Bahamas Mission Trip - Day #5 (Thursday, February 3)

Here are the highlights from each day of our Lancaster, Ohio First United Methodist Church Bahamas mission trip to the island of Eleuthera January 30 - February 5, 2011. We partnered with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat mission outreach ministry during the week.

Finished work at house. Doors installed and more drywall completed. At end of workday, we had a circle prayer of blessing with someone from the family who will be living in the house.

Went to Navy Beach on Atlantic Ocean side. Beautiful pink sand beach! I rode the waves for about an hour.

Garnett "Smokey" Thompson - Presentation

Grew up in James Cistern.
Island was poor. Only farming/fishing. Farmed corn, bananas, sugar cane. At 16, started masonry.

US military and space program brought business to the island. Astronauts landed near island from first moon landing.

Today's fishing industry is lucrative.

Eleuthera became independent in 1973.

Bahamas Mission Trip - Day #4 (Wednesday, February 2)

Here are the highlights from each day of our Lancaster, Ohio First United Methodist Church Bahamas mission trip to the island of Eleuthera January 30 - February 5, 2011. We partnered with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat mission outreach ministry during the week.

Day #4 - Wednesday, February 2

Worked at the house and got a lot done - more drywall and door work.

After work, we went to a really nice beach along the Caribbean Sea. I snorkeled for the first time and it was amazing to see such beauty in the water. It was also another incredible sunset.

During the evening, we provided crafts for the Wesley Methodist Church's mid-week children's program. At the end, the children and youth sang for us. The youth rapped a song that they created with the lyrics:

"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, can't you see, every word you speak hypnotizes me."

.

Bahamas Mission Trip - Day #3 (Tuesday, February 1)

Here are the highlights from each day of our Lancaster, Ohio First United Methodist Church Bahamas mission trip to the island of Eleuthera January 30 - February 5, 2011. We partnered with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat mission outreach ministry during the week.

Day #3 - Tuesday, February 1

More of the same work at the house. Our team eats our packed lunch just outside of a primary school. The children join us everyday because this is their lunch time as well. They wear school uniforms, dresses for the girls and dress shirts/pants and ties for the boys. They love to sing to us and ask us to share our favorite songs for them to sing. They mostly sing familiar Christian songs but they also like Justin Bieber! Lunch has become a time to enjoy talking to the children and letting them entertain us. Our time with them often included dancing in the gazebo shelter as they sang and brightened our day.

In the evening, we went to the Wesley Methodist Church bible study. The pastor talked about spiritual gifts and at the end we had the most incredible pineapple cake and lemonade. Walked to a nearby beach along the Caribbean Sea and saw a beautiful clear sky filled with bright stars.

Bahamas Mission Trip - Day #2 (Monday, January 31)

Here are the highlights from each day of our Lancaster, Ohio First United Methodist Church Bahamas mission trip to the island of Eleuthera January 30 - February 5, 2011. We partnered with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat mission outreach ministry during the week.

Day #2 - Monday, January 31

Helped rebuild a house for a family of 7 whose house had burnt down from an electrical fire.

Drywall and installing new windows and doors.

Went to Rainbow Beach on Caribbean Sea side of island. Saw a beautiful sunset.

Heard a presentation on the ministry of Methodist Habitat and the Methodist Church in the Caribbean.

Bahamas Methodist Habitat:

Est. 1992 after Hurricane Andrew.

Methodists in Bahamas come from English Methodists and are not directly connected with the world-wide United Methodist Church.

Started own conference. Wanted to be more congregational focused.

From hurricane relief, went to sub-standard housing relief work.

Camp Symonette Mission and Retreat Center:

Hosts Methodist youth summer camps for conference.

They like to use Mother Teresa's quote - "Come and See." When we "come and see" we are able to see the pain and brokenness and to make a difference in the lives of others through Jesus Christ.

The video shows some of the window work our team did during the first two days.

.

Davie's Deep Thoughts

Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.

Life is confusing enough,
do we need to make it more confusing?

I wake up each day to a world
where the rules are constantly changing.

I can't even get past breakfast
without wondering if I am doing the right things.

Am I eating healthy
or am I chewing myself one step closer to the grim reaper?

Eggs used to be healthy,
then they weren't,
now I think they are again.

