Bahama Mission Update
February 20, 2008

Dinah and I have been rushed the past few weeks. The Sarvers arrived in Marsh Harbour and have been busy teaching and encouraging. Jack and Donna Steward arrived a few days ago and will be there for a while. Dinah made a new flower arrangement for the building, and did some counseling. Frank Sarver and I worked on sticky doors and cleaned, painted and changed the location of the fans in the building. I held a number of clinics. There were two baptisms and the "Bring Your Friend" day on the 17th with James Miller from Freeport speaking was a great success. The attendance record was broken at 142. Highbury Park in Nassau also had a great "Bring Your Neighbor Day" with Lincoln Young speaking. Bill Miller said it was more like Bring Your Neighborhood Day as 350 attended on a day when the rain really poured. There were also two baptisms. Dinah and I visited with a number of families and noted that the economy in the Family Islands is really slow. I completed the Annual Inspection on the aircraft and worked on the rust places on top of the van. I also replaced the tires on the car when one came apart. The tread still looked good, but the 10 years since replacement had taken a toll with dry rot. ha. Dinah did some work on the bulletin boards in Marsh Harbour and we took a lot of pictures. We gave one to a couple who had never had a picture taken together. That was neat! Sunday we had a delightful meal with Bernice Brown that included stone crab and egg noodles.

Our trip to Long Island was a little slow with 33 knot head winds. It also ate into our fuel supply.Bea Sarver sent homemade cookies for each of our stops. We arrived in Long Island to spend a few days. They were excited about the visit over the week-end of the Elders from the Highbury Park congregation in Nassau. These men make a number of trips each year to encourage various congregations.. Brother Bill Miller is working each month with the Freeport congregation as they prepare to appoint their first elders and to be the second congregation in the Islands to have an eldership. The man who pumped our fuel in Exuma was a friend of Lincoln's from Eleuthera who had moved away to find work. Lincoln had 48 in attendance the Sunday before we arrived. We stayed as usual with Momma and Pappa Burrows. Their son Ted had left a car for them to drive when they had a driver. They were excited to get to go places and visit as most of the time, the only trip away from home each week is to services. I started to move the car early the next morning.. The front right tire was flat.! I put on the spare and it was low on air. I pumped it up and it made it from the back of the house to the front before it went flat. I took it off and Pappa and I loaded it in the Church van and went to find someone to fix a flat. I brought the first one back, changed it back on the front, and took the second one to fix. I got to the point that I could change tires in 6 minutes flat before the day was over.We took the Burrows to visit and to the grocery store. They had a great time. I spoke on Wednesday evening and we were thrilled to see the improvements to the building. The congregation has a work day each month and have done so much. They have new legs on the sign Dinah painted after someone backed over the old ones. They built rock flower beds around the building and planted flowers. They have painted, fixed a second classroom under a tree in the back, and added an air -conditioner. That was a real treat! There was the return and restoration of Solomon, who had been away from worship and fellowship for some time. There was great rejoicing. Judy Burrows is now using the "Footprints of Faith" series of Bible lessons.(Other Islands use them also). This is the CD that we hand out with 188 lessons and a four year series for children. We are thankful for the great work done, and that we can provide material for classes without hauling hundreds of pounds of printed materials to each Island. We also visited with some of those who had been flooded up to the eaves after the last storm. The winds were no so bad, but 30 inches of rain put fresh water as much as 12 feet over the roads.

