On New Year’s Eve our three churches in Orange Walk District met together to celebrate God’s grace and to rejoice in a new year. The event was held at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in San Jose, Belize.
Different ministries from the churches gave presentations such as singing a hymn or sharing Bible verses – including the woman’s group and the children’s Sunday school. Ray was invited to speak from God’s Word and gave a message from Rom. 13:11-14. Afterward, God’s people gathered to eat tamales and coffee. Please pray for God’s continued work among these three churches.
All posts by Ray Call
Children’s Sunday School Classroom
Due to several factors the children of Faith Presbyterian Church had been meeting outside. This month we were able to designate a classroom for children’s Sunday School! Praise God that the little children have access to God’s Word and may the Lord work in their lives for His glory.
Continue reading Children’s Sunday School ClassroomMTW Mission, Vision, Values, and Norms
This newly released infographic explains the mission, vision, values, and norms of our missions agency, MTW (Mission to the World), which is the missions agency of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Please pray for the spread of the message of the gospel to every people group, tongue, tribe, and nation and that God will call many to salvation in Christ and that the Lord will build His Church for His glory!
Day Trip to Cerros Mayan Ruins
Since our son is visiting from the U.S., we decided to take my day off to travel to a historical site in Belize. Cerros is an ancient Mayan site inhabited for a few hundred years before and after the birth of Christ. We drove about 40 minutes from home on mostly dirt roads and had to cross a river on a ferry to reach the site. As far as I know, it is the only Mayan ruins site located along the seashore. This must have been a beautiful place for the Mayans to work and live.
For much of history the Yucatec Mayans living in and near Belize were an unreached people group. Thankfully today there are believers and churches among Mayans and their descendants. In our village the older generations still speak Mayan in the home though most of their children and grandchildren speak Spanish and English. We can thank God for the salvation of many among the Mayans and continue to pray for many more Mayans as well as other Belizeans to come to know Christ.
Reformed Leadership Institute: Initial Course Explained
Please be praying for the launch of our first course of the newly revamped Reformed Leadership Institute of Belize, a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Belize. We are asking the Lord to bring us many students from our congregations, whether congregants, leaders or church officers. It will be an online course with students watching videos and using a study guide during the week in preparation for a group discussion at our “learning community” meeting each Saturday at 5pm Belize time. Our first course will study the Apostle’s Creed and will last 10 weeks. Course content uses materials provided by Third Millennium Ministries, a Reformed ministry aimed at providing free theological education to all nations. May God be glorified and may the students learn and grow in the faith!
Mobile Medical Team in Patchakan!
A few weeks ago the Presbyterian Medical Clinic welcomed a team of medical professionals and other volunteers to set up an outdoor mobile medical clinic. The team came from various cities in the U.S. and served many people from our region. Note that most of the video is in Spanish, but if you don’t understand I think you’ll get the picture! The presentation in the middle is given by Arturo Ku, chaplain of the clinic. He points out that this team has come after two years of not being able to visit due to the pandemic. They are a group that sends a team a couple times a year if I’m not mistaken.
This year the group brought physicians from a variety of medical specialties and backgrounds. There was even a cardiologist, which is really super as specialists are in demand. There were also surgeons who had come with the group and operated on several people at the local hospital – a needed service for many who cannot afford to pay for such expensive medical needs. Please rejoice with us in giving thanks to the Lord that He brought these folks down here and may it open doors to share more about the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Announcing the reformed leadership training institute of Belize
Getting Ready for Church in Orange Walk
Every Lord’s Day we have the privilege of going out to Orange Walk Town to worship the Lord with faithful saints from Faith Presbyterian Church! This is our second worship service of the day since we also serve another church in the morning.
Faith Presbyterian also has a school ministry which shares the same property. New Life Presbyterian School provides a quality, Christ-centered education for preschool and primary children in Orange Walk.
The musicians from our church in San Pablo graciously serve helping with music in both the morning there as well as helping to transport equipment and lead worship music in the afternoon in Orange Walk.
It is a blessing for Ray to be able to lead worship and to preach from God’s Word each Sunday at Faith Presbyterian Church! And God has opened doors for Michele to teach the children Bible lessons along with one of the women from our morning church. Please be praying for the congregation there. This is a church which has been around for a while but has had its ups and downs. God is doing a new work there as Christ is exalted and we are praying for church revitalization and for God to open the doors to reach out more to the surrounding community. There is a core of committed believers who desire to worship our Triune God and who wish to see a vibrant Reformed and Presbyterian church proclaiming the light of the Lord Jesus and baptizing and discipling men, women and children from all backgrounds (Matt. 28:18-20).
Leadership Development
In God’s infinite wisdom He has appointed leaders in the church to further His purposes. In Acts 14, we read of the Apostle Paul’s terrible trial of persecution in Lystra. Paul was a former Pharisee – a Jewish religious leader – who had been converted after a marvelous encounter with the Lord Jesus (Acts 9:1-19). He then went on to be an Apostle and one of the greatest preachers of the early church. After having preached the Word in Lystra, some of his own countrymen “came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (Acts 14:19). Paul was willing to put his life on the line for Jesus. His desire was that God be exalted and that many would come to faith in the Lord Jesus and obtain reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
Amazingly we read that Paul didn’t die and that he even went back into the city before leaving to preach in other places. But what else was Paul doing during these missionary journeys besides simply preaching the gospel message? Interestingly, this very chapter gives us insight into that question: “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:21-23).
Continue reading Leadership DevelopmentSugar Cane Fields
Along with ecotourism, sugar cane is one of the most important industries in Belize. In recent years the sugar cane harvest has suffered from a 5 year drought. Praise God that this past year the rains have increased dramatically, providing needed moisture for the soil and giving hope to local farmers. Many of our church members in the Presbyterian Church in Belize are either sugar cane farmers or somehow connected to the industry. For example, there is a network of distribution, processing and sales both locally and abroad. Please be praying for the sugar cane farmers and that God will bless them abundantly.
What follows are two brief videos showing sugar cane fields during the day and night. Many burn their fields at night in order to make it easier and safer to harvest. This clears surrounding shrubbery and drives off harmful critters such as poisonous snakes.