Bahamas Cold, Warm Babies, and more

Hello Again
Well, once more I am writing from Nassau, attending our monthly clergy meeting with the Archbishop. This trip is unique because of the cold. Bone chilling 50 degree temps at night and mid 60 days have all Bahamians bundled up. I am actually wearing my Boston College sweatshirt day and night!

While this is terribly cold here I know back in the US people are laughing as they deal with temps in the teens and 20s. Watching the Patriots play the Jets a few weeks ago was an eye opener. We could see the breath of all the players on TV as they lined up to play as the announcer commented on the 20 degree temps, then the following week they played the Bears in the snow!

One of the biggest news stories here, after you get past the cold, is that BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Corp), is being sold to British Cable and Wireless. BTC is our phone company and one of the few profitable government run operations. Privatization of the phone company has been a hot topic here for years but now that its finally happening we have had protests in the streets, confrontations between the police and union marchers, & political wrangling unlike anything I'd seen in the US. Coincidentally, BTC just did an audit of its customers and decided to convert all Churches to Business Class customers, tripling our rates. After months of back and forth arguing over this it was determined that since we only have 1 phone, and its in the residence, we can be converted back to residential if we change our listing from St. John Chrysostom Church to St. John Chrysostom Rectory. Time will tell if this plan works out, but we clearly cannot afford business class rates, its a killer.

Speaking of killer, the Bahamas has had a record number of murders in 2010 and the crime wave is very serious here. The economy has many, many people out of work and the result has been a skyrocketing crime wave. The police do a pretty good job of catching the bad guys, but a poor job of preventing the crimes in the first place. It really is quite serious. When we come to Nassau on trips like this one, once we are in for supper we stay in. Going out in Nassau at night is really rather risky, unlike Andros where we feel much safer. The priest we stay with on Nassau has warned us that, if we go from the Rectory to the Church at night, we should take a flashlight and never walk across the parking lot alone. Believe me, we follow his advice. Actually, the Archbishop spoke on this topic at the clergy meeting this morning, warning us all to review our security plans. With so many businesses upgrading their security systems churches are views as the next area of opportunity for thieves, especially with the midnight liturgies we will be having over the next few weeks. Merry Christmas.

On a more positive note, the big news in our life right now is the birth of Leo John Tremblay, our newest grandson, in Sag Harbor NY. Born 12 DEC at 12:30AM, 7lbs, 6oz, he is beautiful and we can't wait to get home and visit.


Getting home will be complicated since we have nobody to cover my weekend liturgies. I am hoping I can lobby to get someone for the weekend of Jan 8 so I can leave after New Years and spend 2 weeks up North cuddling with the little guy, otherwise it will be a Mon-Fri trip for me.

Our liturgical schedule for the holidays is VERY complicated this year because both Christmas and New Years (The feast of the Holy Family) are on Saturday. So, you have the Saturday Christmas liturgies, complete with that extra Midnight Mass, and then the very next day the full slate of Sunday weekend liturgies. I will have 6 liturgies for that 2-day combination. With that complete, the very next weekend we do it all again with New Years Day on Saturday, including midnight services, then the Sunday morning services starting at 8. It will be interesting to see what kind of turn out we get, not only because of the frequency of the liturgies, but also because a large number of my parishioners will be in Nassau for Junakanoo.

Christmas time on the islands is one of great celebration. On Nassau it is a MAJOR big deal and the Junkanoo celebration is serious business. To describe it, you have to think of it on a par with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are Bahamian marching bands, in elaborate costumes that they work on all year long. They compete for points just like the Rose Bowl Parade floats in the US and there are serious bragging rights involved. Once the parade begins it goes well into the night and beyond midnight into the next day!

One of my chores while here is to return with a ciborium of consecrated hosts. We haven't had a priest in so long I am literally down to just a few hosts between the 3 churches. The Rector at the Cathedral has been very supportive of us on Andros and I am confident he will give us what we need to hold us over until we can get a priest to visit.

