Chad here. Time for my first post on this blog! Lots has happened since our last update: Work permits, new sprouting system, my parents came to visit, another visit to Hopkins, we slaughtered chickens, building a greenhouse, fending off satan's attacks, ordering 4000 pounds of seed, we prepare for the visit of my brother and his family. WOW, when I write it all down I guess we have been busy.
After lots of paperwork and many trips to the capital city of Belmopan our work permit, dependent permit for Stephanie and the kids Student permits have all been approved!!! I am used to lots of paperwork and red tape having worked for a bank but this took it to a whole new level. We were outright asked for a bribe to make things happen quicker but after calling their bluff we were issue the permits. This allows us a temporary permit to work for a year and then we would have to apply again unless we were granted residency by then. We are praising God for making this happen so smoothly.
Sprouting
Our test system we first build when we got here has been working well and has been feeding our 16 broilers and 13 laying hens. But it was time to take things up a notch. I have partnered with a friend from church to take our business to the next level. He became interested in sprouting after we explained the idea to him, he did a lot of research and said "I am in". Nery is his name and he has land and experience with animals of all kinds. He is a very handy guy and has taught me to look for out of the box easy solutions for everything. We have designed a new much larger sprouting system which we placed in a big concrete building he has on his property. The system is capable of growing several hundred pounds of sprouts per day. Our first batch of barley sprouts in the new system grew amazing well and much quicker than our system located at our house. We are now is the process of ordering several thousand pounds of seed to start growing enough barley fodder to feed several different types of animals. We are also importing seeds to grow micro-greens and other sprouts for human consumptions. To grow our micro-greens we are building a small greenhouse out of pvc pipe and some plastic and greenhouse mesh. Everyone we speak with has given us positive feedback on our project so we are excited to get the new seed and get things into full production. yeah, then we can make some money!!!
I wanted to build the system out of steal tubing and plastic or stainless steal trays. Nery convinced me that 1 x 3 pine and some steal roof panels for trays would work just fine. And he was right! 1/10th the cost of my way!!! Lots of room to expand this system with 3 more identical pods.
Our first barley harvest from the new system. 8 days, no mold and beautiful stuff.
The most amazing pepper plants I have ever seen. Inside the greenhouse of our new organic vegetable supplier and friend, Abdias.
Skype and FaceTime is so amazing to see and be able to speak with family but there is no substitute for a visit. My parents came to visit in February and we had such a good visit. Just as it was for Stephanie's parents when they came to visit us over Christmas my parents had a quick peace about our adventure here in Belize once they saw the network of christian friends we have developed here and all of the great things God has us working on and helping with. My parents were able to help us feed the kids at the local school which we help with once a week. They were also able to come with us to the Learning Centre where we help kids with their homework, play games and draw pictures. My parents also treated us to 3 days away at an amazing resort in Hopkins called Jaguar Reef or Almond Beach. What a great time together as a family! The kids played hard in the pool and nana and papa got some great sun burns in the hot Belize sun! Papa was the lobster man he was so red. Keaton, my dad and I also ventured out to the reef for some fishing. Unfortunately fishing was not so good that day and we only caught a few small ones but it was a great boat ride and a beautiful day on the water. Thanks mom and dad for the great adventure and wonderful visit.
The whole crew on a traditional Cacao farm tour. What a great time with Edgar and Victoria.
Stephanie, Nana and the kids at the top of the Mayan Ruins. Dad and I don't like heights.
Nana and the kids reading at the Learning Centre
Papa helping the kids with their homework
Ice Cream stop along the Hummingbird Highway on the way to the resort in Hopkins. 7 ice creams for $4.75 US!
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Jaguar Reef Resort. A slice of paradise.
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After 5 months of tender loving care it was finally time to slaughter our first batch of 16 broiler chickens. Commercially grown chickens are ready for slaughter in 8 weeks but we grew ours nice and slow on our home grown sprouts. Our broilers were getting so old that we discovered that 3 of them were roosters who began to show their stuff....at 2:30, 4:30 AND 6:30 in the morning. So we packed up the chickens in our shipping bins and carted them over to our friends place for a Saturday morning chicken slaughter party. As a banker I have never slaughtered a chicken before and Stephanie was a little rusty from here childhood so we enlisted the help of our friends Nery and Marien. We had a great morning chopping off heads, dipping in hot water, plucking feathers, cleaning out gizzards and chopping chicken into pieces. The whole family was involved and we were so impressed that the kids were right in there helping out. Then we cooked up some chicken with onions and potatoes on the fire and had a little chicken feast. It is so satisfying to eat what you raise.
Satan's many forms: God has been so good to us throughout this journey. He lead us here so we certainly praise him for his provision, safety and health that He has provided. But we also know when we meet with others that have a similar story to ours (yes, we are not the only crazy ones here, there are a tonne of us!!) that Satan wants to distract, deceive and throw us off of God's plan. Just a few weeks ago we experienced this after a great night with 2 other families that share a similar story to ours. we had a great night of singing, playing guitars and the kids playing together. As the kids went to bed Keaton called down to us that he was scared as he recounted a story about scorpions that was told earlier that evening. As I always do when the kids are having bad dreams we pray together and ask God to be there with them and we command Satan out of our presence by the authority of Jesus Christ. Yes, God gives us the authority to tell Satan to "Go to Hell". After we prayed Keaton said he felt at peace to go to bed and as I turned to leave the room a scorpion was fleeing from me from Keaton's room and headed to Paige's room. I must say that we have only seen 2 scorpions in the house in 7 months so this was a huge surprise to see this. Immediately a shiver went up my spin and that told me this wasn't a bug we were dealing with but an image of Satan who was fleeing because of our prayers. I threw a basket over it and grabbed a shoe and beat that scorpion to a pulp. We rebuked Satan for his attempts to discourage our family and told him we would crush his head if he came into our house again. Everyone slept peacefully that night. Fast forward two mornings and Stephanie comes running upstairs at around 6:00 am. "theirs a snake downstairs". Again, we have never had a snake in the house and have only seen 3 snakes since being here in Belize. Again a shiver went up my spin which told me Satan was here again. Before heading downstairs we prayed that God would stand with us and we rebuked Satan for coming into our house again. We went downstairs and pulled out couches and chairs until we found a 2 foot long yellow jaw snake curled up in the corner of the living room. (you can do the research if you wish to know how dangerous a yellow jaw is!) With machetes in hand we cut satan in two and tossed him outside. Again we rebuked him for coming into our presence. We know that Satan tries to throw us off of God's plan but this is the first time i have seen such a real likeness of Satan in my presence and it was a shivering experience. But God is good, he protected us and stands with us and helps us to recognize when we are not flighting against bugs and snakes, but the evil one himself. I encourage all of you to also pray for God's discernment and take God's authority to rebuke Satan for being in your presence.
As we work away on all of our projects we look forward with great excitement to our next visitors. On Good Friday we will welcome my brother and his family for a 1 week visit to Belize. We are excited for the kids to see their cousins again and show them the sights and sounds of Belize. We have an action packed agenda ready and waiting for them!!! We so appreciate our visitors and the sacrifice of time and resource it takes to come and visit us. These truly are special times!
Well, I think I was much too long winded and I may get banned from writing future blog postings so I must sign off for now.
One last picture. La Ruta Maya is a 4 day canoe race across the country. Who wants to race with me next year?? There was another Canadian team in it this year.
We love you all!
Chad
Hi Chad and Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteMy husband, Peter, was one of the members of the Canadian team on La Ruta Maya canoe race! His team met quite a few challenges during the race, but they are already planning for next year.
Janet