RODWELL- Broken Hip

Our one day in the village we came across Rodwell, probably 13-15 year old boy who was walking with a walker. He never uses one and has no physical problems so we asked him about it and ended up examining him. We were obviously limited in what we could do but we diagnosed a definite problem in his left hip (not knee as they had thought and previously x-rayed)- most likely a break or dislocation. Becasue he did not knwo "how this happened" we thought it was more likely a dislocation than break. We aslo layed hands on hima nd prayed. On the day we got home, Vera and Basil were able to get him to the city hospital where Dr Jorge Hidalgo works and he examined and x-rayed him and he does indeed have a badly broken hip. He needs surgery or will be crippled for life, unable to use the leg. The doctor will do the surgery for free but the hospital costs alone come to $2200 US. So there is a big need to raise this money right now. If you can help at all and want to help, please let us know. Also, there is a big need for prayer for him. The surgery is scheduled for Friday. The hip has been broken and untreated for about a month now. The blood supply to parts of the bone have been lost and so we need to pray that it will all be restored so that his bones can continue to grow fully. We are humbled by this all and are just doing what we can right now- which is to spread the word of his need and ask for finances for him and prayer. This is just another example of how our heart breaks to see this village have no healthcare at all. We are excited that they soon will have Drs. Hidalgo once a month! THANK YOU LORD! Keep pressing in, Keep establishing, keep building...

Love seeing the closeness in Taylor and KC no matter where we are!

Yes I'm almost 40 and my quads were sore after hiking up and down ruins!

Morning Devotions

We're home!

Hey- after 12 days and then a plane delay and cancellation in Dallas...we're finally back in our home! And it feels good! We'll post some more of the trip photos for you to have a "glimpse" inside our last two weeks. Thanks to all who supported us in any and every way throughout this time!

Praying thru the BAse

Hi again...just wanted to update while I had the chance. We have had a crazy day here, but just finished on eof our high priority things which was to pray thru each and every building on the base and to really claim it back for God. We blew the shofar as we went and all of us took turn praying- all of us meaning Vera, Basil, Mike and I. It felt good to do that as God was able to use us also to pray and prophesy things forth for thr ministry and for Basil and Vera personally and for the villagers.

The heat has taken its toll on me, or the lack of water (my own fault I guess if that's the case) or the warfare or all of it! Tomorrow will bean adventure and one we need prayer for. haha it just dawned on me that tomorrow you will all be in your churches, or wherever God has you or is sending you to serve...I don't know why that makes me laugh ...I guess it just all seems so far away right now! But we are where we need to be as His servants:) And our work is not yet done.

So yeah- tomorrow we have to transport all of us and our luggage thru the mile and a hlaf jungle path which as I wrote earlier is all flooded out. We have an ATV we can use and we can put the hluggage in there as we walk and "wade" thru the water. srriously! We think with three trips we can do it. That gets us to the end of the path and the beginning of the lagoon. Then we have to wait for the person- Dana is his name- who will come and pick us up in his boat an d tkae us across the lagoon. Then unload everything againa nd get it to the van which is parked in the village. Then we will drive that down the road to the church (I think) and all this needs to be done by 9:30. SO we are leaving the base at 6 I believe to make sure we are not late...maybe its later..but you get the idea.

I have to tell you that I marvel at how God is growing our kids thru all of this. The other day Taylor got a burger and when he picked it up there was a dead bug underneath. He juts brushed it off and ate the burger. I was SO PROUD! I said "you know you are a missionsry kid when..."

Well, plese do pray for us and thank you so much to those who have emailed or commented on here. It means a lot!

Love Eileen adn Mike and Taylor and KC

Finally

We .finally made .it to .th.e .villag.e/base! .With. two .days .to .spare! .h.aha. .Computer .problems .but .will .post .th.is .anyway. All .roads .into .villag.e .are .flooded .and .the. .storms .keep coming. .so .we .can't .go. .by .sea .because .it .is .too r.oug.h.. We .need .to l.eave .tomorrow .so .pray .God .makes .a .way.

