Leia in Eleuthera

My life is not my own

2008-11-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

What can I say about my life that would mean anything other than "I am because You are". During a devotion this past week, Abe brought up this quote, and it stirred something deep inside me. It shames me to think of how often I think my life is my own, and the choices I make are just that... my choices. I pray that the Lord will be my one desire, and I will daily surrender my life to Him to do with as he pleases.

"I am because You are"

What about Faith?

2008-10-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

We have a new group here at camp, and it has really livened things up. This is the group that I got to work with last October, during my first visit to Eleuthera, so it is wonderful to have them back! Tonight was our second of many gatherings together, and Abe, Emily and I decided to use it as a time to try and build team unity. I thought that the plan was us to guide them in some trust building activities, but it ended up that since they have an odd number of people, I was volunteered to take part. I knew that the activities were going to involve mouse traps somehow, but I wasn't sure what they were going to be used for. Well I found out quite quickly. The rules were as follows... one team member got blind folded, and could no longer talk. The other team member then led them to a different place in the room, where they set a mouse trap. The team member that could see had to talk them through setting off the mouse trap by just talking to them. The first time around I was the one talking my blindfolded teammate into setting off the mouse trap. THEN IT WAS MY TURN!! It completely freaked me out! My heart began beating fast, I was incredibly nervous, and I was convinced that I was somehow going to be misguided, and in the process lose a couple of fingers. All of the teams finished before me, and it seemed like the only thing I could focus on was the fact that I didn't trust my teammate to lead me to safety. After at least 10 minutes (which felt more like forever) I finally took the plunge.... I set off the mouse trap successfully and didn't lose any appendages!

Even though I was eventually able to set off the mouse trap, it keeps playing back in my mind how difficult it was to TRUST! I didn't trust her. I couldn't trust her. I wasn't in control. That fact wouldn't concern me too much except for the fact that I thought that I trusted people, and if I was proven wrong in that, then what does that mean about my trust in God? If I was really put to the test, would I have faith enough to trust Him with complete abandon?

At this point, it seems that the answer is obvious.... and its not the answer that I want it to be.

I know that this probably isn't the kind of post that you would expect to see from me, but this is my life, and it seems that the Lord wants to reveal certain weaknesses, which I am thankful for. Please pray that the Lord will finish the good work that He has started.

I'm Back

2008-10-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I wanted to let everyone know that I'm now back on Eleuthera until May 2009. I got back September 19th and have had to deal with some of the repercussions of the storms and hurricanes. For the first couple of days, I didn't have access to the internet or a phone. Thankfully, things here at camp are up and running again so I can begin to focus on the teams that are going to be coming down to serve.

Since being back, I had the opportunity to go down to Great Inagua, the southern most island in the Bahamas as well as one of the hardest hit Bahamian islands that Ike devastated. Bahamas Methodist Habitat was the first group that was able to get to the island to help the people in whatever way possible. Roofs were what was most affected by the storms, so that has been our main focus. We've teamed up with NEMA, the Bahamas national distaster relief organization, who has helped provide many of the supplies needed to repair the roofs.

I stayed in Inagua for about 8 days working mainly on roofs. I flew down with 3 other BMH staff members, and we were greeted by a sea of blue. I'm not talking about the blue ocean, but the houses that are covered in blue tarps. It was an overwhelming sight. I knew we were coming into a desperate situation, and could only pray that the Lord would give us the strength that we needed, to help improve the lives of the people of Inagua.

Now about the actual work... If you've never done roofing, let me tell you, it is really hard work and its even harder to do when the heat index is 120 degrees! It was so hot, that our shoes were melting on the roofs, but that didn't slow us down. Even though we were working in uncomfortable conditions, the volunteers that have come down have done an amazing job. By the time I left, the total number of roofs completed was around 25! This next week will be our last as far as constantly being on Inagua goes. There is a volunteer group coming to Eleuthera from Cary, NC and we need to have them do some work here on Eleuthera. Then, if everything goes as planned, we will move on to help out Grand Turk on November 2nd.

