Hard working staff at the Halloween Fair.....Mr. Freddy and Mr. Jason preparing the delicious bar-b-que, Vernon trying to maintain order at the Haunted House and me decorating trick or treat bags and handing out candy! You can see more Halloween on Julie's Volunteering in Belize part 2 blog.
Dear Friends of Holy Cross, I love sharing good news and we've been blessed with lots of wonderful happenings recently. No, we haven't been adopted by Oprah or Bill Gates so we still need your financial contributions! But, even in the midst of financial need, God continues to shower us with blessings - smile.
Harvest Sunday - Yesterday was our third Harvest Celebration and it was amazing! Over six hundred students and their families gathered at the San Pedro High School Nunez auditorium to worship and thank God for His many gifts. Harvest here in Belize is similar to Thanksgiving in the States - a time of giving thanks and sharing. We asked all our students to bring an item(s) for the school Feeding Program - the pictures tell the story. What an incredible outpouring of little bags of rice, flour and sugar; cans of evaporated milk; spaghetti noodles; salt; milk powder; tomato paste; boxes of macaroni, etc - wow! Each class presented a Harvest item....."Bringing in the Sheaves", "We Plow the Field and Scatter", "They Will Know We Are Christians", more songs and poems and tears in my eyes. The teachers did a beautiful job with decorations, Fr. Perez was able to come from Belize City to conduct the service (thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Leslie, General Manager of Anglican Schools), one mother donated a cake which raised $125US in a silent auction and God was mightily thanked!
Electric Bill was paid! Many thanks to the members of the Belize Mission Project for their wonderful financial donations which enabled the School to pay that hideous electric bill (over $2,000US). The lights will stay on - yea! For seventeen years, Dr. Frank Whipps has brought a group of dentists and support personnel to Belize. They staff free clinics all over the country, including here in San Pedro. Several years ago some of their members visited Holy Cross and informally 'adopted' the school as part of their outreach program. I was able to share dinner with these lovely folks from all across the US and gratefully received their contributions. Thank you Belize Mission Project!!! (If you are interested in additional information, please check out their web site at Belize Mission Project.
New Shoes! Thanks to FootLocker, the efforts of Aylson Kanning and the connections made by Belize Mission Project, Holy Cross received almost fifty pairs of beautiful new shoes! There will be lots of 'happy feet' in the school just as soon as we can distribute the shoes to those in need - four pairs have already found new homes - smile. The donation came at a perfect time as the weather has turned cool and rainy. Before school started we gave out over three hundred pairs of shoes so our supply was really low. Thank you FootLocker, Aylson and BMP!!!
Holy Cross Foundation Wed Page! Last year almost twenty volunteers who worked at Holy Cross from seven different States got together and formed a Foundation. The goal of the Foundation is to benefit Holy Cross Anglican School through increasing awareness, raising funds and seeking grants on behalf of the school. Several of these folks have been hard at work getting a web site going and it is now up!!! Check out this link which is open for tax deductible donations via credit card right now: Multiply Communications.
And, please check out the web page: Holy Cross Education Foundation. Many thanks to Brian, Tim, John and Pat!!
Cursillo! Many of you may be familiar with Cursillo (also known as Walk to Emmaus, Tres Dias, similar to Chiros and Happening) which is a Christ-centered, three day retreat. Here in Belize, the Anglican Diocese holds a Cursillo Weekend every other year. Just a few weeks ago twelve members of the school staff attended the Weekend. Vernon and I served on Team along with the Minister of Education, Patrick Faber. It was a glorious three days which nourished everyone's faith and brought us all closer to God and each other. I can see the wonderful effects of the Weekend already!
New Education Officer! San Pedro/Caye Caulker finally received our very own Education Officer, Ms. Candy Armstrong. She will be the liaison between all the local schools and the Ministry of Education and also serve as a valuable resource . With several public schools to choose from, where do you think she enrolled her three children?!? Holy Cross Anglican School is pleased (and very proud!) that she entrusted the education of her children to us!
Holy Cross placed 29th in the Nation! At a meeting on Friday with the District Education Officer, we learned that Holy Cross Anglican School placed 29th in the nation in overall scores on the mandatory Primary School Exams. This examination is given to all students at the end of Standard VI (eighth grade). There are 292 primary school in Belize so 29th is pretty good - especially when we take into account that we only had most of our students for one or two years. Yea, Holy Cross!
I do love sharing good news and you are the very folks who make the good news happen!! Please continue to uphold us in your prayers and send your much needed contribution to:
San Pedro Town
Ambergris Caye, Belize
Many thanks and blessings, Francis
Today Holy Cross Celebrated the donation of a new industrial stove with a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by lunch prepared by Chef Victor Nal of Sunset Grill.
Preparing and serving breakfast a fruit snack and lunch daily for 500 kids is no small feat - even the busiest restaurant in town does not serve that many daily let alone 5 days a week. Holy Cross School and kitchen staff headed by Miss Rosalia is very grateful for Chef Victor's training help in the kitchen.
Chef Victor is a frequent volunteer with the Feeding Program at the School and was recently selected Belize Chef of the year for 2009.
The stove is a gift from Tony and Ginger Rogers of Texas who volunteered at Holy Cross this past summer. Ginger was helping with literacy and remedial reading and Tony with building. They asked the school what was needed most and they went back home and raised the money for an industrial stove.
Ginger and Tony got the stove got to Amarillo Texas to the Word at Work Ministry to Pastor Tim Tam. Transportation from Texas to San Pedro was generously provided by Belize Natural Energy Trust headquartered in Belmopan. Sterling Vorus of Island Ferry stepped up and voluntered to get the stove from Belize City to San Pedro.
Among the people who came out to celebrate were officials Sylvia Baumgart Laasner and Deborah Sewell from BNET were.
Miss Roselia and Chef Victor - Stove donated by Ginger and Tony Rogers
Touring the school
Lunch time
Checking out the library
Ribbon cutting ceremony
Speeches and thank yous 
Watching the ribbon cutting ceremony
Speeches and thank yous
3 cheers for a great new stove and all who helped get it here and install it. 
