The Least of These

     Who are we called to help? Is it only for those who can help themselves?
     We hope that everyone wants to do better and help themselves. But what do you do about those who need so much help because they are overwhelmed with their troubles?

Van's home at the start of the week

     Van lives in Rock Sound not far from the office of Social Services.

     His community is rather small. And by community, I don't mean the settlement of Rock Sound, which is a substantial size settlement for the island. By Van's community, I mean the people who interact with him regularly. He lives alone right in town. Next door to a ministry and an empty lot. He has neighbors to the back of the property who are Haitian. His Haitian neighbor, Gloria, is about the only person we encountered who checks in on him. Many people who might be in Van's community, I imagine, have been shut out over the frustration of Van's lifestyle.

     Van spends most of his days and nights in a drunken stupor. There is no nice way to say Van is a drunk. He is known to the broader community this way and so most people have given up bothering with him. In his drunken state he is not always a happy man. Sometimes he is angry and complains in his loud slurred speech. Sometimes he is quiet and sad, mumbling to himself. Other times he seems joyful to talk to someone (anyone).

     We may not be able to change Van's life by adding on a bathroom to the home and providing water to his home. We may not be able to change Van's life by fixing his shutters, giving his home a fresh coat of paint and shoring up the foundation of his porch. 

     It may encourage the community around him to see that God cares for even the least of these so maybe there will be others who will not be afraid to get involved or to care for Van's needs even as he continues to struggle with his addiction.

Van's home at the end of the week

Culture and The Word

     We saw a couple entering the store at The Bluff yesterday dressed in plain clothing. Yes, the woman was wearing a prayer covering and the man a straw hat. She wore a simple dress and he was wearing suspenders. I had to take a second to remember I was not back in Lancaster County.

I could not help myself. I had to know if they were Mennonite or some Amish sect and how they came to be on Eleuthera. So, I chased them down inside the store.

     I asked about where they were from and what faith they followed. Turns out they have chosen to lead a life very similar to the Mennonites who live on Abaco. She was a Bahamian born and raised on Spanish Wells and he had a lived in the states. I shared how I was from Lancaster and familiar with “plain” cultures. (we even spoke about Brethren heritage) We didn't share the whole history of how they came to practice their faith in this way but, neither of them had been raised “plain”.

Then he began to question me about why I didn't follow their ways. He asked me why I didn't wear a prayer covering.

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 11:5-7 Common English Bible (CEB)

⁵ Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head. It is the same thing as having her head shaved. ⁶ If a woman doesn't cover her head, then she should have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have short hair or to be shaved, then she should keep her head covered.⁷ A man shouldn't have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is man’s glory.

     OK, so where do you go with that? I didn't bring my covering along – but I do have one. (I don’t know if there are many of us who still do) It’s been tucked away as a memory of baptism. I wore it to Love Feasts as a teen. After college it seemed the tradition just dropped off for many Brethren congregations.

     Paul wrote so many things which are attached to culture, especially when it comes to women. When I read the whole comment in 1 Corinthians I’m not sure I would agree we should be interpreting the importance of covering your head. I think it is the opposite. I think Paul’s statement here is more about, why is this a subject to argue over – cover or not to cover.

How many times do we use our current culture as an excuse for how we behave?

Everyone has it – so I should too. Everyone does it – so I can too.

Culture meets The Word – every day.

What do we choose to follow in the Bible and what do we choose to follow in our culture?

I don't think we are much different as humans from the times of Paul's writing. Everyday we have to ask ourselves, who's culture do I follow - popular culture? 

the culture of the region where I live? 

the culture of my family? 

the culture of my faith? 

I want to follow first my Christian culture. I am called to love. I am called to care. I am called to be honest and truthful. I am called to pray and take my concerns to God. I am called to not be jealous or rude or easily annoyed. (see 1 Corinthians 13)

We may debate what that means for every day life but, I think of the Christian Culture as one of love above all else. 

