[Biblemat] Belizean Briefs IX

[Bobby Graham]

Brethren,

Below I am sending my report on a recent trip to Belize.

Best Regards,

Bobby L. Graham
24978 Bubba Trail
Athens, AL 35613
(256) 233-3509
bobbylgraham at bellsouth.net

BELIZEAN BRIEFS IX



My Ninth Trip: From very early November 5, 2007 to late November 15, Lonnie 
Oldag and I traveled together to Belize to teach the gospel of Christ, not 
to build houses, hand out food or money to people to attract them to Christ, 
start secular schools, or otherwise participate in the social-gospel 
mission.  This was the smoothest trip of my nine, because of the marvelous 
weather on flight days and for the days spent in Belize, no delays or late 
arrivals, or customs-immigration problems. After a two-hour trip from 
Huntsville to Houston and a 2 hour thirty minute flight from Houston to 
Belize City, we met the Dana Whislers at the airport, some 48 miles and 60 
minutes from their Orange Walk Town home. I took a case of 27 copies of Mrs. 
Lee's Stories about God's First People covering the Book of Genesis for the 
families in the Orange Walk and San Narciso congregations to use in teaching 
their children and themselves. These were purchased by the Oakland church in 
Limestone County, Alabama. I do not count myself a self-appointed apostle to 
Belize or protestor of the church in Belize, but simply desired to "go 
back.and see how they are doing" (Acts 15:36).



Lonnie Oldag: Although this was his first trip to Belize, Lonnie has made 2 
teaching trips to the country of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), 
where he also lived and worked for the Lord in 1992-93. In fact, his wife 
Amanda lived there with him, and their first son Austin was born there. 
Because of his study of Spanish, he has an interest in teaching in 
Spanish-speaking areas. Lonnie is an able, energetic sower of the seed of 
the kingdom, who shows advanced knowledge, wisdom, and judgment for his 
thirty-six years. Lonnie spoke twice at Orange Walk and twice at San 
Narciso, as well as helping with numerous private studies and handing out of 
flyers advertising the Orange Walk meeting. In many conversations and 
efforts to teach, he "labored much in the Lord," leaving no room for doubts 
about his earnest desire to save souls (Rom. 16:12).



Radio Program: The owner of a local, politically aligned radio station 
offered Dana free time every other week during the hour dedicated to 
political talk. He had done one thirty-minute program, which he and Adolfo 
Ramirez had done as a call-in show with one call. Soon after our arrival 
Dana asked me to help him on a second show, which was postponed because of a 
"hot political issue but was allowed to operate for 45 minutes. We also 
tried to encourage calls but had none. The third program was also postponed, 
with Dana puzzled about what course to take-buy time, drop the idea, or 
continue to use whatever "crumbs" fell his way. The station does reach into 
Mexico and Guatemala, I understand. In my judgment, such a program will 
probably require many weeks for an American speaking English to build an 
audience confident enough to call him. This is an opportunity of avenues 
available, sometimes at little cost, for spreading the precious message of 
Christ (Mt. 28:19).



Flyer Handout/Orange Walk Meeting: Considerable time was spent in handing 
out flyers advertising the three-night meeting at Orange Walk. Lonnie and 
Adolfo did this in areas beyond the immediate neighborhood of the 
meetinghouse, and Dana did it among his neighbors near the building. Lessons 
included "The Love of God," "Faith." and "The New Birth," with my teaching 
the first and last lessons and Lonnie teaching the second one. There was 
good attendance from Orange Walk and San Narciso congregations on Tuesday 
and Thursday nights (33 and 40, a full house) and only local brethren and 
two visitors on Wednesday night (24 present). It was a joy to see the Orange 
Walk brethren receive their brethren from San Narciso and Blue Creek and 
visitors so warmly.



Iron Sharpens Iron: Lonnie and I had many occasions during our time in 
Belize to discuss passages and their applications, mistakes sometimes made, 
how to handle situations, concerns, and otherwise edify each other. I 
certainly grew to appreciate Lonnie even more than before (Prov. 27:17).



Our Accommodations: Because the Whipples learned shortly before our trip 
that they would need to move to make their house available to the landlord's 
relatives, we chose to stay the entire time in Orange Walk in the 
meetinghouse across the street from the Whislers. Actually it is the house 
which they rent and allow the church to use for meeting. The question arises 
as to the scripturalness of using the meetinghouse for bed and showering. On 
other occasions churches have put me up in their building or in an apartment 
joined to the building. In reality there is no difference in their providing 
me a place to stay in someone's house, in a motel, or in their own facility. 
The determining factor is the work being done. If the work is scriptural, 
the church may choose do that work wherever it is expedient for them to do 
so. It is interesting that first-century congregations sometimes met in 
people's houses, which were also used for the family's needs; Paul both 
lived and taught in the same rented house in Rome (Acts 28:30; Col. 4:15).