Margarine was better for you than butter,
then they turned that around.

I opened the newspaper
and found out that my cell phone
might be radiating waves into my brain.

A commercial on the TV told
me I had better get a radon detector
TODAY.

I turned on the internet and was told
that kittens are dangerous!

It seems that kittens often carry toxiplasmosis,
a parasitic disease,
that is transmitted through fecal material.
It can cause inflammation of the brain,
scarring of the eyes,
and skin lesions.

Let's just call the kitty litter box
deathtrap #471 in my house of horrors.

My inclination was to crawl into bed
and hide under the sheets...
that is, until I learned that certain detergents
can give you a rash.

It takes courage to get up and face the world every day,
let alone make decisions how to live in it.

As I drove to work,
A car passed me going the other direction
driven by a man who was shaving .

Now I consider myself a multi-tasker,
but my anxiety level went up another notch.

Surely when I got to work
I would feel secure and safe......
after all,
I work at a church.

I walked up to the entrance,
when I saw posted on the door....(see picture above)

and I realized that I had left my respirator at home....

Life is confusing,
and conflicting.
At times, do we make is more confusing than it needs to be?

It's hard to know sometimes what is right and what is wrong.....
what is good for you,
and what is bad for you

Some say that people of faith need to live black and white
in a world where it all seems gray.

I say that we need to see the gray in a world
that is forever black and white.

Politics, social topics, religious views.
There are so many things that offer us opposing views
the world is filled with black versus white.
And we are left to choose.

Is there anyone who thinks abortion is always the answer?
Is there anyone who thinks abortion is never the answer?

Should political views need to be to the extreme left or right?
Should Christians agree on all social issues?

Probably not.

The Pharisees made it their life goal to entrap Jesus into black or white answers.
He never fell into that trap.

Nicodemus tried to take spiritual truths
and whittle them down to specific life situations.

Nicodemus wanted to know whether to choose butter or margarine.
But Jesus wouldn't give him a dietary recommendation.

Instead, He gave Him eternal Truth.
Truth that embraces all of life
and reveals itself to all of humanity.
The only thing that Jesus asks for,
is a surrendered heart.

So the next time you need to make a decision,
about your breakfast,
about your choice of pets,
about your vote in a political election,

remember,
it's not so much about the choice you make,
as it is about who is guiding you in your choosing.

I need to get my respirator,
so I can get back to work.

If you abide in My word,
the, you are true disciples of mine;
and you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31b-32

.

Bahamas Mission Trip - Day #1 (Sunday, January 30)

Here are the highlights from each day of our Lancaster, Ohio First United Methodist Church Bahamas mission trip to the island of Eleuthera January 30 - February 5, 2011. We partnered with the Bahamas Methodist Habitat mission outreach ministry during the week.

.

(Day #1) Sunday, January 30

We left a wintry mix day in Ohio at 3 A.M. to drive to Columbus to make our 5:30 A.M. flight to the Bahamas. Landed in Nassau and spent a couple of hours in the bright mid 70's sun. Took a short plane ride to the island of Eleuthera where we met our mission host team.

From northern part of island where we landed, they drove us about an hour to our mission camp site. Along the way, we stopped at Glass Window Bridge, the most narrow land mass in the world with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the west. What a beautiful view!

After dinner which included their famous Conch(pronounced "conk") shell fish, we were told about our mission for the week - to help rebuild a house that had been destroyed by a fire for a seven member family.

.

Sunday Worship Preview - February 13

February 13 - (8:15 A.M. & 11:00 A.M. Traditional Services & 9:45 A.M. Praise Service) & Wednesday, February 16 (6:30 P.M. Casual Service @ Crossroads, 2095 Fair Avenue)

Sermon - "Movie Month: The Enchanted Cottage"

Features - 6th Sunday After the Epiphany

Scripture - I Samuel 16:2-12 & Isaiah 53:1-7

Theme - Starring Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire, this 1945 movie classic involves a war pilot who is disfigured by war wounds and hides from his family because he is ashamed of how he looks. While renting a cottage, he develops a relationship with a shy young woman and together they discover a love that is deeper than what either of them could have ever imagined. “The Enchanted Cottage” is a movie that will help us think about how God’s love is the deepest kind of love there is.
.