Cliff Jumping Anyone?!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!