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Emily and I had such a wonderful time in our last visit to Eleuthera. It was probably the best trip to the island yet. Although our time was extremely packed with our goals for the trip, we found that amazingly we fit everything into our schedule and then some.
Perhaps the largest blessing we had was our time of fellowship with the Foxes as they graciously allowed us to stay in their spare room. We were always friends with Brad and Alicia, but this trip allowed us to really get to know one another better and discover that we all have similar philosophies of ministry for the Training Center and CMA.
We also were privileged to spend some quality time with Teaching Coordinator Dave Hawkins. He and I have e-mail and talked on the phone frequently, but this was our first time to really fellowship together. Dave has some extremely insightful thought on both the teaching and training of Bahamians, and also the future of Caribbean Ministries. We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with Dave.
Our overall time with the missionaries was simply wonderful and refreshing. It’s so great when your prayers are answered, and you see how God has sovereignly arranged for His exactly gifted servants to “fill-out” His team for His mission. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with Brad, Alicia, Tristan (the Foxes’ little boy), Dave, and the Weinbergers.
Next, our time with our Bahamian friends was incredibly encouraging. Not only did each of them remember us, but we were frequently invited over for lunches, dinners, and even sleep-overs. It seemed that had we an entire month on the island, we still wouldn’t have had time to squeeze in all invitations from Bahamians.
I had the privilege of seeing my good friend Mono again; he was one of the guys who I had been discipling each summer I spent in Eleuthera. Mono has been through some extremely difficult times, and his journey towards maturity is filled with distractions and failures. It seems that each time I return to Eleuthera, Mono has another major crisis in his walk with the Lord.
This trip too revealed a chance for me to minister to Mono. Mono has little baby girl with his girlfriend, and during the week of our visit, Mono was unexpectedly shunned and rejected by his girlfriend’s family from serving as his baby’s father. Mono knows that he has made mistakes, but he genuinely wishes to get straight – yet it seems the whole world is against him. I was thankful to serve as sounding board and voice of discretion for my friend, and it is my prayer that the Lord would use these trials to draw Mono back to Himself.
Our other encounters with our Bahamian friends was less dramatic, yet equally rewarding. We were able to see Leige again, and had a sweet reunion with him again. Additionally, all the old friends from the basketball court were frequently greeted, along with the traditional regulars of Billy and Brenda, Wade and Tammy, Horatio, Jared, Bernadette, and Tracy… I could go on and on.
Finally, our trip was successful in that we accomplished our goal. This trip was focused around getting enough video footage to create a promotional video and DVD to send to our contacts for the purpose of raising support. And I’m thankful to report I’ve got around 8 hours of video which I will spend the next year trimming into around 15 minutes!
Thank you to everyone who was praying for our trip. We could certainly feel the Lord’s hand of direction and protection as we ministered.