Fellowship Hall

Planting 'Footprints' in the jungle of Belize

By Deirdre Van Dijk

A vision of a place devoted to providing Christian training for the people of Belize is gradually coming into focus in a jungle clearing in that Central American nation.

‘In His Footprints’ Ministries (IHF) was recently founded by Wil and Karen Kamphuis, who are both educators at area Christian schools– Wil at Hamilton District Christian High School and Karen at Brantford Christian School.

The inspiration for this bold new ministry first came to Wil as he was facilitating a three-month international student coop program in Belize co-sponsored by the Hamilton and Toronto District Christian high schools.

While there, Wil received a clear vision of the campus to be built, as well as the land it was to be built on. Now, the question was, was this God’s will or Wil’s overactive imagination?

Within days, he came across the plot of land he had seen in the vision, five acres of jungle, and also came into contact with the man who owned the land.

This is where Wil and Karen’s leap of faith came in. They decided to trust that the vision was God-sent and purchased the property in hopes that others would get on board with the vision as well.

God then quickly provided IHF with an excellent board of directors consisting of members residing in both Belize and Canada.

In His Footprints Ministries’ goal is to build a missions training centre for Belizeans, run by Belizeans. “This base will serve as a campus where nationals are trained up, equipped and sent out to spread the truth and love of Christ to the people of Belize and Latin America,” explains Wil.

“Although Belize is a natural paradise, it is also a country facing poverty and spiritual warfare,” says Wil. “Drugs, gangs, orphaned children and joblessness are a few of the socio-economic problems facing the country. Missionaries are needed to spread the truth of Christ as well as to aid in practical ways among the people.”

The ‘eco-friendly’ facility will utilize natural energy sources, a garden, and a well. This will ensure the centre to be of minimal cost to maintain and will therefore allow more missionaries to afford accommodations there. Aside from providing lodgings for missionaries, the campus will also offer job skills training.

Ian and Shenny McCoy, a Belizean couple who were once Youth With A Mission directors, agreed to supervise IHF on the Belize end.

In March, the first team of 10 men flew to Belize to hack away at the jungle with machetes in order to clear a driveway into the site. In July four IHF board members chaperoned 10 Hamilton District Christian High students on an eleven day trip to Belize to begin clearing the land. Not only did they work on site, they also connected with the local orphanage. There they provided first aid care to many children as well as ran a summer day camp the kids loved.

To learn more about In His Footprints, please visit inhisfootprints.multiply.com, or write to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it