"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of Belize."
Those words were sung to several members of the Memorial Baptist Church mission team Wednesday night. The song went on to list Mayan, Creole and other cultures in the country where the mission team is working.
Team members are doing construction work and leading a Bible School at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Independence, Belize.
Attendance at the Bible school increased for the second straight night on Wednesday.
More than 120 children came to the third night of the Bible school, which ends Thursday. All three vans that the team rented for the trip were used to pick up kids.
Team members said that despite the large number of children the school went well.
The kids learned about Jesus' life, death and resurrection on Wednesday. During earlier nights, they learned about creation and Jonah. On Thursday they'll study about Zaccheaus.
On Wednesday, the kids heard stories about Jesus, made bracelets with colored beads representing God's love, sang songs and played wiffle ball.
At the end of the night several of the children stood and recited the night's Bible verse, John 3:16. During story time several kids showed that they had remembered verses from previous nights.
Team members said they were impressed by how much the children respected Mount Zion pastor Alfred Ramsey. When one of the kids got rambunctious, a team member could get the pastor. When he arrived the child would immediately stop misbehaving.
Earlier Wednesday morning, mission team members worked on jobs around the church and finalized planning for the night's Bible school.
During the afternoon, the team rode on two boats to nearby Placencia. The team ate at a restaurant called "The Purple Space Monkey" and walked down a boardwalk lined with small shops and cottages. Several bought items to help them remember the trip.
