The Valley Of Peace

God called us to the villages of Belize. We visited a village in July of 2002, called, “Valle de Paz,” (Valley of Peace), and found a great need for the Gospel. There used to be a Baptist Church there years ago, but the work had been abandoned for some time. The jungle, bats, and termites had taken over and the building was in need of major repairs. After seeing the church we were introduced to a Mayan lady in the village named Ms. Petrona who was 64 years old. She has been a widow for over 25 years and had been planting and harvesting her crop of corn by hand to assist in paying for the electricity of the church. She had been praying for a preacher to come to the valley and wanted the church ready when he came. She knew God would answer her prayer. After much prayer, we felt God calling us to help these people. We began with a VBS and then started holding services the following week. To get to the village, we used to have to cross the river by ferry, but God gave us a bridge, and although the roads are still very rough, travel is easier.

The “Valley of Peace” was given to a group of refugees from El Salvador that were escaping for their lives during the civil war in their country in the 80’s. Most homes are very primitive wood homes with thatch roofs. Many of the villagers have no running water or electricity in their homes. They bathe and wash their clothes in the river at the pila in the village. Very few have indoor plumbing. They are a very simple group of people. Sometimes it seems we have gone back in time. Language has been a very difficult barrier for us in the valley. The children are taught some English in the schools but most of the adults speak Spanish, Ketche, or Maya. Illiteracy is also a problem with the adults, most of them being unable to read and write. So we visit and talk with the people with our few Spanish phrases and get along the best we can while getting a chuckle now and then from the villagers when we say something wrong. My wife and I would like to start an English class to teach reading and writing. Our compound has grown in the past 8 years. We have 2 Sunday school buildings, one having two rooms. Since our attendance has increased, we had to begin construction on a new auditorium, which is directly behind our present auditorium. It is 60 ft. x 90 ft. in size, with no outer walls keeping things much cooler. We will use our old auditorium for youth ministries. We have a shop for building our own pews and doors. A MANNA feeding center was built in March of 2006. We have a home on the corner of the property that is 700 square feet (pictured here). The most difficult goal to reach with the children is gaining their trust. They have had bad experiences with outsiders in the past and are a little reluctant to trust what people say. My wife and I both understand the importance of gaining their trust first. If we can’t get them to trust us, how will we ever get them to trust in Christ? The valley has only two schools. One is Catholic and the other Assembly of God. If your child goes to the Catholic school, they have to be baptized into the Catholic faith to attend there. We feel this is so wrong to force the children into the Catholic faith. There are just not enough choices. The children have been deceived and are taught that there is no hell and they don’t need to be “saved.”

With so many children we started a children’s program on Tuesday nights, called “TNT,” (Truth and Training) forchildren ages 5-12 years. We open the service with a time for songs and puppets. The children then break up into groups and alternate with games or lesson time. We usually end the service with a clear presentation of the Gospel. Since our children are so shy we ask if any are interested in salvation to raise their hand and we will come to their home and talk to them individually. Once they pray the sinner’s prayer and accept Christ as their Savior they are very proud to come forward at the next service and present themselves as new Christians to our church.  Parents started coming and teenagers too so we added a Spanish service for the adults and a seperate service for the youth ages 13-18 years of age. We are all spread out on the compound, with every group hearing the Gospel.  Click any photo for a closer look and use your browser's back button to return.

Our rainy season here lasts about 8 months. We are talking approximately 165 inches of rain a year so you can imagine the "mud" we have to deal with at game time. Our new auditorium also is used as a multi-purpose building for AWANA games at TNT, and activities such as volleyball on youth nights. We would also like to build a dormitory for men and women to house a team when they come here from the states. It would extremely cut the cost of staying in a hotel, and they could also experience staying in a jungle village.

We have a feeding center here in the Valley of Peace for school age children. At this time we are feeding 60 for lunch each day. I wish you could see their smiling faces as they sit down to a hot nutricous meal. At the end of each month we have cupcakes after the meal to celebrate the children that had birthdays that month. The first time we did this they asked, “Are we going to do this each month?” When we told them yes, you should have heard the cheers. It doesn’t take much to make these kids happy. But it sure makes you feel good seeing them leave after the meal with a smile on their face, a full belly, a quick wave and a thank-you. We have established three other works in Belize. Bullet Tree Falls, which is on the western border of Belize. Camelote Village which is on the road to the Valley, and Arenal, which is just over the western border into Guatemala. Each village has a unique culture of their own. Bullet Tree Falls and Camelote are English speaking works. Arenal is a Spanish speaking work. Ismael Lopez our Pastor in training does our translating.

Please continue to pray for the ministry here as we plant other churches in the villages of Belize and train nationals to take over the work.