Thursday, July 28, 2016

Hear from our Participants: Trip Highlights

Nancy asked each of the participants about the highlight of their trip.

ALEXIS – Getting to know people of all ages, and particularly serving at the community dinner.


BAILEY – The community dinner. On the first day Bailey already felt welcomed with openness from and in close relationship with parishioners at St. Patrick’s.

ARIANA – Discovering new skills in herself and meeting new people.
CHRIS – Being able to serve on the team and form deeper relationships with the girls and adults.


CLAIRE – Getting to the Bahamas on the first day after the long re-arranged first flights.
FAITH – The trip to Cocodimama and the magic of swimming in such beauty.

LANCE - Witnessing the ministry of our incredible youth participants.


NANCY – Being welcomed by the Bahamian people and being allowed to ask questions and learn about their country, families, community, their hopes and challenges.


SARA – Meeting the community and learning about people.
RACHAEL – The food distribution and being welcomed in people’s homes.

Day Ten - Sleepless in the Bahamas, Navy Beach, and Cocodimama

DAY TEN – TUESDAY

Sleepless in the Bahamas took on new meaning after a sweltering night without fans or air conditioning. Tuesday dawned – another sunny hot day of over 100 degrees. Because we had no electricity and no idea when it would return we decided to keep the refrigerators closed. We had finished all the bread a few days earlier and the bakery was closed for vacation until later in the day. Breakfast was cold cereal without milk. Water with Crystal Lite (the strawberry flavor has caffeine, which Nancy, Lance, and Bailey took full advantage of). Chewy bars. Everyone was tired and cranky.

 
Bailey dug into her toolbox and retrieved 10 copies of the trip expectations. Before we headed over to the church to do our final work we formed into a circle to read team expectations. Bailey led us as we talked about which ones we were most challenged by and strategies to address it personally or with support from the group. Patience. Resilience. Attitude – we had plenty of attitude! All the adults participated as well. Cranky and tired applied to everyone.

After circle, we walked two blocks over to the church in the bright sunshine (and heat) to do our final projects. The afternoon was planned for more cultural events. We placed the six benches that we had made earlier in the week – two in the prayer garden, two around the church, and two around the parish hall. One team of girls made lunch. One team boiled eggs for breakfast on our final morning. Chris and Nancy washed up pots and pans from our units. Alexis played with Cameron but the rest of the girls were done.

Fr. Lance, Chris, Nancy, Alexis and Cameron made a swing using some leftover wood from the benches, two lengths of hose (5 feet each) and some yellow poly-rope. The church does not have a playground for the kids and Lance and Al thought a swing would be a great addition. About half way through the project Fr. Eldon arrived and walked over to join our swing party. Lance designed it all. After some negotiation with the ladder and the branch Lance threaded some yellow rope through a hose and swung the hose over the branch, tying a not right below the hose to make a fulcrum. Then the two lengths of yellow rope on each side were tied through the seat board. The height initially was too low. Fr. Lance, Cameron, Mandolin, Sara and Ariana all took a swing and after each Lance adjusted the rope til it was the right height! When we peeked around the parish hall about 15 minutes later two kids from the neighborhood were trying it out.


After lunch and a quick return to the cabin to change into bathing suits, Fr. Eldon picked us all up to go touring. First we went to the abandoned Naval Air Station at Governor’s Harbour. This installation was initiated in 1950 as a “listening station” during the Cold War. Although it was largely run by defense contractors, the base ultimately had about 100 servicemen and 45 Bahamians. The base was abandoned by the US Government in 1980 after negotiations failed with the new Bahamian Government for an extended lease. The US pulled out and left behind everything - buildings, machinery, telephone wires and equipment - all rusted in place. Fr. Lance describes the base as Jurassic Park.




Such a waste on both sides. The buildings now have collapsed roofs. Wires and transformers are hanging. There must not be a black market for copper in Eleuthera! One element of the installation that is still in use however, is the 100,000 gallon cistern. These tanks are the backbone of the public system which supplies water to much of the island from Gregory Town south to Savannah Sound. Until this system was converted to civilian use there had been no running water to homes on the island.


One fisherman that Nancy interviewed recalled having to haul water in 5 gallon jugs every morning before school. A parishioner from St. Patrick’s, Daniel, works as a lineman for the water system. The system is delicate and goes out with regularity. Janice said that one of her neighbors was once without water for four days. Imagine always being without water, though.