Today we spent the day shopping and we sent two shopping carts, filled to the brim, with supplies we need to the docks. On Fri morning the ferry makes the Nassau to Andros run and we will take the 7AM flight to beat it home and recieve the shipment at the Fresh Creek Dock. This will include the final few things we need for the restored church in Calabash Bay, as well as things we just don't have on Andros. My challenge will be to arrive in Fresh Creek, run to the bank to get money to pay the frieght charges, and line up someone with a pickup truck to help us carry it all from the dock to the Church (ahh, island life).

Till next time - I pray you all experience the fullness of Emmanuel, God with us.

Catching up with the news

Hello my friends

Well once again I have not been as faithful to posting here as I would like, where to begin?

For starters, at the AUTEC base we have a member we affectionately refer to as 'The Card Lady'. She is a sweetheart and has taken it upon herself to generate Get Well, Birthday, and Bereavement Cards for just about everyone on base. Well she has outdone herself! Awhile back there was something called 'Clergy Appreciation Day'. I had never heard of it, but she had. With very littel fan-fare, after our Saturday evening liturgy, I was surprised with a celebration complete with chesse and crackers, fruit, juice and cake, a card, and a wonderful photo album as a gift. Everyone who came to church filed into the hall at the rear of the church, including a few visiting engineers from companies testing their equipment with the Navy. It was great to be recognized like this and it really gave me a sense that what we are doing here is appreciated.

A few weeks ago we stopped to do our regular Sunday communion call with Anna. I have mentioned her here in the blog before. Anna is in her 90's and blind. On this Sunday we were told it was her 95th birthday, so after communion we all sang Happy Birthday and she sang and clapped her hands along with us. I've never posted a pic of Anna before, but to commemmorate her birthday she let us take her pic - here it is!

Anna, if you remember, is the woman who once gave me a hug and then said, "Oh Deacon, you be da big mahn, you come from da big bone" - cracked me up.

As you can see, the beard has gotten a bit long. The local Chamber of Commerce has asked if I would be willing to play Santa and so I have let it go. I am not sure when that will take place but you will certainly hear about it here if it really happens.

Every month we go to Nassau for a meeting with the Archbishop and the other Bahamian clergy. Our meeting is at the Emmaeus Ctr, a great facility for meetings like this. It sits atop a hill overlooking Nassau and is a great place to pray, as well as connect with other clergy to compare notes on are various ministries.

The grounds include a Benedictine cemetary and I have actually found the grave of Fr. Gabriel Roerig, OSB, the first priest to ever serve on Andros.

I have much more to tell you but I just realized the time and I have to run out to teach our last CCD class before the Christmas break. After class we will head out to the AUTEC base for dinner, followed by the rosary and a liturgy to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. As an island nation getting to church can be problematic for many people so the Archdiocese of Nassau only has two holy days of obligation, Christmas and The Feast of the Holy Family (New Years). However, with so many Americans on the Navy Base we thought we would celebrate the Solemnity with that community.

Anyway - I better get going.

Till next time

from Andros to Houston

Well my last post was from Nassau, this comes to you from Kingwood TX, a Houston suburb, as I spend Thanksgiving with my son Matthew, his wife Melissa and our first grandson Jack. I am looking forward to turkey with all the fixings but tonight (be still my heart) we will have steak!

Good beef is hard to come by on Andros so to have a nice thick steak (rare) with a nice glass of red wine is absolutely decadent.

Our priest shortage is so dramatic in the Bahamas that for me to make this trip I had to make it a Mon-Fri event. I stayed on Andros while Ginni left last week so I could be there for the weekend liturgies then, first thing Mon morning I was on the 7AM flight out of Andros to Nassau, then a quick hop to West Palm, followed by my third plane to get from FL to TX.

On Friday I will do the same gig in reverse, making sure I am back on Andros for the first Sunday of Advent.