Photo Montage of what's been happening at Camp Symonette lately

 Just wanted to share a few photos of the events which have been taking place at Camp.
We hosted a group of school children from Freeport, Grand Bahamas for Easter weekend and they joined us for the Easter Egg Hunt Festivities on Saturday.

starting line for the Easter egg hunt

GO!!!!!!

Dancing in the Dining Hall

Easter Kite Flying

The Gary London Building is finally being installed after years of setting in the field.

Team Work to move the steel

The teams from Union Hill UMC in Georgia and from Pensacola Florida helped to get things started. 

The Landscape begins to change at BMH

 Mark the welder who joined Ed to Help

TJ at the peak

David and Ed Hutter who came to help put up the building frame,

More photos to come!

Water, Water, Everywhere but not a Drop to Drink

     We are surrounded by water. (of course, we are on an island). The colors of the sea here are amazing, from a deep deep navy blue on the open Atlantic side to the almost teal tones on the leeward side. When the sun shines bright and billowing white clouds pass overhead the turquoise color of the sea is even reflected on the bottoms of white clouds. Water, drinking water that is, appears to have no color at all until you contain gallons and gallons of it.

     The original inhabitants of the island were able to find fresh water to survive. I don't know if they collected the water when it rained or if there is another source they found. The first settlers who came to Eleuthera were from Bermuda where there is no fresh water source except rain water.

     Today, most all of the water used on the island for preparing food and drinking is desalinized and purified water. We purchase all of our bottled water from "Lutra" located in Hatchet Bay. Every day we send our volunteer work crews out with 10 gallons of water. (they don't always use every drop) Some times we have 3 or 4 crews at working at different sites. In addition, we need bottled water for cooking and drinking when everyone is back at camp. We refill our 5 gallon water jugs for $5 a bottle. Just about every day we have to make a run to D&D Service Station (Miss Lee's Cafe) to purchase our water. In an average week we go through about $300 of water

     The tap water we use can come from the public water desalinized in Governor's Harbor or the large cistern we have on property (about the size of an Olympic swimming pool with a roof over top). The cistern collects the rain water from the roof of the camp building. The camp just refurbished the gutters and got the cistern system collecting again. For the few months we have been here we have been connected to the public water source because our cistern was too low.

     Fortunately, a few good down pours and the cistern got a major boost. Turns out it was extraordinarily timely because currently - the public water system in central Eleuthera is not functioning.

     Over the weekend we had a thunder storm and the word on the street is lightening damaged one of the two pumps used to get the water throughout the region.
     Not all home have cistern water to turn to. Folks are scrambling to find a good source of water to shower and flush toilets. Even at camp we are conserving more. No doing laundry and really short showers. Public water costs about 3 times what we pay in the US per gallon.

     Tonight would be our Love Feast service back home. (Maundy Thursday) This is a Brethren tradition where we remember the meal Jesus shared with his disciples before he was arrested by the authorities. We use water, as Jesus did with his disciples, to wash the feet of our brothers and sisters at the table with us. In His example, Jesus, knelt down, took a basin and towel and washed the feet of the men he had been leading and training. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords - humbly did a simple task to care for His spiritual brotherhood and teach them how to serve each other. These same men, only hours later, would in the near future both deny and leave him.

     In the Love Feast washing feet is a symbol of humble service to our community of fellow believers.

     Water is something we take for granted. We expect it to be there for us ready to use, ready to refresh, ready to cleanse.
     Do we treat the Holy Spirit the same way sometimes? We know God is with us everyday, all of the time, ready and waiting to hear our prayers, praise and adoration. God is there ready to refresh us and to cleanse us. Do we turn to God only when our need is great? Are we complacent in our faith? Will the water of our faith run dry? Do we know the refreshment of the Holy Spirit and do we long for it? Have you a well-spring of God within you? Is the Holy Spirit filling the cistern of your soul? Don't wait for times of need and sorrow and fear - let God's love and peace refresh you daily.

