During my trip to Belize in December of 2012 I was blessed to see many examples of God’s work through so many generous people who took a leap of faith and struck out to change their piece of the world. In particular people who began ministries to fill the needs of the children in their neighborhoods. One of the places that touched my heart so much was the Bread of Heaven feeding center operated by a husband and wife team in the village of Maya Mopan, which is a suburb of sorts of the capital city, Belmopan.
As many children in the United States return to school they can count on a warm nutritious lunch provided by the school and monitored by a nutritional program operated by the county. For the school children in Belize this is not a normal part of their school day. Instead they are afforded an hour to attend to their need. If possible they can walk back to their home, but if that is not an option they must find an alternative lunch plan.
In the particular village we visited a husband and wife team has stepped forward to provide an opportunity for children to have a hot lunch each school day. The Bread of heaven feeding center is not subsidized by the government or a program supported by a particular church. Instead it survives on the faith of those who created it, Ana and Alfredo and they depend on God to provide for their needs to feed the children that come. As I listened to Ana’s testimony of how God led her to do this and how she was blessed to be doing this I felt so blessed to listen to her tell about the beauty of God’s plan.
We made our visit on the last day of the school year and had the opportunity to take part in the end of year celebration. We helped carry equipment in for Alfredo’s Mariachi band, which played during the celebration, cleaned up around the yard and prepared for a larger than usual gathering of the children. We watched the children as they came in, lined up and received their hot lunches. Each child smiled as they came through, obviously not uncomfortable with the inclusion of different people in their usual routine.
Our group was comprised of members of different churches and when we returned to the United States, some of these churches decided to directly support Ana in her ministry. None of us know how much it requires to keep this ministry going, but God does and so far he has provided exactly what she needs. Trust, faith, belief, they are some of the tenets of being a Christian that Ana embodies so well and uses to witness to others.
I wanted to include some of the photos of our trip with this post.
You can notice the color of the uniforms these children wear. Each school has a specific color combination. Image Credit to Chad Johnson
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