The Holiday Rush

Well I cannot believe its almost a month since the last post - so here goes.
After we recovered from Hurricane Sandy I had a few weeks without Ginni while she worked at Hospice to earn us a few dollars.  I cranked out two weeks of CCD for our grade 7-8 and 9-12 classes.  These are by far the most challenging and this year 9-12 has been difficult.  For them, this would be the first of a two year program to prep for Confirmation.  Well to say attendance is poor is an understatement and we eventually had a parents/student meeting.  Well, while the parents can't help teach they sure can discipline!  They were all unaware the kids were skipping and I think the hammer came down pretty heavy.

With that said, beating the children so they will come to religion classes is not the goal I wanted.  I have mentioned before in this blog that beating the children is acceptable in the Bahamas.  I have actually been told I should be beating them when they act up - tempting but no.

Anyway, we put together a Confirmation Contract.  Children that don't want to be there shouldn't.  Confirmation is, after all, the 'adult' decision of the child to live the baptismal promises made for them as children.  If they don't want to live as a Catholic Christian that is their choice.  On the other hand, there are some real issues about the maturity of these kids.  Another option is to just delay a year for this crowd.  Time will tell how this shakes out.

Mid November was Pastoral Day.  A monthly event when all Bahamian clergy meets together in Nassau for a teaching, community, prayer, and share a meal.  This month the speaker was the Prison Chaplain sharing about his ministry.  Prison life in the Bahamas is a very hard life.  US Prisons are a resort compared to life in a Bahamian Prison.  He was very informative and entertaining at the same time - lots of anecdotes that helped us see challenges of his ministry and things to be cautious of when visiting.  Fortunately for me, I have only had one or two parishioners get arrested and held in the prison in Nassau.  Visiting was 'interesting' when compared to the Minimum Security Prison at Pondville in MA where I would do Saturday night liturgies and provide Spiritual Direction for prisoners.  You really don't want to be incarcerated in Nassau.

After lunch Ginni and I ran errands all over Nassau - she is a great navigator with a map on her lap.  She really doesn't deal with the traffic and narrow roads too well so having a map to distract her is a good thing.  Later in the afternoon we met the Archbishop for our annual review.  We covered alot, much more than I could type here but suffice it to say he seems pleased with us and we are here for another year (at least).

With our building a new church in North Andros it really does feel like we are here for several years more to establish a community there and grow it.  Speaking of construction - we actually have 3 projects all going at the same time.  In North Andros is the new church dedicated to Our Lady of Hope.  Its a 30x30 chapel, just four walls and a roof, but even that is $30,000.  I have begged for just over half and will borrow the balance from an old savings account of the parish.  It really isn't borrowing but I want to replace whatever we take over time.  This past week I delivered the plans to the Dept of Public Works and hope to hear about them scheduling a planning meeting in a week or two.  Once we have permits we can break ground.

The second project is in Behring Point.  This is an abandoned church that was actually the very first Catholic Church built on the family islands.  This property has 3 buildings, the church, the rectory and the bakery.  The first missionary here, Fr. Gabriel Roerig, OSB (a saint in my mind) built all from scratch.  The rectory is a 2 story building with the 2nd floor now collapsed into the 1st.  The church is structurally sound, but termites have eaten the roof, opening a hole on one side.  I have eliminated the termites but the damage is done and a new roof is more than I can afford.  The bakery, however, has a tin roof that is rusted out, and no windows and doors.  For about $5000 I can tear down the old roof and put up a new one, reframe the windows and doors, and viola I have a small school house.  Right now the kids sit in the other church on that end of the island and then kneel on the floor and use the pews as desks to do their classwork.  Restoring the building will give us a place with tables and chairs, and preserve the church as the sacred space it is.  Right now we still can't afford electricity or a toilet but this will do for a start.  On the toilet issue I am looking at 'composting toilets' that need no water or electric.  They are designed for mountain cabins or RV's.  The separate liquid waste from solid, with the solid being converted into usable compost over a month or so. One of the engineers at the AUTEC Navy base is looking into their feasibility.  An $800 composting toilet would beat a $2000 septic system hands down (especially since we don't have $2000).

The third project is the church windows here in Fresh Creek.  They are those crank-out style windows and the salt air just eats the mechanisms that work them.  Right now I can't open the windows that are closed and close the windows frozen open.  We were able to get a good price on vinyl double hung windows and, if all goes well, they should be installed by Christmas.  It is not a problem now, but we will need to open the windows next summer.  Last summer was brutal - we have no AC and on those 100 degree days its tough.  Having services at 8:30 AM is what got us through.

So - facilities and CCD are keeping me jumping.  BUT it doesn't end there.  One of the priests on Abaco, another family island, has asked me to do a parish mission during Advent.  Right now I am knee deep in pulling three talks together for that one in mid-DEC.  With the Pope declaring this the Year of Faith I am using the movie THE NATIVITY to explore Advent Faith.  The movie came out a few years ago but Bahamians have no opportunity to go to the movies so this will be a treat.  Using the movie to explore the faith of Herod, the Magi, Mary and Joseph, et. al. is my challenge - keep that one in your prayers.

Oh - here's one more - while we were in Nassau someone broke into the church van and stole my Leatherman (a multi-tool tool with pliers, knife, screw drivers, etc.) and a tire pressure gauge I use.  Our road here are so bad my tires take a beating (I've changed 6 flats since we've been here and bought an air pump that runs off the cigarette lighter).  Anyway - I am having a day when the kids are giving me grief at CCD, donations are down as people start buying for Christmas, and then we discover the break in.  I was not a happy camper having my own pity party.  So I come inside the house after doing morning prayer in the church and Ginni says, "God is so good"!  It turns out that while I was in the church a man from Georgia calls.  He has been reading the blog and will be visiting Andros in December and wanted to know if there was anything he could bring to help us out.  Amazing how God works.  So he is bringing me a new Leatherman, another tire pressure gauge, and maybe even some blankets to help our Haitian community up north. (Jan and Feb can get down to 50's at night, a killer for the folks in the shanty town).  So, once again, when I get blinded by the darkness of all the 'stuff' that gets thrown at us - God opens a window and lets the light shine just a little brighter.

Oh - and one more - a man from Germany emailed me.  He is reading the blog and learned about the Saturday morning AA meeting at that other church we renovated a year or so ago.  He is in AA and doesn't trust himself to go on vacation to a place without AA and he wanted to confirm it is still going (which it is).  So, he is coming on vacation in 2013 to enjoy our world class bonefishing.  So this blog is doing more than I ever imaged - Praise God.

Till next time