Bahama Mission
April and May 2000
My schedule has kept me away from the computer much of the time in the past
weeks. I have sent several reports via e-mail, and by the end of this month
will have had the opportunity to visit with all of our supporting
congregations. My schedule has been tighter than at any time in the now more
than eighteen years since we began sharing in the work in the Islands. I
have now passed my 60th Birthday and it seems hard to believe that we will
soon complete two decades of service in the Bahamas. We love the people and
have made the Islands our home. We rejoice that we have been able to have a
small part in the growth of the Kingdom, and thank you for your sacrifices
that have made all of this possible.
Good things are happening on many fronts. All of the congregations are
involved in mission outreach, local evangelism, and spiritual development.
Each week we, "go to the sea", and share in the joy of those who come to the
Lord in Baptism. Special evangelistic efforts and Vacation Bible Schools are
being conducted in various places. More and more individuals and
congregations are involved in the expansion of the Kingdom:
Jack and Donna Steward who have spent time in the Bahamas over many years,
and who have been flying their plane down since Jack retired have bought a
condo in Treasure Cay on the Island of Abaco. They have plans for
establishing a congregation in this major settlement about 20 miles north of
Marsh Harbour.
We are getting good reports from Theo Wier in Bimini, and hope soon to be
able to augment what he is doing in the establishment of a new congregation.
Please keep Theo in your prayers as he struggles alone. My God give the
increase to his efforts.
Harry and Teresa Broadwell of Hot Springs Arkansas are making plans to sell
their business and buy a home on the north end of Long Island. They hope to
spend half of the year helping the Church there, and half the year working
with a children's home in Arkansas. Please remember them in prayer as they
plan this transition.
Mike Gurganius of Tennessee will be down with a group to do a Vacation Bible
School in July in Nassau. We plan to go over and take him and others to
survey an Island where his congregation can focus on building a
congregation.
We are still hoping that the group from Memphis, Tennessee, will fulfill
their plans to build a room on the building for Lincoln Young in Eleuthera.
This has been postponed from the May -June target date. August has now
been suggested.
We are pleased with the repairs that have been done since the Hurricane
damage, and hope that we will be spared serious storms this year so that we
can get things back to normal. Many of you have contributed to helping with
the Hurricane Relief.
We will soon have the first of two large shipments of Bibles ready to
distribute in the Islands and to use in expanding our evangelistic outreach.
Mildred Scarpuzzi of the Gulf Coast Church in Ft. Myers donated a wheel
chair for one of the members at Highbury Park and we were able to fly it to
him.
Bill Love, an elder at Gulf Coast in Ft. Myers came for the long week-end
and did all of the electrical repairs on the building in Marsh Harbour. His
son Brad and friend Jason Smith came from Nashville and Dinah put them to
work painting and hauling trash as she has taken on the project of sprucing
up the interior of the building following the damage last year. Lilla
Strachan and Bernice Brown cooked a number of meals for the men and other
food was donated by townspeople who had no direct contact with the Church.
Cleo Tarver and wife Judy from Conroe, Texas plan to come down and continue
the project by overhauling the bathrooms. Cleo is my brother-in -law and
came and helped get our room livable after Floyd.
In the past two weeks, we have had two baptisms in Marsh Harbour. Canishka
Stuart is a junior at Abilene Christian University. Her mother died when she
was young and her aunt Greta is sending her through college. Doug Evans is
the son-in-law of Telford Roberts who came back to the Church last year and
has had such an influence on his family. He was baptized on a Saturday
afternoon after a period of study. Doug works for one of the banks in Marsh
Harbour.
In recent months we have thanked some of those who worked so hard behind the
scenes to make the work in the Bahamas run smoothly. We talked about the
C.P.A. Danny Osborne, The Eldership, Bob Jacobson and Paul Thomas and the
whole Mission Committee at Gulf Coast in Ft. Myers.
There are three others who spend a lot of hours and energy. Stephen Caldwell
keeps everything running smoothly in the day to day operation. He is one of
the ministers at Gulf Coast. Without his interest and expertise we would be
lost. Two other ladies,Betty Tharp and Georgette Gibboney, keep records up
to date and get out the News Letters and Financial Reports. They have much
to do as secretaries for the Church without all of the extra of Bahama
Mission. We are thankful for all of these wonderful people and the service
they render.
Checks can be made out to:
Bahama Mission Church of Christ and sent:
Attn: David Caskey Missions
Gulf Coast
Church of Christ
3825 McGregor Blvd.
Ft. Myers, Florida 33901
David Caskey
