Bahama Mission Update - February 28, 2003

Bahama Mission Update
February 28, 2003

I wanted to continue to give honor to whom honor is due, by sharing a little more of the letter from Benny Morton that we quoted in the last report. You will remember that he was the one who taught and baptized Bill Miller, and really was the one who first shared the Gospel in the Bahamas.

"...I had to retire from full time preaching after 40 years, due to a life threatening ventricular arrhythmias about 15 years ago and have been serving as one of the elders of the Lincoln Park Church. I do some fill in preaching, and whatever I receive for such services is placed in a Bahama Fund and used for mission work through the Highbury Park Church in Nassau. My wife Peggy, is a retired public school teacher, and has been active through the years in Bible School work (teaching and training). I am 76 years of age, and she is 75.

We are hopeful of attending the Caribbean Lectureship in Nassau in July, and our two daughters and their husbands are hopeful of meeting us there. The daughters would like to take a couple of days and go to Eleuthera to see Governor's Harbour where their grandparents lived years ago. God bless both of you in the great work you have been doing for Him in the Bahamas. Yours in Christian love, Benny Morton, Jr."

We have plans of visiting with Brother Morton and family during the Lectureship. It is rare that we get the opportunity of knowing and talking to those who have pioneered mission efforts. Keep this wonderful family in your prayers. If you would like to express a word of thanks to Brother Morton in person, his e-mail address is: BPSALT@aol.com

At the first of the month, Dinah and I returned to Florida to pick up a load of printed materials for distribution at the Caribbean Lectureship. These were printed by Mission Printing in Arlington, Texas. This group of volunteer does a fabulous work world wide in printing and distributing evangelistic materials. While here, we got our eyes examined by a brother in Ft. Lauderdale. Dr. James Morris fitted us both with new glasses, and got me some new lenses for my flying glasses that are incredible. He did research with the Coast Guard on the best shades for pilots. We also had our inflatable raft and life jackets certified. The raft failed after just 22 years! This created an unexpected expense. The new 6 man raft was listed at a little more than $1700. We spoke at the West Broward congregation while we were waiting for UPS to deliver, and they made an announcement about the raft the next week. When we got home, we had a check from West Broward in the amount of $1850. We are so thankful for the love and care of brethren everywhere!

While in Abaco on the return, I sorted the many heavy boxes of materials that I stored in the hanger at Zig Zag airways and got ready to distribute to the various Islands. We finished the installation of the doors, and Dinah got three coats of paint on both of them. We visited with the Sarvers, and many of the members. I ran my clinic, and even worked with our friend John Roberts to finally finish out the walls in our "John". It really looks nice now. We have gotten used to bending over and entering through the 4 foot door, and continue to appreciate the fact that we do not have to go outside anymore!

Saturday we flew to Eleuthera to deliver supplies and some support money to Lincoln Young. We worked on the building some more, and stayed over and preached on Sunday morning. We were thrilled to see some faces back at worship who had been absent for some time. Lincoln is still working hard on finishing up the outside of the building. It has become the talk of the town. In the place of an "eye-sore", it is now a focal point in the down town area.

Sunday afternoon we flew to Cat Island and were met by Zeta Wells, John Deveaux's oldest daughter, who is also a principal in one of the schools. We had brought three large boxes of Bible Class materials to be used in the school. We had a delightful service with this family. I paid John for the new battery in the car and got the size of the tires that must be replaced next trip. I will fly them in from Abaco as there are none on the Island. We enjoyed a great meal of Solomon sweet potatoes Sunday night. Zeta had saved us a few. The fire ants have just about destroyed all of the farms since the last Hurricane.

We returned to Abaco. Jason Quashi has hit the ground running. Along with the Sarvers, he has already baptized one and has three others ready after studies. He and the Sarvers have a number of on-going studies. Katrinka has been over on week-end helping to get their little apartment set up. She is closing out her job in Freeport and will soon be in Abaco to live. Paula Stewart and her children were over from Freeport over the week-end. Paula had work to do at one of the wholesale groceries. She is the daughter of Brother and Sister Burrows in Long Island. The Islands are spread out, but the Bahamas is still a small nation. We had a delightful family lunch with Lilla Straughn as she celebrated her 75th Birthday. Any one who has visited the congregation in Marsh Harbour has most likely eaten with Lilla. She is the oldest member of the congregation at present.

Dinah and I flew out to Nassau on Saturday along with John Roberts. He visited with his parents. John lost his wife back in August in Marsh Harbour. Andrew Major met us and we took John home and then checked into a small native hotel near the Central Building. We were at Central for a special week-end meeting with some of the emphasis on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Security in Nassau is very tight, and at times we almost felt like we were in prison-only safer, and we could get out! The brethren at Highbury Park turned out services to join us on Sunday evening. We are thrilled with the progress being made by Andrew and Bonnis Major and by all of the congregations in the capital city.

We had good attendance and a delightful visit with the brethren at Central. Lunch Sunday was with Drexel Major and family. They now live with Margaret, his mother. Drex is doing very well and still has hopes of returning to Abaco in the future.

Bad weather greeted us on Monday morning. Bill Miller picked up John and joined us for a Bahamian breakfast of Chicken Souse and Johnny Cake before dropping us to the airport. We spent several hours (5) waiting with other pilots for some improvement. Among those we visited with were a crew of a U.S. Coast guard chopper, and a DEA agent. In talking with Lee Paige (Football fame at Florida State and Tampa Bay about 15 years ago) we found common ground and will combine our efforts in Drug Education in the Bahamas. Lee is a special DEA agent, and narcotics attaché with the American Embassy in Nassau. We exchanged literature and made plans to work together in the future. I explained that my approach to Drug Education is Biblical not political. His reply was, "That is what we need!".

The weather did not improve much, but we were able to fly back to Abaco in the afternoon. I brought Dinah over next day to Florida to catch up on bills etc. and to fly out to St. Louis to be with her brother and family following his open heart surgery. He is progressing well. Thank you all for your prayers. I have loaded the plane down with 700 lbs. of books, tracts, and Bible Studies, and will get back to the Islands after getting with Jerry Pickup and updating our web page. This will also include information about the Caribbean Lectureship.

Thank you again for your prayers and support.

david

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David Caskey

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