If there is anyone interested in coming to help out with the hurricane relief efforts, we would love to have you come! Please let me know, and we'll see what we can work out.

Now for really fun news... the reason that I left Inagua and came back to Eleuthera, was because some of my family came to visit! It was so much fun having them here, and getting to show them where I live, and introduce them to the people here on the island that I've come to love. We had quite a full week of snorkeling, visiting various beaches, taking pictures, and eating lots of wonderful Bahamian food. I said goodbye to them yesterday (except my dad who left Thursday). So now I'm going to try to catch up on the work I put off.

I'm so glad that the Lord has given me the opportunity to come back to this wonderful place again and serve Him. Thank you for all of your prayers and emails. I'm definitely encouraged to know that you all are praying for me! I love you all and will try to write again soon.

Grace and Peace!

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've made it home, and things are going well. It was really hard for me to leave everybody in Eleuthera, but my consolation is that I will be going back in August! I've decided to defer grad school for a year, and go back to serve with Methodist Habitat. The main reason for me coming home this summer is to try and raise support to go back, as well as save money from my summer job. My goal is to raise enough support to last for the entire time that I will be in Eleuthera next year.

Since coming home, I've been reflecting on my experience. Some of the things that I've been confronted with have been hard to swallow. For example, through different experiences, it has hit me that I truly am a judgemental person. I used to not accept all people for who they were. Thankfully, the Lord put people in my life that are much different than me, and I'm really learning to love people for who they are and not what I think they should be. The people of Eleuthera have a genuine love for one another, that still blows my mind.

There were ups and downs, but I wouldn't change anything that happened. I can't wait to go back, and would love to share more details with anyone that is interested. Thank you all for your support while I was there!

Part of the community

2008-05-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

Living here has been quite an experience. Not only do I work at BMH, but sometimes staying busy with things that are going on in the community feels like my second job. I came down here with the anticipation of getting a lot of reading and down time at night... thats definitely not the case. This past week I went and helped out at youth, at the Methodist church that I go to. They are having a huge youth meeting for people that live on Eleuthera and the surrounding islands Saturday, in order to hear the views and opinions about the conference from the youth. Then last night, Emily and I had a suprise visitor that came over and brought ice cream treats for my birthday. We've both been approached about volunteering at the library in James Cistern (JC), and today, we're about to start hiking down to Governor's Harbour to help serve at a lunch for some type of church meeting. Life is busy, but life is good. Well, off to hike.

This is my life

2008-04-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry about not posting for a while. My computer apparently hates me, and wouldn't let me get on this sight for a while. The problem is solved for the moment, so I'll go ahead and post about whats been going on...

Abe has to travel quite a bit, he's only been around about 5 days over the past 3 weeks! So Emily and I have been holding down the fort. Abe is back now, but while he was gone we were really productive. One of the perks was that we made our own work schedule. Get up in the morning like normal, work until 2ish, then go to the beach for a couple of hours. Once we get back from the beach, work some more. It was a great schedule. Yesterday morning while we were having devotions, the type of work schedule we had came out, and just to show you how great of a boss Abe is, he said that if we want to normally do that, we could! Ahh, living and working in the Bahamas... its fantastic.

The past 2 days I've been working on making my plans to go home. I'm planning on traveling back to the states on May 17 or 18. I honestly can't believe how quickly my time here has gone. I don't want to say goodbye, but at the same time I'm really excited to see everybody at home. Speaking of home... I've come to realize that home is truly where you're heart is, and honestly it has dawned on me that where my friends and family are is home. The reality is that now I have 2 homes, one in the states and the other here on Eleuthera.

With that being said, I got accepted into grad school at ETSU. After much prayer and guidence from friends and family, I have decided to defer my acceptance until the fall of 2009, so that I can come back to Eleuthera in August for up to one year. Even after my year of service next year, I don't know if I'll want to leave and go to grad school, but I've decided that the Lord has given me the opportunity to go to school, and I shouldn't pass it up. A career as a speech pathologist will most likely put me in a position where I can still go on mission trips or even serve full time on the mission field.

