Bahamas Missionary Trip

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From: Janet Morrison
Subject: Mission trip update
Hello Parents and pastors of Bahamas mission trip participants.

It is already Monday evening and our first day with the VBS is over.

As you know we arrived Saturday evening. We were met by Pastor Robert McKinney and his brother in law / youth Pastor Des Curling - along with several other members who were helping with our luggage.  All our luggage and boxes were piled into pickup trucks and we piled into a minibus and were taken to the church property. The members had refreshments ready for us and welcomed us. 

The heat and humidity were quite noticeable!     They have two old houses on the church grounds and the guys are staying in one house and the girls in the other.  Cold showers, no a/c but they did provide some fans for us.  We are all sleeping on our inflatable air mattresses on the floor.  With the high humidity it was difficult for many to get to sleep and then we had an early morning Sunday because of the time change - we are 3 hrs ahead of you.  Sunday morning we went to church.  Most found the church service dfferent than they were used to so I am sure they will tell stories about that.  When they get home ask them about about the style of music, the offering and the prayer time.

We are eating all our meals on the church property - several members are cooking  for us.  We get our own breakfast.  Sunday afternoon and evening we spent preparing for the VBS that started today.  Members here had set up their large (200 person) crusade tent on the property and many of the activites take place under it. 

Last night (Sunday) was quite eventful.  We had a huge lightning storm and lots of rain.  Some told us this morning that they hadn't had a storm like it in years.    Whenever we fell asleep a huge thunder bolt would sound and wake us again. Very exciting for a while but it continued until morning so little sleep was had.  Larry and Steven also had an eventful night.  The guys house, being old, had a roof leak, and an acoustic ceiling tile fell down on Larry's face.  He was asleep, got a fright and yelled and flung the tile off himself onto Steven. Needless to say, Steven got a fright as well.  However noone was hurt and it made an amusing story for them to tell this morning!

When we went outside this morning we discovered the large tent had partially collapsed and one of the poles bent from the weight of the rain water on it.    We were able to get it back up again before the members arrived.

The VBS was scheduled for 9 am to 2 pm.  One boy arrived on his bike at 8:30 asking if we were still having it and when we responded yes he said he would go get his cousins.  At 9 am we only had about 30 kids but over the next hour or so the kids kept arriving until by lunch our count was 94 kids. (75% of them Haitian, the other 25% Bahamian)  They have never had that many kids the first day so they are expecting even more tomorrow once the kids go home and tell their friends what they did.

It was quite a chaotic day - as I had expected) because when you cannot get kids to sign up ahead of time you never know how many you will get and what age or sex they will be.  However they team held their own really well even though most were exhausted by 2 pm.  The high heat and humidity and the behavior of the kids was quite exhausting for them.  Many of the Haitian kids don't have supervision at home so don't pay attention or follow instructions well.  They don't stay in groups but wander off.  This we had been warned of.

So once all the kids had gone home we had a 2 hour meeting to debrief and make improvements. The meeting helped perk everyone up as many good suggestions were made and will be implemented tomorrow.  It is easier to plan now that we know how many kids we will have.  Probably tomorrow afternoon we will tell the kids not to bring any new friends the next day as we will not be able to staff it with more kids and we also will not have enough craft supplies etc.

Many are tired because of not enough sleep due to heat/humidity and the LOUD lightning storm last night.  They spent this afternoon preparing and getting supplies ready for tomorrow so that they can go to bed early and get more sleep tonight.   Hopefuly we will not have another loud lightning storm.

............ the power went out here for about 4 hours and I was not able to send the email............

Tuesday morning.

Apparently they have black outs almost every day here.  The water also went off and Ashley was left with shampoo in her hair.  All part of life here on the island!

So after the power went off last night we went to our separate houses for an well needed early night..... only for the girls to find their house infested with flying termites!  The rain had disturbed their nest in the trees above the house and they came in seeking refuge.  This ended up being a blessing for the girls as we then got to sleep in the worship hall for the night.  Not only did we not hear the thunder storm last night because the worship hall is a large building without windows, but also the power came on later in the evening and we had a/c.

