Belizean adventure with teenagers — part one

Belize 2017 trip journal

In July/August of last year, I was fortunate to join students from Lakeville South High School on a Campus Faith Clubs mission trip to the small Central American country of Belize.

Every night after dinner, we gathered in the dining room for worship and journaling. Because the students weren’t allowed any electronic devices (gasp!), we recorded the day’s activities in paper journals. It was a soul-saving mission in itself to this old millennial writer, raised on Harriet the Spy and late-night notebook writing under the covers.

I suspect that even the world’s best writers would find words insufficient to describe the stifling humidity, biodiversity and beauty of Belize. It is harder to still to convey the warmth of its people, to recount our work there, or to envision the work yet to be done.

All I can offer is the thoughts laid out, bare and tired, in my dirt-smeared composition notebook, excerpted here. More edits and additions will follow in the coming days. I welcome your feedback!

Pre-trip preparation

4/23/17

Great meeting tonight. I really enjoy hearing the kids’ stories and learning about their faith journeys. Our team building exercise tonight was alphabet pockets, which…