Tonight I had lots of fun hanging out with my family here in Eleuthera (The Weinburgers, Abe and Emily). They took me to the "big city", Governor's Harbour, for dinner. We managed to just get to the Waterfront Cafe right before they locked their doors. The only thing they could fix us were chicken wings, so that was what we had for dinner. They were really good! On the ride down to the cafe, Wayne, the youngest Weinburger, sat on my lap, laid his head on my shoulder, and held my hand the whole way there. Talk about MELTING your heart! He definitely did without any problems!

Cliff Jumping Anyone?!

2008-04-09T19:13:00.001-07:00

I’m so glad to be back in the Bahamas!! On my first day back, Abe and Emily wanted to welcome me back by taking me to jump off of some cliffs. Almost everybody that lives here on the island knows about these particular cliffs. They are a little over 40 feet high, and you can only jump on a day where the Atlantic is very calm. It would be very dangerous to do on a day where there are big waves, because you have to allow the waves to carry you onto coral, and then climb up the rocks. Thankfully, the water was calm enough, so we made our way to the top of the cliff. Looking down off the edge was incredibly scary! I was instructed to land in the water like a pencil… well, that is easier said than done when you’re petrified. My feet ended up going into the water first, but my butt was second. It hurt so badly, but I was excited that I had done it! I decided to give it a second try and see if I could do it any better. That next jump was painless, and really exciting. Sadly, it has been very difficult to sit this week, and I’ve never been more bruised in my life, but I will definitely be doing it again!! The picture is of Abe and 3 volunteers jumping off the cliff.

Candice's visit

2008-03-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

This past week was tons of fun, and like usual, really busy. It was lots of fun because one of my good friends from college got to come down to visit! The timing was perfect, because I was really starting to miss everyone back home, so having a familiar friendly face around was great! Sadly, I did have lots of work to catch up on, but we still managed to go and do something almost every day. We took lots of trips to the beaches within walking distance, and one day we ventured up north a little bit to a place called Hidden Beach. We spent the day playing in the water, and generally just enjoying the beauty of God's creation. This was a big day in the sense that were forced to experience something most of the islanders don't even think twice about. The beach is about a 10-15 minute drive from camp, and we didn't have a ride back, so we had to hitch-hike! It was kind of fun to do, and it was a whole lot better than walking for forever. The week absolutely flew past, and before we new it, Saturday afternoon arrived, and she had to go back home to the cold.
Yesterday, Abe invited lots of people from the community over to his house for a cook out. It was one of the first "American" meals I've had since being down here, and it was so good! We all hung out at his house while we ate, and then we made our way down to Rainbow Bay Beach. Some of the children from James Cistern were able to come with us. Some people might not think that that sounds like a big deal at all, but suprisingly most of these kids that live here never go to the beach. They had fun jumping off of the guys shoulders, while Emily and I tried to throw the others in the water as best we could. It was a wonderful day of fellowship with the the people of Eleuthera.

Hatchet Bay

2008-02-29T06:08:00.001-08:00

For the past few days, I've been out in Hatchet Bay, another settlement here on Eleuthera. We've been working on building a bathroom and a kitchen. I feel like progress was kind of slow, but that was to be expected because of all of the construction that we had to correct before being able to move forward with our current projects. The building is over 160 years old, and it is also the oldest church in Hatchet Bay. It hasn't been used as a church building (or for anything else) for some time, so the decision was made to turn it into a community center. The people, especially the children will use it as a safe place to go and hang out. Right now, there aren't many constructive activities that keep the children out of trouble, so the whole community is very supportive of what is happening.
The group that has been working on this specific project have really adopted it. Some of the people on the team have already been down here to work on the building over 4 times. The Lord has given them a vision, and they've allowed Him to use them.
Personally, I've been doing well. Since I was away from the camp, I was out of contact with everybody for a couple of days, so I'm sorry for the lack of communication. The past 2 days have been relatively cooler than they have been, and I can tell that my blood is starting to thin... Its probably around 65-70 degrees, I'm wearing my thickest long pants and a long sleeved t-shirt, and I'm freezing cold!!
Thank you for all of your prayers. I think of you all often, and hope you're doing well!

