Canal Land: Panama

I have loved being in Panama and we have been incredibly blessed to stay in two places (church floor and then a centre with beds – hurrah!) on the edge of the canal close to Panama City.  Our first week was pretty busy and quite intense at times.  One evening we went to pray at the local cancer hospital and myself and Roberta and Rose on my team walked into a room where sadly a young man’s father had literally just died (his body was still uncovered) so we simply sat with Paulo, the young man and hugged and prayed for him and his family.  Paulo seemed very touched by this divine appointment as were we.

We visited the worst ‘block’ in the city and it felt like a prison to me and certainly a lot worse than anywhere I’ve visited in the UK.  We played with the children and prayed for people.  One lady had not been able to walk unaided for a year due to having TB (confirmed by her family) and moved round in a wheelchair.  After praying for her, a miracle happened and she was able to stand up and walk!!  When we offered her the wheelchair to rest in after she had walked round the building, she refused and just kept walking!  This young mother will be able to now take care of her children more easily and the community was in a good shock when we left!  Praise God!

One of my highlights was visiting an indigenous community on an island only reachable by boat, close to the church in Gamboa where we were staying and working with.  We prayed for lots of people and I was able to teach from the story of Elisha and the widow from the Old Testament (with an interpreter!)  We also spent time at a childrens home, some of whom are HIV positive.  The home which is run by nuns felt very safe and caring and has the reputation for being the best in Panama so it was great to see good practice at work! 

I spent some time babysitting Zoe, our team leaders two year old who is adorable and so bright.  This helped release her parents, Jesse and Tanya to spend time at the port of Colon working out how to ship our vehicles to Colombia.  We are incredibly grateful to the anonymous donor who gave us $12,000 to pay for the shipment as none of us have that kind of money! Today the paperwork has been finalised for our vehicles to be shipped to Colombia to arrive in time for Christmas and we are in the process of booking flights.    

Panama is famous for its canal and I have loved learning about the history (paid a visit to the Discovery Centre) and Panamanians are obviously very proud of the canal and are in the process of building a third part for it to take bigger ships.    I feel so privileged to have worked with such a great team from Youth with a Mission as well as vibrant local churches during this time.  It has been a great end to our time in Central America.

It will be strange not being in England for Christmas and not being able to see friends and family.  I have already had many moments of missing the build up to Christmas but very glad for the invention of skype!  God bless you all this Christmas and may you experience God’s peace and love as you celebrate the birth of Jesus with friends and family Lizxx.

The land of sunshine and sea: Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I can see why over 1.5 million  people visit every year (although I did also witness the occasional tacky Christmas decorations and lights!!).  Much of our few days in Costa Rica was spent resting and taking some time out on the coast.  We got to park up on the beach and stay for free (us girls even dug our own latrine!) although three of my friends had quite a lot of their belongings stolen right from under our noses so we got to know the local police well.  My favourite night was sleeping under the stars on the sand with some of my favourite team mates…simply stunning!

We did some random acts of kindness – mine was giving a chocolate bar with a note saying how special she was to God to a waitress called Alexandra who looked so down and harassed by customers.  I loved seeing the complete transformation in her face when she gave me a huge smile!  (She in turn then let me sit at the restaurant table for ages using the free wifi without eating anything!)

The most memorable day for me was returning to Playa Avellanas where I had been a month earlier remembering Dianne’s daughter in law, Rhiannon who drowned at sea.  I never thought that I would return but when I realised how close by we were staying, I felt that it was right to return and pray for the family.  It was also really helpful for me to go back and it allowed my friends and fellow team members to share in some of my experiences.

Before we went to the beach a number of us felt that God wanted us to meet and pray for Johan, the local teenager who had saved Dianne’s grandson Julian.  So when we got to the beach I looked round and could not see him so I went for a walk and felt God say ‘I’ll bring Johan to you’.  My response to that was ‘how are you going to do that?’  (oh me of little faith!)  I carried on walking and praying and then when I got back to our spot I went and spoke to a couple of local teenagers who knew Johan and said he might be security on the car park.  Johan was not working that day but Dennis was and when I explained to Dennis why we were at the beach, he said ‘give me 15 minutes’. 