Just before I left I realized a fantasy I have been thinking about for awhile. How to make our church on Andros more Bahamian? One of the most successful industries on Andros is the prodution of a rather unique fabric called Androsia. It is a print, coming in a wide range of colored fabrics, with designs of fish, flamingos, starfish, conche, sea horses (and the list is endless). Usually the fabric is a bright color with the print being white, with a very unique look.

This pic of a sea-grape pattern gives you an idea of what I mean.

Anyway - with the liturgical colors changing from green to purple for Advent I took our sacristan to the Androsia factory and we bought about 7' of purple Androsia fabric (pretty close to the color in the pic above, but rather than sea grapes it has schoools of fish). While I am away she will hem one length of it for the altar, and make another section into a new cloth covering our tabernacle. Having matching material will be striking, especially since our people are so used to mix and match colored alter clothes that, for the most part, they don't even realize they don't match. For example, the altar cloths for ordinary time were dark forest green, while the tabernacle was covered with a light mint green cloth and the ambo was yet another shade of kelly green. Matching purple Androsia alter linens should be a big hit.

I may not see a priest until Christmas (if even then), any priests out there want to spend Christmas in the Bahamas? With Christmas being on a Saturday, followed by the Sunday liturgies, this year I may just sleep in Church with back to back to back liturgies for 3 communities spread all over Andros.

Well, I hear my grandson coming in from playing with the boy next door (who Jack has convinced that I am really Santa with the white beard). So I think I will sign off and take time out for one more tickle fight.

Till next time

A quick update from Nassau

Well much has happened since my last post about the Navy Ball - where to begin.
Well for starters let me tell you that I am writing this entry from Nassau. Ginni is back in the US dealing with our property in NH (our tenant has left) and getting in some nursing time (more money to help cover the expenses we still have owning property in the US is always welcome). If you know of anyone who might enjoy a NH log home, on a lake, in ski country, we are putting it back on the market to see if it might sell. We wanted to do this 2 years ago when we started our ministry here in the Bahamas but the market was so horrible we decided to rent. If it sells now, great! If not, its back to the renter option for us. Time will tell.

Work on the Church we are converting to our new Parish Center is progressing nicely. The sink and counters in the rear room has yet to be done but the interior body of the building has progressed enough that we started having CCD classes there last week. When I return to Andros I will try to post some before and after pics for you all to see. So many of you back in Mass. contributed so generously to this effort I really want you to see what you have helped build.

Friends from Stoughton visited us last weekend. John and Jane are from St. James parish in Stoughton but I first met them when I was working at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham. Jane was a close friend of a prior Director of the Retreat Center who recommended her as a possible Retreat Leader. Jane led our annual 'Lenten Retreat for Women', for several years. It was an absolute treat to have them visit and they really wanted to help us out while they were here so we put them to work.

Jane helped Ginni pull together some exercises for the children to do in CCD, folded our new 'Children's Bulletin' that we distribute every week for the kids, and worked with John to help resurface our 're-cycled' white board we now have at the Parish Center. I should explain. Then AUTEC Navy Base on Andros had a rather unique piece of furniture they were not using. It was in the Chapel conference room. It was a double-sided white board and, between each white board was a pull out collapsable room divider. The white boards had been written on so many times with permanent markers, then cleaned with abrasive cleanser, that the white boards were unusable. I found a company that makes peel and stick white board material that we used to resurface the old boards (actually that 'we' was John and Jane who peeled and resurfaced the old white boards). It came out great and saved us a ton of money on a new board.

John and Jane also repaired some screens in the Church that were broken and were able to secure many of them that were falling out of their frames. These Church windows are 10-14' tall and the screens were held in place by old clips (in those windows that had clips). If a strong wind came off the sea it was not uncommon for the screens to be blown out of their frames, which can be distracting when it happens during my Sunday homily. Using a drill I had picked up on a trip to Nassau, and jury-rigging some new clips I had bought (which were the wrong size), John and Jane basically resecured all the screens in the entire Church.

