Immanuel Lutheran Church

09/06/2026

Last "selfie" before Kirk becomes a pastor.

08/27/2026

08/20/2026

Circuit Winkel today @ Christ Lutheran in South L.A.

07/31/2026

Belize – Thursday and Friday

Thursday was the last day in the village. We finished up several projects. The porch on the preschool was completed. The preschool itself got a fresh coat of paint in both the rooms after the rat droppings were cleared. The gate outside the grounds was also repainted and new hinges were put on it. Two classrooms were painted. The outside of Mercy House was repainted as well. (Mercy House is painted white around the entire bottom area which is inviting to budding Belizean artists who seemingly learn by scribbling all sorts of stuff.)

Some fence work was repaired in front of the school. At the bottom of Miss. Rynn’s home, her 20 foot wheelchair ramp that we built back in 2018 or 19 needed a new landing pad. The old concrete had eroded away. A 4x4 pad was laid by some of our crew. When they got back from bring her to Bible study and someone had placed a size 14 shoe print two inches deep right in the center of it. The cross on the Christ church needed to be repainted and now stands out more beautifully for all to see. There were also two toilets that needed repair. One was a Belizean fix using assorted parts since no proper parts were available. The other have to be pulled and the pipes cut and replaced and then reset. Some also started repainting on of the sheds in front of the school.

The ladies continued holding Bible study each day below the church. The men met for Bible study each day over at Vern’s, a local restaurant. We had the opportunity to visit several folks in the community to help determine ways the mission teams might be a blessing in the future. Before the trip we had several dentists lined up to join us in the country. However, the Belizean government has determined that it was no longer allowed for outside people to dispense any form of medicine or medical advice without several months of specialized training. So, the dentists backed out of the trip since they would not be useful as we had planned.

It is always hard to leave the village on the last day. There is so much need and it’s sad to leave these relationships behind. Then Friday comes and we set our sights on Octavia Waight. That’s a few hours of driving across the country. There were supplies we delivered and we took time to visit with the residents. After that we all sang several songs for them and then loaded up the vans to head back towards Belize City. Before that stop however we took a side trip to a Baboon Sanctuary. The moneys are actually Howler’s, not Baboons. Baboon is the Creole name for the Howler. It was a nice nature trail and we did indeed see one of the families of Howlers. A couple came and posed for us.

Now some folks are playing in the pool at the hotel on our last night. Some are resting. Some went to Brodes, which is the local grocery story. Tonight, after dinner is our last devotion and then it’s pack and be ready to go to the airport in the morning.

This is also a special trip as it is Ms. Cathy Dulgar’s last as the Director for the BMS. We were blessed to have her on this trip with us and many of our folks started their missionary trips to Belize with her. It’s hard saying goodbye, but it’s such a blessing to see what has taken place under her years of leadership.

It’s been another great mission trip. Hard work, hot work, but rewarding work. Great memories and great relationships have been formed and strengthened. Belize 2026 is in the books. Praise God for the folks that dedicated their monies and time to make this trip. Praise the Lord for the congregations who supported this trip with monetary donations or through contributing materials we brought to folks. The people of Seine Bight are better off for it as are the missionaries who went.

Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Bill

07/30/2026

Seine Bight – Wednesday

So many projects already getting wrapped up and we still have a day to go in Seine Bight. There is no shortage of work, but each team can only accomplish so much before we have to call it done for now and wait until the next team with the Belize Mission Society comes down.

There are only so many ways you can talk about specific ministries each day and make them sound unique and special from one day to another. But that’s only because the real mission work is what you can’t share with everyone. It’s what is taking place one by one between mission team members and people in the village. It’s between mission team members and other mission team members. It’s even between folks in the village with each other, both while we are here and after we leave. The tasks we come here and undertake with the village are tasks. These are important in and of themselves. But the mission of Christ is what we see and hear all around us as the relationships develop. Relationships that may be 15 or more years old now. Or, they could have just begun on this trip.

I wish I could share with you what it is like to be on an international mission trip. I tell you the details: the tasks, the work we will do, the schedule we will keep and the bugs we will encounter, the heat you will endure the fun around the pool at days end, the ice cream shop down the road and where Francis Ford Coppola has a private inn and island, I can’t explain the pulse. The life of the people you’ll encounter. The eyes of the child who longs to be held, because that kind of contact is not the norm for children in Belize, in part out of the practicality of the heat and the number of kids that folks have. The relationships you develop with people you have so little common with when it comes to the worlds we live in. I wish I could share this and so much more with someone who asks what these trips are like. I wish I could help someone else see the work of Jesus in front of us in a more physical and spiritual way than we do in our daily life in the U.S.