About 15 minutes later Johan appeared on the beach! (having been contacted by Dennis)– I gave him a big hug before realising that of course he did not have a clue who I was until I explained myself…thankfully he did not think I was a complete nutcase and seemed very touched that we had wanted to meet and pray for him!  Johan said that he had not slept well in the first few weeks since the incident so we prayed that he would have peaceful sleep from now on and brought him a drink.  We also listened to him recount his experience and we realised that he is an even bigger hero than I thought as he actually saw Rhiannon and Julian in trouble from the restaurant on the beach and went in after them.  Johan also shared that he lost his own mother when he was about the same age as Julian.  Truly a remarkable story in every way and a very remarkable young man. 

Next stop: Panama, our last country in Central America.

Nicaragua: times of change

Our few days in Nicaragua has seen our team say goodbye to three people and welcome four more.  Its been a sad time as well as exciting as we function like a family and share so much that it is hard when people leave.  Some of our vehicles are having problems again and so the guys are looking into maybe part exchanging…I tend to stay out of these discussions as I know very little about cars preferring to do the washing up instead!

I’ve spent some of my time at La Quinta, a childrens home run by a Christian charity in Diriamba, not far from Managua the capital.  Many of the children have experienced significant abuse in their lives and some of their stories have reminded me of families I worked with in Salford.  Its great to see the children now safe and being well cared for and some of the older girls are now helping with the running of the home.   We’ve also visited families in the bairro close to the childrens home and I witnessed some of the poorest housing I have seen on the journey so far.

On my day off I had a fantastic day as a small group of us went to visit the city Leon which is home to Central America’s largest cathedral.  The cathedral was beautiful and had some very large striking pictures of Jesus with his disciples and on the way to the cross.  The six of us were also very excited to find a nice restaurant that served fabulous steak and cheesecake – I had not eaten a meal like that in months so it was a massive treat! 

The contrasts on this journey is one of the things I love the most…we can be eating street market food one day sitting on the pavement and the next day eating at a restaurant on a proper chair…we can be sleeping in a tent in a petrol station field one night and the next night sleeping in a hotel with a toilet and shower as we can’t find anywhere else!  I really sense that God is teaching me to learn to be content in all circumstances and help prepare me for the future, whatever that will look like.  Thank you for making it possible for me to be here.

Overcoming my fear of horse riding (or donkeys/mules)!

Honduras was an interesting  stop on our journey.  Our base was camping in the grounds of a nice hotel which meant that my tent got some action (it was weird sleeping by myself!) and I got to have early morning swims – hurrah!  Not so nice was the amount of accosting us ladies got by the local men.

The team split into various groups during our time.  One group travelled back to Guatemala to pick up one of our vehicles from the mechanic, one group stayed at the base and worked in the local prison (run by prisoners themselves) and then my group went to the mountains.

Following a two day journey including a car and bus ride (and our car getting stuck in the mud and having to be towed) we arrived at the base of the mountains and trekked to the village of Agua Caliente.  Mules took our luggage whilst we walked, mainly in the dark.  The following day we were able to visit local families to share our Christian faith alongside a local believer.  The church had not met since August but after talking and praying with people we were excited to realise that through our witness new Christians had been added to the number and the church would now be restarted.  We also saw people receive healing after prayer.

One of the most memorable parts of the journey for me was slipping in the mud (even though I was the only person wearing walking boots!) and then my knee pretty much went when I tried to bend down later to speak to a child.  So this meant that I was unable to walk on my right leg.  Given that it was a three hour trek back down the mountain, the decision was taken by the rest of my team that I should be blessed with one of the mules the whole way down!  Whilst I was very grateful, my team were unaware that I do not appreciate horse/donkey/mule riding, particularly without all the usual equipment and coming down steep slopes! 

