Bahama Mission Update
March 24, 2009

The short meeting with the brethren in Clewiston, Florida was very enjoyable and we were deeply impressed with the efforts put forth to bring in visitors as well as the support from surrounding congregations.The percentage of increase from their regular attendance was gratifying. (almost 400%). This congregation has been a part of the work in the Islands for many years. Most little towns in rural parts of our country are struggling. This takes its toll on the Church as older members pass on and younger ones move to look for jobs. Willie Smith and his wife Gizelle are great people and have moved to Clewiston to work with the Church. We were delighted to get to know them better.

Dinah and I both struggled with some kind of flu that was making the rounds. The three hours of driving each day and preaching did not make me feel much better. We spent the days running after lists of things needed in the Islands, getting the strut rebuilt again, picking up parts for the plane including the new brake disks, and loading the plane. I was joined in West Palm Beach by my cousin, Royce Caskey, from Oklahoma. He was making a second trip to the Islands in a month. The congregation he attends in Tulsa is very mission minded and we are hopeful that they will become a part of the work in the Bahamas. We hope with their help to revive the program of distributing Bibles in the Schools. This has been a very successful work in the past.The Church has been known as those who give away Bibles! Most of the children do not have Bibles at home, and the schools usually have a limited number. Religious Knowledge is a subject in school and in many of the smaller Islands, the Bible is used for other subjects like poetry and English reading. We have been blessed to go into the schools over the years with our Drug and Alcohol Education Program and to use the books I wrote on the subject. With the Bible Program we not only get to speak in the schools, but get into the homes with Bibles, Bible Study Materials, and World Bible School. Our goal is to give two Bibles for each student, teacher and staff member in every school on each Island. This will allow one to remain in school as the teachers insist and will put another Bible in each home with study materials. The Bibles will be stamped "Free From Churches of Christ in the Bahamas", and have studies added. Distribution will be through our congregations on Islands where we have Churches and by Dinah and me in the places yet to have congregations. We are hopeful that some small groups from Oklahoma might join us from time to time to help, and then conduct Vacation Bible Schools and do personal evangelism. On our last trip we talked with the Chief Administrative Officer in Abaco (He is like our Governor) and he called the TV station and had us do a 5 minute interview that was to be aired nationally. We hope to start this program when and if funds are made available. It will take some time to purchase, stamp, and ship Bibles to each area. Ground work will be laid with local authorities and congregations and we will have to work around Hurricane Season.

The Sarvers have gone back to the States after a very successful 10 weeks in Abaco.They had 3 Bible Studies on Friday night before leaving early on Saturday. Jack and Donna Steward have also returned to Texas, but plan a come back the middle of May.They have been studying with an outstanding young man in Treasure Cay and are excited about the prospect of having him help in getting a congregation in this settlement. Lincoln Young had his court case with the stolen money and arranged to keep the young man out of prison for two years. He is on a court set payment plan to return the money over the next two years. He came by to see Lincoln and thanked him as the final say was left to Lincoln by the judge. The young man was in worship last Sunday along with a record crowd for Rock Sound, We had 108 in worship and about 170 were fed at Lincoln's house following a special effort to bring in young people from all over the Island.We are excited about having Jamie Hunt go to Arkansas to attend Crowley Bible College this summer. This week a group from Wynne, Arkansas will arrive to do a Marriage Enrichment Meeting along with Vacation Bible School. Our next stop was in Exuma to see Steve McQueen and give him some Bibles, They were to have a special group down this past week, but it was canceled because of the economy. We bought fuel before flying on down to Long Island to discuss their needs for some outside help. They have done a great job of growing on their own and also had a record crowd on Sunday. We met with them during the day and had devotionals and prayer meetings at night along with the Tuesday evening Bible Study. We did find the son of Sister Fox in Austin Texas and let her talk with him on Tuesday night. She has experienced more seizures and her health is poor.We talked about having some groups come down to assist them with Vacation Bible Schools, Personal Evangelism and some special training sessions for teachers. I had 12 gallons of fuel stolen from the plane the first night. This was a first in almost 30 years in the Islands. There is no security around these small landing strips. The local people were most upset as they felt that the deed reflected on them and their character. This left us short for our return to Abaco. We had planned one more stop in Cat Island, but had to skip that leg as the extra landing and take off would have cut us too close on fuel. The weather shut down on the last 100 miles back to Abaco. We landed safely and were delayed another day before we could get my cousin back to catch his plane to Oklahoma.

We set several studies, handed out Bibles, visited members, did clinics, attended mid-week Bible Study in Abaco, replaced an air conditioner in our little room, helped make arrangements to fly Dave Collins back to Nassau on an emergency flight. He had just gotten out of the hospital and returned to Abaco the day before. He is back home now and doing better.

Dinah and I will travel to Texas and Oklahoma to visit with supporting Churches soon. This annual contact is vital to us and to the work. We love having a relationship with those who share in the efforts we all put forth for the Lord.

Thank you again for your support and prayers. Checks can be made out to Bahama Mission Church of Christ and sent:

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

david

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

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