God Bless Kent

Knowing your gifts and talents

     There are 349 times the NRSV translation of the Bible uses the word wisdom. Many times, about 50, it appears in the book of Proverbs.

     It is good to have Knowledge but Wisdom is better. I think of Wisdom as the best use of all of your knowledge. Just knowing a lot of stuff may help you in a game of JEOPARDY but, it takes a wise player to score the most points to win the game. Wisdom is the timely use of what you know and the place where experience meets the lessons learned.

Kent - far left wearing a hat

     Back in February we greeted out first team of volunteers. Among them was a gentleman who approached me right after arrival to let me know his particular gifts and talents.

     Kent was here with a group of people going through pastoral training within the Methodist church. Part of the requirements to complete the program is to go on a mission trip. It doesn't matter if they are going into caregiving ministry or youth ministry or some other ministry, to be (what Brethren would call) “ordained” they must be a part of a mission trip.

     Kent is a tall slender man with a gentle scholarly look about him.

     He walked quite directly toward me and shared something like the following:

“I can help in building and I can swing a hammer but, I was an IBM’er for 25 years and so if you have any need for someone to help you repair computers or electronic equipment, I may be more useful doing that then working on a job site.”

(IBMer – means he worked at IBM in Atlanta)

In the Camp Symonette Dining Hall - David, Kent and Claudette at the end of the week.

The North Georgia Methodist Conference Team

     WOW, that was just what we needed. Our BMH office had a stack of donated computers which needed updates on software and someone to take the time to check them out. It also had been that the WiFi connection had been limited and the only strong access point for our computer was in the office space on the second floor. Our little “apartment” had an Ethernet cord which was not connected or being used at all and the dining hall router was weak at best.

     Kent gathered a team of a few other volunteers, (most who had also spent some time working in IT) and they went to work that very night.

     By the end of the week all of our computers were running or deemed repairable and David and I had our own router connected in our room so we could access the internet from anywhere in the camp. (they found the router unused in a cabinet and fished a wire to connect our Ethernet wire)

     What a Blessing!

     Had it not been for this team, at this time (so early in our stay here) and Kent’s wisdom to share what his talents and skills are – well, I’m not sure where we would be today. This type of talent and skill does not come to the island every day.

     Knowing who you are, knowing who God made you to be, and following your heart to share with others your particular skills and talents – This is TRUE WISDOM.

     Having knowledge is good – but Wisdom is a treasure.

Biblegateway – Wisdom - https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=wisdom&qs_version=NRSV&limit=500

Quick Post

Just a few words to describe my week which I shared on facebook.

Really, it's not all sunsets and beaches here. Last week I wiped the drool from the face of a deeply hurting man who was too inebriated to know he was drooling. I worked beside a man who had humbly asked complete strangers for a job and by the end of the week he was another loved member of our team. I shared life with a team of loving people who embraced sleeping on air mattresses and taking cold showers. I am blessed to know both the beauty and the hardship of my island home.

Van

Van's room

Simon on his first day working with us

Simon and the whole team on excursion day

Just another Beautiful Day

Fog over the Salt Pond before the dune and the sea

Mission Teams are coming to camp regularly now. We have usually two weeks on and a week of prep in between. So far we have hosted teams from North Georgia, Vermont, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. (I still need to get used to yes ma'am and no ma'am)

This morning, since the clocks sprang forward, our teams are up in time to see the sunrise. 
You have to make an effort to look for it though. The building is not situated in a way to make it a focal point. As you walk to the dinning hall for breakfast you can miss it because it's behind you.

As we gathered in the dinning hall for breakfast I noticed the orange glow streaming through the screen door on to the white table cloth at the buffet table. (Miss Pauline always serves us on a nicely set table) I got excited to follow the stream to peer out the door and see the color and rays just beyond the waving palm trees. I invited a few other volunteers to look through the doorway too. With a sigh one said, "Just another beautiful day."

