VOL. 9, NO. 24 DECEMBER 19, 2008 BATON ROUGE, LA Mission Minded Saltillo / 6 Clinica Betania / 5 Cambodia / 8 Thirteen students, alumni and staff from Centenary College served on a Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team to Corozal, Belize this past August. Members of the team spent the week tiling the kitchen floor and painting the “manse” (the parsonage) for the Corazal Methodist Mission. The group also spent many hours sanding and staining pews in the 50-year-old church.   Each day the team worked in Corozal, they took a break from the work projects to lead Vacation Bible School for the children of the church. “On the first day, most of the children were shy about meeting us. But by the end of the week, that had all changed,” said Michelle Junot, a student at Centenary. “As a matter of fact, my sister Ashlie and I really got to know two of the girls, who were also sisters. We took a picture with them toward the end of the week.” Michelle and her sister Ashlie, who is a graduate of Centenary, enjoyed the refurbishing part of the mission. “I loved the work. We both have been around it because our dad is in construction. But having direct contact with the people whose lives are impacted, like through VBS . . . that was really special,” said Michelle. Team members like Laura Vaughn were impressed by the friendly, warm attitudes of the people of Corozal. “They seemed very happy despite the fact that Belize is a very poor country. We noticed that many houses were only partially completed. Members of the team were told that people own their land, but they build on the land what they can afford,” said Vaughn, who serves as the Mission and Internship Coordinator for the Christian Leadership Center at Centenary. “The people of Corozal do not borrow money from the bank. They finish what they can afford and then wait until they make more money to do the next stage. This was a good lesson for all of us!” During the team’s first full day in Belize, the group attended 7 a.m. services at the Methodist church.  “The service was much like ours at home, although the tunes to some of our familiar hymns were different,” said Vaughn.  Ashley McGuire, who is serving Centenary as a chaplain’s intern from Perkins School of Theology, gave the message.  Meg Schanks, a sophomore at Centenary, and Tiffany Holland helped to lead the con- gregation with sign language as the con- gregation sang “Jesus Loves Me”. Meg is hearing impaired and Tiffany serves as her interpreter during classes at Centenary. After church services, the team toured the Mayan Ruins.  Michelle Junot said it was an “amazing” opportunity to climb the “High Temple”.  “Of all the names or titles they could have given this ancient structure, I think this is the most appro- priate.  It was high!  And beyond that, the upper level of steps was steep. We all climbed it though, and it became part of an individual moment in each of our lives.” Centenary students take LAVIM mission to Belize Thirteen students, alumni and staff from Centenary College served on a Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team to Corozal, Belize this past August. Members of the team spent the week tiling the kitchen floor and painting the “manse” (the parson- age) for the Corazal Methodist Mission. The group also spent many hours sanding and staining pews in the 50-year-old church. Michelle Junot, above and right, and her sister Ashlie are pictured with two young sisters they befriended while lead- ing Vacation Bible School. Team members are pictured, right, and LAVIM volunteers are shown refurbishing pews. For the latest information regarding disaster recovery efforts, visit the La. Conference web site at www.la-umc.org or contact the UM Disaster Recovery Center at (225) 346-5193