The Conference and More

Thank you so much everyone for all your support and prayers!!!!

The conference is done, and we are now in transition to our new season of life.  Lauren has left:( Shelbye and I are together:) And God is continuing to teach us so many lessons!

Jesse (friend from back in GA) and Shelbye (a new friend who we did not really know at the time for TX) arrived about a week before the conference.  We had such a great time going to a little village named Trio and Jesse brought some gifts for the family there.  We got the dad a pair of really nice work gloves for when he cuts down the pineapple (so he does not cut is arms); the girls got colored pencils, Mother Vilma got some medical stockings, and so much more! It was just so sweet to see how excited they all were to get these gifts!  We spent the day eating pineapple, going to the river and jumping off of a cliff, making a special supper for the family...it was just so special and so great!  The sweetest thing, is last time we visited they gave up a bed so that Lauren and I would be able to sleep on the ground...this time we had 4 people and they gave us 3 of their beds!!!!!

Gifts for the Garcia Family

Riding in the back of the pick up...about 12 of us!

Pineapples in Trio

Trio

On the Boat coming back from the Caye

We then picked Matt up a couple days later and so much fun making Belize food and went to the river!

The following day Shannon and Justin arrived and then the crazy adventures started!!!!

We went Cave tubing, went to Caye Culker, and hand worship together on our roof!!!!

It was so much fun spending time together and just really bonding together before the conference.

After Cave Tubing

Mark (our worship leader) and Travis (our pastor) arrived the day before the conference so we drove to pick them up in the city. And right before that Lauren and I went on Nation wide television to talk about the conference.  It is a morning show that is televised throughout the whole country! WHAT???  You can click on the link below to watch it!

Lauren and Tati on PLUS TV

On the Set at Plus TV

On our way to the interview!

Whole Fish!

Jesse and I Cooking!

No supper table...SUPPER ON THE FLOOR

OH MY GOODNESS!!! ONE OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE THINGS!!!!!! So Matt brought down new motors for our car windows and a compressor, so now we have WINDOWS that roll down in the car and AC....WHAT!!!!!!!!!!  When we picked up the guys and our "new car" we all drove to the city and went to the church to get ready and pray over the church we were going to have the conference at.  We then all ate together and just got to have such a great time in fellowship with one another.  It was pretty crazy though...for Lauren and I we had not been around other Americans, or friends for 2 months...and now there were all these people here.  We were on overload for like 5 days!!! Bless the hearts of all the sweet friends that put up with us, as well looked like deer in headlights for days! Eventually it started to pass though:)  When everyone got here we had such a great time and we were so encouraged and thankful to have family back home come here.

The day before the conference, like I was saying, we picked up Mark and Travis and we went to get set up for the conference, and all had supper and were able to prepare for the conference.  But right before this, Lauren and I were on PLUS TV, which is a nation wide television morning show.  You can click the link below to see us!!!!:

The next day the conference started, we were driving all the way from Belmopan each day which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive.  As soon as we arrived, we all took our our separate roles, some of us were running errands, Lauren was so cute at her little sign in table, and we were getting the sound set up, COFFEE of course, and starting to greet people as they arrived.

Fernando Praying over the Maganyas

The conference was so great, it is funny how we have ideas and expectation how things will go, even if we dont think we do... and then God changes them and it is so much better than what we could have thought.  We had such great times in worship, and Travis and Fernando (Fernando, our other speaker, and his daughter flew in the first day of the conference) were able to share so much with the leaders of Belize.  At one point we were crying in worship, and talking about sonship, our inheritance as sons and daughters of the Lord, and the next minute were were laying down our nationality (where we come from...America...Belize...Bolivia...etc.), and the next minute we were talking about forgiveness.  For the people who came, they said how this was exactly what they needed and they were so thankful for this conference.  One of my favorite parts happened at the end when we anointed all the pastors with oil and prayed over them!  I was weeping!!!!!!  I am so thankful for what God had planned and I would not have changed a thing!!!!!

 


So now that the conference is done, Shelbye and I are working on setting up a country wide youth camp for the end of this year.  We had to see everyone off as the left to go back to the states, and a couple days ago we had to also see off Lauren:(  She left on Monday and it was so weird....since we started this trip together and this journey of growing in so many ways, it was so weird not finishing it together.  I am so thankful to have Shelbye here and excited for what God is going to continue to do.  This past week, we went to look at a couple sights to have the camp at and now Shelbye and I are having a little rest time...after these past couple months of craziness and sleeping out of our car....we were so excited to have a little rest time.  It is funny though, but because we do not have a lot of money...our VACATION is going to the Caye, sleeping on a doc, bathing on the doc, and resting on the doc!  So last night we slept in a boat....that was pretty fun, tonight we are sleeping on a hammock on the dock.  It is kind of funny though because so people think it is so funny and such a  great idea...and then other people are like..."YOU ARE WHAT?"  We are just hoping for no rain tonight!!!!

Love you all so much and I am so sorry that it took so long to get this blog up. With everyone here, and then the conference, it has been hard to get email.  LOVE YOU!!!!!