Back From Belize
My husband and I have just returned from a ten day trip to Belize. Wow! What a country!
On the positive side it is a very friendly nation of people. Everywhere we went people were more than happy to talk to us, direct us, and brag about their country. They are proud to be Belizeans! It was easy to get around though there are no real laws about driving except that you have to slow down to go over the frequent speed bumps or tear up the front end of your car. The fruits and vegetables are local, plentiful, and cheap. The landscape in the hills and along the highways (there are three or four major roads) was spectacular! We had been warned and warned about the bugs, especially the mosquitos and the no-see-ums, we encountered very few until we went to the Island of Ambergris Caye (pronounced “key,” like the Florida Keys). There were almost none on the beach where there was usually a breeze – but a block off the beach and we were a snack for the mosquitos!
We saw and talked with several very ambitious people. They are looking for ways to earn a living – some were selling fruit on a corner in the town, some were women making crafts and selling them to tourists (the major industry besides bananas, oranges, and sugar cane farming). We met people willing to try to help us find a place to stay or a restaurant or to go caving, tubing, or to a Mayan ruin site. Always hoping for the generous American tip. There were plenty of venders selling local food. When we went to the Island city of San Pedro we talked to three different young men, all married, working hard, and proud to tell us about their wives and children. (Unfortunately, they were not the norm.)
On the more negative side, almost all of the secondary roads there were not paved. They looked like farm lanes to us! They were dusty or muddy, depending on how recent the rain was, holey, (definitely with an “e” because it was easy to get frustrated with them!), and very hard on vehicles. The locals told us they replace their tires about once a year. The good news is that there are relatively few cars on the roads almost anywhere in Belize except Belize City.
Some major parts of Belizean culture are very sad. I was reminded of the times of the Judges where “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” It was bad for Israel and it is bad for Belize. The statistics say that the nation is 52% Roman Catholic and only 3%-5% Evangelical. There are Mayan and Creole influences there that have apparently been involved in Voo-doo and other similar cultish behaviors. Satan would appear to be in control, truly he is the prince of that world. Though we met a few faithful people, the majority did know or care about the Lord.
The way this manifests is largely in the absence of the family system ordained by God. Men and women have children together but rarely marry. We were told that it is not unusual for a 17 year old to have three children by three different men. There is a big problem with alcoholism, HIV, and unemployment. The men seemed concerned about “today”. There is very little forward thinking, no planning ahead, no teaching your children to plan ahead. Several people told us that if a man gets enough to eat for today – or maybe this week – he will probably not return to work until he is out of food. By that time the job is gone and he is unemployed. He will repeat the pattern anyway!
As Americans we shake our heads and say, “how sad.” The greatest sadness for me is admitting that we may have seen the future of America. When there is no acknowledgement of God, no Savior to open the eyes to the sinfulness of the way we are living, the culture will suffer. Everyone will do what is right in his own eyes and not be at all concerned about others. There will be fear, terror, thievery, and illnesses like HIV.
It is hard for us to think that we could come to such a way of living as Belize is in now. They have gone to church but ignored God for centuries. Their Catholicism is cultural, not a relationship with Christ. They are largely free from government regulation and interference and this freedom has lead to Belizeans’ expecting to take care of themselves. Without a heritage of Christian culture to draw from, this expectation has devolved into, “I can have anything you own if it helps me take care of myself.” As I said, there’s little concern for others.
As Americans look to the government more and more to take care of them it fosters the same lack of concern for others, including our own families. We don’t need to teach our children anything, the government will. We don’t have to work because the government will provide the food and shelter. We don’t need to take care of our elderly, the government will provide homes for them. The Biblical concepts of loving and serving one another are taken out of the culture when people rely on their government for everything.
We loved Belize. The positives far outweighed the negatives for us but it was a wakeup call, a warning. I do not want to become apathetic about what my children and grandchildren are learning and the example I am setting. I don’t want to slowly but surely fall into one who is more dependent on government than on God. In Belize the government has nothing to offer. The people rely on themselves. But far too many think only of themselves.
As Christians, we are called out of this kind of thinking. Ephesians 2:1-3 says this: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. These verses describe where Christians have been – it describes where Belizeans are today. Look at the first two words of verse 4, “But God”.
Verses 4-7 express the hope for the nation of Belize: But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
We will be praying for God to rain His grace on Belize as abundantly as he does water in the rainy season — so abundantly this year we were unable to go into any of their caves or tube on the rivers.
We decided that was fine – God willing, we’ll do it next trip!