So we are looking forward to a good day today.   The kids will arrive about 9am here (6 am in California) Please pray that the weather stays dry during the day and that we can keep them focused and working together within their groups - not wandering off whenever they feel like it. (It is easier to share the gospel with someone who is right in front of you than with someone who wanders off.)

So overall I'd say we have had some good growth experiences so far and I look forward to see what God is doing here. 

Janet

Please see update number 2.  Thank you for your prayers.

From: Bermie Dizon

Thank you Janet!  Hallelujah.  I sent your first email to members in both congregations and I believe it has been sent worldwide.  So, we have lots of people who are praying for you.  God is good.

I am sending this email again so our members will know.  Blessings to you all.

We praise our Lord for the work He is doing in Bahamas.  We praise Him for the enlightenment He brings through the missionaries.

Bermie Dizon

Ps, I miss my kids!

From: Janet Morrison

Subject: 2nd Bahamas mission trip update

Hello again Parents and Pastors

.........Continuing from Tuesday morning:  It was raining at the start of the day so that required us to be under a roof all the time, so the locations for activities had to be adjusted. This turned out to be a blessing, as the kids did not tend to wander off, since they didn't want to get wet. I guess God knows what's best! We had 124 kids, and the day went better than Monday. Several of the Bahamian youth are helping us - some of them helped with the summer school program last year. Some of them are singing and playing with our band, as well.

We had a ministry planning meeting again in the afternoon, and some more good suggestions were made. Some groups spent several hours planning and preparing for the next day's teaching and activities, so it was another long work day.

Mike gave a Bible study that evening for some of the locals, but many of our missionaries had their own studies at the same time.

Lights out was 10 pm, but the lights came back on at 10:45, and there was much banging going on, as the girls were trying to kill the 2 inch long cockroach that had just flown onto Deanna's leg. More fun in the tropics!

Wednesday morning - the guys were awakened, as usual, at 4 or 5 am by the rooster in the chicken coop next to their house. Some of them are learning to sleep through it. Cody can do a pretty good rooster imitation now. Breakfast was a little later today - 8 am, and one of the Bahamian ladies prepared us a common Bahamian breakfast: tuna salad and grits. They put lime in the tuna salad, and that makes it quite nice.

We had some sad news this morning. One of the Bahamian guys helping us was at the beach with his father last night, a fight broke out nearby, and he was stabbed four times and had to go to hospital overnight. He's out today and recuperating. Gillian said we are working in a ghetto area. Life is tough in this neighborhood.

It was hotter today, and there were again 124 kids. Some of yesterday's kids didn't come back (some told us ahead of time that they'd have to work), and some new ones came. The program starts at 9 am, but some come at 8, some come at 8:30, some at 9, and some as late as 11.

It is fairly common that the kids willl argue and even fight with each other. Today one of the boys brought a blade and cut someone else on the hand.  He was sent home and told not to come back.  Gillian is going to really crack down on the trouble makers tomorrow and tell them they can't come back.

The older kids bring their younger siblings and most of them walk in groups to the VBS.  We have to take the youngest children in order for the older children to come, as the older children are the babysitters while parents are at work. 

We are finding that there is not enough time in the day to debrief, do daily devotionals, plan for the next day etc, so tomorrow we will close at 1 pm instead of 2 pm.  Another reason is that the youngest kids are tired and it is too long for them.  We cannot send them home until their older siblings can take them.   They had the program from 9 - 1 pm last year but we were trying to extend it until 2 pm.  Not such a good idea.

Many children live in shacks, have been abused and are already trained in crime by the example they see around them.  Kids will think nothing of picking up something and walking away with it.  If caught they just laugh. It's is a tough community.  But not all the kids here are like that.

Larry had three kids accept Christ today during his message!

That's all for today - who know what tomorrow will bring...

Janet & Mike

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