Bahama Mission Update
November 6, 2007

Yesterday it had been 57 years since I became a Christian. I was baptized in a fish pond in South Africa. Much has happened in the past few weeks. We flew the plane to Mena, Arkansas where it was painted and treated for serious corrosion. We are thankful to Jerry and Connie Smith for their making a great deal for us, and then paying for half of it. We also express appreciation to the Brethren at Longmire Road in Conroe, Texas for their generous contribution toward this needed effort. We are saddened by the death of dear friend Keith Alarid who served many years as an elder at Longmire Road. He was a great elder and supporter of Bahama Mission.

The young people at Longmire Road presented me with their tenth $1000 check for Bibles. They doubled their goal of $5000 from about 3 years ago. This group of kids with sponsors will travel to Nassau next summer to conduct a VBS at the Central Church with Andrew Major. These young people have been an inspiration to all who know them.

While waiting for the plane to be painted, we spoke several times and also visited with my mother in Arlington, Texas. She is still very active in Mission Printing and drives where she needs to go. Her next birthday will be number 88. Dinah and I also drove out to Sweetwater,Texas to attend my 50th graduation reunion from High School. We had a great turn out even though more than 30 of our group had died. Some had become famous and all of us looked much older.(If you are a country music buff, Royce Porter has written 13 number one hits, including "Ocean Front Property" which sold 39 million copies. He has made it big in Nashville, but is the same old Royce.) Both Dinah and I had dental work done in Crockett, Texas. Thanks to Dr. John Garner. I told someone on the trip that we were driving, I had left the plane in Arkansas and my teeth in Texas.

When we got back, Dinah and I went to Ft. Myers where she had been asked to speak at the Ladies Retreat. We worshiped with them Sunday morning. It was great to be with our sponsoring Church for a little while. We are so thankful to them and for their support and encouragement. They plan to be in their new building in December with the Opening January 13th.

Now to Hurricane Noel. The southern Bahamas had a lot of damage from the rains more than from the wind. More than 100 died from flooding before the storm made it to the Bahamas. Long Island had 8 feet of water over the roads. The airport is still underwater as we write.The waters have receded a little from the 4 feet over the runway. Sister Fox lost most all that she had and she and her brother were rescued from the high water. Donald Burrows and one of the members named Charles took a tractor to try and help them, but had to be rescued themselves by boat. The Church building in Long Island was not as badly damaged as we expected. ( We expected that we might have lost it). Several members had damage at home.There is flooding in many of the Islands. We are still getting sparse information. Kevin Milford age 32 died in Exuma after getting out of his flooded car and trying to walk to safety.He fell into a 9 foot hole and was not a swimmer. He was either a member of the Church, or had been attending. He was the music and production manager of the local radio station where Steve McQueen has his program. Lincoln Young was holding a meeting and speaking several places in Arkansas when the storm hit. He did get one call through and found out that his house was ok. They were not able to get to the building because of flooded roads. We do not have any information yet on the plight of the members. I got one call through to Cat Island. The Deveaux family are ok. They had a lot of flooding and the power was off as it is in many of the Islands. Nassau got some heavy flooding and Bonnie Major said the wind blew a window out of the Church Bus. Abaco lost a lot of trees, but the majority of the rain missed them to the east even though the center of the storm came over them.

We leave in the morning to try and get help to those who need it most. Runways in some areas are not open. The water will have to go down and someone will have to walk and clean debris off the runways before we can get in with supplies. Please keep these people in your prayers. The Lord willing I will speak in Abaco Sunday as the Quashie family and several of the members will be at a Lectureship in West Palm. Then we are to be in Freeport for Mission Day on November 24 and 25. Several of the congregations have reported baptisms and attendance seemed to be up most places last Sunday. Hurricanes have a way of getting ones attention and it becomes a time of thanksgiving and relief.

The West Broward Church in Ft. Lauderdale sent $1000 for Hurricane Relief as did the Church in Pecos. So we are starting with the $2000. If you would like to help the victims, Checks can be sent:

Att: David Caskey-Mission, c/o Gulf Coast Church of Christ
3825 McGregor Blvd.
Ft. Myers, Florida 33901.

david

Bahama Mission Home Page
http://www.flyingpreacher.com/
Mission Contact: David Caskey

Webmaster: Jerry Pickup
http://www.jpickup.com/