PASTOR THOMAS ACT
Early one summer morning in 2004, we were traveling with a visitor from the U.S. to minister to the southern border villages of Belize. We were stopped on the road by the family of a Mayan interpreter who knew we would be passing through. With the family was Pastor Thomas Act.

Pastor Act had traveled for many miles in hopes of speaking to the missionaries he had heard about. He had been by the roadside since sunrise, waiting for us to pass by. He told us how his village of Otto Shal was very remote and how he had no missionary support. He had heard about our ministry and how we had a heart for the people of Belize.

Thomas told us he had been a Christian for twenty years and had felt a call from God, to be a pastor, eight years after asking Jesus into his heart. In the past twelve years, he had managed to put up a small wooden church that was now beginning to rot, and was eaten with termites. His village does not have electricity and he had only lantern light for services. He had been seeking God’s direction on how to gain missionary support. He needed to be uplifted and encouraged. He felt alone at times and had asked God to help him lead his church according to God’s will.

Brother Act sat in our car for about an hour and talked until we reminded him we had to continue on our journey to a village, still several hours away. He asked if he could ride to the fork in the road that led to Otto Shal. He rode with us for about an hour down the road and continued to share with us how his church needed support and encouragement. These border villages are so far away that it is very difficult to minister to them. Most people never travel there. Brother Act believed what he heard about Ministries of the Son of God, and he wanted to be a part of our ministry. He was asking for nothing, except for us to come and see his village, and ask God to direct us in what we should do.

We let Brother Act out at the fork of the road, and made plans to come back and visit with him in two weeks.

Two weeks later, we began another long journey to the border. Brother Act was to meet us where the road forks and take us to Otto Shal Village. That morning two weeks later, we didn’t know if he would remember, or if he would be there at the appointed time. But, as we drove up to the fork of the road, there stood Brother Thomas Act. He had not forgotten and he was waiting for us. We drove on the rough dirt road to his village for what seemed like hours. It was so far back in the bush, we would have never found it without his assistance. Otto Shal is just one village away from the Guatemala border. When we arrived that day around lunch time, his family and church congregation were waiting for us. They talked about several concerns and needs, but most of all, they talked about how God has always been there for them. They have no one to turn to or depend on. God is their source.

Thomas Act is a farmer who grows rice. His rice crop had failed that summer, and his family was short on food and supplies. However, he never asked us for anything for himself or his family. He was depending on God to supply their needs. That day, we had taken medicines, lice shampoo, and bibles to Otto Shal with us. Brother Act was excited to receive the bibles, and also the Pastor’s training course he is now taking.

Since that first visit, we have taken the church in Otto Shal Village a generator to use for night church services. Thomas Act says he is gaining new church members because the people see that God is alive, and that HE will bring life and light to his people.

Pastor Act very much desires to have revival in his church, and would like for us to make plans to bring an evangelist to his village. He now calls our home a lot from a pay phone several miles from his village, just to hear words of encouragement. He says he needs to know that he is not alone, that he has missionaries who are praying for him and will come to visit with him. Most of all, he does not want to be forgotten in his very remote village near the Guatemala border.