Emancipation Day on Andros

Well its been a month already since my last post - time sure flies!
Today is the first Mon in August which in Emancipation Day in the Bahamas. In 1834 the British Empire freed all slaves and outlawed slavery. It would be 30 years later that the US Civil War would decide this issue for the US.

There are alot of things that have happened over the last month. Ginni has had to return to the US to finalize agreements with our new renter in Canton get some nursing in to replenish our funds after several months with no rental income. God bless her!

We had our meeting with the Archbishop for our annual review. It was a wonderful meeting with the Archbishop spending over 2 hours with us. We reviewed a wide range of topics and he approved our work in North Andros, authorizing us to start work to build what will be the only Catholic Church in North Andros. He even told us that it should be named Our Lady of Hope Chapel! So last weekend I went north and told our people there the news. They have already donated almost $2000 - enough to clear the land and put in the foundation. We will see how it goes. Summer is actually a tough time to do any development work. Most people have left Andros for friends and family in cooler climates. Even our Haitian friends up north have left so we will see how this effort progresses but we are thrilled with getting the Archbishop's blessing.

One thing that is kind of related to this is that the Bahamian government is requiring we have all church lands surveyed. This has resulted in my learning about church land sprinkled across Andros. It may be reasonable to consider selling a plot or two in order to raise the funds to build Our Lady of Hope - time will tell what happens with this one, but the idea that an entire new faith community might spring up from our work here is exciting.

Along those same lines, about a year ago a priest visited us from Providence RI. It turns out when he was in the seminary the Archbishop was his classmate! Well, he was taking a class in FL and, being so close to the Bahamas, he called his old classmate and they had a bit of a reunion when the Archbishop invited him to take the short flight from FL to Nassau. After visiting for about a week the Archbishop asked if he'd like to help cover one of the remote parishes over the weekend. He said yes and, since we were long past-due in having a priest, he spent that weekend with us on Andros. Well he saw what we do and the need for priests here in the Bahamas (it had been a L O N G time since we'd had a priest). He heard Ginni and I talk about our ministry here, some of the adventures we had experienced, and he met the Bahamian people. Well - he's back.

During our meeting with the Archbishop he told us that Fr. Doug would be returning to the Bahamas long-term. Ginni and I looked at each other and just about jumped out of our seats. He is a wonderful priest and we could not help but feel we played a part in his making this decision. After his visit with us we kept in touch via this blog and he, and his parish, were very generous in supporting our renovation of St. Gabriel's Church into the Fr. Gabriel Roerig Parish Ctr.

Fr. Doug will be on Long Island - a remote island much further south than we are. There is a Bahamian Deacon there already and they have 6 churches needing coverage so Fr. Doug will have his hands full. Keep him in your prayers. This year on Long Island is a year of discernment and it could extend beyond this year - we sure hope so.

Just to give you an idea of our need for priests - we have not had a priest here since Easter (yes that was April and we are in August and there is no shot of our getting a priest for awhile yet). I went into the weekend not sure if I would have enough hosts but I made it by the skin of my teeth. I will need to fly to Nassau this week to get more consecrated hosts. Fr. Glen, the rector at the Cathedral has been very generous openning his tabernacle for me whenever we get into this situation.

With Ginni gone and no CCD I have some time on my hand until I began to work on what we will do next year for CCD. Next year should be a Confirmation year for us (confirmation is a 2 year program here). So I have been working out schedules and classes for primary school and then the secondary school Confirmation Program. I have a ton of work to pull this all together, right now I have a skeleton and now I have to put the meat on the bones.

This past weekend I was blessed to baptize a 4 year-old boy visiting his Grand parents on Andros. Grammie and Grampie wanted him baptized and, after getting permission from his parents in Nassau, I had a Baptism-prep class for them and the God-parents, then on Sunday I filled my conche shell with water and we welcomed in one more member of our Church.

Finally, I think I should mention the heat. I know alot of you in the US have been sweltering in the heat of summer but this is 'wicked awsome hot'. I did 3 liturgies on Sunday and literally soaked through all my clothes with sweat each time. So 3 liturgies, 3 changes of clothes - I was so ready for a shower when the day was done!

Well, enough for now - please, please, please keep us in your prayers.
- Peace