They came with us to all 4 Sunday liturgies, including the one up North in the new community we are trying to establish in Mastic Point. I should mention that while this community has a large Haitian population the numbers that are coming to our service has dropped off significantly. There is a new immigration official up there and many Haitians are afraid to come to a public service for fear of harrasment.

The most tramautic thing to touch us here recently was the attack of a Catholic nun here in the Bahamas. This is a woman we know who has a ministry on another island. Late one night she was the victim of a home invasion, robbery, and was physically assaulted. This was quite upsetting to us, everyone who knows her, and to the Catholic population in the Bahamas. Crime here is a very real problem, especially violent crime. In the recent census conducted by the Bahamas, the nation has 350,000 citizens and we are sitting at just over 80 murders so far this year. That is more than one murder every week.

Last week I saw and interview with the Mayor of San Jose, TX on TV regarding thier murder rate. The reporter wanted to know if the violence from the Mexican drug cartells had come over the border to San Jose. The Mayor said, 'Well we are a major US city with a population of 350,000 (which I noted since it was the same as the Bahamas, and it was 1 city)" They've had 14 murders this year. The Bahamas has passed 80 and it continues to grow.

When we heard about this attack on the Sister we felt we had to do something and so this week we will have two prayer services for the victims of violent crime. In the two years we have been here we know of 5-6 people who have lost relatives to murder on Nassau or one of the other islands. The first service was on Tuesday in Cargill Creek and a mother whose son was murdered a few months ago, and her husband, were in attendance. The second will be Friday night in Fresh Creek. Please keep us in your prayers in this regard, it is a very upsetting issue. Also keep our Archbishop Patrick Pinder in your prayers. He has a heavy burden leading this Archdiocese in such a climate. While you are at it, this woman of God who was the victim of this attack could use a few prayers too.

To end on a happy note, Sunday will be the feast of Christ the King, the patron of our parish in Cargill Creek. We will have cake and cookies after services on Sunday. A celebration like this is just what the Doctor ordered after a week of grieving and angst regarding the attack.

Till next time

The Navy Ball

Hello All - October is the birthday of the US Navy, and so our AUTEC Navy Base has an annual 'Navy Ball' in October and this year I was invited to lead the Benediction prior to the meal (an expected benefit of having the XO (Executive Officer) on the base converting to Catholicism and in our RCIA program).

This is a very serious, very gala event on the base and they hold nothing back to make sure this is THE event of the year. They bring in guest chefs from the US (actually these Chefs donate their time to come at no cost to recognize the service of our military). This year the Admiral for Under-Sea Warfare was the keynote speaker.

To create a space with the dignity this event requires they complete redecorate a building on the base that normally is the local bar. They completely cover all the walls with white paper and using streamers, black silouette cut-outs, and black and white WW II Navy pictures they create an incredible setting. This corner table should give you some idea of what I mean.

The base turned out in full dress whites for this event and you can imagine how impressive it was with every ribbon and medal prominently displayed on the chests of these service men.

For me, I was surprised at how nervous I was to say the benediction in front of this crowd. Knowing everyone would be in dress uniforms and the wives in gowns what to wear was an issue for Ginni and I (I actually only have 1 tie). Ginni knew about this so she brought a more formal dress when she came back from the States, I on the other hand decided my best option was to wear my roman collar - not something I usually do.

We arrived at the base in time for our Saturday evening service (which we moved up from 6 to 4:30 so we could arrive at the Ball on time). There was about a half hour of cocktails and small talk before we were called to take our seats.

The color guard marched in the side door with all the formality you can possibly imagine. It really was very well done and after they had put the US flag, the Navy flag, the AUTEC flag, and the MIA flag into their stands a female officer came forward and sang a wonderful rendition of the National Anthem. Then it was time for the Benediction (gulp). I went to the podium, asked everyone to join me in prayer and every head bowed. From that point on it was the Holy Spirit but I was blown away, and rather humbled, when one of the officers on Base sent me this pic.

