Julie Williams

Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,

Rainy season has begun here in Belize. After literally months of no rain things were quite dry here. The road into the village of Cristo Rey was parched and dusty. The poor kids in the back of my truck were always dust covered by the time we reached youth. The truck would stir up a white cloud of dust that hung over us the whole drive. They call the dust here Belizean snow- it covers everything along the roadside with a fine white powder. Last week though we had our first night of rain. Erica and I had to run around the house shutting all the windows because the rain was blowing in hard. It was so welcomed though. It has been raining now pretty consistently- at least once a day. It is refreshing and a nice change to the intense dry heat we were experiencing.

Time continues to fly by. I was working this morning on planning out the rest of the school year, and I realized how very little time we have left. This past week was the 4th formers, or seniors, last week of normal classes. We will be holding our graduation ceremony on the 6th of June. It is strange for all of us as teachers to see these 4th formers finishing. They are the first graduating class from Cornerstone, and it is a huge milestone for the school. This class literally has been the guinea pigs, and they have gone through so many changes and growing pains. I have grown close with many of these students, and it will be hard for me to see them go. However, I am excited to see what God has in store for them. They are truly an amazing group of students. Please do be praying for them. Pray that God would provide direction for them in life. Pray that the Christian instruction that they have received for the past four years would play an active role in their daily lives. My desire would be to see them seeking Christ and living as witnesses for Him.

Teaching continues to be a joy for me. I completed my unit on Africa just last week. We have spent the past three months learning about the people, religions, languages, geography and conflicts that exist on this continent. I learned so much teaching this unit, and I feel that the students did too. We handled a lot of intense subjects such as AIDS, slavery and genocide. I was amazed at the students’ maturity in the way that they handled these subjects. They saw the impact of these issues both on Belize and on Africa. There were days when I would teach with tears in my eyes to a class of teary eyed students. We were really able to dig into the scriptures as well to see what the Bible had to say about many of these heavy issues. As a class, we spent time praying for the people of Africa. It was a blessing for me to see these students caring about people throughout the world and taking time to pray for them. I feel that God also gave specific students a desire to serve Him in Africa in the future. It was amazing to see these students realize that they can also be called to be missionaries both daily here in Belize but also in other countries. As we studied the many issues that exist in Africa, I was continually reminded of man’s intense sinful nature and the grace and mercy bestowed on us by Jesus Christ.

Outside of school, I continue to stay busy as well. I am now involved in a women’s Bible study on Wednesday nights. It is a mixture of married and single women, nationals and missionaries. We are working through a study on the Patriarchs. This has been excellent and has been a huge encouragement for me. There is nightly homework which has helped keep me accountable is spending daily time in the Word. I have also begun a Bible study and prayer time on Thursday nights with a few of the girls from school. I pick them up, and we go down to the bay to one of the parks. Each of the girls in this group is so special to me. Two of the girls in particular are suffering from some intense family situations. The things that they have experienced are beyond my imagination. Please pray that God will give me the words to say to these girls. There are so many times that I feel at loss for words in counseling them. Pray that God will supply me with strength in these situations and wisdom in how best to counsel them.

Financial support continues to be a large prayer request for me as well. I am continuing to work to raise support for an additional year here in Belize. I am fully confident that God will provide for all of my needs. God is teaching me to put full trust in Him and also to rely in His timing. My current plan is to return to the states on July 3rd for about a month. During this time I would love to meet with any of you, as individuals or churches, to discuss potential support, whether spiritually or financially. I am thankful for the multitude of you that already are praying diligently for me daily as well as the many of you that are financially supporting me. God has provided me with an amazing support team. If you are interested in supporting me for the upcoming year you may use the attached form to indicate so. There is no way that I would be here in Belize without you. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for me.

Yours in Christ,

Julie Williams

(Check out http://www.mtwla.org/people/jwilliams.htm. It is my new personal MTW Latin America page.)