A couple of weeks ago we started our latest course. As the Reformed Leadership Institute of Belize (RLIB), we hope to foster a deeper Biblical and theological understanding combined with a warm experiential piety for the glory of God! Most of our students come from the pews of the Presbyterian Church in Belize, and while we encourage our officers and leaders to participate, we also want any and all of our church members who are interested to benefit from these courses.
Course content is mostly from a theological education ministry called Thirdmill whose goal is to provide theological education from a reformed perspective for free for the whole world.
Students watch the videos, listen to the audio, or study the manuscript beforehand. They are also asked to complete the provided study guide questions and the discussion questions in preparation for the group discussion on Saturday evenings.
The discussions are facilitated in both English and Spanish as some prefer one language over the other.
Please be praying for the students, board, and facilitators.
We recently held a day-long retreat for the women leaders in the Presbyterian Church of Belize. Dawn Sweatt from the Belize Project had the idea to set aside a day to encourage and refresh the women leaders in their personal life and in their ministry. We shared food, sang, had games, a craft and a spa. Michele spoke on the theme Beholding the Beauty of the Lord (Psalm 27:4) and how God prunes us so that we can have the capacity to see enjoy Him in His beauty, Here are some pictures!
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.
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).
Cornerstone Presbyterian High School (CPHS) in Belize is continuing quality education despite the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. Take a look at their most recent newsletter and please pray that they will continue to be a light for Jesus Christ in the community.
In this post, we are giving a photo collage of what online learning looks like at Presbyterian Day School, Cristo Rey, Belize. I hope you enjoy these pictures! We are looking for prayer and financial partners to be a part of the PDS team. You have heard of child sponsorship programs–well PDS is looking for a team to sponsor the teachers’ salaries. The desire is to keep the cost of education within the reach of all village families who are motivated to see their children receive an academically sound, Christ-centered education. But that means that tuition is not high enough to cover the teachers salaries. Would you consider prayer and/or giving?
Please let me know if you would like to be part of a data base to receive regular updates on the school. We would love to see individuals and even schools adopting a teacher!
A short video introducing Presbyterian Day School (PDS) in Belize. PDS is a Christian primary educational institution dedicated to instructing children in quality content from a Christian worldview.
We hear a lot about child sponsorship as a steppingstone for a child to get out of poverty. We are hoping to get sponsors here as well, but instead of sponsoring a child, we are looking to sponsor the school.
What if I told you there was an outreach project that would meet the twin goals of economic development and the growth of the church and it’s only catch was that it’s work would be slow and steady over the course of decades? What if I told you the Presbyterian denomination has been involved in such an outreach for the past 44 years? When Tom and Helen Lacey came here in the early 1970s, they set about planting churches, continuing the work that began with a Mexican evangelist, to begin a new Presbyterian denomination in northern Belize.
They could see that healthy churches need elders, pastor, deacons, and church members who are knowledgeable of the Bible, strong in character, and economically stable. And we can be thankful that they had great wisdom and foresight.
In 1976 they started an elementary school in the village of Cristo Rey called Presbyterian Day School. Today, the school ministry in the denomination has grown to include 4 elementary schools, 6 preschools and a high school. This school ministry has been vital to the growth of the churches. It provides a Christian education for the covenant children in the churches, and a ministry to the families and children in the community who send their children to these excellent schools that teach the Bible, godly values and rigorous academics.
Some of the 2020 graduates
Each of these schools has their own story. Each one is impacting their community for Christ. Today, however, I would like to focus on the very first school that the Laceys began, Presbyterian Day School (PDS). I hope in future blog posts to highlight some of the other schools as well. PDS is special, and not just because it was the first, nor simply because three of our children attend the school. It has the unique distinction of being the only Presbyterian school not to receive government funding. What this means practically is that while they have freedom in what they teach, they also struggle with funding. Each of their teachers see their work first as a ministry, to the point at which they make a salary just over half that of the other teachers in the country. In short, the school needs financial help.
On the way to school on the school bus
In 1980, just 4 years after the Laceys began PDS, missionary Dorothy Mayer left her teaching job in South Dakota to come help teach. She is still here, helping to teach and do administration. One of her former students, Isaias Botes, has since taken over from her as principal. He in turn is principal over a few teachers that he taught as a teacher at PDS. I think it would be safe to say that Presbyterian Day School has exceeded the dreams and expectations that the Laceys originally held for it. The school has been a backbone in the two villages it serves, Cristo Rey and Patchakan. The Presbyterian churches in these villages have grown and been strengthened by bringing in families from the community. The impact of PDS has gone far beyond just these two villages.
Many of the teachers from all the various Presbyterian schools themselves attended PDS; three of the principals in the Presbyterian schools are PDS graduates as is the general manager of the Presbyterian schools. Several of the pastors and elders in the Presbyterian churches started out there as well. In addition, the list of graduates includes doctors, nurses and government officials that are serving all over the country. Although the villages have been historically poor and undeveloped, PDS has played an important role in the economic development of the area.
PDS continues to have an important role in these two villages in northern Belize. These precious little ones that start at PDS as four-year olds are the future of the church and the community. We hear a lot about child sponsorship as a steppingstone for a child to get out of poverty. We are hoping to get sponsors here as well, but instead of sponsoring a child, we are looking to sponsor the school. That way, the cost of tuition stays affordable for all the children in the community.
We would love to see individuals commit to monthly giving. We would also love to see some Christian schools develop a “sister school” sort of partnership as well. This is because we know that Christian schools in the U.S. and the families that support them are also passionate about Christian education. Could you begin by praying that the Presbyterian Day School of Cristo Rey, Belize, would become fully funded?
And second, would you consider if God might be calling you to help out with the need, either by giving monthly or one time? And lastly, would you consider sharing this need with others that you know who have a passion for economic development or Christian education? Thank you.
