From the 2024 News and Views Archives: It's All About Jesus - Belize

Belize Baptist Ministries- Belize is the only Central American country whose primary language is English. The number one source of income for the country is tourism. With a coastline and islands on the Caribbean Sea and the second largest barrier reef in the world, coupled with lush tropical rain forests over mountain ranges, this small country boasts an incredible diversity of wildlife both under the waves and throughout the jungle making it a world-renowned tourist destination. Belize is truly a place to see and bear witness to God’s awe-inspiring creativity and grace.
The People- Cotton Tree village is about a 10-minute drive from the capital city Belmopan and because of this, it is very diverse. While most other villages in Belize have one majority ethnic population, Cotton Tree has most all the different ethnic groups represented within this one village which includes Mayan, Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo, and Taiwanese. There are also various Mennonite and Amish communities within the country of Belize. Immigrants from all over the world are represented here.

Cotton Tree village is where the Lord has led us and is where He has chosen for our current mission work to be. Since the beginning of this work, it has grown. Cotton Tree Missionary Baptist Church started meeting in a ten-by ten room with a restroom and God blessed us with an upgrade to rent a house, and since outgrowing the house, we were blessed with the abilities and resources to build a worship center that the church can call home. As with all churches we have lost some and gained some along the way, but the Lord remains true and has opened the door to many opportunities here in Cotton Tree as well as in other villages.

The women’s group, which is taught by Lisa, has recently taken a trip to share the Word to villages in the southernmost parts of the country sharing the gospel and teaching some Bible studies. The ladies also gathered some supplies and sewed and decorated some bags and put together care packages for some of the families who attended the Bible studies. This outreach is, you guessed it, all about Jesus!

Will and Lakyn run a martial arts outreach which includes Taekwondo classes, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu classes, and self-defense seminars teaching some much-needed techniques and de-escalation strategies. This has been a great way to get to know people and actually spend time together during the week with some of the people of the village. Also giving the youth a good option to spend their time. The structure of the classes and requiring the students to maintain good attitudes, showing respect and teaching good moral character are just a few of the things that are taught. Lisa also teaches a child development program called Monkeynastix for younger age children. Through both of these outreaches we are showing and sharing the love of Jesus with all students and families.

Seminary classes are held twice a week at the church building. There has been good participation in the classes. Both classes average about 10 students from here in Belize with a few other students online from the US. Some of our seminary students are not members yet, but Lord willing they will heed the Lord’s convictions, make decisions, and follow where He leads.

Serve the Lord with gladness. The Lord is the one who said go or we would not be here. Our first mission trip here was in 2014. We fell in love with the people and the country. The Lord opened the door and sent out the call which was too loud and heavy to ignore. We answered the call and haven’t looked back. The Lord has blessed this work and us in so many wonderful ways, and we pray that he continues to lead, guide and protect this country and its people. With slogans like “UnBelizeable”, and “You Betta Belize it” we would like to add and pray that you would “Belize in Jesus”.

May His Name Be Glorified

Missionary Freddy Crook and wife Lisa Missionary Helpers
Email: freddylcrook@gmail.com Will and Lakyn Pollard