Our second stop was Navy Beach which is on the base on the Atlantic side of he island. It is beautiful. We met another church group from Florida who were there putting on a Bible Camp. The water was warm. There is a reef about ½ mile offshore so the waves were strong with a moderate rip tide but they were not breaking very high. It was well over 100 degrees with no clouds. Everyone jumped into the water including Fr. Eldon and Cameron. Everyone except Claire who couldn’t because of her stitches – but she found a way to have a good time walking the shoreline and burying herself in the sand.

The water felt so refreshing but it is really salty, much more so than the Pacific Ocean. The water hurts the eyes and nose. The Army Corps of Engineers built the Atlantic bulkhead on Navy Beach to withstand waves and hurricanes. In recent years some enterprising Bahamians have removed major portions of the bulkhead to use for building furniture. Within the last five years entire sections of pavement and the marine staging areas were destroyed by the storms and hurricanes. Much of life on Eleuthera is dated by Bahamians by the hurricanes – the one in 1992, or 2013. Just like we talk about the Inaugural Day Storm or the Hannukah Storm.

After about an hour at Navy Beach we loaded up and went ½ mile across to the Caribbean side. This was the first time we actually went from side to side to experience the majesty of each ocean. We went to a famous beach called Cocodimama – also known as the Navy’s playground. Cocodimama is hard to capture in words – even pictures. The beach itself is a wide arc that is about 1 mile from opening to opening. The water is two to six feet deep. Crystal clear. Calm as a bathtub.


The ocean floor is a wonder world of sand and shells. The beach is ringed by a line of conch shells about five feet into the water from the shoreline. Many of the shells are calcified. Generations of animals who made the shells their home have died and their tiny shells are cemented inside larger conch shells. Some still have crabs inside.


Because the water was flat Claire was able to swim in the ocean with her arm held over her head.



Faith thought the beach was beautiful and the water was a perfect temperature. Although we left the snorkels and fins back at the Laughing Bird we all practiced our new snorkeling skills, playing, diving for shells and just laying back and floating. Nancy could have stayed for hours. But this was our last night and we had to pack and have team closure.

The bakery was open so we went to purchase some coconut scones and raisin bread to eat for breakfast the next morning on the way to the airport. We tried to go to the gift store in Governor’s Harbour but they were closing for the day. Almost two weeks in the Bahamas and we only shopped in the one tiny gift shop in Gregory Town.

What started out as the toughest day of the trip, ended as one of the most beautiful and relaxing. Amazing how all is made new again in the Lord. The Atlantic waves knocked out the attitude and Cocodimama reset us as a team.

After a dinner of leftovers we ended our last evening with a nighttime program that provided closure. Each person had the opportunity to receive the gift of hearing from their team mates how they had been blessed by one another on this wonderful mission trip.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Day Nine - Last Work Day and Cultural Night

DAY NINE – MONDAY

On Monday we were scheduled to help with clean-up and maintenance for an older parishioner who is facing physical challenges. Tyrone is the catechist for St. Margaret’s Savannah Sound and has been since the 1970s. The catechist is an important role in the Anglican Church of the Bahamas. For many years there were not enough priests. The catechist held Morning and Evening prayer, organized parish life and prepared people for confirmation and communion. Even with a priest the catechist has an important role in the service and chooses the weekly hymns. Tyrone lives in Savannah Sound and was catechist for all three churches in the parish. He was a mentor and father figure to many of the leaders of this parish today. During his working life, Tyrone did the maintenance for an apartment complex on Windermere Island, the vacation home of the rich and famous (Mariah Carrey has a house here, Prince Charles and Diana honeymooned here, …). He is going to Nassau next week for medical treatment so we will hold him in prayer. We loaded up a weed-wacker, lawn mower, rakes, shovels, wheelbarrow and other tools to do yard pickup and cleanup. Fr. Eldon drove us in a smaller church van. His grandson, Cameron, joined the team, as did Janice and Mandolin.


Monday was a scorcher! The sun was out; it was hot by 9 am and hit 115 degrees by noon. The team worked on raking up leaves, cleaning up beds and trimming vegetation. Alexis suffered a touch of heat exhaustion and needed to get rehydrated and cooled off. Tyrone’s son, Roscoe, also helped with trimming plants and cleanup.


