Thirty-four youth and adults traveled to Orange Walk, Belize, the second to last week of June. Led by Mary Carol, we participated in missions with the Orange Walk Nazarene Church. The youth learned how to lead Sunday School, devotion with kids, sports ministry, and to construct a wall with cement and mortar. Thank you to the chaperones that joined us for this life-changing trip. A few of the youth have written down reflections on their days. Following is the beginning of the trip from their perspective.

—Julliette & Mary Carol

Day one: Saturday
“Today at 3 am, we kicked off the start of our trip to Belize. It was dark and quiet outside, but inside First Baptist the lights were on, and everyone was awake! Our luggage was stowed in the bus, and we got in, too. We quickly realized how little there was to do without our phones, so we turned on our music and slept the whole way to the Atlanta Airport. After diving in and out of consciousness for the whole drive, we arrived, the sky got lighter, and we slowly woke up and looked around at the big city of Atlanta.”

—Tigist, Leira, Ava Grace, Kate

Day Two: Sunday
“Once we arrived at Orange Walk Nazarene Church, we ate a delicious traditional Belizean breakfast of journey cakes, fry jacks, fried beans, and fresh fruit prepared by Pastor Desmond’s wife, Annette. After breakfast, we started Sunday School. Larsen, Garner, Jordan and Leira led adult Sunday School by reading a chapter from Hebrews and leading the discussion by asking the group a variety of questions. Abby joined the children’s Sunday School and talked with the kids about the important lessons we have learned from Jesus, other important figures in the Bible, and people we see every day. After church, we returned to the hotel to change out of our long dresses to get ready for lunch and home visits.”

—Abby, Larsen

Day Three: Monday
“Many adventures and accomplishments filled our Monday. We began the morning with a delicious breakfast. After that, we headed to the local school with excitement and our devotion prepared. The Good Samaritan was the story we read to the kids. Then we separated the kids into groups to have them act out the story of the Good Samaritan. In my classroom, the kids were shy and nervous in the beginning but were quick to get excited about the skit. We then sang songs and played games until they were dismissed for break. Playing tag, freeze tag, hide and seek, and red-light green-light were some of my favorite parts of the day.”

—Jayden

Day Four: Tuesday
“Today we got to visit the Mayan Temples at Altun Ha. The experience was incredible, and I learned many things while climbing the tall structures to see the surrounding view. I could hear many different birds, and the whole area was entirely incredible. Afterwards, we split back to the church, and I got to help deliver bags of food we packed. The group of youth who delivered food to homes were able to meet lots of incredible people. Tigist and I got to meet a very kind couple named Violet and Eric. They were amazing individuals, and I’m glad we got to pray over them.”

—Grace

Day Five: Wednesday
“We spent the morning at Trial Farm Gov’t School teaching devotion and playing games outside with the children during recess. I spent a lot of my time playing soccer and giving piggyback rides to Yan, and Nate spent his time playing basketball. We spent a while playing, and it was very hot. We think it felt like 103F. Our favorite part of going to Trial Farm was seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces when they ran outside and saw us ready to play! It was heartbreaking when we had to leave. Worship was very entertaining for everyone. Some of us got to share our perspectives on what the trip meant to us. Some of the Church members talked about their experiences having us at the church. They were so welcoming to all of us, showing us what their church family is like. After church, they came and shook all of our hands and thanked us. Today was our favorite day of the trip so far because we got to do so much for the community, and we got to connect with the church congregation.”

—Wells, Nate

Days Six & Seven: Thursday and Friday
On Thursday, we traveled to Caye Caulker, an island off the coast of Belize City. There, the youth and adults explored, snorkeled and felt rewarded for their hard work. Friday, we woke up early for a day of travel. We left the island at 8am Belize time and arrived back at the church at 10:30pm EST. Although we were tired and irritable, we all knew that we had returned from a life-altering trip, one we will not soon forget.

—Juliette & Mary Carol

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