Mike .is i.n .villag.e .now .doing .medical .stuff. .We .stayed a.t .base .so w.e .don'.t .ha.ve .to w.alk t.he. .mile .and .ah.lf .in shin/ankle.deep .water .th.ru t.h.e .jungl.e .path.(wh.ich. i.s .h.ow .we .go.t .he.re .by t.h.e .way) .Please .pray. we .are a.ll .well .but .ready .to c.ome .h.ome.

Pray for KC

Hi again- eileen here..please pray for KC. She has been having a wonderful time here and spreading the joy, spending much time playing with 4 year old Allison....but today she has just broken down in tears as we are still not in the village. And we can't go today. God is doing a lot on this trip but most of it is hard for a ten year old to see...actually a lot of it is hard for a 39 and 43 year old too! haha. Please pray for her today if you read this. She is fine but we are all feeling a "shift" on this trip.

Another praise is the doctors have allowed us the use of their other home (the one they will be moiving into next week) for the remainder of our time here. This is huge answer to prayer and finances and once again we want to tell God thank you nad raise all of YOUR faith to continue to walk as He leads and watch how He willalways provide!

We are making greta new friends and contacts here. The "net" continues to spread ...each new relationship a new knot, so that we can haul in more "fish".

Love you all! See you soon!

Another Worshiper

At the Wed night prayer group, EIleen got a prophetic word for this man. Basically it was a word of encouragement that God says he is a worshipper- even if he doesn't play any instruments- he is a worshipper, he has heart to truly worship God. Also, that God has plans to prosper him and not harm him (Jeremiah) He was very excited and had big smile, as did his wife,upon hearing this. His wife, shown in the right of the photo gave her life to Christ that night as well!

God's New Wonder

While this 18 month old was still in the womb, God told her father (who was seeking God for a name for her) to name her Wonder because she would preach and prophesy in front of large crowds and signs and WONDERS would come forth from her ministry.

Eileen & I had the chance to pray over her. It was a very good night.

We have but one Spirit... He understands spanish, too.

(Mike here.)

On the same night our home group meets, we were invited by the Hispanic medical doctor and his wife to join them for their home group (and to stay the night in their home... SO MUCH HOSPITALITY!).

The whole meeting was in spanish, but we understood enough and the Holy Spirit translated the "spirit" of the message for us. So awesome to see these people praise God and hear the Good News in a different language. And to just top off the experience, the Holy Spirit drew 5 more people into the kingdom (salvation). YEAH, God.

eileen's thoughts

we're having trouble getting these to post but hopefully it will work. Photos are of KC playing stick ball with some island kids, our family after climbing to the top of Mayan ruins and maybe Taylor with Benjamin- the doctors' son.

Anyway- we have been praying for God to stretch our money and He is! We have just been invited to stya at Geraldine and Jorge's home for two nights which will save us quite a bit! It' samazing how God continues to just provide and orchestrate things and how it is never how we think it will be....except that we alwasy know He WILL provide as we continue to walk in faith as He leads!

Geraldine and I are having great times together and have a lot in common. I am going to help her with her home today as they are preparing to move into a new home and she has stuff to do there. How fun is God?!!! ANSWER- SO FUN!

Please keep praying for us...we are entirely in His mercy and His leading of us...

Love-Eileen

Hot, rainy & sweaty day... gotta love Belize.

(Mike here.)

Basil & I just went out for supplies. I really don't like my trips to Belize City to do errand running, but I do enjoy my time with Basil. He's a very private guy who doesn't really like to talk a lot, but I find he has a wealth of knowledge and a slew of stories about his life, about their missions experience and about Belize in general.

This has been a hard trip. Right now, Vera is currently trying to recover from the flu she has had over the past couple of days. She looked/acted MUCH better today than she even did yesterday. Basil, by his own admission, has been better since he was in the hospital, but he indicated that he still isn't nearly at 100%.