The work was messy and we filled bag after bag with debris. Ariana said she liked cleaning up the house but it was tough in the heat. It was nice to be able to do something nice for Tyrone. Rachael said it was extremely hot outside so our work was really slowed down. There was only so much work we could do so we focused o the yard and a little debris. She wished there was more that could have been done but so much of the yard was beyond what we could do in a single morning. With virtually no shade we called it a day at noon and went back to the Laughing Bird for lunch and a break.

Fr. Lance, Bailey, Claire and Faith went back to the doctor for a check-up on the stitches. Everything looks great and Claire’s cuts are healing nicely.


After lunch we split up into two teams and each group went on a shopping expedition to one of the two local stores to price the cost of the food package that we had distributed.


The parish normally distributed 40 packages of food each month. They have had to reduce this to 24 per month as economic stress has impacted church giving. Fr. Eldon said that the parish prioritizes providing support to its members. But the reduction in food hit those who lost the support very hard. The food packet includes sugar, oil, flour, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, rice, canned green beans and canned corn, Vienna sausage, tuna, sardines and canned corned beef. Each packet would cost about $40 if purchased in Governor’s Harbour. Pensioners can receive as little as $247 per month depending upon who they worked for. There are government clinics for basic medical care, but beyond that many specialized procedures require private insurance.

And then back to Sky Beach where all the kids can swim – even Claire who keeps her arm held up out of the water. Claire said that she enjoyed it very much even though she couldn’t swim. Today we walked on the beach taking boomerangs (short picture videos that can be posted on Instagram).


Tonight we cooked our own dinner of cheese quesadillas and refried beans. Rachael was lead chef for the quesadillas and she made a filling of black beans, chilies and sautéed onions. We had refried beans, fresh pineapple and mangos to round out the meal.

Tuesday is scheduled for a cultural day. Monday was cultural night. About 8 pm the electricity went out all over the island. There was a fire in the electrical plant. Normally the electricity browns out (which we had experienced) or if it goes out it is for an hour or two. The electricity was out for 14 hours - until 10 am! Don’t forget it was the hottest day yet – 115 degrees. No fans. No air conditioner. No lights. But lots of bugs. And a slight ocean breeze. By 8:30 Alexis said that it was very dark and really hot inside the unit. At first the girls played card games using a flash light. The team held our nightly meeting outside around a candle-lit table. Some of the girls were wrapped from head to toe in imitation of invasion of the mummies to avoid the bugs. And then to bed. With three girls sleeping to a bed everyone was hot and no one got much sleep. We taught the girls to wet down the sheets and put ice in bandanas around the neck. It was a long long night.


One blessing of the electricity going out was the opportunity to view a brilliant night sky. Lance, Bailey, Nancy and Chris went out to the beach to see the stars after the girls scurried back to the hot units to avoid the bugs. Later in the night, when the units were untenable, Chris took the girls out to the beach to see the night sky. The milky way covered a wide swath right across the center of the sky. Everyone could pick out the Big Dipper. But the stars were so brilliant and plentiful that it was hard to find Orion’s belt and the North Star. Mars was red, red, red. The ancients saw this night sky – a mirror of the creation.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Day Eight - Sunday Service

DAY EIGHT – SUNDAY

Church starts at 10:45 at Governor’s Harbour. Fr. Eldon has three churches in St. Patrick’s parish – St. Patrick’s church (ADA 70), St. Margaret’s church (Savannah Sound; ADA 10) and St. Agnes church (Gregory Town; ADA 35). He preaches at all three churches each Sunday morning and had started this particular Sunday at the 8 am service at St. Margarets. On the fifth Sunday of the month there is a single service which alternates locations. The church bus is used to transport parishioners to church and between churches and to festivals and other services.



St. Patrick’s, built in 1893, is a beautiful large limestone church with walls over a foot thick and, like all the Anglican churches on the island, is located right on the harbor. The church has an organ and choir loft in the top back – about half way across, with a central altar flanked by two formal alcoves/seating areas – St. Patrick on the left and The Holy Mother and Child on the right. These areas serve the useful purpose of the robing room behind one and the altar guild materials behind the other. The service was a traditional Anglican service at which all of us felt right at home. We recognized the hymns, the liturgy and flow. There were a total of eight hymns including “Be Still and Know that I am God”, “I Am the Bread of Life” and “Marching to Zion”. All the singing is congregational and everyone sings out.