The XO led a ceremony recognizing all those who had been killed in action, followed by the Base Commander's welcoming remarks and his introduction of the Admiral. He gave a wonderful address, recalling not only the birth of the Navy, but also major events in the history of the Navy from John Paul Jones to the current nuclear powered submarines. Then it was the 'call to chow' and the food was rolled out - and what a feast it was! Chefs from the US donate their time to honor our men in uniform and it was absolutely fabulous. Here is a pic of our table and a bit of the ballroom so you get some perspective on the number of people who attended.

Dessert was next and, just like the meal, it was delicious. What was fun about this was the cutting of the cake. Traditionally the person with the least service time cuts the cake with the person with the longest service time. So the XO started a countdown - everyone with 2 years or less, please stand. A group stand and he asks 'those 18 months or less', people sit. 'Those 12 months or less', people sit. Eventually it fell to a young Ensign. Now that we had the person with the least service it was time to find the Senior person in the room. The XO started the countdown with all those having over 25 years and peoples scattered around the room stand. 'Those with 26 years', people sit, eventually the finalists are the Base Commander and the Admiral at the head table, and this one man in the middle of the room. Now let me describe this sailor. He is clearly career Navy, his head is shaved, his chest is full of medals, now as the years click off, and he remains standing, all the sailors in the room shout "Yo Senior Chief!" another year is called, he remains standing, "Yo Senior Chief!", again and again, "Yo Senior Chief!" it was fabulous - especially when the Admiral sat down!

Inevitably the Base Commander came out on top with 30 years. Here is the pic of the XO handing his sword to the Ensign. From left to right it is the Base Commander, the Ensign, the Admiral and the XO. It was a great time and we are thrilled we were invited to attend.

After dessert there were a 'series' of ceremonial toasts. It was good that each table had 2 bottles of wine, just to get through the series! After the toasts were completed all Navy personnel were commanded to stand, and they did. What followed was a rendition of 'Anchors Aweigh' that was absolutely inspiring - no music, no song-sheets, just these men and women far from home showing their pride in serving in the US Navy. Let me say a word about that. These folks are part of the US military and, when called upon, they will fight for our nation. What these men and women do at AUTEC, however, is create test scenarios for the men and women in the military, and their equipment, ensuring that if called upon they'll be ready. In a large part, their job is to make sure their readiness acts as a deterrent to having to fight. AUTEC's role, in ensuring our NAVY is the best, is to deter our having to prove it. It is with that mindset that AUTEC works to ensure the peace. Enough said.

As we were leaving I met one of the Chefs and we talked a bit.

He was keenly aware that he has been blessed in life and being able to donate his time and talents to pull off an event like this was an honor. We talked a little about what we do on the base and with the local Bahamian people (I try not to miss an opportunity to evangelize). With virtually no prompting on my part he said that if I could stay in touch with him, next year he'd like to come a few days early and provide a meal for a local Bahamian community. My thoughts flashed to the Haitians we serve up north and how they'd react to chocolate covered strawberries and a true gourmet meal. We'll see what happens.

Clearly, this has been a rather different experience for us here on Andros - but one that we thoroughly enjoyed. Till next time - pray for us, and we'll pray for you.

Driving Bob Marley

Well I have much to tell but not too much time to type so I will cover just one of our experiences and share more with you later.

One of the novelties about driving the Church van is that everyone on the island knows its the Church van and feels perfectly at home waving you down for a ride. This is a good thing, giving us an opportunity to meet new people and share the faith - but, as you can imagine, it can be a bit risky at times. With that said, we pretty much pick up anybody that waves us down.