Please pray for Vera and Basil, their health, their ministry as well as their own personal spiritual walk.

Please pray for us for God to provide financially (some of this trip is not yet paid for) as well as to bring us revelation in this missions journey we are on. As for me, pray for God to break thru in greater ways and to reveal himself more to me. I would love to grow in my passion and love for Him.

Eileen, as it always seems, has the favor of the Lord. We prayed for free access into one of the Mayan ruin sites and free exiting from Mexico. God answered both. Also, our new hispanic doctor friends are from the Assembly of God and she told Eileen that she would love to have Eileen preach at her church (if we give her more advanced warning next time).

We love u and miss you all. Mike

Finally... some photos!!!

Thunderstorms

Well today we are planning ot head into the base/village by boat of ocurse. Only thing is, we are having thunderstorms! It is still early though and we have shopping ot do for supplies so I am hopeful it will clear in time for us to still make it there. Yesterday was a greta day in the Lord! We were able to hang out with Dr. Jorge Hidalgo and his wife Dr. Geraldine Hidalgo and their two children. Their son Benjamin was an exact replica (almost) of Taylor and the two fo them did not stop talking or playing the whole time. KC also played of course and helped with little 4 year old Allison, their daughter.

We love this couple! We love this family! Another FAMILY that loves God and will be spreading that and modeling that in Gales Point. Very exciting! I was thanking God again for this God ordained meeting of the two families...the ministries...etc.

Havr to run now as we are meeting again for breakfast and with Vera and Basil as well. Vera has been having some flu like symptoms yesterday so we are praying today will be better. Love you all! Thanks for the emails and comments!

Love-all of us

Hablas Espanol? continued

Hello again...

i wanted to ask for prayer for all of us as we are in the village. we will be down there soon and as usual want ot be about God´s business and tuned in to Him and what He has for us to hear, say and do.

i was wondering how church went yesterday back home. i had a funny thing happen while here. when we were on the island of Ambergris, there was a open air crusdae going on. They had set up a cloth screen and sound systema nd had worship going and it was really good so we stopped and were worshipping along. They played he will make a way and then some other song and then shout to the Lord. well, during the second song I was juts off somewhere in my worship world with God and when I opened my eyes I expected to be in Living Light church but here I wsa in the dirt road of this Belizean Island. I just sort of shook my head and laughed and thought COOL...same God...same spirit. Anyway it was just kind of weird and fun and good.

well, the internet is starting to go I guess...whatever that means...haha...so I best conclude by asking you to pray. We need prayers, we actually need more money and we need continual Holy SPiirt power and perseverence. It´s easy to let things wear you out here, attitudes, etc...but in God there is always more,always power, alwasy love! so we draw on HIm and delight in Him and love you alla s well.

We´ll try to get some phtoos on here at some point...

Love eileen and family

Hablas Espanol?

(Eileen here) Hola! Estamos en Chetumal en Mexico! haha.
had to get some espanol int here somewhere! today is a rest day...as much as any day here can be a rest day. we have weaved our way through the markets of this mexican city to find an internet place where we can talk to you! the keyboard is a bit different here so please forgive all the typos in advance! (silly me, i couldn´t figure out that to get the @ sign I have to press down ALT adn then quickly hit the 6 key and then the 4 key! weird but fun! okay, things are going well. on one hand we all want to come home each and every day...and on the other hand we just keep praying and humbling ourselves to God´s purposes and it goes well. we had a great meeting with Dr. Jorge Hidalgo. His wife is also a doctor but has been home with the kids (how cool..i can totally relate) We had a good meeting and he has said that he thinks he can commit to coming to the village once per month! This is so wonderful! There are still some things we need to pray through to bring this to fruition. But he is committed to make something work. He invited us to hishome tomorrow evening.

I have to crack up..the music here in this internet cublicle int he middle of a market is blasting Bad Boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, watcha gonna do.... too funny.

anyway, i digress...

i´ll post this now and then add more so i don´t lose it.

love' eileen

Hablas Espanol?