At Fr. Eldon’s invitation, Rachael read the first lesson, Claire read the second lesson, Janice read the psalm and Fr. Lance preached. The sermon was on mission – the job of the church being mission and ministry.


Between the ministry of the Word and the Eucharist, Fr. Eldon asked if anyone was celebrating an anniversary or birthday. It was Chris’ 17th wedding anniversary and Rachael’s 17th birthday. Fr. Eldon prayed for Chris and the whole congregation sang Happy Birthday! At the end of the service, the parish has all the children come forward for an individual blessing – from babes in arms all the way through high school. It was lovely and makes a statement about the importance of children in this culture.


Singing is a huge part of the service. They have music throughout the service, for the blessings and every week a group sings to the community – the women, the men, the children. And this week, our entire group, led by Sara, sang for the community “What Makes You Beautiful”. They loved it!! Then Fr. Lance invited the entire congregation to join the team in “Bind Us Together, Lord” – which is in their hymnal.

Like Anglicans everywhere, the community had seats where they always sit. Nancy noticed that the central portion of the right side was empty. And of course asked “why?” The church installed air conditioning last year. Prior to that the center right was where the sun beat in on Sunday morning making it very hot. The left side enjoyed the harbor breeze! There were fans along the right wall. But it was hot in the middle right so no one sat there. Al and Janice said that they had tried to sit there and it was too hot. And, no one sits there even now. On the wall were many banners – the parish banner, the Anglican Church Women and Church Men banners and a Cursillo banner.

Nancy lit up when she saw the Cursillo banner and had a chance to ask Fr. Eldon about it. Cursillo started in Nassau in the 1980s and is an important ministry in the diocese of the Bahamas today. Ther are two to three weekends put on each year – generally two for men and one for women. Cursillos are generally held in Nassau at a youth camp. It is very expensive to hold them on Eleuthera and other out islands. Six parishioners have been to Cursillo and there are some small prayer groups. Fr. Eldon is an active Cursillista and has been for many years. He is hoping to encourage more members of his parish to attend as a springboard to ministry. Two men including Sean were supposed to go to the last men’s weekend but had to cancel two days before due to logistics!

After the service, Sandra, Stephanie, Melinda, and Gail with whom we had gotten to know the past week through the food distribution and preparation, graciously prepared and served us a traditional Bahamian meal.



Our team was joined by Al, Janice, Mandolin, Cameron, Fr. And Mrs. Eldon, and Shannon. We served the traditional foods of the islands including barbequed chicken, peas and rice, baked macaroni and cheese, and potato salad; it was simply delicious. For desert we were served coconut cream pies (individual tarts) and guava duff – a magnificent Bahamian delicacy made from kneaded dough that is rolled out like a bread roll, with a guava paste spread across the dough and then rolled up like a jelly roll and then boiled in a turkey bag. A wonderful custard sauce is poured over the top. The women told us that their mothers used to boil the guava dove in pillow cases or in sacks that were placed on top of pots placed inside a pot of boiling water. Guava duff must be tried to be believed.


After lunch we went back to the Laughing Bird for a rest and then a lesson in hand washing clothes. We are working hard, sweating a lot and our clothes had started to smell. Bailey gave the girls a lesson is how to hand wash clothes in little trash cans, rinse them well and lay them out to dry.


This is one of the more useful skills for the future. We ate a very quick dinner of sandwich wraps and cold hot dogs. No one was particularly hungry after our Bahamian feast.

With the clothes hanging on chairs, we all piled into our truck for a trip back to Pascal’s and the infinity pool. We arrived in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. The woman who runs the resort at Sky Beach is Cece – she had been supplying us via Shannon with the large coolers of ice. Cece is a talented jewelry maker. While we waited for the storm to clear Cece invited us into her bungalow to show us her jewelry studio.


Every one of us purchased something!! – bracelets, earrings, pendants. We swam in the pool, had fruit smoothies and cooled off. This was the first time that Nancy had felt reasonably cool in eight days!!

On Sunday night we held a team meeting for the first time since Thursday. We all processed how we had felt at the time of Claire’s accident and how we felt now. We have a strong team of amazing young women, a very talented Director of Youth Ministry, Fr. Lance and two chaperones to assist. Each of us was scared but we all came together to support Claire. Claire for her part bounced back by mid-day Saturday and was determined to participate in the rest of the trip. We laughed and sang and shared. This team has weathered changes in flights, changes in plans, heat, bugs and then Claire’s accident. Through all of this we have shown resilience, teamwork and a spirit of unity. This team was truly called.