Much to the amusement of the local guide (!) my reaction went between ‘I’m really not enjoying this’ to having tears in my eyes to repeating Bible verses like ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’!!  By the end of the ride I had reached a calm state and was very grateful that I had not needed to walk.  In hindsight I love the fact that God used the journey to help me overcome my fear of certain four legged creatures, especially as this was not in my original plan!

San Salvador

In El Salvador, the team stayed and worked with the Youth With a Mission base in the capital, San Salvador for 5 days.  It was nice to be cooked for and very nice to be able to use the swimming pool on site!  San Salvador seemed very westernized (read: fast food restaurants and shopping malls) although I did enjoy the doughnut shop!

The team was kept busy working in a drug and alcohol rehab, serving homeless people and local churches.  I got to visit families who live in a cemetery which felt bizarre (the road had been extended so the people moved to the cemetery when they realised their houses were due to become no more - all in the name of progress no doubt) as well as victims of a recent flood - we got to play with the children and bless the local church.  We also saw God answer our prayers and make sick people well which was amazing.  I felt ready and energized to move onto Honduras when we came to leave.

Headlice and the House of the Joyous Ones

Last weekend we had the most ridiculous journey through the mountains to reach our final destination in Guatemala (apparently on a major road!).  I managed to get two tyres burst on our trailer during my driving stint (well the road did!) and our 4x4 nearly fell off the side of a cliff…and that’s just one of our five vehicles!  Thankfully we nearly all managed to arrive in good spirits and all safely, although our vehicles needed some repair work!

Our last stop in Guatemala has been spent at the House of the Joyous ones (best translation there is), a home for children with special needs.  All of the children are disabled in some way and some have found their home here due to not being wanted by their birth families.  The team has been painting, preparing meals, gardening and doing carpentry whilst also getting our team vehicles fixed.  It has been fantastic to watch the children be cared for so well in such a loving environment and we have been so well looked after also.

About a third of us have had a bout of headlice and we are in the process of trying out various treatments (nit cream, shampoo, vinegar and alcohol at last count!).  My head has been the worse (apparently I had 1000s of eggs!!) and it has been a little infuriating as I asked somebody to check my itchy head a couple of weeks ago to be told I had dandruff….when I think I actually had nits!  Some of my American team mates have been horrified to hear that nits are not unusual in England, particularly when at primary school…I am still enjoying learning about the cultural differences!

Next stop: El Salvador.  Love and miss you all!

Sad times: You don’t speak much English, do you?

We had not been in Guatemala long when one of my team members, Dianne learnt that her daughter in law, Rhiannon had gone missing off the coast of Costa Rica where she had been swimming with her six year old son, Julian.  It was agreed by all, especially Dianne that I accompany her to Costa Rica to help with the journey and offer support.  Dianne and I were at the same missions school in Mozambique in 2011 and in the same activity group so we had got to know each other quite well.

Having had an early start and with the help of God, angels, Lonely Planet and a fast taxi driver (!) we were able to make the  journey from the north of Guatemala to the west of Costa Rica in about 16 hours.  When we got there, Dianne’s son sadly told Dianne that Rhiannon’s body had been found having been caught in a rip tide.  Amazingly enough she had been able to push Julian to safety.  Truly tragic and what a loss to her husband Norman and their two boys Giannni and Julian.

In the middle of such tragedy, I was made to feel very welcome by the family.  I spent time playing with the boys, especially in the sea and helping Dianne with arrangements.  Julian and Gianni definitely have a very special place in my heart and made me smile and cry a lot.   They found my English accent very amusing and did not always understand what I said.  Julian said at one point ‘you don’t speak much English, do you?’ much to the amusement of his family! 

Rhiannon’s memorial service was held on the beach at sunset where she had died – it was stunningly beautiful and had been decorated with lilies and candles.  The family were so pleased to meet Johan, a local teenager who had been out surfing and had managed to rescue Julian as Rhiannon had pushed him up out of the water.  Dianne returned to be with her family in the States whilst I journeyed back to join the rest of the team…via a cannabis smoking youth hostel and overnight bus from Guatemala city complete with an armed guard at the station!