(Eileen here) Hola! Estamos en Chetumal en Mexico! haha.
had to get some espanol int here somewhere! today is a rest day...as much as any day here can be a rest day. we have weaved our way through the markets of this mexican city to find an internet place where we can talk to you! the keyboard is a bit different here so please forgive all the typos in advance! (silly me,
okay, things are going well. on one hand we all want to come home each and every day...and on the other hand we just keep praying and humbling ourselves to God´s purposes and it goes well. we had a great meeting with Dr. Jorge Hidalgo. His wife is also a doctor but has been home with the kids (how cool..i can totally relate) We had a good meeting and he has said that he thinks he can commit to coming to the village once per month! This is so wonderful! There are still some things we need to pray through to bring this to fruition. But he is committed to make something work. He invited us to hishome tomorrow evening. He is from Guatemala originally so they will prepareus a
I havr to crack up..the music here in this internet cublicle int he middle of a market is blasting Bad Boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, watcha gonna do.... too funny.

anyway, i digress...

i´ll post this now and then add more so i don´t lose it.

love' eileen

We are here... Safe & Sound

(Mike here.) Just wanted to keep all of you updated as to how things are.

We are currently in Ambercris Caye. We are spending time with Vera & Basil. Basil has indicated that he's still not quite at 100%, but he looks like he's doing a lot better. They are trying some Restless Leg Syndrome suggestions (we are looking into using a Cal-Mag-Zinc supplement they had).

We will be here until tomorrow (Saturday) when we take the 1.5 hr water taxi ride back to Belize City to meet with the doctors for lunch. For those of you that were not informed (or forgot) Eileen had a God meeting with 2 doctors who live and work here in Belize. And in classic Eileen-Holy Spirit boldness, she asked the doctors point blank if they would be willing to come to Gales Point to serve as doctors periodically and they said they would. We believe that tomorrow we will be ironing out logistics like frequency of visits. We will also be asking if they have any other MD contacts that would/might be willing to work in the village too. It'd be great if we could get 6-12 doctors and they could come 4x/year and there would be coverage EVERY WEEK in the village.

Pray for the doctors that they would not get intimidated by the villagers (which has happened in the past) and that we would be able to get additional contacts.

Pray also for our drive up to Mexico after that meeting. We are really trying to press in and get past Vera & Basil's standard responses, and get to the MEAT of what they are here for and God is calling them to do. We want MAXIMUM CREATIVITY and DREAMING so that God can reach these people where other times they may have been unreachable. We want to help bridge these people past their comfort zones and the generational "this is how we do things" and get them to a place of joy, prosperity, and (obviously) salvation.

Pray for me (Mike) that the hard job of reaching the men in the village does not CAMP in me as DISBELIEF. I want to BELIEVE God that these people are reachable. That the impossible is possible with God.

Hopefully, we will have the ability to update this more fully within the next 2-3 days.

We are so grateful for all of you that are STANDING IN THE GAP with us for this little village and these 2 missionaries that we are called to. BREAK-THROUGH is going to happen. Thank you for your standing with us.

The Word of the Lord!

Yesterday at church, this word came forth to our congregation. My spirit leaped and I knew God was indeed speaking and encouraging us once again. May it encourage you as well!

(through Rachel Cui, 5/14/06)
“I don’t want My people to settle for less than everything. When I give you faith for something, then I want you to run with it. Will you quit at the first sign of adversity? When the challenge comes, will you be quick to say, ‘Maybe there’s another answer,’ or will you plant your feet on My word and on what I have spoken? Those who see signs and wonders are those who stand confidently in faith regardless of circumstances. It’s to those who insist on living in faith that I will give power; they are the ones who will see the fulfillment of promises. These are the ones who will fight on the front lines. They will know victory because they do not shrink back. The appearance of past experiences does not determine their actions. This is My army; these are the ones who will see the miraculous; they are the ones who press on and stand firm, persisting in faith.”

