Jeff, Tiffany and Ann Marie Boyles

P.O. Box 128

Dangriga, Belize CA

011-501-625-3248 (c) 011-501-660-0947 (h)

Email: boylesministry@hughes.net

Website: www.boylesministry.org

Boyles Ministry Newsletter

November 2006

Dear friends and family,

Happy Thanksgiving! It is difficult for us to believe that it is the holiday season! It is still pretty hot in Belize, but we are thankfully having some cooler nights. We are not exposed to the decorations or TV commercials, so it does not seem like Christmas is right around the corner.

The southern region of the Baptist Association of Belize met at the end of October. The 5 phase proposal written by our ministry team for the Christian Development Center was approved. The proposed name was also approved: Rodney M. Gordon Christian Development Center. Rodney Gordon passed away earlier this year. He owned 50 acres of land about a mile from San Juan and dreamed of someday building a children’s home, camp, and high school. Chester and Noelia Ritchie shared his dream. Mr. Gordon’s widow, Mrs. Diana Gordon has given a portion of the land to the Baptist Association to go forward with this project. This project still needs to be approved by the Ministry of Lands Department. If you would like to read the minutes from the meeting, they are posted on our website.

New officers were elected at the southern meeting region also. Chester Ritchie was re-elected the Chairman of the region, Noelia Ritchie was re-elected the Ladies President, Jeff was elected Secretary and I was elected Treasurer. We are excited about the opportunity to be a more intricate part of what is happening in the region. Other officers are listed click here for details.

Several years ago, Noelia saw there was a tremendous need for a lunch program in San Juan Village. Many of the children in the village did not eat a lunch and some were malnourished. A church out of Helena, Alabama sponsors a feeding program that Noelia started. In order to feed the 100 children, a new building was built. The ribbon cutting was last week. The children and the ladies that cook the lunch were all very excited.

Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Independence is where we attend church on Sunday mornings. We are very excited that they have started the construction of Sunday school rooms and bathrooms. The walls are almost complete and we are hoping the roof will be built soon.

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Belize, but some of the churches have a Harvest Celebration. The church is decorated with flowers and fruits. Children bring in their harvest gifts to give back to the Lord from their abundance. We were able to attend the ceremony at Light of the Valley Baptist Church. The children sang and said their memory verses and talked about what they were thankful for. The congregation sang “Bringing in the Sheaves” as the children marched in and out.

We went to Dangriga for Garifuna Settlement Day. There is a reenactment of the day the Garifuna landed in Belize. We watched the boats come in at 6:00 in the morning. They had a parade of drumming, singing, and dancing as they made their way to the Catholic Church. We went to the mass and stayed for another parade later in the day.

It is a lot of fun to take part in celebrations and learn about the customs in Belize.

Harvest Celebration Garifuna Settlement Day

Jeff has worked very hard getting all of the information from the southern region churches posted on our website. The churches and pastors are pictured and their needs are posted. We sincerely hope this will help mission teams decide where they would be most useful. The calendar for next year is filling up quickly. There are several individuals that will be coming down to stay for 4-8 weeks in addition to teams coming down. We are looking forward to getting to see everyone. And it is always exciting to see God working through others.

In Christ,

Tiffany and Jeff Boyles