FPC-Midland Belize Mission: Two Days Out, What to Bring

From January 4 through January 11, 2014, a team  from 1st Presbyterian Church-Midland will be traveling to the Central American country of Belize, and working with The Word at Work ministry. This will be an opportunity to reach out and share the gospel with the people of Belize while working side-by-side with the local community and The Word at Work staff on a much-needed construction project.

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What to Bring

So, what do you pack for a mission trip? Mostly, the usual 'stuff' one packs for any trip ... though that stuff might vary due to the nature of our mission and the work we'll be doing. Clothing, for example, will be short on formal wear. Working wear? That's something else entirely. "Take clothes that you don't mind getting dirty," we've been advised ... work clothes, work shoes and serious work gloves.

Speaking of that work ... we won't have to be packing tools, building supplies and so on ... that will be handled by our mission partner, The Word at Work, a ministry that has a long, deep acquaintance with the nation of Belize, its people and their needs. And not only that, they're a neighbor of sorts, headquartered 'just up the road' from Midland, in Amarillo, Texas.

Not all the time will be spent on the community center's construction site. Our mission will also include outreach in the school and in church, so we'll need to pack slacks or long skirts, and a nice shirt or blouse. Other times will call for sandals, flip-flops or sneakers. Pack shorts and t-shirts, but also a sweater or windbreaker. Pack a swimsuit, but also a rain jacket ... and a hat that will keep both the sun and the rain offyour face..

Bibles will be close-to-hand, but so will copies of Richard Stearns' book, "The Hole in Our Gospel," that we've been reading in preparation for our trip, and will be part of our daily devotionals while we're in Belize.

A lot of 'the usuals' ... passport, airline tickets, prescription medicines, personal toiletries (I still carry my Boy Scout toiletry kit from the 1970s), sunscreen, insect repellant, and all of that.

Most of us will have something to capture special moments of our mission ... the people we meet, the work we do, the relationships we establish ... and share it with others, items like cell phones, cameras, notebook computers and pads, and good old-fashiOned paper and pencil/pen. And with that in mind, DON'T FORGET CORDS FOR RE-CHARGING, AND SPARE BATTERIES!

 

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Got Questions?

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mission team members, or our pastor?

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