Translators: While all teachers would prefer not having to use translators, 
I do not view them as a "necessary evil." During the apostolic age the 
divine arrangement precluded the possibility of translation errors (1 Cor. 
2; 12). Inspired translation was available in the gift of interpreting 
tongues. Every foreign worker could relate interesting and humorous stories 
about translating the gospel. During my nine trips to Belize I have worked 
with five different translators. The most competent ones study both the 
Bible and the languages with which they work. They discuss the upcoming 
lessons and particular words they might need to use, to assure accuracy in 
message. Not even a translator has the right to alter the divine message; a 
poorly translated lesson might mislead one to believe and practice error. 
Simple and standard words are always the easiest for translators; 
colloquialisms and slang present problems. Translated lessons require close 
to twice the time. This was my second trip when Adolfo served as my primary 
translator, though Geovanni helped in this capacity a couple of nights. 
Because of his influence in speaking the gospel and the need for accuracy, 
it is best for a translator be a devoted disciple of Jesus. Their former 
biases and misunderstandings can distort the truth. I am thankful that we 
have the Bible in our language, and I also am thankful to have Christians 
able to translate in various countries of the world.



A Very Sick Infant: Word reached Carol Whisler of the grave condition of 
infant Dionelli, a great granddaughter of sister Idalee in the Orange Walk 
church. Resulting from the rape of her mother, she was anemic, was 
dehydrated, was not passing urine, and had a mass showing up in an x-ray. 
The local hospital was unable to perform the needed tests and was failing to 
do anything for a few days, even to give the screaming baby Tylenol or 
transfuse the blood given by a family friend. When we learned that the tests 
could be done in Belize City for $450 Belizean ($225 US), I gave just under 
half of the amount from funds various Christians had handed me before 
leaving and Dana used money similarly supplied him for the rest. Those tests 
showed that the kidneys were healthy, the baby was anemic and dehydrated, 
and the unidentified tumor was not restricting urine flow. With no 
oncologist in the entire country of Belize, further work with the tumor must 
take place in Mexico or by a Belizean surgeon biopsying it for testing 
elsewhere. An energy fund is set up in the country to pay for such medical 
work and travel. What a blessing we enjoy to have the care and facilities we 
need in our country! Frequent prayers went up to the Great Physician for 
this little one.



Bible Studies: Daily efforts are made to conduct current studies or to 
initiate new ones. It is easy for two studies to be carried on at the same 
time with four of us doing them (Dana, Lonnie, Adolfo, and Bobby). Some 
groups from the US go only to set up and begin studies, which then fall into 
the hands of the men working there and keep them busy for weeks and even 
months. When nightly preaching is taking place, the one doing the speaking 
does not usually have quite as much time for these studies, but he also 
participates in them. The notable difference between our trips and the 
"mission trips" of many groups is that teaching the gospel is what we do, 
not a sideline or something that we slip in covertly. Most of these other 
trips are consumed with building houses, repairing roofs, taking children on 
outings, etc., with little attention to the Bible. Our entire focus is on 
teaching the Bible, converting people to Christ, edifying Christians, and 
building up local churches. The religious doctrines/groups most commonly 
encountered are the Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman 
Catholics, and Evangelicals (generic Protestants). The first two of these 
groups know what they believe and why they believe; they stoutly defend 
their beliefs. Catholics lack the dedication of the others and often are 
such only in name. Many Belizeans surprise you with their general knowledge 
of the Bible: they can easily locate the different books in a study and know 
something of the Bible story. Progress in leading people to Christ, however, 
is often slow. Bible Correspondence Courses in both Spanish and English are 
commonly used. Making disciples and teaching disciples to live obediently to 
Christ must continue till the Lord returns (Mt. 28:19-20).



San Narciso Meeting: Located close to the Northern Highway leading from 
Orange Walk to Corozal some 20 miles north of Orange Walk Town, San Narciso 
is the location of the congregation which originally began in Corozal during 
the work of Jesse Hightower approximately in 1997. Greg and Christine 
Whipple live here with their children, but they have already begun their 
move north to Corozal, some 15 miles away. The brethren here had also asked 
that I speak for them three nights and twice on Sunday. Lonnie agreed to 
speak once at night and once on Sunday in both meetings. The church has 
experienced several big problems over the years, but there seems to be a 
strong core of members, a number of whom are sisters in the Lord. The 
lessons here included "Some Things in Torment That Ought to Be in the 
Church," "Self-Control," "What Sin Is and What It Will Do to Me," "Becoming 
like Jesus," and "Winning the Victory over Sin." Our purpose in these 
lessons was to instruct the brethren, remind them of what they already knew, 
and encourage them to grow stronger to overcome the evil one (1 Tim. 4:6; 2 
Tim. 2:14). It is always a joy to see these warm-hearted people and to 
worship with them.



