The past few days have been busy, (and we have been hampered by the loss of the engine on the plane), but we rejoice in the blessings received and the progress being made. We had the opportunity to visit and speak at our sponsoring congregation in Ft. Myers and also to spend the day and speak at West Broward in Ft. Lauderdale. Both of these congregations gave generous contributions toward the engine.This Sunday we are scheduled to be with the Church in Palm City, Florida. They are a small congregation recently organized. They have new pew Bibles to donated to the Church in Marsh Harbour. I caught a ride with my old pilot friend Lewis Key who owns Zig Zag Airways in Marsh Harbour and was able to take care of some business in the Islands.
We have been humbled and thrilled with the contributions given toward the new engine. These have come from individuals and from congregations. I think we are within about $5000 of our needed goal. We pray that we will all be able to work together in continuing the great work of reaching out to the people of the Islands. Sometimes we wonder why things happen as they do, despite our diligent efforts to keep man and machine in good condition. Then I remember that even the Apostle Paul did not have a ministry without tribulations. I am just thankful that we have never had to spend a day and a night in the deep! As soon as the list is completed, we will give an account of all contributions given for this project. I am thrilled with a special contribution of $500 given by the Highbury Park Church in Nassau.
While on that subject, my heart has been warmed by the spiritual maturity and the growth of the local Churches in the Islands. While I was in Marsh Harbour recently I was excited to see that the building was being used almost every day by members having Bible Studies with those who wanted to draw closer to the Lord. Some of these are with prospects, some with new Christians, and some are in-depth studies with older Christians. Jason and Katrinka Quashie are really doing a fine job. They put in many hours with the Young People as well. We were pleased to be able to provide some nice Bibles as awards for the Young people who are showing growth for the future. Four brethren from the Highland Church in Lakeland, Florida recently visited in Marsh Harbour. This is the congregation that started the classroom building project. I had planned to be with them, but am so proud of the Local Church there and their ability to carry on. I am sure they were treated like family. The footings for the new classroom building have been poured and the steel is going into the foundation today. All of the steel has been painted to retard rust. I understand that the Lakeland brethren got in some work on this project. We are happy to have the survey completed. We were held up for a few days by some objections from a man who did not even own the property behind the building??? I dug back into files more than 20 years old and produced our conveyance. We did learn that when the late Cuthbert Albury donated the land, that he had the size of the lot too small. We actually have 30 feet more across the back than we thought.
We received more boxes of World Bible School materials from Sandy Haney yesterday. He and his wife Fran had a garage sale and donated the proceeds to buy more teaching materials. We are anxious to get the plane back and get the materials delivered along with Bibles that are stacked high right now. We have about two plane loads of Bibles, World Bible School and Bible Study materials ready to go. In addition we were given a religious library while in Ft. Myers, and will be sharing this with our Island preachers.
Please keep Drexal Major in your prayers. He has been back in the hospital again. Also remember Judy Burrows, the wife of the preacher in Long Island. She is facing treatment with an abdominal mass.
There have been several Baptisms reported lately and a number of Summer activities are in progress in several Islands. These will be going on all summer.
The brethren in Wynne, Arkansas continue to help Lincoln Young in the final stages of his house, and in buying furniture for him. We are so thankful for their love and devotion. They will have a group of adults in Rock Sound in July to work in a special effort. Lincoln is deserving of all of their help. He will soon begin his 16th year as the preacher in Rock Sound.
We have found that there was more damage to the engine than we first thought. On complete tear down, we discovered that the case (block) was damaged beyond repair, two rings were broken in the #6 cylinder, the #5 cylinder was beat to pieces, the #5 bearing spun out on the crank shaft, two rod bolts were broken and a number of smaller pieces were destroyed. It is hard to say what happened first.It is hard to know how all of this happened with an engine that was well mantained and showed no signs of a problem before the final event. We are just so thankful that we were over land and there was a dry field to put it down in. God is good! We are going to have a new engine, and the prop is being overhauled. This will provide us with transportation that is as safe as we can make it.
We still need the rest of the money for the engine. If you would like to contribute, you can make your checks to the Bahama Mission Church of Christ, mark them "engine", and send to: David Caskey-Missions, Gulf Coast Church of Christ, 3825 McGregor Blvd. Ft. Myers, Florida 33901. Keep us in your prayers as we do you.
david
Bahama Mission Home Page
http://www.flyingpreacher.com/
Mission Contact
David Caskey
Webmaster
Jerry Pickup
http://www.jpickup.com/
