My Ordination

Whew!  I am now officially Pastor Nancy.  I had the sense that Jesus ordained me for this ministry in 2005 when we started Jesus' Deaf Church.  Back then I was wondering if Jesus had picked the right person and if I as a woman could (should) pastor a church in Belize. Many Evangelical Mennonites here gave me tremendous support.  Some others told me that the church should wait for a man.   But I knew God had called me.  I knew God established our church in his timing, this timing...not mine.  So I forged ahead and led worship and ministered and preached and counseled and prayed and even led a funeral.  Eight and a half years later on March 2, 2014, we did the ceremony, signed the papers, and I was officially licensed.  I even was given an official  "Pastor Nancy Marshall" card to carry in my wallet.  Maybe it will get me into the hospital outside of visiting hours...I wonder...  

The "Ordination Weekend" was blessed by visitors from the states as well as people from our Deaf Church and St. Peter's School.  Below you will see pictures of the worship service.

This is me introducing the day.  Note that we now have a projection screen...It's a gift from Pastor Rob Henderson at Lord of Life Church in Ohio.

Galen and Gloria Lehman came from VMM.  It was a great affirmation to have them at my ordination.

Kathy led the children in "God is so Good".

I preached: sharing my call and telling everyone that they also have a call on their lives to serve God. God promised to walk with them and help them.

Deb Hoffer read a letter of support from First Deaf Mennonite Church in Lancaster.

Galen Lehman read from 1st Timothy 4 about the character of a church leader.

Pastor Fernando Blanco gave words of affirmation and then proceeded with the Order of Ordination.  Pastor Blanco is the Preseident of the BEMC and pastors the Mennonite Church at August Pine Ridge.  He spoke in Spanish, Tomas Torres translated the entire worship into Spanish for those whose heart language is Spanish.  Chelsea listened to Tomas' translation and translated into ASL. I am very grateful to both Chelsea and Tomas for making the service accessible in English, Spanish, and ASL.

Pastor Blanco  read the order of Ordination.

Our Deaf Church and everyone present laid hands on me and prayed for me.  My eyes are open because we are watching the interpreter to know what is being said.

Pastor Blanco, handed my Bible to me as a token of my work... to share God's Word while Tomas translated into English and Galen stepped in momentarily to interpret.

The Leaders of our church signed the Certificate of License.  This is Manuel Tosh.

This is Angelica Alvarado.

Pastor Ramon Castelleanos made sure I signed on the right line.  He is the Vice-President of the BEMC and the Pastor of the San Felipe Mennonite Church.

 Chelsea had the sweet idea to have the children at St. Peter's Anglican School create posters to say congratulations to me.  She mounted them all around the church and then posted them on the wall in my house.  That was a nice affirmation.

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So there it is...the official document.

I thank everyone for making this a special day for me.  I thank Kathy Miller for taking care of the children during our worship so that they would not have to sit for a long time and we would not be distracted.  I thank Tomas Torres for interpreting everything from English to Spanish and vice-versa. I thank Chelsea Kobylarz for translating everything from ASL to English.   I thank Deb Hoffer, Gloria and Galen Lehman and Martin Rhodes for coming to Belize to be part of this event. And I thank Martin Rhodes for taking pictures and letting me use them here in the blog.  God is faithful.  I pray that I am worthy of this call.

Our Crooked Tree Adventure

Sunday was a beautiful day.  The temperature was about 82 with a nice breeze.  Soft, puffy cumulus clouds dotted the blue sky.  It was a day begging for an outdoor adventure. The nearest "park" for walking trails is in a small village called Crooked Tree. This is an extremely friendly Kriol village where the standard fare at the single restaurant is "boil up" and the residents boast of living on the island for 5, 6, and 8 generations. A 3.5 mile causeway (built in 1984) joins the island with the Northern Highway. The main attraction?  A large fresh water lagoon (lake) that happens to be the annual resting spot for many migrating birds. It's a nature lover's paradise.

About 2 miles down the causeway we ran into a little snag...it was under two+ feet of water.  We discussed walking through the water (very briefly) and then noticed a woman standing nearby.  My intuition told me she was waiting for a boat. (There are not usually boat rides here, but the villagers have created a system of boat taxis to take the people from the end-of-the-road to the island.)  She said a  man was coming to pick her up and would arrive any minute...and... there would be enough room for us. (What good timing!)

Waiting for the boat. 

We had planned to walk along the forest trails that border the edge of the lagoon but they were also under three feet of water so we walked the island and took pictures.  The picture to the right is of a cashew tree.  One cashew nut grows on the bottom of each cashew fruit.  The fruit is sour but makes a delicious popular wine.  Because there are so many cashew trees on the island, they have an annual festival the first week of May celebrating various cashew products. (I hope the water goes down by then!)

This is the Audubon Center that is usually 50 feet from the edge of the lagoon.

Chelsea is not in these picture because she had other plans. So she missed this trip but will join us next time.

Cute smiles on adorable "Pikni" ("children" in Kriol).

This picture looks like it came from a desktop wallpaper file. It was at the northern end of the island.  Flooded, but with the single tree alone against the blue water and sky...ahhh unique beauty.

