Hurricane Season 2004 went out fighting. On the last day "Otto" was named as the 15th storm of the busy season. We have just completed a seven Island trip in 11 days. Dinah had sweaty palms on the first trips across the ocean since the pasture landing. However, by the end of the last trip she was back to sleeping while I flew. Dinah is to be praised for her dedication and trust. I do not know too many women who would crawl back in a single engine plane after a close call, and fly across the waters. We arrived in Abaco Thanksgiving Day. This is not a holiday in the Bahamas, but we took Jason and Katrinka out for coconut conch for lunch, and Greta invited us to her home on Thursday for a lovely "Thanksgiving Day Dinner", in our honor. The lobster stuffing was a standout in the delightful meal and fellowship. Friday we were invited out again for a meal of turkey wings and rice. We are so touched by the giving attitude of the brethren who have been hit so hard with the storms. There were tears all around as we stood in the living room holding hands and Dave led us in a special prayer for our safety and reunion.
We took out a full load of Bibles and World Bible School Materials along with some personal items Dinah had made as house warming gifts for Lincoln and Jason and Katrinka. We spent the first two days banking, greeting the brethren in Abaco, handing out funds to brethren still struggling, and cleaning up mold in our little room. We still have ceiling damage to repair, and some of our clothes "arn't no more good as they say in the Islands". The Abaco building still has a broken window and must have a complete new roof. We are waiting for the last of the building supplies to be shipped out of Florida. We have no idea when they will be available. One of the big jokes in the ravaged areas is the man walking into the lumber yard and requesting shingles of a "certain color". Blue tarps still cover most homes in the affected Islands. Many families have moved into crowded conditions with family members.
Saturday we took Katrinka with us and flew to Freeport with a load of Books, WBS, and Radio tapes. The brethren there insisted on hosting the 6th Annual Mission Day for the Bahamas in spite of hurricane damage. We were met by the two preachers and Brother Thompson driving the Church bus that broke down later that day. The salt water had eaten out the bearings. We are so thankful for the wonderful relationship enjoyed by all of the brethren in the Islands. Abaco brought a total of 31 to the event. 28 got up early on Sunday morning, drove more than an hour to the north of Abaco, took a rough charter boat ride across to the East end of Grand Bahama, and the brethren from Freeport met them with vans for the hour and a half trip to the building. Each person paid $70 for the trip. They returned in the late afternoon in time for evening services in Marsh Harbour. Several of those who came were not Christians at the time, but were studying. Two of them have been baptized in Abaco since the trip. I was honored to be the "Key Note" speaker at the event. I told some of the brethren privately that I knew what a Key Lime was, but was not sure about a Key Note! The Church in Freeport presented us with a beautiful "Memory Candle" to burn when the lights next go out. There were 242 in attendance. Back in Marsh Harbour we had a lovely devotional on Sunday evening, and were joined by Joe and Miriam Holland. He is an elder at Palm Beach Lakes congregation in West Palm Beach. This congregation has helped Marsh Harbour since the Hurricanes. They sent out two groups of men to work and a container of supplies for the roof along with clothes etc.They also did a VBS last summer. Dinah and I really enjoyed getting to know Joe and Miriam better. They were also present at Mission Day. They came to the Islands for a week. One humorous thing stands out at Mission Day. The ladies prepared a wonderful meal for all of us. Karen Moss was serving peas and carrots. I am told that these arrived in great abundance with the 38,000 lb. shipment of food and water. She piled a massive load on my plate. I looked up to see her smile and say, "You sent them, you eat them"! They were thankful, but most had more peas and carrots than they needed.
Monday I rechecked the plane and changed the tires. Checking the plane is something I do a lot now! Early Tuesday morning we took off under grey skies to be with Lincoln in Rock Sound Eleuthera. We had seen him at the Mission Day, but had little time to visit. He had a ride waiting for us and we unloaded his supplies including new song books, and visited a while before going to Sammy's for lunch. The afternoon was spent with him at his new house. We are so thankful to the brethren in Wynne, Arkansas for the generous way they have helped this wonderful man. He has preached in Eleuthera for 16 years. Sister Allen in Texas gave him his electric wheel chair several years ago, and the brethren in Wynne have furnished his home with beautiful furniture. Dinah had intended to hang paintings and photos that she had framed in the right colors, but ended up putting them under his bed until more of the finish work can be done. Lincoln like all of us is waiting for supplies from Florida to complete the repair work on the damaged Church building. We visited some of the brethren and retired for an early start to Nassau. Internet Services have been very difficult in the Islands since the Hurricanes. If you have not heard from Lincoln or gotten his reports, please be patient. I was able to communicate only a few times from some of the 7 Islands we were on. Hopefully, I am connected again in Marsh Harbour with a new company. Lincoln is preparing for the Annual Junkanoo celebration on December 26th. This year he has many helping him with a new theme. "When the Books were Opened". This will feature scripture and the "Rushers" will be handing out tracts and Drug and Alcohol books. The brethren touched our hearts when they showed us the hospital bracelet taken from "Nancy" when she last was released. She is a wonderful Christian lady in Arkansas who has done much for the Rock Sound Church. They have the bracelet to remind them to pray for her daily as she struggles with cancer. She missed the summer trip to Eleuthera this year.