Weekend Fun!

2008-02-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

After working hard all week, I get the weekends off, and when you're on such a beautiful island, there is plenty to do. My roommate and I aren't aloud to drive any of the camp vehicles, so we have to resort to walking when we're by ourselves. and I started out our Saturday by walking through town, and making some new aquaintances. That's proven to be a really great way to meet people, and that's how our Saturday morning started. We walked down to ship wreck beach, which is appropriately named because there is a huge ship wrecked about 10 feet out from the beach. We stayed there for a couple of hours, and then Abe found us, and took us sailing!! All I have to say is that I am a huge fan of sailing now, and can't wait to get the opportunity to go back out. While sailing, we say Lenny Kravitz's yacht!! So cool, and then again today we saw his jeep, and decided to leave a note on his car inviting him to stop by the camp and visit. We'll have to see if he takes us up on the offer :) Today, after church, we went to surfer's beach, which is apparently one of the best surfing beaches in the world. The waves weren't good ones to try and surf on today, so we're going to go back another day and try again, but the waves were still tons of fun to play in! Tomorrow its back to work, but I'm not at all dreading it after having such a wonderful weekend.

Settling In

2008-02-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

I've been down here now for almost a month, and I couldn't ask for things to be going any better! I've been given the title of Volunteer Coordinator, which means that I'm the contact person for everyone that is either coming down or anyone that has shown interest in coming down to serve. So far, I feel like I've been playing catch up with getting everything a little more organized, but things are coming together. Our goal is to get 750 volunteers to come and serve in 2008, and though we aren't at that number yet, I know that the Lord will provide people to come. If anyone is intersted themselves in possibly coming down, or knows of someone else that might be, let me know. The community here is in desperate need of people to come and make their lives a little bit better.

Brotherly Love

2008-02-06T06:52:00.001-08:00

Nothing too terribly exciting has been going on around here since the last group left. I've mostly been in the office getting contact information for the potential groups of volunteers. Its been fun getting to talk to people that are really excited about coming down here and serving.
One thing that I've noticed since being here is that the community is actually a community! What belongs to one person, essentially belongs to the next because everybody shares everything. It makes me wonder if things would be different if there were more resources for the people here. I think that how they take care of each other, is how Christ wants us to live.

Busy, busy, busy

2008-02-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

I'm back in the Eleuthera for round 2 of my stay, and so far its been nothing short of amazing! I arrived 11 days ago now, and had to hit the ground running. A team made up of 7 people came down from Kansas City, Missouri. There passion for the people here in Eleuthera was astounding, and thats so refreshing, because thats what missions is really about. Yes, we did lots of painting and construction on a home and a church up north on Current Island, but the relationships are what people need and want! And this group was perfect for that.
There won't be another group coming for about 4 weeks, so until then I'll be helping Abe in the office. I spent yesterday and part of today contacting the groups that are planning their mission trips down here. The other part of today I spent on the beach, and I'm paying dearly because I look like a lobster! Apparently when I arrived, a cold front was coming through (60-65 degrees at night). All of the kids were running around with their tobogans and long sleeved shirts on, because they were cold! I'm sorry to everybody thats actually suffering in cold weather, I'll try to send you some warm weather :)
For anyone looking for something specific to pray for, please pray that God will continue to give all of us involved with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat grace to know how to best fulfill his will, and then the endurance to follow through with that. Thank you! I miss you all and love you very much!

