"Spring Break Recharge"
March is the time in the school year where students pause and are granted a week-long break from their tireless efforts since the new year began. The weather is warmer, and the spring season is in full swing with budding trees, flowers blooming, and greening grass. In the military, these breaks are so precious to the families we serve. For some families they mean vacations, others capitalize on spending time together as a family around town, while some are preparing to move to their next duty station. In previous years, we have opted to utilize spring break for a service project or a retreat for our students. This year, we chose to allow families the opportunity to spend time together, since it seems that those opportunities to have everyone together are becoming more and more scarce.
We also capitalized on the opportunity to spend some quality time together as a family. If we're not careful to maintain a steady pace with the ministry, we find that it can quickly consume us. We were blessed by a good friend's very generous anniversary gift last year, but never carved out any time in our calendar to get away, unplug and enjoy time together. We came to quickly realize the need to rest and recharge, so we made sure we planned our calendars accordingly this year. Since our anniversary is in July, it usually falls during the dates for summer camp. No different than a kid with a Christmas birthday that chooses to celebrate their special day in the summer, we committed to celebrate a few months ahead since it worked better with the calendar.
We got in on an amazing end-of-year special sale right after Christmas and booked a 7-night cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was an incredible time of rest and relaxation. The international waters forced us to unplug from all technological connections, which really allowed us to connect with each other and the people we met along the way.
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| Amy and I with Pedro (front right) at the shop where they sell their goods in Roatan, Honduras. |
We weren't really sure what to expect on our adventure, but didn't dream of all God would have in store for us. In each port we visited, He showed up big through the people we encountered. In Roatan, Honduras, we stumbled into a little shop for a few minutes to escape the hot sun. The store was ran by Canadian missionaries that had been serving there for 9 years. Several teens and families make crafts, artwork, and jewelry and bring it to the store to sell in order to support their families. We met Pedro, an 18 year old young man that had been working in the store for 9 years, one of the first children the Canadian couple encountered when they first arrived. He shared with us how his father died when he was 11, and last year his mother left him and his siblings and moved to Panama, forcing him to step up to raise and support his siblings. We also met some young boys in the street that were finishing up their school day and what some may have viewed as an annoyance, we saw as an opportunity for connection. As tourists would walk by on their way back to the ship, they young boys would try to hustle them for money. Many walked by ignoring them, and we figured they were pretty used to that, so we decided to surprise them. We had a few bucks in our pocket and walked up to them and engaged them, giving them each some money. Although our encounter was brief, we could see how impactful our generosity was to them. Their faces just lit up. We ended our interaction with them with fist bumps as we made our way back toward the ship. Our hearts were full as we reflected on the opportunities God had provided us.
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| Amy and I with Liz and her son behind us as we took the photo at the port in Belize City, Belize. |
In Belize City, Belize, we walked for miles exploring the city. We found ourselves in a pretty rough area of town, but that didn't stop us. We walked by a few churches and were able to pop in a few that were open and look around. Many of them also operated schools, so we ran into many school children as well as we passed through the streets. It was sobering to see how little these children had, yet see the smiles on their faces as their hearts seemed to be so full of joy. An older lady was selling her handmade goods in an open market area. We made our way toward her to check out what she had to offer, not really intending to purchase anything. As we looked around, she was brutally honest with us in her desperate need for us to buy something from her because she so badly needed our money. Her son who appeared to be in his early 20's, was with her. She began telling us all about the Mayan culture in Belize and the popularity of worry dolls. These tiny little handmade dolls are believed to serve as an outlet as you cast all your worry onto them. We listened intently to her story, but saw an opportunity to share of Jesus, the One we can cast all of our cares upon. We patiently waited for the right time, and just then, she shared how she believed in Jesus and doesn't believe in the power of the little dolls. Instead, she told us she likes to call them friendship dolls and uses them to spread the love of Jesus to others. Our conversation shifted and she shared more about her story and how she rides the bus 3 hours each way to sell her goods to the tourists in the market. We told her a little about our story and how we work as missionaries serving military teens. We offered a generous donation and weren't looking to take anything away with us other than the wonderful memory of our conversation with her, but she insisted that we take a little bundle of friendship dolls to remember her by and share with our friends back home.
