Hi! This is Evan. The longer you live in a new place, the more you become accustomed to the small things which were initially surprising. Fewer interactions and sights seem noteworthy. For the most part, I think I’m still in the phase where I’m regularly taken aback by the unique beauty of this place. 

Things in this post: Chewie Update, Evan’s Work Permit Update, and Evan’s Work..  There are plenty of photos in this post, as per the usual! 

Chewie made the journey! Below is a map of just how far Chewie traveled. Many thanks to Missy’s mom for making it, to Curt’s parents for holding on to it, and to Curt for traveling all over the world just to bring it here.  

We had a fantastic time with Curt. He rented a motorcycle and we showed him some of the great local places. He really wanted to visit a Mayan ruin, so we took him to Xunantunich. He totally fell in love. 

I applied for my work permit in November. I was finally approved. This is great, as it means I don’t have to spend money and time every month renewing my visa. I had to make several trips to Belmopan, and had to jump through all sorts of hoops, but it was finally approved after I wrote an appeal letter. To finalize things I had to drive to the capital, pick it up, go to another gov’t office, and then to immigration. I arrived at immigration before 8am and was told that the docket was already full for the day. I told the guard that I really needed to have this done by the next day or I was going to have to renew my other visa again. When he heard how long I’ve been working to get my work permit, he gave me his cell phone number, told me to text him at 6 the next day and confirm that I was coming. He got me in the next day. 

The photo above is of my jacket the first morning I rode. It was so foggy I couldn’t see, and was like driving in rain. I was soaked, but the ground was still dry, so my whole body ended up covered in mud. Maybe this is why the guard took pity on me. 🙂 

I have continued to play a lot of music. I’m playing on both Sunday evenings and Sunday mornings. On Sunday evenings, I am selecting the music and handling the slides as well. I spend a ton of time practicing. Between the morning and evening services, I play anywhere from 12-14 songs on Sunday. 

Recently I worked with a missionary group from Texas (wonderful folks!) to paint the inside of St. Hilda’s. I’ll put before and after photos below. It was a not-great yellow, and now it’s a crisp white. Talk about rewarding work! 

We’re also making progress on one of the big projects I’ve been tasked with – Building a rectory for St. Hildas. We have had the land cleared of the brush that had grown up and are working with the government to purchase it. It has been leased for over 20 years by the church. The purchase price is only $800bzd ($400usd). Once that is settled, I will begin to meet with builders to get a sense of the cost of such a project. Then it is time to fundraise. 

I’ve also been asked to begin working with two young lay-ministers who are being asked to take more ownership of the evening service. Our plan is to meet weekly to work through planning and to use that time to help mentor them. 

Sometime this Lenten season, I’ll be leading a day-long retreat for the young lay ministers in our two churches. I’m really looking forward to this. 

Speaking of Lent, I have some great photos from our Ash Wednesday services. In the morning, I attended the service for the young children from the school. Fr. David wanted me to photo the service. Annabelle’s class was there. More about this later, but Annabelle has been asking about baptism and has been reading her Bible a lot lately. We’ve been having some wonderful conversations.

I added some photos of Annabelle helping me make her a swing under our house. It’s great!  

That’s it for now!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. It means the world. I’ll be sending another update soon with more about Missy’s work.