During the whole time I found myself profoundly grateful for my social work experience and the whole time was truly one of the biggest privileges of my life.  I continue to pray for the family and was very blessed when I was reunited with the team as I got taken out for breakfast by ‘my girls’ (Liz, Rose and Caitlin) who also paid for a hotel room for us that night as a treat.  Hurrah!

Chocolate cake and Godfrey

Well I’d asked you to pray about Godfrey..here’s what happened and it involved chocolate cake – hurrah!  Our last full day in Belize was the 21^st birthday of Natalie on my team.  I prayed specifically that we would be able to get a cake for her at our final destination, San Ignacio before crossing the border to Guatemala.  So I went with the team cooks to the local market.  As we arrived I noticed a man, Bernard, selling chocolate cake from his bicycle basket. 

I asked him if he had a full cake left and when he said no I asked whether he could make one ready for the evening (you have to appreciate that in Latin America the English reserve has to go out the window!).  I brought a piece of the cake and when I tasted the heavenly cake I demanded  that he make a cake and said I was willing to pay the price.  After speaking to his wife on the phone he agreed that we could collect the cake within 2 hours.

When we got to his house (oh yes he found us on the street looking for his house so his guided us in!) we met his wife, Dana and 9 children.  Dana was getting ready to ice the cake and informed us that she gets up at 1am in the morning to make cakes and pies to sell in order to provide for her husband and 9 children (the eldest of whom is at university).  Actually Dana cooks and Bernard sells.  So we get a free piece of cake whilst waiting (much to the delight of my girl friends Caitlin, Rose and Liz) and Christian, one of the team leaders asks Bernard about the cost of renting a house for Godfrey.

It turns out that Bernard has a similar past to Godfrey, Bernard’s brother has properties for rent and that Dana goes to a local church.  So my prayers for chocolate cake and our prayers for Godfrey get answered all because of a divine appointment at the market.  If I didn’t think that God was interested in the small things before, I do now!  It was amazing to see God at work and how He used me and I feel so blessed by this whole episode.  As a team we are pretty sure that if God only sent us to Belize for Godfrey then that is fine by us!

We were all so excited that on the morning we left Belize that Godfrey had found somewhere to stay.  As a team we paid for one month’s rent up front and gave Godfrey a ‘home starter’ pack and the landlord said he will help Godfrey find a local church who can continue to support him.  This gives Godfrey sometime to find work and be able to pay his own rent and bills by the end of November.  Godfrey said as we parted that he had never met such a lovely group of people – I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house! 

Yeah man!

We are already coming to the end of our time in the beautiful country of Belize.  The vegetation, scenery, people and food are all lush and we will be sad to leave.  Belize really is quite a contrast to Mexico and I had not expected this former British colony (celebrating 30 years independence this year) to be so Caribbean in culture and have such a laid back approach to life!

We have stayed in both the towns of Corozal and Dangriga and have been made to feel so welcome.  We felt that we were to search out God’s ‘diamonds’ and while we were in Corozal, guys on our team came across Godfrey who had decided to give up drink and drugs two days previous.  Godfrey said that he had been praying for people to help him stay sober and so was very excited to meet us.  He has been with the team for 5 days now (we asked him to join us for our journey in Belize as part of his discipleship) and has been a real blessing (our cars are very clean – Godfrey said he wanted to stay busy!) as well as very helpful in terms of understanding  the local culture.

We are currently in the process of trying to link Godfrey up with locals who can continue to walk the journey with him when the team leaves Belize (please pray about this).  Those of us with professional backgrounds in nursing and social work have been able to put our skills to the test in helping to care for Godfrey (mine involved lots of questions and observations!)  It was therefore a massive privilege yesterday when Godfrey asked to be baptised in the sea as a sign that he was leaving his old life behind and now wants to follow Jesus clean and sober.  Kevin and Lisa, a couple travelling through Belize and staying in the same place as us also came to watch as they had never seen a baptism before and were curious.  The presence of so many ‘gringos’ in one place certainly draws attention!