It is beautiful! I am so blessed to be able to see it and witness it in person. How many sunrises and sunsets do we miss in our lives because we are too focused on the things and the stuff of life.

"Just another Beautiful Day"

It made me think about the work "just" though. So, I looked it up and "just" can be used in several ways and have very different meanings.

1.exactly.

"that's just what I need"

synonyms:

exactly, precisely, absolutely, completely, totally, entirely, perfectly,utterly, wholly, thoroughly, altogether, in every way, in every respect,in all respects, quite; More

o    exactly or almost exactly at this or that moment.

"she's just coming"

2.very recently; in the immediate past.

"I've just seen the local paper"

synonyms:

a moment ago, a second ago, a short time ago, very recently, not long ago, lately, only now "I just saw him"

3.barely; by a little.

"inflation fell to just over 4 per cent"

synonyms:

by a narrow margin, narrowly, only just, by inches, by a hair's breadth,by the narrowest of margins; More

4.simply; only; no more than.

"just a bad day in the office"

synonyms:

only, merely, simply, but, nothing but, no more than; More

o    really; absolutely (used for emphasis).

"they're just great"

I have had issue with the word "just".

I think sometimes we use it like the third or forth meaning "barely; by a little"; "only or merely". For a sunrise - just another - should not be so ho-hum, so meaningless, so many we barely notice them because we have one every day.

I want to use my "just" as in the first meaning - precisely, absolutely, completely, totally, entirely, perfectly. Like the expression exclaims: "THAT JUST HAPPENED!"

Because God gave me this day, I want to use it to help, do good, and bring peace to the world.

I want to say: "Just (absolutely, completely, perfectly) Another Beautiful Day!"

Bahamian Langauge

Found this info on a website:
Althought there is no language barrier between the English speaking world and Bahamians, there are plenty of Slang words tossed around that you might want to be familiar with. Bahamian slang is intermingled with american English as well as British words and slang. A very colorful and interesting sound. Please note that these slang language is also widely spoken in the Turks & Caicos Islands, neighbors of the Bahamas.
argie: to argue
back-back: to go in reverse (Pronounced wewoise) in a car
big-eyed: greedy
biggety: anything bold, brassy, and boastful
big up: Pregnant
boonggy: rear end or hind quarter ; considered a national word
bound: constipated
break: without money (broke)
bright: light complexion
buck up: to crash, as in car
bungy: alternative pronouncement to boonggy
bust-up: badly drunk or intoxicated
calm head: smooth hair in a female
camolly: lump, or bruise
conch: large mollusk; considered to be an aphrodesiac; national food
cowboy: to take an abbreviated bath, without getting in the bath.
cut hip: to give a beating
dead: used as an adjective to intenisfy anything ("dead" ugly)
duff: boiled, fruit-filled dough; a national desert, much loved,with a rum flavored sauce
fast: describes someone who steals, or cannot mind their own business
general: form of address from man to man
gin up: to screw up, mismanage
high: bad smell
hurt: to put a hex on
jack: friend
jam up: to crowd
jumbey: spirit
leg short: arrived too late
long out: to pout
lover: generic name for all Haitian males
low fence: someone that is easy to take advantage of
mashup: smash up a car in an accident
muggage up: to beat up
picky head: short, thin hair pucketery: in a jam, or quandary
purge: to vent rage
quarm: to walk in an affected way
reach - to arrive (as in.. he not reach yet)
shuttail: without pants
sip sip: gossip
show sef: show off
spilligate: to go out on the town
stiff-toe gang; rigor mortis, or to die
sweetheart: affair
tarpree: low class, gullible; like "low fence"
terreckly: soon, from 'directly'
tote news: to gossip

Popular Sayings
“Don’t let your mout (mouth) carry you where your foot can’t bring you back from”

Prickles of Life

Here on the island the grass is very different than at home. Most of it is tough and sort of weedy. There is something which grows in the grass here that produces seeds that are sharp and stick to you, what I would call a "burr”. I asked what they would be called on the island and Miss Pauline told me they are “prickles.”