Meet, Greet and Serve

2007-10-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I didn't get to post a new message for a while, I wasn't aware that I wasn't going to have access to the internet the last week in the Bahamas. Now I'm back in Nashville enjoying telling anyone that will listen about my trip. The last week that I was in Eleuthera consisted of me helping a team from North Carolina replace a roof on a woman's house. This team was such a blessing for many reasons. First off, on Saturday night, I was struggling with whether or not I thought the Lord wanted me go back to Eleuthera in January. Over the past few weeks, I've really been learning that it's good the Lord doesn't do things the way I think things should happen. Nevertheless, that hasn't deterred me from hoping that he will make it obvious to me what his will is, so I prayed that he would give me a sign that I couldn't ignore. Now I want to say that this has never happened to me before, but after I finished praying, I felt like the Lord was telling me that if someone on the team was named Ann, then that would be the sign I needed to let me know that I should come back. The team arrived the next day, and as I was introducing myself to everyone (there were 8 people), one of them told me that their name was Ann!! I probably looked like a deer in headlights, but that was the sign I needed.
The next day, we headed out to an 89 year old woman's house, to replace her leaky roof. Those that didn't feel confident in getting on the roof, did some landscaping work around the house. I tried to allow the team members to choose what they wanted to do, and then I would help out with what was left. I mostly worked on the roof, and let me say, I have a new found respect for people that do roofing. It is hard work, but Abe and the team managed to help make it fun.
It was wonderful to be able to serve, and see others putting someone else's needs above there own! Needless to say, I should be going back in January, and I can't wait!! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Seeing Eleuthera

2007-10-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

Good news, I got my luggage yesterday! I don't think I've ever been as happy to lug around 50 pounds as I was then. Since my boss is out of town, I haven't had any work to do yet, so a lady that lives here on the island has been showing me some of her favorite spots. Yesterday my favorite spot that we stopped was a cavern on one of the beaches. It took a little bit of climbing to get to it, but it was well worth it. It looked like something straight out of a movie. Today, she took me snorkeling on the north end of the island. It was about a 45 minute drive, because where I'm staying is closer to the middle of the island. I have yet to see a section of the island that isn't absolutely beautiful!
The peole here seem to be really friendly. While driving through town, it is completely normal to wave to everyone that you see. Some of the locals have told me that I have to try two of the delicacies before I leave, conch and stone crab.
One thing I have been really suprised about is the speed of life here. I figured it would be a little slower than in America, but it is amazing how laid back these people are. Their theory is that if something doesn't get done today, it will get done tomorrow. This pace of life might be hard to get used to for an extended period of time. I'm sure my life will pick up speed quickly when Abe and the mission team gets in town Sunday. Until then, I'm going to take full advantage of all of this free time!
I pray that everyone is doing well!

I made it!

2007-10-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'm finally in Eleuthera and will be for the next 10 days! Flying in was an amazing sight, because of the beauty of the island! I arrived today around 2:15 without any problems, except that the airlines left all of my checked baggage (which happens to be everything I need) in Ft. Lauderdale. If all goes well, it should be at the airport tomorrow afternoon for me to pick up. Since I've been here, a wonderful couple that happen to be close friends of my boss, have taken me under their wing. This afternoon they showed me around the area of the island where Camp Symonette is located. After that, I got to help their 5 year old daughter with her spelling homework, which was quite interesting. She has slready stolen my heart with her joy and personality! Now I'm back at the camp where I thought that I would be all alone, but I've already spotted many little critters like lizards, frogs, and HUGE cochroaches. I feel relatively fortunate though, because apparently there are tons of teranchalas that like to make themselves comfortable here!

Getting ready to go!

2007-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I have a little less than a month now before I leave for Eleuthera! I'm leaving October 16th and my first stop will be in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I'll have a short layover there, and then fly straight to Eleuthera where Abe (my boss) will pick me up.
In the mean time, I will continue to do some substitute teaching at my old elementary/high school, and help my sister get ready for her wedding!
Let me know if there is anything else you guys want to know about :) I would appreciate all of your prayers.