Browsing Category

Belize

Hurricane Richard Update

In my last post I mentioned the damage to the PathLight facility in Belize. I arrived in Belize yesterday and have walked the property, talked with our directors, and discussed options with our maintenance supervisor. It’s not a pretty picture. Hurricane Richard left a wake of damage to the surrounding countryside that defies description.

The PathLight facility took a direct hit. Of the fourteen buildings on the facility, twelve have damage. One is essentially ruined, though we might be able to salvage parts of the building. This particular building (cabana #6 to those of you who have been here) had …

Belize, PathLight,

Hurricane Richard

In late October, Belize was hit hard by Hurricane Richard. The eye of the hurricane went right over Belmopan and left a wave of devastation in its wake. Everybody is thankful there were no fatalities during the storm, which is really amazing. But there was massive damage to the infrastructure. Mark Parcher and I did the math and the economic impact on Belize is the equivalent of a $20 billion impact on the United States.

A few of the PathLight students and their families saw personal losses such as rain damage to the interiors of their homes (some kids lost …

Apocryphal, Belize, Random Thoughts,

Burning Bibles & Qurans

Below is a post that came from an article I wrote over 15-years ago. It has a dated feel to it, but it’s relevant today due to the idiots in Florida who want to burn the Quran.

The whole thing in Florida is so clearly a publicity ploy. It has zero relevance to any political or theological statement, zero relevance to the state of affairs with Muslim countries, zero relevance with any discussion between Christianity and Islam, zero relevance with any geo-political perspective, and zero relevance with any cultural awareness. It’s just a publicity stunt for a pastor who is …

Belize, PathLight,

Belize Program Director

PathLight is searching for a program director to run all the field operations in Belize. Below is a brief job description, along with a link to the more detailed description. Do you know anybody who might be interested? Are you interested? Let me know!

————-

Program Director, Belize

Join us in our mission to bring hope to children in Belize. PathLight helps at-risk children break out of the cycle of poverty by enabling them to receive a secondary education that integrates faith and learning. Our program is unique in that we provide not only financial aid, but also tutoring, mentoring …

Belize, PathLight,

Teacher Training Conference

One of the most powerful PathLight programs is the annual Teacher Training Conference. Belizean teachers are hungry for tools to advance their skills, and it’s great to see that 90 of them showed up for the conference this year. Adrienne Parcher directs this program and has written this months update letter with information and insights about the TTC. I highly recommend checking it out here: Teacher Training Conference

…

Belize, Book Reviews, PathLight,

“The Making of Belize”

If you read this blog you know that I’m co-founder and President of PathLight International. Right now the effort of PathLight is focused on the small Central American country of Belize. I’ve written about “Why Belize?” in a previous blog if you are interested.

The Making of Belize, by Anne Sutherland, is a book I read nearly 10-years ago. But I felt it was good enough to read again, and I’m glad I did. The basic idea of the book is that Belize may be the truly first post-modern nation and the first country that has a population …

Belize, PathLight,

What I Learned On A Belize Vision Trip

Twice a year I lead people on a whirlwind trip to Belize. They are meant to teach others about the mission of PathLight, but they teach me as well. I knew I would learn a lot on my trip last week because I was going to be surrounded by so many people who could teach me! I would be there during PathLight’s Teacher Training Conference, so there would be a dozen or more North American teachers and dozens more Belizean teachers (turns out there were 89). Plus I had four great traveling companions.

And I did learn. Of the …

Belize, PathLight,

PathLight Adds 19 New Students

Most of the visitors to this blog are aware of my work with PathLight International. One of the PathLight programs is a sponsorship program to get kids through high school. These kids would be identified as “at risk” for a variety of reasons, but they are all good students who just need some help. The government does not subsidize high school, and these kids are miles from the nearest campus, so without our help they would not be in school.

The sponsorship program gets the kids on the right path. It offers financial support for their academic pursuits, mentoring, tutoring, …