After starting our last day on the island with another INCREDIBLE breakfast at the buffet, it didn’t take us long to hear that, in fact, Michael Jackson HAD passed away. I feel like i need to share this with you because it’s been the talk of EVERYONE on the island – every radio station, every conversation, every newspaper story – you get the idea. We’re hoping the rest of the american celebrities can pull through until we get back to the states. 

So anyway…. after breakfast we were picked up at the hotel and taken

 downtown and loaded on the triple decker boat. After about an hour of waiting, we finally got going on our 20 minute boat ride to the island (Matt only got a little seasick on the way there). 

We unloaded on a small, private island where we spent the day laying on the beach, snorkeling, enjoying a buffet-style Bahamian lunch, and enjoying the beautiful views – yes, doing all the things everyone teased us about before we left when they heard we were going to a “workcamp” in the Bahamas. Well, to all of those people, after a long, tiring week of work – it was a perfectly sunny day, and a wonderful way to relax on the beach before we went home.

(We wouldn’t want to stay here for a week and let the beach think we didn’t appreciate it, now would we? That’s just rude in our books!)

On our way back we saw the dark cloud approaching, and once we got back on the bus, the storm let loose. Because of rush hour traffic and the big rainstorm, our 20 minute bus ride ended up turning into over an hour and a half. Oh well. The good news is that there are plenty of restaurants in the hotel where we can find dinner for the evening. However, evening devotions on the beach are most likely out at this point. 

SO, this will be our last blog from the island! We can’t wait to share even more pictures, stories and memories with each of you when we return. Oh, and for those of you Facebook-savvy individuals… of course you’ll be able to catch the 100′s of pictures that were taken among the group on our profile pages. Wahoo!

See you in the States!

At the end of the day we had a Great Parade where all of the kids wore the masks they made on our first day together. We also handed out noise makers and bubbles for all of the kids. To say they LOVED those things would be an extreme understatement. They were running around like it was Christmas with their masks, noise makers, and bubbles going full steam. 

Today, as great as it was, ended up being tough because we had to say goodbye to all of the kids. A number of people in our group were in tears as we had to try to tear ourselves away from the kids. As we met for devotions this evening, one thing that has been mentioned over and over is how fast we were able to  build relationships with the children at the Nazareth Center. We have become more and more thankful each day as we’ve gotten to know the staff as well, who take care of these kids day in day out, so it’s nice to know they’ll be in good hands as we prepare to leave on Saturday morning. 

Speaking of, after our main worship service tonight, we found out that we have to be packed up, ready to go by 4:00 AM on Saturday morning because they say it will take three hours to get through customs (which we have to go through twice) and the rest of the airport. Whew, it’s going to be an EARLY morning. 

However, we still have one more day on the island and are hoping to take advantage of as much as we can. We’ll be going out on a day cruise to snorkel, have lunch, and enjoy a nice day on the beach, followed by dinner and relaxing in the evening. After a long week of work, I know it will be nice to have a day to truly enjoy the beauty of the island on our last full day. 

Don’t worry, we’ll take lots of pretty pictures of the water, beaches and on the boat for everyone to see tomorrow afternoon. : )

 Today’s color for our VBS was BLUE, for friendship! So of course I have to include our daily picture on the bus with our choir friends. We made friendship bracelets and talked about what it means to be a friend by sharing the story about Jesus and Zacchaeus. The children LOVED the bracelets (and tons of them ended up making at least 2-3). We also taught the kids a number of fun songs, which they LOVED!

After our morning VBS, we went back to the H.O. Nash Junior High and painted a second science lab. We got to meet a few more teachers and cleaned up a lot of graffiti as we painted. It was such an incredible blessing to be able to spend our time helping the teachers and administrators clean up those classrooms. One thing that has struck many of us has been the pride the all of the administrators take in the school. They have such pride in the programs, the building and the community that IS their school. When we were about to leave, the Principal, Assistant Principal, security guard and secretary all came out to get pictures with us. Before we left, they passed out small backpacks with the name of the school on the back and polo shirts for everyone in our group. It was such an incredible moment. 

Then, as we were sitting around singing some songs before the jitney came, the Principal ended up picking up the guitar and the whole group, including the security guard, joined in singing “Lean On Me”. It has been incredible how open the Bahamian people are about their faith with others. I can’t imagine that scenario going the same way if we were anywhere else. 

This evening we had the opportunity to join a Bahamian youth group during their summer Praiseweek - which I believe is a sort of summer camp/programming for the youth at their church. We went, thinking it was going to be a nice little devotional service together. Little did we know, our youth got tossed into a game with a very large ball that was being tossed around, somewhat violently. The good news is that our group had a great time and no one was seriously injured. Woohoo!

After the games, everyone went in for a message and a time of worship. It was a truly special experience being  welcomed into their community and worshipping together. We talked about the story of Joshua and what it can for our lives if we don’t let fear get in the way of our faith. What a great lesson for us ALL the meditate on. 

So, tomorrow is our last day with the children and I’ve heard from a number of youth that they hope they can hold the tears back. We’ve already made many lasting connections with the children at the Nazareth Center, but it’s amazing to hear the passion in the hearts of our youth as they describe their daily encounters with these children who want nothing more than to be loved. I know we’ll have a great time tomorrow, but as the thunder is rolling through for the third night in a row…. we  can only hope the weather holds out for our last event. 

Blessings!