Day Seven - Sun and Sea


DAY SEVEN - SATURDAY

After we returned from the fish fry on Friday night, a constant drizzle began. It turned into a dramatic thunder, lightening and rain storm that lasted nine hours. The electricity on Eleuthera is generated by a single diesel generation facility in the south island. Electricity and water began to come to the outer islands in the 1980s and 1990s. Prior to that people had to go to a distribution center in the township to fill up five gallon jugs each day. Most homes now have running water and electricity. Electricity is four times more expensive so people are very careful in its use. The government is beginning to explore publicly supported solar. With the high cost of power, many homes lack air conditioning and become stifling in the late afternoon. Some homes have limited lighting. With the storm, the entire island lost electricity – except for those few souls who have privately installed some form of solar power. After the excitement of Friday, the lack of air conditioning made for a long night. All of us were tired at the beginning of Saturday.



Fortunately, Friday was a day of recreation and refreshment. Our host, Al Curry, owns the Ocean Fox Cotton Bay company that operates an excursion boat business for snorkeling and scuba diving, shark diving, deep sea fishing and private charters. His charter boats operate out of Davis Harbour, South Eleuthera, an hour south of Governor’s Harbor. Davis Harbour was blasted out of sandstone that is largely visible in parallel strata marked by caves.



The geology is similar to what we saw in Gregory Town in the old abandoned gentlemen’s club. Between the ocean and the harbor is a large mangrove swamp which helps clean the water and provides habitat for a large number of bird species. The Bahamas are surrounded by a steep shelf on the Atlantic side where the wave action is strong and the water is colder. The Bahamian Bight or Bank creates a gentle slope into the Caribbean, the water is much shallower along the reefs until the edge of the Bight the ocean reaches 500 feet and deeper. With shallow waters up to 10 or 15 feet, the water temperature around the reefs is 80 to 85 degrees this time of year and visibility is crystal clear.

After breakfast on Saturday we loaded the team into the St. Patrick’s church bus which is air conditioned for a trip to the boat. St. Patrick’s purchased the 30 person bus new in 2006 and use it throughout the week as well as the weekend to transport parishioners to and from church and between the parish churches in Savannah Sound, Governor’s Harbor and Gregory Town. The bus is used daily - about 1/3 of parishioners at St. Patrick’s do not have their own transportation. George is the bus driver, and was so supportive and helpful when we were diverted to the medical clinic yesterday with Claire.


For our excursion to the ocean, our team was joined by Fr. Elton’s grandson, Cameron, who is 9 and has been helping our team this week.

 
 We were also joined by Shannon who has been so wonderful all week long. Shannon lives in Manhattan and Eleuthera. What a contrast in lifestyle! On Monday night she let the girls swim in her pool. Throughout the week she has provided the team with coolers of restaurant ice. She supported our painting and cooking and community outreach. With us also was Al and Janice’s granddaughter, Mandolin, age 11, who is also one of our Bahamian-based team members and has helped with painting and cooking and serving. Unfortunately, Jenness left early Saturday morning to return to Seattle.


The weather was perfect – the sky was cloudy which kept the heat manageable, water temperature was about 80 degrees after the rainstorm the night before, and a slight breeze was blowing. We boated about 45 minutes off shore to a snorkeling reef which is only about 7 to 10 feet deep. The girls were given instruction for using equipment.


With calm waters and a warm sea the conditions were safe and inviting for all of us. The coral formations on the reef are amazing. We saw coral fans and tubes, vibrantly colored fish and a large school of fish that seemed to not move but were transported by the currents – back and forth, up and down. There were schools of minuscule jelly fish that stung arms and legs and feet. They looked like bubbles. Almost none of the group had gone snorkeling before, but we dove in (quite literally). Chris and Ariana were our snorkeling champs exploring all around the reef. Claire agreed to be our videographer since she couldn’t get her stitches wet.

Cameron liked the long spined sea urchins. Al brought up a sea biscuit from the reef so we could touch it and feel its sucking action. Claire captured all of us with a Go-Pro. Janice and Nancy finished snorkeling and then floated in the water alongside the boat. We snorkeled for an hour or so, then loaded everyone up for lunch at the beach.