Heading back to Gales Point on Thursday!

Some photos from my last trip down there a few weeks ago.

Within a minute or so of walking into Gales Point, I had this little one in my lap. I'm not actually even sure who this is, so i am making it my mission (haha) to find out her name this time! It's hard to see her cute little face here but I love how they just want to be loved!

This is me walking down the road in the village. I had just gotten off the boat and was heading to the church for Sunday morning.

Riding back "home" from Gales Point through the mangrove swamps. Just part of every day life down there. Sure am glad I love water and boats!

Basil

An Update from Vera and Basil

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors!

God is so Good, we've had many of you emailing wanting to know how Basil is doing! The answer is good, good, and good, as they say here in Belize, to describe something the more times it's repeated means it is either good, really good, or really really good the same goes for bad!

Basil saw the Doctor for his follow up. The Doctor seemed pleased and said he felt he was progressing nicely. He didn't feel he needed to see him again. So that is good news! He saw the Neurologist for his legs, the Doc. Prescribed another round of the medication, but said we could try natural stuff if we knew someone who was a Natural Homeopathic Doctor. But to use the meds he gave him, on a as needed basis.

We have a friend here Tom, who was here a week before Basil ended up in the Hospital and he came back for two weeks to help Basil out. It's a good thing, because Basil still tires really easy and just hasn't regained much of his strength back. I imagine it will take some time, being here in the humidity and heat, wipes you out anyway. Tom has been a huge blessing and we are thanking him and his wife for letting him come!!

We still have one more hurdle to get over and that's the colonoscopy to remove the polyp in his colon, which I don't think he's looking forward to, but it has to be done. We should be doing that by the end of the month or beginning of next month.

Again, we want to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers, emails and phone calls of support you, I'm sure realize how much they all meant to us and it helped both of us get thru this.

We had many God ordained moments and meetings thru this ordeal, so I can't help but praise our Father in heaven for all He does and continues to do. We love each of you and look forward to seeing all of you hopefully at some time during the course of this year. Please relay to all those you forwarded my emails to that we could feel the prayers and knew that Basil was covered worldwide during this time. It is so awesome to have so many brother's and sister's standing in the gap for us when we needed it. Please let them know if ever there is a need for prayer to not hesitate to email us so we can do the same for you and them!!!

In His Loving Care,
Basil and Vera

Vera with some of the kids in the village.

Faces Of Gales Point- People that God so loves!

Satellite Photo of Gales Point

This satellite photo below shows the area from higher up than the previous photo. You can see the village of Gales Point as the narrow peninsula that jets out into the Southern Lagoon. You can also see the land mass to the right of the lagoon and then the Caribbean Sea. It is on the edge of the Sea that the Belize Mission Base is located.

The base is accessible to us only by boat at this time. We can boat across the lagoon and then walk a mile and a half through a jungle path or we can boat through the lagoon, across the Bar River and down the Caribbean Sea to the base.

We are still praying and believing for a road to be cleared that would give us land access to the Base.

Satellite view of Gales Point Village and surrounding jungle

Aerial View of Gales Point Village- our home away from home

Upcoming trip expectations

God is simply wonderful! There's no other way to put it! As we prepare for our 5th trip to Gales Point, Belize are hearts are full of expectation and excitement.

This will be our longest trip down there so far- almost two full weeks! Sure hope the bugs aren't bad this time around because that could be a LONG two weeks! (smile)

Anticipated highlights of this trip include meeting with the medical doctors that Eileen connected with on her last trip, praying for people in the hospital, opening the clinic and doing housecalls to people in the village, and one on one (or 4 on two) time with Vera and Basil. We also plan to take in some more of the country and possibly even take a jaunt into Mexico for a couple days to relax with Vera and Basil outside of the "confines of all the ministry needs in Belize".

We are pressing in and seeking God's will for this trip.