Thursday in Benque

What we did:

The dawn brought roosters crowing and tropical birds singing praise to the Lord at the break of dawn here on Chapel Hill overlooking Benque here in Belize. The regular daily routine of Adoration, Mass and breakfast took place and we were ready to rock and roll for a day of work at the houses and the men’s retreat by 9 am. Our Lady of Mt Carmel High School was offering a retreat for their students and the SOLT Missionaries were asked to participate in it by joining in the games and having an open panel discussion with questions to us from the High School Students. The first game was a blast where 40 or so guys formed a circle with linked arms holding strong and 40 or so guys “attacked” and tried to break the chain by brute force or whatever it took to break the circle. The game was simple and easy to play yet highly enjoyed by all the students and the SOLT Missionary Men. Talks by different faculty followed by what it means to be a man and live the faith. Towards the end of the talks by faculty Charlie, Max, Joe, John, and I were called to the front of the stage and the students were given the opportunity to ask us any questions. Many awesome questions were asked by the students about our personal lives and how we live the faith and how to become more responsible men. The highlight of the panel was students coming onto the stage and shadowboxing Max and the last question was if we would invite them to our weddings one day. It was hard to leave them at the end of the day but I am sure fruit was brought forth in the students by our presence and the faculty’s talks. After the retreat, we had a quick lunch and we rejoined the rest of our fellow female missionaries at the houses they had been working on while we were at the men’s retreat. Tranquilino's and Timmy’s house are coming along great and our projected work should be done by Saturday. Work continued all afternoon until 5 pm and we made our way back to Chapel Hill. The evening consisted of the power going out here at Chapel hill and that required us to run the house on a generator for a while to complete showers for us after the hard dirty work. After supper, we left for a soccer game in the artificial turf arena in town that was highly enjoyed by all the players and spectators! 

What I thought about what we did:

On reflection of our day starting the day with mass and a holy hour in adoration gives so much clarity to our day. Having the opportunity to be at the men’s retreat was not only an inspiration for them but also for us. Working at Timmy’s house was a slower yet rewarding day working on putting on stucco on the outside of the house that creates deep lines in the skin on your hands but it was worth it! Finishing off the day with the soccer game was a great way to wrap up the day and enjoy each other's company on a Friday evening!