I am surprised to realize it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  My apologies.  I will definitely post more often.  They may be shorter.  (Probably a good thing.)

Last week we lived with weather associated with Beryl.  It was 6 days of rain of various intensity.  No real stormy weather, though.  The laundry I did Saturday a week ago hung on the lines for a week and didn't dry until last Saturday.  I had hoped to visit Harbour Island last week, but the weather changed that plan.  The only real impact has been that I now have 2 bookmarks in my computer for NOAA storm tracking and Caribbean weather updates.

I worshipped at Governors Harbour Methodist this last Sunday.  It was a wonderfully familiar spirit.  The congregation was relatively small.  All the folks that were there are related, neighbors, or both.  They were very warm and hospitable in their welcome, eager to introduce themselves and their families.  The preacher was Martin Gaitor, who is a lay speaker from this congregation.  I met him after the service, and was pleased to know that he was instrumental in the beginnings of Methodist Habitat 20 years ago.  He is very well connected throughout the Methodist church on the island.  I believe that our paths will cross many times.

I went out to eat Sunday dinner.  At the restaurant, I saw a member of the Rotary Club who has been supportive of the work at Zion Children's Home.  She was asking about the progress because she intends to donate 4 original pieces of artwork by a local artist for the first cottage.  I am very excited about this, because the woman is an interior designer and does beautiful work.  I believe this will be a gift to the children of Zion Home in a lot of ways.

Monday was a holiday here in the Bahamas.  It was an occasion to see some of the cultural differences between North America and the "family islands" of the Bahamas.  Monday was not Memorial Day here.  It was the Monday after Pentecost -- Whit Monday.  It is a holiday here as it is in many churches and cultures outside of North America -- like Easter Monday and the day after Christmas.  And the holiday is a time to be with family and friends like anywhere -- the beach, the cooking, catching up with family, and a fair share of parties.  If you wanted some fresh snapper for the grill, it was available right here on the dock in James Cistern.

They spent about 3 hours out fishing.  In the boat you see behind him.  The boat comes in, the fish are cleaned, the word spreads, and those who want have fish.  Remarkably simple and efficient, in spite of what my eyes must surely not see.

I met John Baldwin, pastor at Harbour Island, yesterday.  Abraham took us all out surfing.  It was great to meet John.  We have already planned for some work and additional conversation when I move to the North Eleuthera area.  As for the surfing, well, we will see.  I rode the board on my belly for a few yards.  Definitely not a surfer, but any exercise is the surf is a good fatigue.

Grace and peace

The peace of Christ.

The past week has been good and full here at Camp Symonette.  I did some repair work on one of the buses.  And I prepared a list of materials needed to ventilate the attic crawl spaces in the three wings of the main building and improve room ventilation in the dorm areas.  A supporter in Manassas, VA, is a mechanical contractor and is getting  information on cost and availability for these materials so that we can schedule this project.  But most of my work has been preparing for the electrical service change here.  The design work for the service change has been a bit of a moving target, but the corrections and adjustments tend to be relatively minor.  One larger change, and bit of good news, is that the kitchen is going to be completely remodeled.  That recent bit of information has to be figured into my plans.  But still no major problem.

We are also planning the service change to accommodate a renewable energy system using solar modules and wind power.  Renewable energy systems are not as prevalent as you might imagine in this climate.  There are many details that will need to be considered to make this project happen successfully.  Abraham McIntyre is the executive director of Bahamas Methodist Habitat.  He and I went to the south end of the island yesterday to visit The Island School and the Cape Eleuthera Institute.  These adjacent campuses are excellent examples of sustainable and renewable energy installations in the Bahamas.

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The facilities manager Geoff Walton gave me a tour of their campuses and provided a wealth of information about installing and maintaining solar and wind power systems on Eleuthera.  The photo shows both a pole mounted solar array and a roof mounted array on the boat house of The Island School.  The school also has a wind generator mounted on a 100 foot tower in the middle of the campus.  There are numerous practical reasons for using renewable energy sources such as energy costs and reliability.  The larger concern for BMH is faithful stewardship.  We are praying that with the use of renewable energy, BMH will be able to operate with more responsible stewardship, both financially and ecologically.  The financial side of this is familiar work for all ministries -- to reduce recurring overhead costs in order to increase the money available for direct ministry.  We are also hoping to create a campus environment that honors God's creation and exists in cooperation with the natural order.

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A mission team from Wake Forest, NC, arrives tomorrow for a week of service work here at BMH.  I will be working along side one work crew on a house that I first worked on in February.  The week ahead will include that project in addition to the camp projects I have mentioned already.