Last Sunday we were on our way home from Cargill Creek with a van about half full of folks we were dropping off on the way when we were flagged down by someone needing a ride to Fresh Creek. This young man was in his 20’s and looked a bit like Bob Marley, dredlocks down to his shoulders, an old T-shirt that had seen better days, and a plastic bag full of Lord knows what. Several of the older women in the van gave him 'the look', but he settled in for the ride nonetheless . He was very thankful we stopped because some local folks had told him we wouldn’t because we didn’t know who he was, which is clearly not true. We explained that on the way home we stop and bring communion to a few people and he was willing to come along for the ride anyway.

Our first stop was in Man O War Sound, where we visit Anna. I told him he could wait for us in the car but he got out to stretch his legs. After greeting Anna and her daughter we began the Eucharistic Service with prayer and I noticed our young passenger listening by the door. I read the Gospel, (remember the story of the widow & the unjust judge?) Then I took a moment and preached a bit about that Gospel and the message that, like the widow and the judge, we should never give up, but in good times or bad, continue to pray to our God who loves us – just like the widow kept after the judge. God is our Father and He takes care of His children. After giving Anna and her daughter communion we all climbed back in the van and headed towards Fresh Creek.

Once we were alone, our passenger opened up and it turned out the Holy Spirit was moving right there in Anna's living room! He told us a bit about himself and how much what I said touched his heart. He stopped going to church when he was 13 we he discovered his minister and his mother having an affair. That was it for him and he left the church and never went back. His relationship with God was crushed by this experience and he had no place for this in his life. Now, in his mid-twenties, he heard the message that we should never give up, that we are God's children, beloved, and we should perservere in our faith whatever the world throws at us - God used this to touch his heart. He was clearly moved and the ride to Fresh Creek was an amazing one with him sharing his life story and Ginni sharing about the love of God and the Holy Spirit just about lifting the van off the pavement.

When we dropped him in Fresh Creek the 'coincidences' continued when he told us he was from Mastic Point, which was where we were headed later that day! He had some errands to do in Fresh Creek so we parted company. After another communion call, we packed the van for our services up North in Mastic Point and on the way we found him once more, on the side of the road about half-way to Mastic Point, and gave him a lift to Mastic Point. It was a blessed time for him and for us and he may just join our community in Mastic Point for our services next week in the public school where we meet there, we will see.

Keep him, and us in your prayers - till next time.

Busy Weekend

Well after all my complaints about weather the last few days have been fabulous. The winds have died down, the white caps are gone, and we are back to tranquil aqua waves lapping against the shore, blue skies and temps in the 80's . Just to give you and idea of what I mean - here is a pic of my back yard when looking to the left:

And here's the view to the right (not too shabby unless there are 30mph winds and driving rain)

I know it was Columbus Day weekend in the US but here its called Discovery Day and there were parties and events all over the island. For example, Saturday, parishioners in Cargill Creek hosted a fundraising cookout. Ribs, Chicken, Fish, Conch, Mac&Cheese, Peas&Rice - yum. Ginni baked all day Friday and we brought over about 4 cakes she made for the effort (2 chocolate, 1 pumpkin bread, and a bunt cake - double yum).

Like most things here, there were issues - for example at 7:30AM our phone rings and its one of the more active members of the parish who was supposed to work the booth dishing out food and collecting money. Her son, the night before, had gotten into an altercation with the police and she had to go see what she could do. The eve of Discovery Day was a Friday night, and cause for celebrating. After a bit too much beer, this young man ended up spending the night in the local jail. Eventually he was released, but not until late Saturday afternoon.

We arrived at the picnic at noon, when the event was to kick off, but found ourselves alone for almost 2 hours as those cooking the food finished up, taking on the slack of our missing parishioner now busy at the police station. A two hour delay in starting may seem like much, but this is the Bahamas and there is a running joke about Bahamians being on Bahamian time.

"Der be no rush faddah, don' worry, we get it done, and it be off da chain mahn!"

