of the trip for me. In the midst of worshipping among other Christians I found myself overcome with emotion. It literally brought me to tears. There's something so sweet about worshipping God beside people who aren't even speaking the same language. It is one of those indescribable moments that I will remember long after our trip is through. My words will never adaquetly describe the awesome feeling when the crowd joined voices to sing a chorus of How Great Is Our God. As the words of the chorus ran through my head it struck me that the words are OUR God, not MY God, YOUR God, but OUR God. The God we serve is not simply the God of the States, but He is the God of the universe. It's those moments of quiet revelation spent with the creator that I treasure. God loves all people, and this means I am called to this also. Our God is so big. He is not stopped by borders or language barriers, and I am thankful for this. 

Here in Belize we are learning that we are more alike than different. The people of Belize have been so warm and welcoming. We had the opportunity to go back to the village market today to interact with the natives and pick up some cool souvenirs to take back home. You should totally be excited...I mean it, they're awesome! :) 

After the ridiculously bumpy trek back up the hill we had dinner... Belizean style!! We feasted on traditional beans and rice with chicken today. We definitely aren't going hungry here! To make the day even sweeter the group surprised me with a belated birthday cake!! They'll never understand how much that touched me and how truly thankful I am for this community. I cannot end this blog without thanking each and every one of you for your prayers and support. We are having a blast here, and we look forward to seeing all of you back in the states. :) 

Peace,

      Jenny

P.S. I have to give a quick shout out to my incredible family. I love you all!!! :)

Here are the devotions from Tiffany:

This evening we all got together for devotions. It's always a favorite time of mine because I feel so blessed to hear the love each and every one of us has for Christ. I used this opportunity to talk about AUTHENTIC worship. In the book, Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, it talks about this very thing. The book says, "The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God." I opened up with the question, "what does worship mean to you?" Many people offered up their opinions of what worship meant to them. Some people said they felt they worshipped God through music, while others said they worshipped God by watching the sunset. It was great to hear a variety of answers because authentically worshipping God is going to be different for everyone. I made the connection that we are all here to teach and, because of that, we ALL have the opportunity to authentically worship God through teaching. I challenged each person to think of multiple ways to genuinely and personally worship God authentically. To close things off, I switched gears a bit. I wanted everyone to get a chance to hear the growth our group has had already. We were all sitting in a circle, so I told everyone that they were supposed to say something they have learned about or from the person to their right. It was a truly humbling experience to hear the love and care these amazing people have shown each other. There were tears of joy and lots of laughter as people shared their thoughts about one another. To end this off, I just want to say it's been such a blessing to be a part of a group that is trusting, supportive, and vulnerable during devotional time. It truly strengthens us so much and makes for a great time together. 

As you can probably tell today was a pretty relaxing day. I do think, however, that we will treasure the quiet moments we had together with the group just spending time with each other and enjoying the company. We are all growing to become a family - an awkwardly close, ridiculously conversationed (if that's a word; if not, I'm coining it!), hilariously funny family.