Sleep Interferences: Ecclesiastes 12 describes the increasing problems 
associated with advancing age, among which he mentioned "rising up at the 
voice of a bird," probably pointing to one's inability to sleep without 
interruptions. Preventing any hasty conclusion concerning my own age, I am 
consoled by the fact that thirty-six year old Lonnie also had difficulty 
sleeping because of the noises often coming from the neighborhood-cars, loud 
music, talking, and, yes, even the early morning rooster's crowing. The 
wooden shutters on the windows where we slept were closed on some rather 
cool nights, helping also with noises. Electric fans, quite useful during 
the day, also proved their worth at night by muffling the noise level, 
allowing us to sleep better. Early morning wake-up usually came about 5:30, 
when we prepared for our early morning walk of almost an hour. For whatever 
toll those noises and early wake-up time exacted, early afternoon brief 
siestas offered compensation.



Belizean Work Habits: Some laziness and begging dot the landscape, 
encouraged by government dole and American handouts, even by religious 
groups. Some American Christians even thought it would be "nice" to supply a 
family already consumed by worldliness (Belizean style) with a television 
set. Many Belizeans work hard, because life is hard for them. The forty-hour 
workweek is not the standard here; it often is more like sixty hours, with 
seasonal workers in sugar cane sometimes working even more. The seasonal 
nature of much work requires many of them to fill out their income with 
other "pick up" jobs like chopping grass or weeds, selling fruit, and making 
wood products for sale as souvenirs. Many now are able to work in 
construction because of the many buildings being put up, and many others are 
working in the free zone along the Belize-Mexico border. Christians have 
been taught in recent years to work, not to develop a dependency on American 
brethren (Eph. 4:28; 2 Thes. 3:8-9, 12). That is good!



Caleb Whisler's Health: This six-year old son has had many health problems 
in his short lifetime, necessitating his birth take place in the U.S. and 
his lengthy hospitalization in Baltimore earlier this year. Numerous 
American Christians prayerfully followed his progress and shared in the 
family's needs during that time. A liver problem, producing intolerance for 
sugar, wheat gluten, and dairy products and requiring a very restricted 
diet, is also accompanied by ciliac's disease which he shares with his 
mother. Brown rice has become the grain source for their bread/pasta and 
rice milk his only milk. Affected by his health problems, all of Caleb's 
baby teeth have been capped except one. Nevertheless, Caleb is very thankful 
for what he is able to enjoy, manifesting a positive attitude practically 
all the time. Carol works tirelessly to provide what he needs, even using a 
small electric mill to grind the brown rice into flour for his use and hers 
(Prov. 31:25).



Needy Brethren: While poverty is not desirable (Prov. 30:7-9), it is not 
fatal! Sometimes it is the result of personal habits, family 
sickness/injury, economic disaster, job loss, etc. Some of the immature 
Christians used to ask visiting Americans for help, but good teaching has 
largely changed this practice. Three Christians needed help this trip, 
including a paraplegic unable to work and one who had been laid off from a 
job at the papaya plant because of Hurricane Dean's recent destruction of 
the crop. I left money with Greg and Dana for future needs of some of these 
same people. Various local brethren usually hand me money to take for varied 
expenses, including these needs (Tit. 3:14). I left an exceptionally good 
air mattress, which I bought three years ago and have taken each year to get 
a better night's sleep, for the brother without hands or feet, who was 
having problems with bed sores. Carol Whisler informed me that such sores 
are much less a problem on this kind of bed.



One for the Record Book: Readers of my Belizean Briefs are probably aware 
that, by request of the brethren in Belize, I make my trips now shortly 
before the wet season/hurricane season ends and the sugar cane harvest 
resumes. On this particular trip the weather was superior to any I have 
witnessed in Belize-less humid, cooler, and breezy. Only two days were rainy 
and humid. Mild days and pleasant nights were the norm, with a blanket 
necessary some nights. Even November can see a combination of oppressive 
heat and humidity. Two Alabama preachers were able to appreciate the good 
weather and to work more efficiently as a result. For this good gift we 
thank God (Jas. 1:17).



Bobby L. Graham

24978 Bubba Trail

Athens, AL 35613

(256) 233-3509

bobbylgraham at bellsouth.net