Some funny things always happen on our trips. We are amused that pilots crowd around our plane now everywhere we stop, thinking that the 1965 model PA32 is brand new. The 2008 paint job does the trick. Sister Burrows was telling about how she wanted her kitchen as a part of the house when they changed to a modern building after years of cooking on the wood fire in the back. But her husband would not hear of it. "There will be no kitchen in my house"! And that ended the discussion. So we walk across the breeze way and gather as Bahamians have for years in the separate kitchen. Brother Burrows was also appalled to find out that a neighbor was not a member of the Burial Society. That meant that the family would have to dig the grave and provide the box. He proudly let us know that he had been a member since he was 18 years old. He is now just above 80. Interestingly enough he was excited a few years back when they got a "Bathroom in the House." Dinah enjoyed the stories of how the women worked in the fields during World War II, when so many Island men did contract work in the United States on farms for 9 months a year.Small children were tied with long ropes so they could not wander away and cloth tents protected them from the sun while the mothers brought in the crops for food.

On Saturday morning we said goodbye to the brethren in Long Island and flew to Eleuthera to see Lincoln and speak on Sunday. This time we had a big tail wind. Wow what a difference. Punca, an old friend from the Hurricane Andrew days, met us and helped tie the plane down and get our luggage. Wilford Major a local business man spent some time bragging about Lincoln and what he means to the community, while we were waiting for a ride from Quinton who was recently restored to the Faith and now cares for Lincoln. He also leads singing for the congregation. It seems that as soon as Lincoln has a caregiver move on, a new one appears! We had a bag of fruit for Lincoln from Abaco (sent by one of the guys at the airport), a new battery for his laptop, so that he can use it to look at sermon notes without a plug in, and a big bowl of pigeon pea soup with soft dough's from Sister Burrows in Long Island, and a bag of limes. I noticed that ladies in the community bring plates of food to Lincoln every day. I spent Saturday setting up a wireless network for Lincoln and also helping him update his report data base. He is now using the Dragon Speaking Program with the new laptop. This allows him to speak his reports as the computer types them up. What a difference from typing them with his tongue! Dinah worked on all of his painting collection and got all of his frames dusted and touched up with paint. Lincoln was a little tired as he had been up until 2 a.m. with counseling a couple. He also has 5 Bible Studies going along with his coaching duties. He won the 2007 Annual Award from the Ministry of Youth Sports and Community Affairs for his outstanding work among the Youth of the Island. Dinah and I rested Saturday night and I did some studying for Bible Class and Preaching Sunday morning. Lincoln has been having some great "Challenge Meetings" with the men of the congregation and has about 9 or 10 attend each session. Sunday morning I was so impressed with the men who led prayers, singing, and helped with the table.(Lincoln had advertised that I would be the guest speaker, and the crowd was down a little from the week before, he says it was due to a lot of illness, ha). He is building for the future.The building is really looking good. He has done some much needed repairs with money that was given by the West Broward Church in Ft. Lauderdale from their annual Mission Special Contribution. We handed out a few Bibles and flew back to Marsh Harbour on Sunday afternoon. The trip was a little stressful as a front had come across Florida and reached half way between Eleuthera and Abaco. After about 30 miles of rain and heavy clouds we flew back into the sunshine. Dinah was worn out from stress and rested until time for the evening service. Several of the men of the Marsh Harbour congregation have been preaching on Sunday nights. It is a real encouragement. Dinah and I ended the day with a gourmet meal put on by 4 of my patients and their families. Wow, Steak, lobster, brownies, cheese cake and all the trimmings. They went all out.

I am doing well after spending some time with the skin doctor. Only three of my 42 skin cancers were malignant this time. The doctor is pleased after the removals and told me unless I see something strange to come back in six months.This comes from normal skin damage from living much of my life in the tropics. Dinah and I leave in the morning to go and see our new 2 month old grand daughter. We are excited to get to see Miss McKenleigh Faith! Following that trip we have a wedding to perform and then we spend 4 days in Nassau. We continue to be thankful for the Satellite phone provided by friends in Pecos, Texas. This is often our only contact with the outside world as phones that work are hard to find in many places.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers over the years. Checks can be made to:

Att: David Caskey-Mission, c/o Gulf Coast Church of Christ
9550 Ben C. Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway
Ft. Myers, Florida 33966.

Please note the new address. They have recently moved into their new building.

david

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

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