So, I'll pick up the story at our first trip to Eleuthera, in June of 2012.
We had been saving our money for the trip to Europe so the funds were there for us to spend for this different trip. We wanted a place to relax with beach in walking distance and things to see, like historic sights (always a favorite) We wanted to get some time on the water and we found a place (a villa), Bahamas Breeze, to rent that came with 2 kayaks. It was right at Rainbow Beach and the photos online made the place look very inviting. The people who own the home were in Amherst, MA in the states. A year or so before I had rented a house in Florida through a real estate agency for travel with our student Beate's family so I was more familiar with finding a place this way. I made us feel a little safer in dealing with a foreign country. We spoke to the owner and set the date. We asked lots of questions and used the forum on Tripadvisor to learn as much as we could.
Now, going back to the plans for the Europe tour, we had felt called to make this trip (that was no longer happening) not just about us but, we wanted to take our faith along and do something good along the way. We had hoped to plan a visit to each of our 4 students and include doing some sort of service work in each country. There were to be about 5 days at each stop and one of the days the student was to find a place for us all to do some volunteer work together. Volunteering to service others in need was something relatively new to all of our students. Each one had joined a service club at our US high school or been a part of our church youth group. Most all of them would agree American's really get involved in helping in charity. This dream of serving while on vacation was still foremost on my mind. We decided to try to plan to serve on Eleuthera.
In asking our rental guy about serving he mentioned the caretaker of the his villa (who is also the guy from whom you rent a car) is a preacher at a local church. His name is Mr. Freddie Ferguson. By this time too I had Googled - Eleuthera and Service and came across Bahamas Methodist Habitat. It seemed there was going to be no one at the camp during the time we would be on the island because they were planning to be in Nassau doing work there. It seemed the volunteer work would be on hold.
We had been praying much about this whole trip - we had been hugely disappointed to not have been given the time to go to Europe, we knew soon Mason would be going off to follow his own path, we knew David had been working sooooo many hours and it was time to evaluate what might be coming up next for us.
Mr Ferguson came to pick us up with our car at arrival. He shared about the island as he drove us to the house. We passed the church where he attends. We would be there for 2 Sundays and thought we should go to worship with the local folks.
We don't always attend church on vacation but, this time seemed we should stop in an make some connections. The island being a small place, it's good to know people who may be able to answer questions and show you the good local places to eat. On Sunday morning we attended. There were a few "obviously not local" people too. A family group of 4 people were there too and those at the church knew some of them. A couple a few years older than us and a girl and guy who looked to be 20-something.
We made the most of our vacation. We actually planned to relax. Each morning David and I would get up early (before the heat and the bugs) and meet on the deck for coffee. We had some great talks those mornings. If the weather was good, we walked to the beach. If it seems stormy, we'd try to tour somewhere just for a few hours. Mason spent time in the hammock reading a book - and I read a book too!
One day we drove South, almost as far south as you can go, to tour a place called - Cape Eleuthera Institute. The crazy thing was, here was this family again who we saw in church. We struck up conversation and learned they were from South Carolina and the basic things you learn about people the first time you meet.
The next day we stopped to have lunch at the Laughing Lizard in Gregorytown and we met again. This time just the young couple. We learned she was beginning a new ministry on the island and her fiance was going to be leaving for home like her parents had in the morning.
Now a third time we would meet. I had headed to the beach at Rainbow Bay in the late afternoon the next day - and here was this girl again. This time she had with her a small puppy. We had spoken enough now we knew each other by name. Sarah had just taken in this small island "potcake" and had said good-bye to all of her family to begin the adventure to start a Young Life Ministry to teens. It turns out, she had been to Bahamas Methodist Habitat as a summer intern and came back to follow a call to lead a youth ministry on the island. We knew there was something more that God was working on through all of these brief encounters. I told Sarah, I think we need to invite you over for dinner and so we made plans for her to drive over that evening and we would cook.
We talked about ministry and being called. We shared about our encounters on the island and what life would be like on the island. We talked about BMH and how she had been connected there. Sarah offered to take us to the camp the next morning to show us around - even though no one would be at the camp. We took photos and checked out the place.
Little did we know what an impact this adventure would have on our future...
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