Basically translated - 'Chill out Deacon'

Bottom line - the food was great, the company was great, and one woman even surprised us with some Guava Duff, the absolutely primo Bahamian dessert. This is a white cake with a unique texture, topped with Guava fruit. You get a slice of this on your plate that is then drizzled with a sweet white cream sauce - its one of my favorite Bahamian treats.

We ended up having to leave around 3 to get home and prepare for the Saturday evening service at AUTEC, but the picnic continued with people dropping by all day and into the evening to buy a plate of food. When all is said and done it looks like they may have brought in over $800 which we will use to fix so many of the things needing fixing in Cargill Creek.

Speaking of facilities, as I mentioned in my last post, the donations we received while we were in the US are now being put to work to restore St. Gabriel's in Calabash Bay. The water line is installed and the septic tank as well. The electric lines are also installed and we are waiting for inspector to approve that work prior to the Electric Co. connecting the electrical line. 3 of the 4 interior walls are all painted white, the one behind where the altar was will be blue. With the donations we brought back, the new floor tiles will arrive on the boat Wednesday. It will be wonderful to have a floor! We hope its no more than 2 weeks before we can move in and start having classes. This will be a major improvement for our kids, as well as the community of Calabash Bay.

After we got home from the picnic we cleaned up and headed off to the Saturday evening service at AUTEC. Once a year AUTEC invites vendors in to showcase products they want to sell at the PX on base and this weekend it was the company that provides beer and wine who were hosting a 'tasting', to which we were invited. So - after the final blessing and church we strolled over to the 'Lighthouse Pub' to check it out. The manager of the Lighthouse is a young woman who has just started RCIA with us this year and she outdid herself serving all sorts of appetizers for the tasting. The goal of this event is to give the residents on base an opportunity to provide input on what the PX should be selling. Some items on the shelves will be replaced by new ones as a result of this social. So we tasted a few wines, submitted our votes (even though we are not allowed to shop at the PX since the Navy views us as Bahamians and not residents of the Base). What was nice, however, was we connected with Mary (our RCIA candidate), met many of her friends, and talked a bit about RCIA and why would anyone want to join the Catholic Church. Interesting conversations to say the least.

Then it was off to prepare for Sunday. We were up at 6 (with difficulty), but the 8:30 in Fresh Creek, where Ginni led our newly formed Choir, went off with out a hitch (don't you love this pic of her with her guitar).

Then we were off to Cargill Creek for the 11:00. With this being the holiday weekend we didn't go north to Mastic Point for our usual 4PM service because the school was all locked down for the holiday and we are still using the Primary School to hold services up there. Suffice it to say we were quite happy to crash. But we couldn't rest too long - Monday evening is RCIA.

This week we need to renew our Bahamian drivers license. Its become complicated because Andros just recieved a camera for driver license photos (our current licenses have no pic). The problem is the folks that know how to run the camera are a bit scarse. We went in on Wed last week and were told to come back Friday. Friday the traffic officer was in but the camera system was locked away and the man with the key wouldn't be in until Tuesday. Tuesday he is in, but there's a problem with the camera so we need to wait for the repair man to come on the boat Wednesday. Pray we don't have any traffic violations, because at this point both our Bahamian licenses are expired. "Don't worry Deacon, if you have any trouble I'll tell them you've been here and its our fault, not yours". (Try that with a State Trooper in Ma.)

So all is well, but there's much to do - this past week we also have had a man from Love Hill drop by asking if we had any meat. He is low on funds and can't afford meat - "Do you have any extra meat?" Another woman came by because the electric company shut off her power - she hasn't been able to pay for 3 months and now that the bill is over $600 they shut her off. "Could you give me a couple of hundred so they'll turn it back on?" Then in the midst of requests like this another woman drops by. This is a woman who we know has very very little, and who we had helped pay her electric bill a few months back. Now she is bringing us two loaves of bread she had baked. "Here, this will help you through Deac".

These are things that make you take a deep breath, look up at the blue blue sky, and sigh.

Till next time