We’ve also visited a local community hospital and the housebound elderly to pray and offer some friendly company.  It sure made me very grateful for the NHS and social care!  We’ve also run an event in the park in Dangriga with the Mayor’s permission.

Our work in Belize has certainly been more ‘laid back’ than in Mexico as we have not had any definite contacts.  This has certainly been a challenge for me at times as I like to be busy but I’m learning a lot about myself, God and others in the process…which I guess is all part of the experience.  Maybe you won’t recognise me when I return!  Next stop: Guatemala!

Miss you and God bless you Lizx

Mexico: Last Stop

    Greetings from Mexico!

Our last official stop in Mexico was in and around Oaxaca in the south of Mexico.  We split into two teams and my team spent time in two Maixteco villages in the mountains encouraging two small local churches.  One church had 5 families and for years they have been shunned by their local community for following Jesus so I felt very humbled to be able to spend time with them, sharing with them and helping teach their children English.

It was amazing to see a lady who was blind in one eye be completely able to see and a man who had been deaf in one ear be able to hear as we prayed for them!  The joy on their faces was so humbling and exciting.  We also had a few hours in Oaxaca city which was beautiful and I very much enjoyed a delicacy of Oaxaca- hot chocolate!

On the road leaving Oaxaca state, one of our vehicles’ transmission went at a petrol station (thankfully not on the road) and also thankfully there was a local mechanic who said he could fix it over the weekend and even allowed us to park our pop up trailers next to his garage!  There are definitely angels watching over us!  However as we were up in the mountains and some of us had been so cold previous nights (yes really!), about half of us stayed in a cheap hotel (about £6 a night!).  It was SO nice to have a proper bed for a couple of nights, be warm, eat chocolate, drink wine and watch some girly films (rather like my Friday nights used to be after a long week at work!).  Thank you to friends and family who made my hotel stay possible. 

The long drive to Belize continues…….

Its a dog eat dog world.....

Had a brilliant weekend in Mexico city (once we found our initial camp ground very late at night!).  Had our day off sightseeing so I got to check out the Metropolitan Cathedral and the park which were ornate and relaxing.  I always love being able to visit the capital city of any country you go to – it helps you understand a people and its country so much more.

 Then the next day we visited two rubbish dumps outside the centre where families live and try and make ends meet.  The second dump in particular smelled pretty bad and we literally saw dogs eating other dead dogs for food.  It really was a dog eat dog world.

My heart broke when I saw one family of three young children literally picking their way through the rubbish to see what they could ‘recycle’.  It felt like a very small thing to be able to play with them, give them food and pray for them but we are encouraged that the church will continue this work and build on it as this was their first visit.  My prayer for this family was simply that the parents would get a new job away from the dump as the little girl was clearly unwell.  I was trying hard not to come up with a strategic 10 point plan which would lift all the people living and working there out of poverty…Mexico City is the first place we’ve visited which I could live in.  Don’t worry, I didn’t and the journey has continued!

Since then we’ve visited and worked in three other towns/villages near Veracruz on the east of Mexico and have been blessed by the church we’ve partnered with.  They fed us so well and understandably made sure that we worked hard! 

We have just had a weekend off in a little town called Chachacalas on the Gulf Coast so I’ve been swimming in the sea and visiting a local pyramid relic.  This has also involved the local pigs coming to visit whilst I was on the toilet (they are my favourite animals!) and the local young people having a rave through the night where we are staying!

To be honest I could have kept going without a break for a lot longer but maybe that’s because I’m used to a slightly busier pace of life than some of my team mates!  I’m sure its good for me to rest though but I’m definitely ready to go again.  Will update again soon.  Thanks for reading and God bless you all lots x

Vital sleeping statistics (I will have to sleep in a tent at some point I know!)