They stick to your shoes, the hem of your jeans. Before I wash the laundry I find myself checking for prickles because they will transfer from the jeans to the towels and sheets. I have found it is not fun to find a prickle in your bed at night.

Sugar (our dog) gets the prickles in her fur and we need to check her for the things before they get matted and close to her skin. She gets them in the pads of her paws too.

So prickles are just something we are going to have to live with. They are here. They have been here and people on the island have been living with them for years. At home we would spray something or groom the yard to get rid of the prickles. Here, prickles are just accepted and maybe almost anticipated.

We each have our own prickles. The things that bother us. The things of life that get under our skin and rub us the wrong way. These may be things we face every day. Prickles are things we just can’t change right now. We can anticipate that they are to come. We can understand they will come.

What does God have for us in the “prickles of life” ?

It reminds me of verses from James 1:

² When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

⁵ If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

⁹ Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. ¹⁰ And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.¹¹ The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

¹² God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

All in a Weeks Work

Just sharing a few photos from our first weeks here and what we have been doing.

We made soup for the team 

In the photo: KP, TJ, David, Linda, Sheleah, and Tori

No Weis market here - and this is not from home. The store in Governor's Harbor uses their bags this week.

Work Days

The following was written for our church newsletter - but it didn't make it in on time. (because I didn't email it when I should have)
I still wanted to share it though...

We look at the calendar and we can hardly believe that we have been on Eleuthera just a month. Time has been just flying by because we have so much we have been doing. We are settled in to our home. It’s just a 12x12 room with an attached powder room and outdoor shower.

We live at Camp Symonette which is in the settlement of James Cistern (everyone calls it JC for short). JC is one of the poorer communities on the island. The school is small and there are limited jobs in the town. The people here are very friendly and love to joke and laugh, you just have to start the conversation. It is expected that you will beep or wave at everyone as you drive down the road.

 

My current job is to host the teams who come in to serve for a week. I work with the kitchen staff and the team leaders and make sure our volunteers are taken care of. Each week a new team of volunteers arrives to serve in the community in building projects. I lead the teams in orientation and explain the work for the week. The teams all take part in helping out with the chores, doing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms and caring for the chickens and the garden. I do everything from cleaning rooms to baking a cake for a volunteer’s birthday and even act as the tour guide for excursion day when we take the teams to see more of Eleuthera.

David’s work is to keep the supply bus (an old bus in the back of the back parking lot) organized and to do maintenance work around the camp. The camp has not had a long term volunteer dedicated to doing just camp maintenance so there are a lot of small project which need to be completed. He works with the construction manager and the staff project leaders (all of whom are Bahamian). He’s helped to repair the rainwater collection system, tiled a floor and helped to install two newly donated air conditioning units in the second floor office. Last week our 120 gallon hot water heater failed, and so he’s got one more thing to add to the list.

David and I also get to reach out to the local community too. This week we took the afternoon to go to the primary school field day and cheer on the local youth as they ran in their track and field events. The kids love to have visitors. We plan to have photos from the day on our blog.

 

 

 

We are meeting so many interesting people who come to volunteer. Retired businessmen in their 70’s who come to work, retired IBM employees who helped to improve and repair our camp computers, a week of pastors who came to complete training to become “elders” in the Methodist church.

We know you are praying for us because God has been with us through this transition. 

Please continue to remember us and the work we are doing to improve the lives of others.  I look forward to telling you more about the families who are being helped by BMH through improving their housing conditions. Right now our focus is helping the people who come to serve. We are so blessed to have your continued prayers. Please continue to pray and take care of Mason! We are so grateful too for your continued thoughts and prayful support for our parents – Ron and Joan Yunginger, as Ron faces battling with cancer.