Short term mission trips can certainly be rewarding in their own way. They have a purpose. But the way we have experienced trips here is that we are short term teams with long term relationships, as we return to the same place year after year. Some of the people we come to know, I’d be willing to say we have more of a relationship with than 90% of the folks we have on our pages. You really need to talk to one of these folks that you know who have come on this trip. Then consider for yourself, Is God calling you to take a real part in His mission to other countries? It is not for everyone, for so many good reasons. But maybe it’s for you. In Belize, or Panama, or Guatemala. (O.K. I have an affinity for Central America, perhaps another direction than South works better for you.) If international missions are out for you, then what about where you are? God’s work starts in our homes, and is everywhere you go, everyday. Don’t look at anyone and fail to see their need for God. And in how you respond to them, your need for God.

Two school rooms are painted and now a degusting task of cleaning up rotten materials, wood, trash and rat droppings is taking place in the preschool so it can be painted. The preschool veranda is completed, save for a latch for the gate and some rail work. The children have been having fun playing games, coloring, doing crafts, learning songs, watching puppets and having balloon sword fights. Bible studies are a highlight for many each day. There are several heated debates about which ministry team is the best. The construction crew, the paint crew and the children’s ministry have been running neck and neck. Tonight, children’s ministry to a firm lead however. So many heartfelt connections, experiences or observances took place there today. Shout out to the ladies who have been working up in a hot building unpacking and then stuffing and labeling backpacks for the last couple of days. Today those backpacks started getting distributed to the children in the feeding program. While others were taken to the other side of the lagoon, where the high school is, in Georgetown. Fifty-five backpacks were marked for the children in Seine Bight that are enrolled in the feeding program. Thank you to all the churches who helped gather these and all the other supplies that are being used and distributed our Belizean families.

Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Bill

07/29/2026

Seine Bight – Tuesday

This was a great day. Not too hot, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t mind some clouds and a good breeze. Some of the children are already waiting for us when we arrive. Handsome, one of our brothers who lives in the village is an employee of the Belize Mission Society. He was already working and ready for our folks to arrive and jump in. Handsome also happens to be a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Belize, and one of our first confirmands in the Country. The construction crew is about half finished already with the veranda on the preschool.

The ladies ministry has started off with a bang. The first day, Monday (known as wash day around Seine Bight) they had nine of the local ladies who came for women’s ministry. The men’s group had four. Those are good numbers. We have 40-50 children coming to children’s ministry in the afternoons alone, plus there is the group coming to the morning time at nine.

We have the paint crew who is working hard and has painted one of the classrooms on the upper level of the school. There is more ahead, but they have been doing a great job. While out of the sun, they muscle it out through a room with no circulation in it and up where the sun bakes down on the roof. Not everyone will endure this kind of heat and work in this environment, not only for free, but pay to do it. It is amazing what we can do when we give ourselves over to the work of the Lord. He changes people from being so focused on self, to doing awesome things for others in His Name.

I’m thankful for these missionaries. I know they are thankful for the opportunity to be here. There are daily rewards for everyone who is looking. Whether in seeing the face of a child whose life is touched by the compassion of our folks, or the completion of a hard-labored task, there are rewards.

Tonight, after the work in the village we took a trip into Placencia. That’s at the end of the peninsula. That gave us the opportunity to get out and have a meal at a local restaurant. We pack in much of the food that we will eat while we are here. Some is bought by our mission group leaders on the day before the rest of us arrive. But we also want to support the local economy, so we eat out at a place called Wendy’s. And no, it is not ‘that’ Wendy’s, it’s so much better. Everyone got a chance to see some other aspects of the life here and visit local shops for any souvenirs of the trip they may want.

Tomorrow is close and today was long, so this will have to close things out for tonight. Please pray for our mission team. Your missionaries. Some folks are here. Some folks contributed to send some people here. Some have helped with supplies, some with praying, some with supporting people in some way so they could be here. Every stage along this journey is an opportunity to be a part of God’s work here in Belize. Whatever you might see as where God could be inviting you to be a part of His mission, join in. The Garifuna people are worth it. They are worth God’s love. So, they are worth our time and effort.

Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Bill

07/28/2026

Seine Bight - Monday

Today is our first day working in the village. After a comfortable night’s rest we enjoyed breakfast and devotions. Then we loaded the vans for the brief drive down the road to Christ Lutheran Church and Mercy House.

We begin with everyone at 9 a.m. Much before that and only a small number of people are out and ready to work. Historically there are also rains will fall overnight this time of year and even up to early morning, but then by around nine they have passed over. The Garifuna do not go out in the rain. From long back it was the cause of many illnesses because of issues that do not exist as much anymore. But the belief that it is bad to go out in the rain exists among many still today. And others just do it because that’s what everyone else does.

We all go our separate ways according to our responsibilities. The children’s ministry brings in the kids as soon as Coach (one of our team members whose name is Kathryn, of which we have 5). They remember her and many of the team from years past when we have come. The children are always glad to see the group heading over to the school, that means the fun is soon to begin. Some of these children are not in school, so this is something they are exposed to, only when these mission teams come to town. In Belize it costs money to send the children to school. There are fees galore, uniforms to wear, the costs add up and so the children are not enrolled.

We have a team rebuilding a veranda (a porch as we would more typically say in the states) on the front of the preschool. Another painting, both at the school, some sheds (covered structures – open air, no walls) and the Mercy House as well. There is also the women’s ministry which has a lot of wonderful ladies to help with the study and crafts that they do each day. The men’s ministry began as well today. Both for the women and the men it is that good to be back together feeling on Monday.

It’s a great experience to see each year how things have changed from one year to the next. We could notice the movement of large homes encroaching on the village. Or the number of ex-pats driving all over the place. What sticks out the most is the children and how they have grown and matured from one year to the next.

God continues to bless the ongoing ministry in this place and He uses these teams from the states to share His Good News. The Gospel is proclaimed in the words we speak as well as the actions of the team. More tomorrow, as each day brings unique challenges, experiences and blessings.

Soli Deo Gloria

07/27/2026

Today we took the journey from Belize City to Seine Bight. Seine Bight is on Belize’s peninsula, about two thirds of the way down the coastline. The morning began with a good breakfast and then a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive south through rain forest and mountains. There are 26 folks on this mission and we are coming together from 6 different states. While most of us have been together in years past there are 6 who have joined us for the first time in Belize. We filled 3 passenger vans and one lead/runner car. The time we spend locked in the vehicles is spent getting to know each other, plotting our time in the village over the week and learning about the country from some who have been here many times.

When we arrived in Seine Bight we gathered at the local Lutheran Church. This happens to be the first and only Lutheran church in the country. It was opened in 2020. The new missionary, Pastor Jason Groth, his wife Emily and their four children met us there. Pastor Groth led Sunday worship for the local members of Christ Lutheran Church and the missionary team. After that we had lunch together and then as is our tradition, we divided into smaller groups and had a prayer walk about the village.

Different folks approach Prayer Walks differently. The groups that I lead will walk around inviting the Ladies, Men and children along the way to join us this week in their respective ministries. I’ve always used the Prayer Walk as an opportunity to combine introducing the people to areas of the village with stopping at different points in the walk to have a volunteer prayer over various concerns, hopes, needs and specific people or ministries in general. After the walk we go back up the peninsula just a few miles to where the mission team is staying for the week.

Once at the hotel we spend time going through the couple dozen suitcases full of supplies. Different teams from the different states have carried luggage full of school supplies, children and women’s ministry materials, painting supplies, nursing home supplies some baby clothes and a few odds and ends that are needed or asked for by some individuals in country. After everything is taken out and sorted, it all gets loaded back into suitcases so things are organized as they are needed for the various ministries in the week ahead and beyond.

After a nice dinner we have our nightly devotions. Every morning and evening we share in devotions with different people leading them each time we gather as group before breakfast and after supper. We use a different book for our study and enrichment each year. People sign up to lead devos over different chapters. Tonight, Steve Robinson and Michelle Kuschinsky led our devotions. They did a wonderful job together.

Now we are at the point where some gather to play cards. Uno and Euchre are favorites. Others, some of the older ones of us who need more rest, retire to our rooms. We have an early start on Monday morning. It’s going to be a great week. We’ve already reconnected with many of our Belizean family member and look forward to seeing more of them tomorrow. Please keep our missionary team from Immanuel Redondo Beach in your prayers this week. We are blessed to be with our Garifuna brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s always a great joy to be back together.

Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Bill