I covet your prayers as I pray for all of you who are supporting this work.  Grace and peace in this celebration of Christ's ascension: "Why are you staring into the sky?  There is work to be done!"

It is Sunday, May 13. Happy Mother's Day. This celebration is no less substantial in the Bahamas than it is in West Tennessee. And rightly so. At Wesley Methodist Church in James Cistern, the worship was centered on a celebration of Mothers. So much so that all the men, including first time visitors, were seated (escorted) up front on the chancel as an all men's choir for the women.

I spent the day Friday with Gene Zimmerman making a few more introductions. Specifically, I spent several hours at Spanish Wells meeting members of that congregation. Our earlier conversations had indicated that there would be little opportunity at this time to work with the Spanish Wells Methodist Church. So, I was a bit surprised when Gene said that he had scheduled an appointment for me to meet the “Pulpit Committee.” That would be Dr. Phil Pinder.

We met Phil at his office at the church while he was preparing worship for Sunday. We had a very enjoyable conversation, that seems to have made a favorable impression. Phil is arranging an opportunity for me to lead one of their Tuesday evening prayer meetings. This would be very familiar to those of you who have attended Wednesday evening prayer meetings in Southern Protestant churches. He assured me there would be an opportunity for me to “speak” to the congregation. There is also a possible opportunity to lead Sunday worship at the end of June. I believe that these connections will give us the chance to discern the nature of this opportunity.

I invite your prayers for my connection to Spanish Wells. As I told Phil, it is important that my work be undertaken in response to God's invitation. It is the clarity of that invitation that I desire.

Friday evening brought me to Bahamas Methodist Habitat's Camp Symonette in James Cistern. I will be working here at BMH for a couple of weeks. This is also a change in sequence, because Osbourne Weech has taken his wife to Florida for medical treatment. He will not be on site at Zion Children's Home for two weeks. I expect to join him at Current at that time.

Saturday was a day of settling into things here. Finding my way around James Cistern, I even got to watch the local softball team in action. BMH has provided me a comfortable room that is not a dormitory space. The room even has its own shower. Little matter that the shower is outdoors. These accommodations are wonderfully sufficient. And I will have the blessing of living as a part of the BMH community during these two weeks.

I am well settled, and I begin work on the electrical service change and rewiring project Monday.

Grace and peace,

I am on Eleuthera, thanks to a lot of you.  I am having more difficulty getting this blog posted than I had getting to Eleuthera.  Today is a day for some new things.  My small plane experience has been primarily taking off and landing at the same airport.  Not today.  Thanks to Steve Merritt of Bahamas Habitat, it was wheels up at 8:30 am near Raleigh,NC, and touch down at 2:25 this afternoon at North Eleuthera Airport, with a mid way stop in Orlando, FL.

My thanks to Rev Gene Zimmerman who joined us in Orlando.  Gene invited this ministry into existence, and he is accompanying me on this first weekend.  And my thanks for the support of First UMC, Jackson, TN.  And special thanks to just about everybody who even knows about this blog, for your prayerful and financial support.

I am on Eleuthera, and we spent most of this day delivering and relocating materials and tools and people in preparation for the work that is ahead.  It was good to reconnect with many of the people with whom we will be working, and to revisit places where we will be working.

Osbourne Weech met us at the airport.  Osbourne is the local pastor in Current and the construction foreman for the Zion Children's Home.  The Children's Home was our first stop.  Earmily Munroe and Geleta Tournquest, the visionaries behind ZCH, were proud to show us one cottage completed.  It lacks only minor finishes before it can become the home of a new family of children.  The second cottage still needs a couple of weeks of construction work before it is ready for furniture, finishes, and children.

Next, we went to Bahamas Methodist Habitat's Camp Symonnette.  We were delighted to see the staff and to share a meal, together with two work teams who are finishing their weeks of service with BMH.  The director of BMH, Abraham McIntyre, will be returning this weekend from a month of intensive pilot training.  He and I will be taking the first steps in a project that includes an electrical service change, upgrade, and complete rewiring of the Camp Symonnette facility.

Tomorrow, Gene Zimmerman and I will have a couple of meeting that will begin to shape the pastoral dimension of my work.  Mid day we will meet Mr Phil Pinder, who is the lay leader of the Methodist Church in Spanish Wells.  Later in the afternoon, we will meet with Rev John Baldwin, who is the elder serving Harbor Island Methodist Church, and the elder appointed to the North Eleuthera Methodist circuit.  These conversations will clarify something of the scope and possibility of the work that will be focused in the congregations.  This is a very exciting aspect of this ministry's potential.

Tonight we are resting in the Methodist manse on Harbor Island.  It has been a very good day.  We are under way.  Thank you.  Thanks be to God.

Grace and peace.