After boarding this jitney this morning with our “choir” friends, we headed back to the Nazareth Home for Children. Our color of the day for our Vacation Bible School was red, to show Jesus love for God and others. So, it was an INCREDIBLE welcome when we went to get the kids and they came pouring out of their cottages each trying to show us the different shades of red they wore – it was awesome! We were so excited that THEY were excited, so it was a great start to the day. 

Today for our VBS we shared the story about the greatest commandment, which is to love God. When we arrived on the island, we had no idea whether or not these kids would have even heard about God. Little did we know, when we were “teaching” them the song, “Jesus Loves Me” today, they not only knew the words and the tune, they had their own words and motions as well. It was incredibly humbling. 

The craft group helped the older kids make windsocks, and then everyone got a chance to work with shaving cream and food coloring art projects. I’m not sure if more shaving cream ended up on the construction paper or on the kids, but everyone seems to have a great time all the same – and the staff wasn’t to upset either… once we got the kids cleaned up outside. The games group also had the opportunity to teach a bunch of the kids “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, which went over quite well. However, I think one of the favorite events of the day was when some of our leaders decided to teach them the Macarena. (stay tuned for the video!)

After we ran our VBS this morning, we headed over to the H.O. Nash Junior High School. After a very light lunch, we spent the remainder of the afternoon cleaning up a science lab and giving the forgotten, dirty walls a fresh coat of paint. We not only met the Vice Principal of the school, but also a couple of secretaries, teachers, security guards, and the principal himself. He took SUCH pride in their school and shared with us many of the programs they offer many programs such as choir, band, and agricultural science (yes folks, they keep chickens, goats, pigs and many other farm friends and plants right behind the building). 

By the time the jitney picked us up around 4 PM we’d painted the entire room, and will be going back tomorrow to finish up another one. When we got back to the hotel we took a quick trip to the beach to relax, grabbed some dinner and worshipped with the whole Mission Encounter group in a place called the Rainforest Theatre. We talked about John Wesley and the incredible grace of God. Tomorrow, instead of worshipping together again, we’ll be heading to a local church to worship with around 100 Bahamian youth who are gathered for an event this week. They invited us to join them for their service and we can’t wait to see what it’s like!

Until then, it’s time for some rest for this leader. 

Blessings, 

Kathleen

Day 1 at the worksite was an incredible adventure…..

We started out with a short devotion as a group then were shipped off to our our worksites on a jitney with another group. The Blue Shirts (also known as the other group from North Carolina), are doing a musical program around the island for Senior Citizens and other groups while they’re here this week. 

Once we got to our worksite we were immediately sent off to play at the Nazareth Home for Children where about 40-50 kids live. Since it’s summer time, there’s not a whole lot for them to do (and not much air conditioning to do it in). So…we played soccer, duck duck goose, basketball, pushed kids on the swings,pulled weeds, gave piggy back rides, and much more… all before 12:30 PM when the kids went to lunch! It was such a fun morning….

Alex raced a bunch of the girls (ask him who won when he gets back….), and a number of the kids kept asking what the spots on our faces were (also known as “freckles”).

   After a light lunch, our Vacation Bible School went into full affect. From puppet shows and crafts (today the kids made masks for our parade later in the week), to more duck duck goose, songs and bible stories, we had a GREAT afternoon!

It’s incredible how easy it is to tire out while we’re down here. The humidity makes it tough to keep your energy up for any long period of time, and we have to be very conscious of drinking our water so no one dehydrates. 

   After all our hard work this afternoon, we stopped by the pool and are now getting ready to head to dinner before worship with the whole group, followed by our own devotions again this evening. I have a strong feeling we’ll be sleeping well all week. 

More tomorrow. : )

     So, after beginning the day EARLY at the airport,  we’re here, safe and sound. The flights were great (although the second one was a little bit behind), and everyone made it through customs – another celebration!

     As soon as we got to the Bahamas we were picked up by the Jitney  (which will be our transportation to and from our worksites each day this week) and headed to the hotel – where we headed straight down to the pool and the beach. We had an awesome afternoon swimming, running around on the beach and just plain relaxing. Our dinner each night will be at the hotel’s buffet and the favorite item of the evening….. bum bum ba duuum! GUAVA DUFF (If anyone has ever actually heard of this delectable dessert, I’m thoroughly impressed). We’ll make sure to pass along our favorite breakfast updates for tomorrow’s posts (I know, very important info). 

    So this evening we got a chance to get to know some of the other United Methodist youth groups  who have traveled from all over the US. We worshipped together and watched a super great clip from the movie “Pay It Forward” to get us all inspired for the week to come. Groups will be working all over Nassau leading sports camps, Vacation Bible Schools, working with an AIDS camp, doing painting projects, roofing houses, and many other incredible projects. I can’t wait to report on how not only our work in the community is coming along, but also how the work of this whole group is truly touching the lives of so many others here is Nassau. 

Keep praying for us as we (finally) get some rest tonight, and prepare for our first day of working, painting and leading Vacation Bible School, tomorrow. We can’t wait to share how God is working down here, and can’t WAIT to hear what God’s been doing back in the states in each of your lives. 

More tomorrow!

Our theme for the week ahead is Go and Tell – based off of the scripture in The Message version of Romans 10:14-15 which says this:

“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”

We are so excited to be the hands and feet of Christ in Nassau! Feel free to leave us message or prayers on the site. Oh, and by the way… pray we don’t get too sunburned while we’re down there. : )

Blessings to each of you!

Kathleen