Posted on October 7, 2020October 7, 2020 by Ami GutierrezLife – Ministry – Belize 2020 At the moment we aren’t allowed to meet in person with more than 10 people so we’re having a our meetings online, but for a few months over the summer we were able to meet at church with social distance. Dropping off some children’s ministry packets with some families from the church. With the loss of tourism, Belize’s number 1 source of income, and non-essential jobs being put on-hold for a few months there have been many families in need around the country. With the help of some members or our church and through the donations we receive from our supporters we have been able to help take care of some families several times a month. The beginning of the school year was pretty stressful for the teachers at the Foursquare primary school. At first they were told to plan for school to open with a long list of regulations to comply with. They would half of their students in class in the morning and then after lunch the second group would come in for class. They went to a lot of work to move out desks, install hand washing stations and get things in order, and as soon as it was all set-up the government announced that schools would be closed and teacher had to begin to prepare for distant learning, with about a two weeks notice. With all that hardwork and stress it was fun to be able to drop off some pizza, ice cream and ice cold cokes for them! Some of the recent work at the front of the church, getting ready to build a platform. Drop ceiling just as they were finishing up. Baby dedications! Love seeing God grab ahold of the hearts of this sweet family! A couple leaders have joined Gerson with preaching on Sunday mornings. Discipleship nights are the best nights. The kids jumped in and were so excited to help make some protein bars for some nurses. Our church got to bless a group of nurses who were coming off shift and had to go straight into quarantine with lunch and dinner. This is church. When WE are the church, people, individuals, the body of Christ, no-one can call the church essential or not. If we can’t be contained within the walls of a building, neither can the church. God is so big and only He can make things thrive in the midst of difficult circumstances. A group of leaders from church got together to help us dream and plan for the future. Our spectacular Zoom and online church set up. Making it work! We were a little behind most countries but the day finally arrived at the end of March when schools had to switch to distant learning. It was a struggle to switch, but we survived the end of the school year. I can’t tell you how much this sweet little school of Ethan and Maddie’s has been a blessing to our family! For the most part pools open and we’ve gotten to go a few times and have the pool all to ourselves. Masks are required in public, but thankfully in pool we get to take them off! We have a lot of animals that we see running around our backyard. Big iguanas, lizzards, toads, skinks, tarantulas, owls, opossums, toucans…. but this little guy that we found one day was our favorite so far! He’s a Yucatan banded gecko. Such a breath of fresh air after spending so much time at home. Parks haven’t open, we’re not allowed to get together with friends, but we can escape to the beach!! A big day for this little girl when she took her pepe’s (pacifiers) to the drug store to buy some new toys with them. Evie turned 3! A little freedom running along the shore is a great way to let off some quarantine stress! First day of school for Ethan and Maddie. For now it’s distant learning. They pick up their homework in the morning to work at home and then drop it off the next day. Going to the school for 5 minutes each day is their favorite!! They get to see hi to their teacher and sometimes they run into one of their friends and get to say hi. Evie’s first day of preschool!! Even if it was just to pick up her work to do at home, she was very excited! Paddling around and floating over jellyfish and sting rays. Maddie turned 6!