 After our hour walk we had to figure out how to get back to the car before dark.  A man from the Audubon Center said he would figure something out for us.  True to his word there was a Coast Guard truck waiting for us.  We sat for a while waiting for another group that would join us on the truck.  Yes...that is an iPad...Kristel brought hers along (ARGHH!! I thought...I sure hope she doesn't drop it in the water!)  But in the end it was helpful.  She took pictures with it and shared it to keep the girls entertained while we waited.

On the back of the truck,

I'm standing in the back of the truck taking this picture.  Our truck is the one in the left foreground.  In front of us is a jeep that was trying to pull the smaller white truck out of the muck.  It got stuck but the jeep couldn't get it out.  "Coast Guard to the rescue!"  So our truck hooked up a chain and pulled the small white truck backwards to less soft ground. That water in front of the jeep is the causeway (!!!)  I was so impressed with how helpful everyone was to each other. When the big truck arrived at my van, the man got out and helped me to turn the van around so I wouldn't get stuck in the soft ground on either side of the narrow dirt part of the road.  So nice!
What an awesome day!

Special Gardeners

"Along with milk and vegetables, kids need a steady diet of rocks and worms.  Rocks need skipping.  Holes need digging.  Water needs splashing.   Bugs and frogs and slimy stuff need finding."  *

 Even though I am pastoring Jesus' Deaf Church on a full time basis, I am thrilled I still get to plug into St. Peter's Anglican School as the "Garden Teacher".  On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, each of the four special education classes get a 30 minute lesson in the school garden. This week we were planting.

 Digging in the dirt and touching the young plants gently gives each child a hands on opportunity to interact with nature.  Aiden, who is "all boy" and loves rough and tumble stuff, was focused on carefully and gently placing the habenero pepper plant in the hole he dug. It's precious beyond words to see his keen interest in nurturing the garden plants.

 Julius broke up the soil and placed it in the garden flat.  He enjoyed feeling the lumps and crumbling them into the holes.

 Omarion is concentrating on planting the lettuce seeds.  With his teacher's encouragement, he is trying to plant just two little, tiny seeds in each hole.

Next we water, trying to water the roots and not the leaves.  Isn't amazing how careful the children are?  

 

This is where we plant flowers.  There will be tall zinnias in back and marveillos in front.  When the flowers die, the children will save the seeds and sell them in small bags to raise money to buy more seeds and benefit the special education program at our school.

Alejandro is a graduate of St. Peter's Deaf Program.  He is now working at the school in yard maintenance.  By digging up the entire garden with a spade and removing the weeds, he made it much easier for the children to dig and plant.  He is such an asset to the school. I'm thankful for him.

*The quote at the top of the page is from an RVing advertisement...Ha!  

Dem Boyz

Well, It was hard to return to Boyz Bible study after Edgar died.  He was THE core member of the group. I could always count on him being there. It was hard for me to try and gather the group without him. I've been dragging my feet for about a month.  The other boys, particularly Juan, wanted to get together for fellowship and to study the Bible.  Several times he asked me, "When will we have Bible study?"   I finally said "Ok".  I'm glad I did.  The group is starting to take on new life.  We added Diego, whom Juan encouraged to come.  It's good to be moving on and talking with them about who God wants them to be.

The photos are from last Saturday, our second gathering this year.  We changed the time from 12 noon to 5 PM.  This works better for all of us. We start with Bible study, then eat a meal, clean up and close with praying for each other.

We are studying what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.  Our study led us to the "Great Commission" in Matthew 28 where Jesus said to "Go", Baptize" and "Teach them all I have commanded you".
What did Jesus command?  There are about 35 times that Jesus gives his disciples or onlookers a command.  "Repent", Give to all who ask", "Pray" "Turn the other cheek".   Each week in our study we will look at another one of Jesus' commands.

Jaheed is helping Juan to read his passage.  Juan never went to school.  Most of the over-25 adults did not have an opportunity to go to a school or learn sign language.  I am so impressed with how fluent Juan has become.  He is in stark contrast to his Deaf brother who does not attend church or fellowship very often with deaf people.   When I see them together I remember just how much Juan has grown.  Please pray that his brother and wife can let go of the chains of alcoholism and reach out to Jesus.

 Misael is spelling a word and asking for the correct sign.

 Manuel still remembers many Bible stories and details from the 2 years that I was training him for leadership.  He's smart, reads some, and has beautiful ASL when he tells a story.

Raheem is Jaheed's hearing brother.  We are hoping that if he comes to the Bible study that he not only learns about Jesus but also learns to sign....beyond gang signs...that is.

Diego is about 27.  He also never went to school.  He works cutting cane and helps support his mother.  Diego has a Deaf sister with 3 children.  We hope to reach out to her.  They live in a little village about 25 miles from OW (San Roman) and 12 miles off of the highway.  Diego bikes that entire distance to come to Boys Night.  He sleeps overnight at Juan's house, goes to church, and then bikes back home.

Manuel took this picture of me preparing the meal.  He thought is was funny how hopeful my dog Gabriel was. 

Misael is helping out with the food preparations.

There are several other Deaf men "out there".  Although they cut sugar cane during the morning and early afternoon, they should be free to come to our Bible study by 5 PM.  Pray that God gives us opportunities to invite them and pray that they respond "yes!" to the invitation.