Photo courtesy of Amy Munson Teenagers from Tracy Lutheran Church made a mission trip Belize this past summer.

TRACY — Teenagers from Tracy Lutheran Church spent a week of their summer learning about life in a Central American country.

They visited Belize, a small nation located next to Mexico on the Caribbean Sea. They were based in the Belize capital city of Belmopan, where they saw that many of the 400,000 Belize residents live in poverty.

“Belize has contrasts,” said Tracy Lutheran Church youth minister Amy Munson. “Much of the coast is modern and has tourism. We saw poverty. The tourists don’t go where we went.”

The mission trip included construction of a fence next to a church, getting a home ready for three 18-year-olds to occupy, and visiting the Kings Children’s Home.

Munson said the fence was needed because of the level of crime in Belize. Many places have fences with posts that are encased in concrete.

“Our hosts thought the fence would take most of the week but we finished it in one day,” she said. “The kids demonstrated a great Midwestern work ethic. It impressed people.”

She said the house had no running water and a large number of dead lizards when they started to upgrade it. By the end of the week it was in good condition.

Munson said a substantial number of children in Belize go to orphanages because their parents are too poor to provide for them.

When they turn 18 they have to leave the orphanage and function as adults. Many aren’t ready for that. They sometimes fall victim to the drug trade or human trafficking.

“It was rewarding to help in providing three teenagers with a safe place to live,” Munson said. “They have a house mother who is the biological mother of two out of the three, so the family was reunited.”

Youth group members Danika Radke and Amber Hensch said they also enjoyed visiting Kings Children’s Home. They were able to lead young children as they played and to socialize with the teenagers.

Radke said all of the residents were happy, respectful and appreciative. She’ll always remember joining a game which she thought was catch. She learned it was actually tag.

“Saying goodbye to those kids was hard,” Radke said. “In a few short days I made connections that felt like years. I hope the time we spent with the kids meant as much to them as it did to me. They taught me many lessons.”

She’s impressed by how the children and the people of Belize are happy even though they live in poverty. She said they manage to get through life without many of the material comforts that are considered essential in the United States.

“Their outlook on life is much different from ours,” she said. “They are just happy to be alive. They’re grateful that God gave them life. They don’t need all of the things we think we need to survive.”

Hensch said the teenagers were very interested to hear about life in the United States and that they liked hearing about the economic opportunities available to young people.

“Down in Belize there is close to no opportunities for jobs, especially not for teens looking to save for themselves or help out their families,” Hensch said. “They loved hearing about what kinds of jobs were available in the United States. They were amazed at all the options.”

In addition to Radke and Hensch, participants in the Belize mission trip included Aiden Sanow, Allie Adams, Ginny Munson, Evelyn Ourada, Chloe Her, Landon Cochran, Brody Byrnes, Hadyn Ohman, Becky Hensch, Dawn Kunkel, Jordan Kunkel, Delaynie Meyer, Margaret Dolan, Dawn Wee, Jody Kruger, Blake Kruger, Caden Anderson, Michael Munson, Matt Munson, Taylor Timm and Khyle Radke.

Danika Radke said the trip helped to add an extra dimension to the friendships that exist among the youth group members.

“I am so thankful to have been able to go to Belize,” she said. “I will never forget all the things I learned, the people I met, and the way God shined through the amazing group of people that I traveled with.”