Bahama Mission
August and September 2000
We have passed the middle point in the Hurricane Season, but still have two
large storms looming in the Atlantic. The people of the Islands will need
another year or two to get back to normal after last year so they do a lot
of praying about the weather. We have done all that we can with the
exception of the windows in the building in Cat Island. I am trying to
arrange my schedule with the one for the repair man in Abaco to be able to
fly him down for a day and night to get that job done. The fruit trees had
very little fruit on them this year, bananas and gardens were destroyed and
many areas are still dead from the salt water that roared across the
Islands. There has not been enough rain to wash the land clean for revival
and planting. This means that many of the poor people and the older people
are suffering as they depend on the land and sea for about 95% of their
food. The lobster season has been the slowest in history and this means that
the economy of the Islands will continue to suffer.
The gas price crisis that all of us are enduring is really cutting into our
budget for flying. We are making fewer trips and trying to conserve as much
as possible. We are now paying $3.55 for gas for the plane and $3.33 for the
cars.
Todd and Jamie Brunner are to be in Abaco on October 2nd to begin their work
with the Marsh Harbour Congregation. We are very excited about their coming
and thankful for the help, as Dinah and I have been stretched pretty thin
this past year or so. We are glad to be able to spend more time in speaking
in the schools and working with the weaker Churches in the various Family
Islands. Our Bibles and 5000 World Bible School Lessons are on location and
being processed.
There are some exciting things happening that we do not always mention.
Delura Mitchell and a group of ladies in Ft. Myers having been taking up a
collection in their Ladies Class and buying very nice Testaments and Bibles
to give to ladies in the Islands who need them. We have been using them as
awards and thus they get an emotional and spiritual lift as well as a
valuable guide to life.
Barbara Maxwell also of Ft. Myers started a Bahama Connection prayer list
for the Ladies to pray for a week for a specific individual in the Islands.
This was then added to the bulletin list so that everyone could share. We
are thankful for all of the blessings that come from our association with
the various congregations and individuals who share in this great and
exciting work for the Lord.
Many of you as individuals and all of you through the supporting
congregations are receiving our e-mail reports that come out as much as
twice a month. These are designed to keep you up to date on things happening
as they happen. If you are not on this list and would like to be, just send
me an e-mail with that request. flyingpreacher@mindspring.com
From time to time we have opportunity to visit with supporting
congregations. This next month, we have been invited to speak in Auburn,
Alabama at their Annual Homecoming. This will be the first time to speak for
this great Church that has been supporting us for some time and has
furnished Bibles, Song Books and Hurricane relief. This week we will be over
with our sponsoring Church in Ft. Myers to meet with the mission committee,
parents and teens who will be doing a V.B.S. in Cat Island next June, and to
speak to the congregation. The association we seek to have with each of you
once a year is a real encouragement to Dinah and me, and builds our
enthusiasm. We are thankful to each of you for your concern, prayers and
sacrifice.
We are pleased with the progress being made with the Church in Long Island.
We are still hopeful that Harry and Teresa Broadwell from Hot Springs,
Arkansas will complete their plans to move to the northern part of the
Island and spend about half of the year. They were on the Island for a week
recently and generated a lot of excitement with the little congregation
there. They need some help as they are isolated from the main stream of
society. We hope to build some classrooms, a bathroom and add to the
building in time. Teresa is a great Bible Class teacher and will have a lot
of influence on the children. We hope that a school bus might be purchased
and they would be able to stop along the way as they travel from the North
to the Central part of the Island and pick up people along the way.
Transportation is a real problem in most of these Islands. Harry could drive
and Teresa could teach as they travel.
Dinah and I are still recovering from the chewing we received from the
mosquitoes during our last visit to the Island. I have never seen mosquitoes
stack up on animals and on arms and legs like they did on this trip. The
locals tell of a Donkey who was covered with about 4 inches of black
mosquitoes, "going overboard". (diving into the sea) They said when he came
up the mosquitoes grabbed him by the ears and hauled him back on the beach.
Dinah was convinced that it was a true story. She said that the little pests
were like something out of a Hitchcock movie.
Work is moving along with the repair work on the building in San Salvador.
The Church in Freeport is doing the lions share of the work on this project.
They send some men down several times a month to work, teach, preach and
worship with the little congregation. This is our youngest congregation and
is a joint effort by all of the congregations in the Bahamas.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Checks for the work can be
made 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
