By Jenny Scott
February 2023
“God just keeps blessing us,” said Cathy Dulgar, Executive Director of The Belize Mission Society. And she would know. Dulgar has been to Belize so many times she keeps a tote packed with her Belize clothes under her bed. She recently visited Belize in January and traveled there seven times in 2022.
The Belize Mission Society has been transforming lives in the village of Seine Bight since 2003. Together with villagers, the society runs both a feeding and scholarship program.
Thanks to a grant from LWML (Lutheran Women’s Mission League), the society was able to establish a new building, Mercy House, located next to the elementary school and Christ Lutheran Church. This creates a Lutheran campus and focal point for outreach and will provide expanded opportunities to teach the Scripture and proclaim the Gospel while also meeting physical needs.
The society worked with villagers to complete the inside of Mercy House. Upstairs are two dental
chairs, a digital x-ray, and one medical room. The lower level houses the feeding program. The kitchen
has an open window where Harriet and Allana, the local villagers who run the program, can easily see
the children. There is a storage area in the lower level as well where the society can keep many crucial
supplies.
“It’s quite amazing what we got done hand-in-hand with villagers,” said Dulgar. “We hired local men and women to help us with the interior construction where we had to put up wallboard and put down tile.”
Mercy House was dedicated on November 7, 2022. Pastor Michael Brown from St. Matthew in Barrington led the service with the help of Pastor Braun Campbell, Pastor Herb Burch, and Pastor Micah Wildauer. Pastors Burch and Wildauer serve as missionaries in Belize.
“God keeps sending different individuals from all over the country who have heard the story of our relational mercy care,” said Dulgar. “You can see God working not only in the people of the village, but in the participants. It’s lifechanging.”
Our 2022 LCMS Norther Illinois District Convention passed a resolution which adopted Belize as the District’s international mission focus. A mission trip is planned for April 2023.
WITNESS: Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions and sharing in a world mission field together.