The beach can only be accessed by boat and is so pristine. The sand is a peachy beige and the consistency of flour paste. Shells were everywhere. Fr. Lance collected a shirt full of beautiful conch shells. The girls put their snorkels and masks back on to explore the shallows out to twenty feet from the beach. Sara and Rachael made the best find - a small conch in his shell.


A conch is a little bivalve that has two eyes, one foot and a body that fills the cavity of the shell. When he hides, he withdraws up into his shell and the foot seals the cavity and keeps the animal wet. It was so weird to look into this tiny shell and see these two little eyes staring back! The living conch and shell are vibrantly colored in reds, pinks and browns. Alexis and Cameron played catch and keep-away with a sponge that we found on the beach. Not a kitchen sponge – an ocean sponge.



One of the families that we visited on Wednesday gave our mission team a watermelon which we had on ice and ate with lunch. This is not the wimpy seedless watermelon that we get in Seattle. It was filled with gigantic seeds so of course we had to have a seed spitting contest. Everyone gave it a try. I am happy to report that Bailey is the seed spitting champion of the trip – with a big arch in her back and a whip of her head she managed to spit it 7 feet.

After the boat trip we sang our way (One Direction) on the bus back back to the Laughing Bird to shower and change, and then to Al and Janice’s for barbeque hamburgers and hot dogs. We met two very interesting men at Al’s who do photo-journalism – Florian and Christian are from Germany. Florian has done videoing for Al in the past including the drone videos of the Glass Window Bridge and the fly over for Eleuthera that can be found both on Al’s website and one of the tourist websites for the Island.

Al and Janice hosted our team for a second hamburger/hot dog barbeque on Saturday night. The no-see-ums (little tiny biting insects) were out in force so much of the team was inside enjoying the air conditioning, while Bailey uploaded the blog from the porch.


While we were cooking Al told the girls that we would be special guests at the service in the morning and suggested that we might put together a song for them. Lance kept suggesting “Bind Us Together” but most of the girls don’t know it. Instead they worked out the BEST flash mob – What Makes You Beautiful. By the end of the evening the whole team was involved – Fr. Lance, Chris, Nancy, Bailey, Alexis, Ariana, Sara, Rachael, Faith, Claire and Mandolin.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Day Six - A clinic visit and Friday night fish fry

DAY SIX - FRIDAY


On Thursday the team completed its work in Governor’s Harbor and we shifted to St. Agnes parish 45 minutes north in Gregory Town. Gregory Town has 250 people and is built around a little harbor. Fishing is a major occupation with a wide variety of fish and a specialty shellfish called conch. The rules for fishing in Bahamian waters protect the environment and diversity. Fishermen cannot use spear guns or scuba gear. Conch are found at a depth of about 30 feet and are a main food source. Other fish are found close to shore along the caves in the limestone and as far as 30 or 45 minutes away from the shore. Catch this time of year is slow because of the heat and includes grouper, mahi mahi, and wahoo.


The day started at 6:45 am in order to get the work done in time to return to Governor’s Harbor for a mid-afternoon break and then a community fish fry.

One of our team had visited Gregory Town for the food distribution and had met Sean who was to guide us in our work this day. St. Agnes church sits right on the harbor in the oldest part of town. The walls of the church are about two feet thick and built of limestone blocks covered by cement. The church has a total of 16 pews – 7 to a side. Our job for the day was to sand and stain 7 of the pews under Sean’s tutelage and supervision.


Friday was hot and humid. No cloud cover, no shade and only a tiny breeze. We had one electric finish sander which was used by Chris, Bailey or Camella. The girls were taught to use sand paper. Rachael said that sanding was really hard. “We had to be really thorough. We had to prepare for the stain and if we didn’t do it properly then the stain wouldn’t take.”


The girls teamed up on each pew and then sanded the kneelers. Sanding the seven pews took about an hour. The stain was almost black. Sara said that Sean was very particular about both the sanding and how the stain was applied. The girls had to carefully brush the stain on smooth and straight so it looked like wood and covered completely.


The team finished the sanding and stained five of the pews before lunch. The lunch break was short but blessedly in the shade on a porch of one of the oldest homes – typical colonial architecture that we are getting to recognize. We took a short break to a souvenir shop that is stoked full with locally made handicrafts, lotions, clothing, jams, and jewelry.