Bed (of various descriptions):  10 nights

Trailer tent:  19 nights            Concrete floor: 5 nights                 Tent: 0 nights (hurrah!)

Mexico Part Two

This last week has been a very special week!  My team has had the huge privilege of going up into the mountains (along a very very long incredibly bumpy road) to work amongst the Cora people, who are descendants from the Aztecs.  We drove for hours and hours to the village of El Congrejo in the state of Nayarit, working alongside long term missionaries Jay and Faith from the States as well as Mexican church leaders.  About 40 families live in this small community along with lots of dogs, cows and other creatures!

I had the immense privilege of being able to visit families in their own homes (social work prepares you well for this!), pray for them and invite them to the activities which we helped organise.  We ran an event for the children (they really liked musical chairs!) but were quite reserved when acting out the Bible stories (nobody wanted to play a bad guy!).  The Mexican team then distributed food and clothing for the families as there has been little rain (so very little crops harvested) and its about to get very cold in the mountains (the Cora people wear the donated clothes under their indigenous clothes).  It was great to see many Cora people wanting prayer and to learn more about the Christian faith during our time with them.

On the way back to base camp (where I gained the most ridiculous number of mosquito bites and the rooster started crowing at 3am!!) we met the Catholic priest who is now in his 80s who has devoted over 40 years of his life to bringing hope and education to the mountain communities.  Under his leadership, children now have the opportunity to study from primary to university level.  We decided that he was a male version of Mother Teresa and you could just see the wisdom shine through him!

The last couple of days have been spent in Guadalaraja in the state of Jalisco, working with Fuega Mexico.  As well as being able to share at various church services, I was given the opportunity to help teach English..putting my TESOL qualification to good use!  We’ve all had some down time too so I’ve been able to use the internet and visit Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest natural lake.

Soon we’ll be off to Mexico City which sounds pretty big….!

Funny moments:

-          Hearing Rick Astley play in a Mexican bar (I only had a lemonade honest!)

-          A sign for no parking which read: Estacionarse

-          Being escorted by the police to one of our destinations (I think they probably wanted us off the road after we nearly caused an accident with our fleet of vehicles!)

More difficult times:

-          Learning that my friend Ian is sadly no longer with us – I’m dedicating this post in his memory

-          Missing friends in the UK

Sleeping statistics (since we started):

Bed (that fits various descriptions including potato sacks!):  10 nights

Trailer tent:  8 nights               Concrete floor: 3 nights                 Tent: 0 nights (hurrah!)

Love and miss you all and thanks for reading! 

update on journey so far!

Well I’ve been on the road for a fortnight and it feels like a lot longer, in a good way!  The first week was spent in the States helping prepare for the trip and driving from Oregon in the North to Arizona in the South, via Redding and Los Angeles in California, collecting team mates along the way!

We’ve been in Mexico for a week now and have visited three places - a small town (Pescquina), a city (in Cinola) and a coastal resort (including a work camp).  In Cinola state and Pescquina we worked in partnership with local churches and in Pescquina we got to visit people in their own homes and do some childrens work.

Highlights so far have been:

-          Seeing the sights of LA and the road trip in the States

-          Driven both the camper van (in States) and the big car towing the tent trailer (in Mexico! – slightly scary both for me and my passengers!!)

-          Seeing the children responding to the Bible stories and being keen to act out the story of the good Samaritan (the boys in Pescquina particularly enjoyed the part where the guy gets beaten up!)

-          Meeting people from the Tricqui (hope that is spelt correctly) tribe and seeing their faces light up when the audio Bible was played to them in their own language

-          Seeing young people help lead the church in Pescquina

-          Visiting a work camp on the coast (where agricultural workers and their families live – up to 6000 people on a base where each family has one room and an outside cooking area.  These camps are known for high rates of violence and alcohol use).  I enjoyed spending time with mother Olivia and her two children Montserrat (aged 5) and Jesus (aged 2) as well as telling the story of Jesus calming the storm with Spanish translation to a group of children!

