In The Life Of A 15 Year Old

Hi, folks! I told you I would tell you a little bit about myself and Belize, etc. SO, here goes!

My dad felt the Lord (El Señor) calling him to Belize the year (año) of 1998, I didn’t feel this burden AT ALL...

He ran from the calling until the year of 2001. I was SO happy about that...Oops, did I just say that? :o)

This is my dad on his last trip to Belize before bringing the family to live here, bringing some of our luggage, a vehicle and a map. =o) He went looking for us a home in this photo.

I mean, I was 15, we evangelized off and on all my childhood up until I was 15. I had friends EVERYWHERE! I didn’t want to leave the comforts of the US and all my friends behind. The only way I could even communicate was snail mail. It would take WEEKS for us to get it. Calls were EXPENSIVE! And forget email, who knew much about it back then? Not even Facebook!

We left on a cold, rain/sleet night in January to drive through Mexico. I had ALWAYS heard terrible stories about Mexico. I was afraid. :-O

This journey from the US, via Mexico, to Belize, was ONLY suppose to take a few days, not 10! We had trouble with vehicles all the way through Mexico. The funny, yet not so funny thing about this was, my pastor’s wife, Sis. Taylor, told us she would fast until we made it there safe. Um, none of us realized it would take THAT long!

We FINALLY made it to Belize and it didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. Except for the fact, I had NO friends whatsoever here. 

We moved into a rented house that had no furniture. NOTHING! We used the seats from our van as couches. 

Then came the “journey” of finding the village of Guinea Grass to witness to the mother of a lady we met in the US. We found her!

This was Sis. Lima's home (Our first convert) in the background. We had church here for around 2 years. If you'll do a "Where's Haley?," you'll find me. I was between the age of 15-16. 

We had church every night of the week except Monday and 3 times on Sunday. OH MY WORD, some of you are saying! 

I think I was around 16 here. This is the church we had started in Vista Del Mar, Ladyville.

We had flat tires SEVERAL times a week because the roads were so bad. We would get to church just in time to pick up people and set out equipment. Then we would take the people home from church, pick up the equipment and load it back in the van and get home around 2 a.m.

I HATED IT HERE!!!! Wahhhh, I wanted to go back home to the US.

We had to use interpreters because these people spoke “no” English. I couldn’t make friends because I didn’t speak Spanish. After about a year, these people would come and talk to us in English. When asked why they had never spoken to us in English before, “We have shame,” was the response.  Hmmm....

I was around 17 in this picture.

If someone would have offered me a plane ticket back to the US and a house to live in, I would have GLADLY accepted. But God had different things in mind. Over time, I learned Spanish, made friends and came to love my new home! Until next time, see you later!

P.S. Due to heat and water damage, I was not able to find a picture of me when we first came here. But in this post, you will see some photos of me between the ages of 15-17. Hence the smile. I came to love the people, a guy=o), and the country! More about that later...

"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it." C. JoyBell C.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"