October 2010

With a brief week visit to the US for a wedding in September, I have now been back in Belize 3 weeks. While I was in the States I had the blessing of being able to speak at a few Masses at my home parish and was able to raise $1,000 for the students at the parish down here who are trying to attend World Youth Day. The wedding was a great time and a wonderful reunion with family, friends, and family friends. Even though the week I was at home was completely separated and different from my life back in Belize, as soon as I returned back to Benque I got right back in the swing of things. I picked up exactly where I left off in all of my classes and I got right back into the flow of how things are run down here.


My classes are going very well. It is so nice to have the 3rd and 4th formers, because it means we can cover so much more material in much more depth and actually get into good discussion as opposed to most of my class being used to discipline as it was in my 1st form class last year (which is still the case from what I hear from all of the 1st form teachers). I have been busy, busy, busy trying to keep up with all the grades, lesson plans, course outlines, and side projects.

As of recent, the Knights of the Immaculate have certainly been picking up speed. More and more students have been expressing interest in joining. When we have initiation at our retreat November 6th, I believe we will have more than doubled – going from 7 members to about 20. The other night we had 16 high school boys show up for Mass and about half went to Confession. As I was praying as the sole gringo amongst 16 Belizean boys I was literally in awe that God would trust me so much – that He has placed me in charge of these kids’ souls! How unworthy I am and how humbled I felt that these kids would follow me. I was hit by the gravity that my actions and words have – it could literally affect these kids’ salvation. Lord I am not worthy to receive You in these kids, but only say the word and I shall be healed. Then we all went to dinner together (thanks to generous donations) and each one expressed how thankful they were for the forming of this brotherhood. It almost seems that every day this week I have had a student ask about joining the Knights and interestingly enough they are students who have recently gotten in some major trouble. I am very excited for what God is going to do.


This past Saturday, 3 Knights and 6 interested in joining showed up with us volunteer teachers to paint the pregnancy center in downtown Benque. They were very eager to help out. These kids amaze me!


Today was one of the best religion classes I have ever had – God just did His thing. I have been teaching the Theology of the Body to my fourth formers and today we were discussing “Fatherhood” and that each us learn a lesson from our dad – some good and some bad – about what it means to be a man and or what it means to be loved by a man. Yet with the love of God the Father we can experience healing. I had each of the students after watching a TV program on fatherhood write their fathers an open letter to how they feel about them. Many of these kids have grown up in fatherless homes or have been deeply hurt by their fathers. Yet during this exercise you could see that many of them were deeply affected and that the Lord started to heal many of them of past wounds. One male student wrote this…



Dear Father,
First of all let me tell you how much I love you. Thank you for all that you have done for me. I know that all you have done is because you love me, and that means so much for me. You can’t imagine how much it means. I know that our relationship has not been the best. And I’m not trying to blame you. You have to understand that as a father I expected more from you. Since I was born all I have experienced is pain, or at least that’s what I feel. Everything that mom and my sisters have gone through I feel like you had fault. Your addiction to alcohol has marked us. And many times I have cried on my own, without anybody knowing. Mom has been there for us always, but we have missed you very much. I understand the fact that you work and have to provide for us. But we also need your help, assistance, advice, guidance, and love, even more than the material. We always take mom’s side, but it is because we have had an absence of you in our lives. And sometimes I feel like I hate you; but in my heart I forgive you dad; because God has taught me how to. I would like you to spent more time with us, you don’t have to have a lot of money; you don’t even have to have any at all. All we need is your love. You always speak to me when you are drunk. But I would like to talk with you man to man, and not man to drunk. I would like you to change the way you treat me and everybody else. I sometimes get rebellious, and let me tell you that it is because of the way you treat me. If you would treat me a little bit better I would do everything you ordered me with a big smile. And you are also supposed to be advising me to the good. Help me dad. Help me be a good father to my future children and break the cycle. Talk to me. Love me! I love you!
Deep from my heart,
Student

Intense, huh?! And this is daily life for many of my students. It was beautiful to see how many of the students supported each other after this reflection, giving group hugs, and comforting one another through their tears. Many came up to me and gave me their letter to read even though I told them that I did not need to read it to grade it, yet many of them wanted to and gave me a big hug. It has been an amazing time and I do ask very much for your continued prayers. There is a lot of spiritual attack that has been hitting our students and our school in very visible ways and we need your prayers. I believe the reason that there has been so many spiritual attacks is because many of the students are on the verge of a major conversion of heart. These kids need so much healing and so much love that we could not possibly give them but only they could receive from God and so I ask from the bottom of my heart – flood heaven with your prayers for these kids. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! God bless you all!