A group of students, staff and church members from Cascade Christian Academy (CCA) and the Wenatchee Church in Washington headed south to Belmopan, Belize, in 2014 to help build a security fence around the King’s Children’s Home (KCH), an orphanage that ministers to children whose parents are unable to take care of them. After many fundraiser lunches, dinners and letters, 31 teens and adults returned to KCH to work again during spring break 2016.
This time the projects included raising a block church/school building, painting a gift shop, and building and refinishing picnic tables for the orphanage’s dining room and volunteer facility.
KCH, funded 90 percent by donations, is at the mercy of schools, churches, and private individuals and groups that are mission-minded. God continues to bless the home with friends around the world who come and support it with their time and financial assistance.
In the two short years between CCA's visits to the orphanage, many changes had taken place. The security fence was completed, a small gift shop had been constructed near the entrance, a new playground structure was built and new clotheslines had been strung (a project that CCA students had funded). Cows, sheep and chickens had been acquired to offer fresh meat, milk and eggs to supplement the children’s diet, and a greenhouse had been built to eventually grow fresh produce.
While all these new additions are greatly needed at KCH, the children themselves are the most important element. Each evening after work, CCA students made their way up to the worship room of the orphanage to spend time with the children. Squirming little ones with bright eyes would jump on laps or pull chairs over to have the teens sit next to them.
When worship began, those same children would sing at the top of their lungs to Jesus and then recite verse after verse from the Psalms. After worship, the older KCH children headed for the outside basketball court, where some of the CCA basketball team, girls and boys, joined them for a friendly game. Other academy students just held the toddlers or talked and played with the children.
Bonds were formed that would be remembered for eternity. God willing, CCA plans to return to Belize in 2018 so more of its students can participate in this mission opportunity.
If your school or church is looking for a ministry, consider the King’s Children’s Home. For more information about KCH, go to kingschildrenshome.org. For long-term and short-term mission trip and volunteer information, email Brenda Mandelis.
Devyn Hill, Hannah Stonas and Zach Molander were just a few of the students who worked each day raising the block church and school building.
Cascade Christian Academy mission team serves in Belize.
Samantha Molander, Cascade Christian Academy sophomore, spends time with one of the orphaned children in Belize.
