Encouragement From God

This year our annual "Mennonite Missionaries in Central America Retreat" was at Jaguar Creek, Belize. 

Jaguar Creek Retreat is a rustic set of cabanas in the middle of the jungle, beside a shallow stream. 

Our beds were covered with mosquito netting, which I would have been thankful for if I hadn't gotten my feet all tangled up in it and brought it crashing down on my head the first night.

There were many nice places to sit and relax.

We saw a  huge Guanacaste tree with octopus-like roots.

This is the dining room with a palapa thatched roof.

This was our meeting room.  

Amos Stoltzfus from EMM spoke to us about learning to "work from a place of rest".  He based his lectures on the book by Tony Horsfall. Amos shared lots of insightful thoughts.  The most vivid for me was the concept that we need to leave margins around our busy-ness.  We need to allow for time for accidental encounters with people.  Jesus left a margin of time around his journey through Samaria.  Because he was available, he was able to speak into the life of the "Woman at the Well" (John 11).    

Full schedules also make us feel stressed out..  I know that is true for me.   It would be wise to plan my day with spaces (margins) between the "HAVE TOs".  

Last week I went to visit someone in the hospital.  There was another person visiting when I arrived.  She asked if I could give her a ride home (she lives 20 minutes south).  I said I would gladly give her a ride, thinking about the margin of time I had planned, thankfully.   Then just after I dropped her off I noticed  another woman on the side of the road.  She is the mother of one of our Deaf Church members. Waving to get me to stop, she asked, "Please can you give me a ride?  My car is broken."  She lives 20 minutes the other way (!) I was glad I had a bit of flexibility with my schedule. If I hadn't left the time margins, I would still have been willing to drive both women, but would have been feeling stressed out about being late for cooking dinner.  If we don't work from a place of rest, we are working from a place of stress.  Doing that too much really ruins my witness.

Each day after Amos' input session, we had some time to talk about the "issues" and prayer needs in our lives. Some of the missionaries were just starting.  They wondered what shape their mission work would take. One couple will end their 22 years of mission work next month. They wonder if God wants them to stay in the US or return to Latin America to do something else. Many were asking questions about the future. Sulmi shared that she will go to high school this fall.  She will be the only deaf person in the school.  She will have a new interpreter.  She wonders if she will have any friends, if she will understand the classes, and if the interpreter will understand her.  It seemed to me that lots of people in our group had these invisible question marks floating about their heads. I did, too.

Specifically, I wonder if Nathanael and Spring will be able to raise all of their funds to come.  I wonder if another person that I think God has tapped will come to interpret for Morine in August.  I wonder who will help with our children's ministry after Kathy and Chelsea return home.  

Every morning we had an hour of quiet time.  When I sat down at the picnic table near the road... I saw this image and received this reassurance from God:

Nancy, you see this road?  You see the light along the path?  That's my light.  I will be with you wherever you go.  Did you notice that you cannot see the road beyond the bend?  Don't worry, I am already there. Once you approach the bend you will see to the next bend. What does the road look like there?  Will there be rough patches, muddy spots?  For sure, there will be but I will be with you.  I will walk with you and shine my light on the way you should go.

Leaning on God, letting him direct my ways, trusting him in the rough patches, this is how to find rest in God, true rest for the journey.

Here are some more photos from the retreat that I want to share:

Yelsi and Sulmi.  Yelsi is 20.  She came to take care of the Metcalf children.  Sulmi (15) enjoyed being with Yelsi.

Drew, Cindy and Isaiah Metcalf.  They are counseling children and staff in orphanages and children's homes.

This is Amos Stoltzfus bouncing Moses Metcalf on his leg.  I remember my grandfather doing that.  Actually I had forgotten but when I saw Amos do that it jogged a good memory.  How nice :-)

 Here we are...the whole gang.

We said good bye to Sheila Yoder at the airport.  I am so thankful she came to interpret for me, but I am mostly thankful to have had the chance to catch up with this dear old friend.  Thank you for coming!
  

My Bestie

I thank God for Deb Hoffer.  She has traveled the world with me, literally.  She knows my weaknesses and still loves me. (Amazing grace!)  She gave up her vacation time and money to come to Belize to see my ordination.  I am awed by her faithfulness and blessed by her friendship. Thank you God for giving me this true friend.  Here are some pics of her reading a story about Helen Keller to Elizanie and Sulmi.

Give Me Some of that Living Water!

On Sunday we dramatized the story of the Samaritan women at the well. It's a multi-faceted story where Jesus tells a non-jewish woman that he is the Messiah, he shows a total lack of prejudice to Samaritans, he explains that where we worship is not important and that true worship is where the worshippers seek God in Spirit and truth, and in the end the woman models the the joy of telling others that she has met Jesus and that he is the source of living water.  Ahhh, this one story could be the topic of sermons for many Sundays.  Last week I focused on defining what Jesus meant by "living water".  Lord, I pray that these leaders who dramatized Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well would thirst for your living water, your word, your truth, your peace, faith in you and eternal life. I pray that this living water would spring up inside of them and overflow. I pray that in acting out the story, some of your living water took up residence in their hearts.  

 Chelsea and her friend Rachel Koons, joined the drama as the townspeople.  After the woman learned that Jesus was the Messiah, she ran and told everyone to come and meet the Messiah...and they came in awe, listening to him for 2 days...begging for more.  It was great to have Rachel with us.

Since I had the camera with me,  we took a group picture...but oops too late, Alva, her son, and Martha had already left.  I'll bring the camera again soon.

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!