After lunch it started to rain so we had to move all the benches across the tiny harbor to large open air gazebo that is used for community festivals. Little flags in Bahamian national colors waver in the wind. The stain was really messy – oil based and hard to get off. The girls were told to use paint thinner to clean up.

The bus arrived at 2pm to take us back to Governor’s Harbor. We were finishing the final bench, cleaning up the grounds, and cleaning ourselves up when there was a loud crash and a scream. Claire had jarred a sink loose from the wall in the men’s room when she was cleaning her legs. The porcelain sink shattered, Claire lost her balance, fell and cut her right arm and hand. There was a lot of blood so it was really scary. Chris responded immediately and wrapped her arm in a t-shirt, Bailey tied a bandana tightly around the lower arm. Sean and Camella contacted the government medical clinic to find out where to take Claire. We were told to take her to Hatchett Bay, about 15 minutes to the south so Camella drove and Claire was accompanied by Chris, Bailey and Faith. The rest of us collected all our stuff and piled into our bus to follow. On the bus we prayed, sang and prepared to support Faith and Claire.


Medical care in Eleuthera is provided by a series of government clinics that are staffed by nurses, with one shared doctor. If a serious medical condition occurs, the patient is airlifted to Nassau. Medical care is subsidized but it is not nationalized. Bahamians must carry insurance which can be quite expensive. Some surgeries such as joint replacements are done in the United States.

We were sent to the Hatchett Bay clinic because the staff nurse has extensive emergency room experience. The Holy Spirit has been so present on this trip. A spirit of resilience and service and unity. And now protection!! Amazingly, despite numerous lacerations that required stitches, no arteries or tendons were impacted so the nurse was able to stitch Claire up on site. Faith, Chris and Bailey stayed with Claire. Faith is an amazing older sister – she is caring and supportive and most of all kept her cool! Chris provided a warm calm presence for Claire for the two hours it took the nurse to put in 29 stitches in her fingers and arm. Claire trusted. She was hurting and scared but trusted the medical team and Chris to support her. The doctor, in Governor’s Harbor, examined the wounds and stitches and provided prescriptions for pain and antibiotics.



While the nurse was helping Claire, Nancy and Camella took the remainder of the team for ice cream. Eleuthera is an extended and connected island community. Camella’s mom, three aunts, uncles and cousins live in Hatchett Bay. Camella drove us to her cousin’s house, then to a tiny local store for a carton of Oreo Cookie ice cream, bowls and spoons. We ate our ice cream at a beautiful new park and dock in the bay on the Atlantic side.

Alexis said that when we walked out to the dock it was so peaceful, the water was calm, all the trees. When the rain began you could see all the drops and you could look at the ripples. A small school of fish swam by. We met three young men on the dock. At first they were a bit reluctant to talk to us but under Nancy’s determined questioning they told us that they liked Hatchett Bay because it is quiet, the liked the people and weren’t really strict on crime. The boys went to high school one hour south in Palmetto Point. Two were still in school and one had graduated. They told us that Gregory Town is on the Caribbean side and is a fishing town, Hatchett Bay on the Atlantic focuses on agriculture. The town is surrounded by small farms that grow pineapple, mangoes, onions, garlic and other vegetables.


After the doctor we returned to Governor’s Harbor to get ready for the community fish fry. The fish fry stand is located across the street from St. Patrick’s. When we arrived the music was playing, and the stand was rocking. The menu was a choice of pork, chicken or fish, accompanied by peas and rice and your choice of macaroni and cheese, potato salad or coleslaw. In other words, the top choices of local cuisine. The leadership of St. Patrick’s church including Sanda and Arthur, the senior warden, organize, cook and run the fish fry. The fish fry is attended by locals and tourists. We ran into a group of three Kuwaiti students from Boise State who had arrived on the same plane with us last Monday. They were scuba diving and snorkeling their way around the island. Food was great. Music rocked. It poured down rain. The party moved inside the food stand. Fr. Lance and Nancy went inside with several other team members.



Fr. Lance began serving alongside St. Patrick’s team. Rain lasted about 45 minutes. And the party resumed in the street. Many of the team danced in relief for the Lord’s protection and celebration of our mission. The fish fry happens every Friday night!! Ariana said that the fish fry was really fun looking at all the people and seeing the variety of local people mixed with the tourists many of whom we had seen at the pool and elsewhere. She ate the barbequed chicken and macaroni and cheese – food was delicious.