We flew out Wednesday morning to Nassau and unloaded their supplies. We were met by Brother Bill Miller who took us to see Drexel Major. Drex had many health problems since the accident that left him in a wheelchair. He came out to greet us and we had a great reunion. We got fresh pictures of the three children and left him a little Hurricane money.Continue to pray for him. We then went to find Brother and Sister Burrows at their daughters'. We needed to find out when they were going home, so we could stay with them on Thursday night in Long Island. The two hour service Wednesday was a delight. Mutual thanks was exchanged. We thanked them for their contribution to the engine, and they for the Hurricane Relief. Brother Miller got up and gave a tribute to Dinah and me. We were touched. This congregation gave more than $12,000 to the other Islands in Hurricane Relief although they too were hit. I also met with Greg Williams a former Jr. member of the Prime Minister's cabinet about setting up a special status for the Church and Hurricane Recovery efforts before we get hit again. He is working on this. I also received my new Work Permit for the Bahamas (green card). This was extended for another three years. Thursday morning we were picked up by Verlie Portier, the church secretary and taken to the Bank for some funds exchange and then on out to the Airport for departure to Exuma. Verlie's husband is first cousin to Sidney Portier the actor and plays golf with him and Michael Jordan pretty often.
We arrived in Exuma International Airport to see Suzette McQueen and two more members standing on the other side of the fence. They have recently put new security systems in place, and the policeman on duty reprimanded Dinah for yelling across the fence. We unloaded the bulk of our supplies of song books, WBS, religious books donated by Howard Publishing, and even a sewing machine and materials for Suzette. These items were donated by Sister Debbie Ross from Rosenburg, Texas.The loss of the engine in the plane and the Hurricanes delayed the arrival, but not the joy of the gift. Suzette wants to sew for her three children. This new little congregation is having an average attendance of about 18. They are effectively sharing WBS materials with many. We got more fuel for the plane and flew south to Deadman's Cay, Long Island. We arrived only 5 minutes in front of our host for the evening. We were met by Erik ( a brother) who had also prepared a great meal of pea soup and rice. We delivered song books and money to the congregation. Dinah said she was overwhelmed by the gratitude of the brethren. We left enough for them to repair their building that got 14 inches of salt water during Francis. We were sad to see farm land bare from salt water, but also laughed at some of the stories during the storm. One man said he pushed the table up to the ice box and both he and his aging mother climbed on top when the storm surge started filling the house with salt water. Donald Burrows is doing a great job as a "tent-making preacher". They just converted another family. We hope to be back later this month with more WBS to use in outreach.
We make every effort after Hurricanes to increase our Spiritual Evangelist Outreach to those we have helped and their families. Hearts are often softened after the loss of material things, and are opened to study and submission to God. We find it is easier to get money for Recovery than it is for Bible replacement and study materials afterwards. If some of you can and would like to help with this special effort we would be grateful. We have already had 6 baptisms since the storm and many other studies are in progress.In addition to study materials replacement Bibles,and song books, it takes fuel to get to them with the plane. Car gas in the Bahamas is up to $3.89 a gallon and aircraft fuel often tops $4.
Next morning we "Hugged Up" with the brethren and took off to Cat Island. Brother Deveaux is now blind and can not drive. No problem! The head Government Customs agent supplies us with his car and a driver for as long as we needed it. We visited John and Francis, took pictures of the new windows in the Church building, had a prayer with them and our driver and flew back to Abaco. Jack and Donna Stewart had arrived from Texas and we had a brief visit with them, Jason and Katrinka, and the Holland's who were leaving for Florida. I checked the plane again! We took a little money to a lady with three children living in a very badly damaged one room house. She cried and told Dinah that we were the only ones to help her. We often find those who have slipped between the cracks.
Dinah and I laughed a lot at two things that happened. I took some laundry to a new place in Marsh Harbour when we got back. The old one was destroyed in the Hurricanes. The lady asked my name? A young lady sitting behind her said,"Child, don't you know the "Flyingpreacher" with the Church of Christ?" The other was handing Dinah my aircraft binoculars to check out a boat in a strange part of the ocean. I thought it might be adrift and need help. She struggled for a while and announced that she could see better with her eyes. "These don;t work!." When I turned them around we both go so tickled that she had to fly for a minute while I gained my composure.
I wish that each of you could have been with us as we delivered the bounty of your love to those recovering in the Islands. We are just so thankful to be Christians and a part of such a wonderful fellowship. If you would like to help with Bibles and WBS materials,and Song books, checks can be made to: Bahama Mission Church of Christ, and sent:
David Caskey-Missions, Gulf Coast Church of Christ
3825 McGregor Blvd.
Ft. Myers, Florida, 33901.
Thank you again and keep us in your prayers as we travel.
david
Bahama Mission Home Page
http://www.flyingpreacher.com/
Mission Contact
David Caskey
Webmaster
Jerry Pickup
http://www.jpickup.com/