-          Getting to swim in 2 pools – hurrah!

‘Pause’ points (both sad and funny):

-          Seeing a mother and her children stay for ages after a church service in Pescquina so they could share in the meal.  All four children, including the toddler ate 3 platefuls of food as they were so hungry.  Thankfully we were able to send them home with extra food too.

-          My skirt being pulled down by children when they were trying to get the stickers I was giving out (praise God for leggings underneath!)

-          My team mates from the States finding my accent and use of the English language amusing

-          Observing the living conditions at the work camp

Vital sleeping statistics (if you’re interested!):

Bed: 8 nights      Trailer tent: 5 nights        Floor: 1 night      Tent: 0 nights (hurrah!)

Next stop: to the Mexican mountains (ie the tent will now come in useful)!

on the road Stateside!

Hi friends!

Had an amazing time here in the USA and on a road trip down to Arizona from Oregon in the North, having helped prepare the vehicles and got supplies in.  We should be in Mexico by Tuesday 13th September!  Been hanging out with some amazing friends and visited some welcoming churches who have prayed for and encouraged us...and I got to check out Hollywood in Los Angeles today...that was a lovely extra surprise!

The team is almost complete and we are international with New Zealand, South Africa, UK and America all featured!

Please pray for safe travels and as we cross into Mexico on Tuesday.  Love you miss you all x

Flying Stateside ready for the adventure!

Hello friends

Well I'm off today, flying to the States to join the team before we head to the Mexican border on about the 13th September.  We'll be travelling round Central and South America working with existing Christian charities and projects like Youth With a Mission, sharing our Christian faith and demonstrating God's love in practical ways.  There'll be two teams, one doing work in the more rural areas and the other in the bigger towns and cities.  Hopefully I'll get to do a mixture of both!

Thanks so much for your support, prayers and friendship!

The tentative itinerary is as follows:

·        Mexico - September  
Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras -October
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama - November
Colombia and Ecuador - December
Peru and Bolivia – January  
Chile - February
Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguay – February and March
Brazil - April and May
French Guiana, Suriname, Guiana Venezuela - June
Carribean islands-Bahamas – July and August

WiWill update as and when I can!  Love you all lots Lizx

My beginnings!

In case you were wondering, my adventures really began a long time ago.  My family lived in Sierra Leone, West Africa for 18 months in the late 1970s where my Dad worked as a doctor.  Whilst some of the memories are a little hazy, I can still remember the abject poverty and enjoying playing with children who didn't understand the white girl!  I also had a real clear sense even at the age of 4 years that God had a plan for my life which would include living and working in similar communities.

During my time in Salford, my dear adopted home city for the last 17 years, I have also had the privilege to visit, study and work amongst the marginalised in both Brazil and Mozambique.  Having read the book by Heidi Baker 'There is Always Enough', founder of Iris Ministries (iris comes from the Portugese word for rainbow), I knew that I wanted to go and learn from them.  So in 2011 I completed Iris Ministries Harvest School where I got to learn from very wise people who are living out the teachings of Jesus (echoed by others such as Mother Teresa) by living and working amongst the poorest of the poor. 

I came back from my second trip to Mozambique inspired and encouraged to join in with what Iris are up to.  And having got a heart for Brazil and some specific confirmations from God, I signed up to what will be a year of work and mission around Central and South America, starting in September 2012.  I will be flying out on the 5th September to help the leaders, Jesse and Tanya to prepare for the year ( they also have a cute daughter Zoe who I'm pictured with below!)

Hello folks!

Hello lovely friends and family.  I've been so blown away by peoples generosity, support and interest in my up and coming adventures - thank you!  This blog has been created due to popular demand (well a few of you anyhow!) so that you can keep in touch with where I am and what I'm up to.  There'll also be facebook and email updates when I get the chance.  Happy reading and thanks for your friendship!  God bless you lots x