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We had an amazing trip to Freeport with our friends and co-missionaries Brad and Alicia Fox. Our trip was only 3 days long, but we had one of the fullest schedules yet on a trip in the Caribbean. Our main goals were to 1st research possible housing and real estate options and 2nd to get a feel for the nature and culture of Freeport in terms of ministry potentials.
You see CMA has the long term goal of reaching all of the islands possible in the Caribbean with Christian education and Pastoral Training. As a ministry, we have spent years on the island on Eleuthera beginning the paradigm of training national pastors and church leaders in a comparable associate’s degree curriculum through 10 core classes.
Now we’ve reached an expansion point in the ministry, and during this exciting time we have sensed a leading to the island of Grand Bahama to begin another Training Center there. We’ve been praying about which location we would be sent to since April, and we can finally say that following God’s provision we’re committing to going to Freeport.
And so this trip was the first step in exploration of serving the ministry as full time missionaries on another island. Very exciting… also a little scary. You see we have been preparing for Eleuthera for years, and after this trip it is clear – Grand Bahama is much different than Eleuthera! On the first morning when we arrived, I got up before the sun and walked around the town. It was so different.
Ultimately, what I experienced was a bit of backwards culture shock. Rather than having to cope with less than preferable living conditions, Freeport (in comparison to Eleuthera) has an economic infrastructure much like America. There were fast food joints, and working stop lights, a shopping center, and options for internet, cable TV, and cell phone service. These can be huge benefits for us in ministry, and it can make living and serving there much easier.
After spending the day hustling around the island and learning more than I can write down, I got over much of my culture shock, and I began imagining all the ways this new cultural dynamic can be helpful. Unfortunately, the cost of living in Freeport is the same as in Eleuthera, even though they do have more American amenities.
We had a great time with Brad and Alicia and their baby boy Tristan. They are dear friends and we’re so thankful to be able to work them in ministry. We traveled to dozens of apartments, duplexes, and condos, researching what it might cost to live there and it turns out that its only roughly about 20-30% more than what we have in the States. We also got to meet a few of the pastors and locals on the island, and everyone was excited to hear about the CMA’s involvement in serving the churches.
The morning that we left Brad shared with us a devotional he had read. Brad’s devotional spoke to the heart of foreign missions; that it isn’t motivated by a necessity to impress man’s expectations, but rather it is done in obedience to Christ. One line from it read, “In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus.” Thus, foremost we are obedient to be missionaries, not because of need, but because of being sent. We’re so thankful for how the Lord keeps us in His provision and His Spirit patiently motivates us by His Mission.