Belmopan

It's been a while since I've hoisted any personal stories on here, so I'll fill you in on my trip to Belmopan. First of all, Belmopan is the capital of Belize, located about an hour inland (west of Belize City). To start from the beginning, I have been playing the drums with local artists here and there; fortunately, God has provided work for me doing what I love. However, in order to work legally, it is required that I have a work permit, which at this point I don't have. So, in a moment of realization of the potential repercussions I could be faced with (jail time and hefty fines), I made a quick plan in my head to go to Belmopan to complete one of the steps of that process. Then out of the blue, I received a text from a friend (Israel) who lives in Belmopan, simply wishing me to have a blessed day. Now to interject story number 2...

Me and Israel

Israel Gilharry is a guy who my family met at the air port in Belize City on Christmas day. He noticed them doing a devotion and made his way to talk to them. Low and behold, they hit it off and my parents gave Israel my contact info. Israel was on his way to Kansas City for a conference where he incidentally met a guy from Dallas who happens to be friends with my roommate as we later found out. I don't think the 'small world' saying can take that kind of credit! Back to story number 1...

So Israel texts me and I tell him about my plan to go to Belmopan for the day to get my police record. We arrange that I will arrive Monday morning and contact him once I reach Belmopan from the bus station. A few days go by and my roommate decides to go with me. After thinking it over, we decide to leave on Sunday and spend the night in Belmopan so we can check out the mainland and get everything taken care of in the morning. Beyond that, however, we were just winging it. So Sunday we leave on the water taxi and everything goes smoothly, then we take a regular taxi to the bus station, we get on the bus and head out. I had my phone with me and wanted to text him, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to impose on him and make him feel obligated to take care of us when we got there, so I didn't send anything. When we arrive, no sooner than we step outside, I see a guy who catches my attention. I had not yet met Israel but I had seen his picture on Facebook and that looked like him. So I walk up to him and he asks where I'm from. "San Pedro" I told him and he says, "I'm Israel" Ha what?! He didn't know we were going to be there. The spirit prompted him to get on his bike and go. He didn't know where he was going, he just happened to end up at the bus station on Sunday afternoon just as our bus arrived. On top of that, he lost his phone a few days prior, so he wouldn't have received my message if I had let him know we had arrived. It was nifty that he showed up because we didn't have a place to stay and we didn't know where anything was. The town was much smaller than I had pictured it. We went to his church (which is connected to his house) and met a lady who later cooked dinner for us, gave us a bed to sleep in and made us breakfast in the morning. That's serious Belizean hospitality considering we had never even met her before! We now have a Belizean Grandma and brothers in Belmopan. As if that weren't enough, Israel works for the government and knows people who can pull strings. That comes in seriously handy around here. Not only did I get my police record fast, but I didn't have to pay for it, and Cam got his too! So for the rest of the day, we hiked a big hill and then chilled in town then ventured home. And there you have it; God did crazy things today.

Cam, Jess, perry atop a hill