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| Us together with Rolando and the masterpiece he put together for us. |
As our journey continued, we were quickly understanding that it wasn't so much about the places we were visiting that were impacting our lives, as much as the people we crossed paths with. In Cozumel, Mexico, we wandered into a square where a middle-aged man was knelt down on a rotating piece of plywood, creating beautiful paintings, using spray paint. We stood and watched him for a few minutes and then he asked us in his broken English, what our favorite color was. We told him we loved all colors and he stopped working on the project he had been working on and began with a clean sheet of paper. It was mesmerizing to watch his talent unfold as he painted a beautiful sunset landscape. As he was painting, we noticed he had a Spanish Bible next to him, along with several scripture references painted on his workspace. We told him that we noticed his Bible and he was so excited to meet fellow Christ followers. We purchased the picture he painted for us and told him we would return the next day to have him paint another picture for us as we were going to gift the one he had just finished to our dear friend whose gift allowed us to take this trip. We returned the next day to his spot, but we were disappointed when he wasn't there. We decided to pull up a seat on a nearby park bench and wait for a bit, hoping he would show up. After about 30 minutes or so, he did! He was blown away to see that we had kept our word and returned for another painting. He walked into the square with his bicycle and a plethora of supplies on a makeshift trailer in tow and proceeded to set up for his long day of work in front of him. He shared with us that he has been married for 30 years, has 5 children and has been painting for 28 years, with no professional training. As he continued to get everything set up, a young man came through the square and stopped to talk to him. We watched as he grabbed his Bible, opened it up, and proceeded to share some scripture with this young man. The young man sat and listened to him for a few minutes, then got up and left. We talked with Rolando about his conversation with him. Sadly, he wasn't open to hearing the Truth. We told him that we would be praying that God would soften his heart and some day soon, he will be opening to listening, Rolando replied, "exactly!" He got started on our painting and we really enjoyed our time with him. We were able to draw up some extra business for our new friend from some other tourists passing by from other cruise ships that had docked in the port. He was grateful to get some extra income. It began to sprinkle a few raindrops and we feared that he wouldn't be able to finish our picture. Thankfully the shower was very brief and he was able to continue, making yet another marvelous masterpiece.
Just as quickly as Rolando finished our painting, our vacation was over. We have returned to the fast-paced routine that comes along with military youth ministry, but have returned feeling rejuvenated and recharged, ready to finish our last semester here at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield well. No different than the opportunities we were presented with when meeting our new friends on our vacation, we hope that you will prayerfully consider either joining us as ministry partners or remaining with us financially and in prayer on this mission to serve military teens and their families as we transition back to Kansas. There have been several changes within Club Beyond, mainly in that contracted youth ministry has come to an end. The way ahead will look a little different, however our mission to reach military teens remains strong. There is a lot of uncertainty ahead of us, but we trust in God's plan as we move forward.
Join us in celebrating as of late:
- Coming back from our cruise, Amy and I are fully refreshed and energized to finish the semester well!
- Impact is being made on so many fronts when our leader team is choosing to share our story specifically when Phil shared his story and a student openly shared that is directly what happened to them as a middle school student.
Please join us in prayer as we have these requests:
- Please be praying for the students and families we serve as we have had to break the difficult news of our departure this week.
- Please be praying for a buyer for our home as we listed it for sale this week, as well as provision of housing when we move back to Kansas.
- With the loss of the financial support that our contract has been providing, please pray that new ministry partners will step forward to stand in the gap as we will need to raise an additional $2,000 per month.
Humbly, we thank you for believing that we are on Christ's mission, reaching EVERY military teen possible no matter where HE sends us.
Phil & Amy Parsons
