Belize (MNN) — In a worship song by Tim Hughes entitled "We
Must Go," one line reads, "Keep us from just singing. Move us into action. We
must go."
A group of 24 individuals has done more than sing. As
part of a HANDS Team, Worldwide Christians Schools short-term mission teams, they
went to Belize to help prepare a school for session in the fall.
Cayo Christian School, located in the Cayo District in
western Belize, needed to find a new building, discover a new location, get permission
to teach, and enroll at least 120 students in a short amount of time.
Steve Geurink with WWCS said the Lord answered all of Cayo's
prayers.
"They found property and a building that could hold 120 children, got permission to operate from the Ministry of Education of Belize, and all
of this in extremely short notice," he said.
However, the building was not ready to become a school for
at least 120 students.
That's when the HANDS Team stepped in to make it
operational.
"Worldwide then came in with our HANDS team … and cleaned
the building, prepared it for operation and also built a shelter for the
students to eat their lunch under and to be able to get out of the hot Belizean
sun," he said. Preparing the building included tearing out several walls to
create classrooms.
WWCS sends teams like this all around the world to help
establish or develop school. What makes this team unique is limited time the
school had to ready itself for students.
"We were a vital part of giving them hope that they could
open this fall, and I just thank the Lord that He arranged all of these pieces,"
Geurink said. The team who went to Belize was also larger than most HANDS Teams,
which helped complete the worker even faster.
Another challenge the school faced was finding students to
enroll at the school. However, Geurink said God worked in this as well. Cayo
needed 120 students to enroll, but they now have 134 students. A classroom
will have to be set up in the lobby of their building to provide room for these
additional students.
"Typically, when WWCS partners with schools, we're
looking for schools that have a passion to reach out with the Gospel, using the
means of education to reach the needy area of the children of these different
countries," Geurink said. Cayo has this passion.
Even with all of these answered prayers, the Cayo School still
needs additional support through sponsorship. This will help with operational
expenses, the purchase of 12 computers, and additional school supplies.
Consider sponsoring a school for $25 a month. To sponsor the
Cayo School or other schools partnering with WWCS, visit wwcs.org. You can also
visit the WWCS Web site if you would like to become involved in their short-term
mission trips.
