Belize on the Horizon...

Wow! Just eleven days and we are on the plane headed to Belize. The team is ready and soooo excited. Monday our praise and worship leaders spent the day finalizing our worship times. I can't wait to worship Him alongside the missionary women. Please continue to pray regarding the following . . .

·         The missionary women will be coming with hearts prepared to meet with Him

·         The team will continue to empty their hearts of the distractions of this world and will be prepared to be used of God in mighty ways

·         The family members of the missionaries and team members will have the support of friends while we are gone.

·         All the things we need will be packed and will arrive with us to Belize

·         Flights will be on time and smooth

·         God will reveal Himself in ways that cannot be explained except for His sweet presence

·         Safety for missionary women and the team as we are in Belize City, Belize

·         And above all, that His Name would be glorified and His kingdom would come

A big thanks goes out in advance to all the churches and church families that have contributed to this retreat for the Belize missionary women through giving, gifts and going. We have three states and one country represented on this team (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Dominican Republic). How exciting!!

Speaking of exciting . . . . This past weekend I had the sweet opportunity to speak at First Baptist Vilonia, Arkansas during their mission’s conference. We had a casual dinner Saturday night, and I was blessed to meet some awesome people. One couple I really enjoyed meeting was from Tanzania. We are praying together about a possible retreat there in 2014. I love making those contacts. Sunday morning I had the privilege to address the congregation to share about Pure Joy. I shared with the men that I would be opening God's word while on the platform but, not to worry, I wasn't preaching or teaching, just sharing! Ha, ha, ha, ha! After the service, a precious man came up to me and said, "I'm a conservative and sit on the right side of the church, but I might be willing to move more to the left side of the church after hearing you this morning if you ‘shared’ again.” Ha, ha, ha, ha! There will always be a smile in my heart when I remember his comment. Listening to the worship music and then Judi Lively share about Bethlehem House in Conway, Arkansas was so sweet that morning. Bethlehem House is a great ministry to the homeless!!! Following the service, it was off to the preschoolers, ages 3 and 4. Now that is a tough audience, but the really tough audience was the 1st through 6th graders. I love those guys!!!! I felt like I was back in grade school: girls on this side of room and boys on the other. My favorite part about this age group is when you ask a question and all the hands go up. You already know that half of them don't even have a clue what the question was; they just put their hand up because the person next to them did. What’s cute is watching their little brains try to figure out what to do after you call on them, “What the heck did I have my hand up for?”, then seeing that look on their face that indicates they’re thinking, “Like, how do I get out of this? Everyone is looking at me and I don't have a clue what the lady is talking about!” We all know those feelings, don't we! Hmmmmmm . . . I think I felt that way awhile back in my adult Sunday school class! Ha, ha, ha! Another fun moment was when Judi and I were signing their little missionary booklets. They had on nametags and it was fun to call them by name and ask them stuff. At one point, I had noticed that four kids had come through with the same last name. I asked the last one, "Are you related to those other Palmers?" Yes, he responded. “How many of you are there?” I asked. “Eleven,” he responded. Wow! Ok, so that night at dinner I sat with the Palmer family and held the littlest one, 9 months old. Eleven! What a sweet family and worth many prayers! I think I need to capture their mom and take her out of the country for a break. But, I know she would miss all those kids and their dad! Right!? Ha, ha, ha, ha! Anyway, it was a great weekend. Thank you FBCV ministry staff for a sweet mission’s conference.

Love you all . . .

His,

Vickie