March was a wonderful month filled with meeting friends! Oscar and Miriam returned to Belize; Sylvia Graves Beane and Dan Beane came and took us out to lunch; Kelly came to visit (and brought us mail!); friends from Texas came through Belize City on a cruise and took us to lunch; Judy, a founding member of our church, invited us to celebrate her birthday with her; Brian turned forty and we went scuba diving to celebrate… it was a month absolutely filled with blessings of connection. After having felt so lonely for so long, it was really, deeply wonderful for us.
Lunch at Bird's Isle with Sylvia Graves Beane and Dan Beane.
We have lived in Belize for about two-and-a-half years now, and usually that would be enough time to have made some new friends. But the extreme measures that have been necessary as a result of the pandemic have severely restricted our ability to do that. Even my work relationships have been limited by the government’s restrictions on gathering. So the visits that we’ve received this month have been like water in a desert. I know that God is with me always—but sometimes I need God to have skin on.
 We also received a gift of four computers from a technology grant from Western Yearly Meeting. We are thrilled to have these computers, which are replacing computers that, through the effects of time, had become very difficult to use. The computers went to Oscar, our pastor, Ms Pat, our teacher, Ms Maggie, our administrative assistant, and Mr Frank, our principal. Oscar’s previous computer, which was old but was not powerful enough for what he needs, was passed on to Mr Chris, our caretaker and pastor-in-training. Mr Chris will use the computer for his studies at Friends Theological College in Kenya!
I cannot express the gratitude I feel for this gift, which will increase the capacity of all our staff to fulfill their duties at the school and also at the church. This was a transformative gift and I’m so excited that the energy that our staff previously put into “fighting” with their computers will now go into the work of ministering to our kids.
We are getting ready to begin our first membership class as a church. We will eat lunch with about nine or ten young people and then read and discuss various aspects of what it means to be a Quaker, what it means to be a member of a church, and how Quakerism can help people in their walks with God. We are very excited about this, and grateful for the Carter Belize Fund that is funding this program. I’m sure we will have two months of meaningful conversation and connection—and I’m so grateful that the pandemic is letting up enough that we have the opportunity to have classes like this.
Much love,
Nikki
Joys and Concerns
- I am so grateful for the friends we’ve seen this month, and the time we’ve been able to spend in the ocean with some of them.
- I am grateful for Brian, and that we got to celebrate his fortieth birthday. I’m grateful for his partnership, his love, his parenting of our children, and his passion for life.
- I’m grateful for the partners we have around the world that partner with us in prayer and financial support. None of what we do in Belize would be possible without y’all, and I thank God for you every day.
Each Sunday, we go around the meeting room and each person is invited to share joys and concerns. Very often, kids will say something like, “Grateful for health and strength; no concerns.” This month I take my cue from them. I have no concerns to share this month. Simply a request that you thank God with me for our many blessings.
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