Transitions

I’m sitting on the veranda on the second floor of Dianni’s Guest House, enjoying the pleasant ocean breezes and feeling the slight glow of a mild sunburn. It’s late; 11:00 back home, but only 10:00 here. Dianni’s is in the town of Placencia on the tipoff a 17 mile peninsula about halfway down the coast of Belize.
Today is an early R&R day, between our commitments at Hope Mission in Mafredi last night and this morning, and our commitments in San Ignacio and Yalbac beginning tomorrow evening.
It’s been a pleasant day. We woke up to the sound of the ocean in Punta Gorda and trekked back to Mafredi for breakfast at Jerry Parham’s house next door to the Hope Mission Center at 7:30. We arrived right on time – very American. After breakfast we had a long and engaging conversation with Jerry and Valerie Osborne about future directions and opportunities. I’m optimistic we can together make something happen to God’s glory and the benefit of the people of this area.
Around mid-morning we headed deeper into the mountains toward the Guatemala border. Our goal was two-fold:
First, to visit a small Mayan village that Rebekah Pound mentioned to us yesterday. She said we would find it representative of the small poor villages in the area. It was. While collecting a water sample from the pumping station, we were accosted by 3 generations of Mayan women and children eager to sell us their handmade wares. Ben now has a new bracelet and Sarah has a brightly colored handbag.
Second, to visit a waterfall that Ray remembers from a visit over a decade ago. When it became apparent that Ray, the oldest member of our team, fully intended to jump off the bluff nearly 30 feet above the pool below the falls, Dave and I couldn’t let him be the only one. We stripped to our skivvies and joined him in the water. Thankfully no pictures accompany the event.
A long ride on rough dirt roads finally brought us back to the paved Southern Highway and north to Independence. On Ray’s insistence, we parked the SUV and took the Hokey Pokey ferry from Independence across the lagoon to Dianni’s place in Placencia. After some sight-seeing and fruit gelato, we wandered down to Yoli’s place on the beach. Ray wanted to know who was cooking dinner. Yoli herself came out and gave Ray a big hug along with assurances that she was the cook tonight. We had a couple rounds on a pier over the bay, watching some big catamarans reposition themselves, and talking to Yoli’s husband Ragan. He’s a Canadian ex-pat with some valuable knowledge about the goings-on around Yalbac.
Dinner was excellent; shrimp, grouper and black snapper. The conversation matched the meal, including a rollicking tale from Pat Montgomery about how he single handedly salvaged the merger of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian churches oh so many years ago. An after dinner walk took Ray and Chuck and me on a scavenger hunt to find the daughter and son-in-law of Jerry Parham. This morning his wife told us over breakfast that they both work at restaurants in Placencia. We found them, and embarrassed them at their work place by showing up as three old white guys they’d never met with a message from mom and dad. It’s a story they’re sure to repeat.
Now it’s late and time for bed. Tomorrow it’s off to Northwest Belize and another adventure.
Dan Terpstra