Well hello again - I knew that once CCD started my time would be scarse, and I was right, so the blog has suffered a bit.
Our newest experience has to do with diesel - or the lack thereof. I have told you that I have been getting my diesel from a local man who syphons it out of old oil drums and fills my tank. Well the local gas station has started carrying diesel and, since they rent their space from my friend, he asked me to stop using him as a source and start using the gas station.
So I fill up, no problem and off we go running errands, driving kids from CCD, etc. When, while half-way to Cargill Creek for Sunday services the van starts bucking and coughing and stalling and, in the middle of nowhere, this is not good. This is also a sign of bad diesel fuel. I have actually helped out a member of our church who was stranded once because of water in the diesel (a common problem here). It turns out that underground gas tanks are metal and metal tanks filled with diesel can get water in the fuel by simple condensation that takes place as the tanks are emptied. It seems anyone with diesel (but me) has experienced this problem and the only solution is to drain the tank and put in new fuel. So anyway, I nurse it to the church in Cargill and start setting up for church when, without my knowing it, one of the members takes Ginni's keys and goes off to pick up people in Behring Point who have no cars. So we wait and wait and wait, and eventually he returns with a bus load of people. "Deac, you got a problem mahn, der be water in da tank or som'ting".
So we have church and the people from Behring Point all hitch rides from other people and I nurse the bus back to Fresh Creek. Once home we call the people up north telling them we can't come to Mastic Point, but I have no way to get any message to the Haitians so I know they were just standing there in their church clothes all afternoon - what a bummer.
Now that I am home, what to do? So I gather up empty gallon water jugs, get a long hose and prepare to suck the diesel out of the van using the hose as a syphon. Well after about 10 minutes its clear this isn't going to work because the piple leading to the gas tank curves and then leads into the tank and my hose won't make the turn. So I crawl under the bus and try to follow the gas line to see if there is any other way to get the bad fuel out when I notice a drain plug on the tank. So I jack up the bus and crawl underneath it. I find the drain plug and unscrew it and diesel starts flowing into my old water jug, then the next, then the next, then the next - until I fill all 5 jugs and screw the plug back in.
Now I pull out my reserve diesel fuel that I save in plastic drums for use when a hurricane knocks the gas station (or my friend) out of diesel. The backup has saved me before and once again it will do the trick. Once I am about half full I take it for a spin and all seems well.
So I curse the gas station and call my friend saying his tenant gas station is selling bad diesel and I would really like to start using him again. He apologizes but doesn't have any diesel himself right now. So I sigh and start ferreting around for other sources of diesel on the island.
Later that afternoon - cough, spit, cough, stall, and the problem is back. Someone asks how old my diesel was that I had pulled out of the garage and I, quite frankly, didn't know. Can diesel go bad? Maybe, especially if condensation or rain got into the drum I had used.
So, once again, crawl under the van, jack it up, drain the fuel (did I mention the stinging ants that live here - they don't appreciate Deacons laying in the grass under his van one little bit). So for a second time I take a spin after draining the tank, but this time there is no difference.
My only choice now is to ship the bus to Nassau and bring it to the dealer. This is something I have avoided using local mechanics to do oil changes, filter changes and regular maintenance. Then I have the bright idea of going to one of my members who drives the local school but. That is diesel and he maintains it. So I drop the bus off with him - but this is where it gets interesting.
When I drop off the bus he says, "Deac, come with me" and he leads me to the front of his house. I really have no idea why we're taking this little stroll until he says "Deac, do you see this hole?" and there is a small circle about 6" across where the earth was recently turned over. Then he says, "See that one?" and points to another spot about 8' away, and then another and another. He tells me that he came home from work that morning (he works nights at a 2nd job) and he noticed the first one right in front of his front steps and then discovered they completely encircled his home. During the night, someone had come and dug these holes, filled them with some kind of white powder and pennies, then covered them up. When he found the first one he dug it up to see what it was and that's what he found buried in each hole. The only explanation, Voodoo. It turns out this is a common hex, or curse, supposedly anyone who steps on the buried pennies will become penniless.
So - I take some time to belittle the curse, explaining that Jesus is stronger than any hex and he believes in Jesus, "Yes Faddah, I believe in Jesus, I know this is bad but Jesus keep me strong". It was a rather interesting 20 minute conversation to say the least. Then I had to go deal with his wife who had her own fears on this topic, but she too was convinced nothing would come with it - but could I come by tomorrow with holy water?
Anyway - after that bit of excitement I walk home and he starts work on the bus. The next day is Monday and we need the bus to transport kids home from CCD. Monday morning, no bus, I wait as long as I can, still no bus. I end up calling someone from Cargill who works in Fresh Creek and he offers to take the kids home if there's no bus - and there wasn't.
At eight that night I hear our bus pulling into the yard. "Deac, it wasn't the diesel, and it wasn't the fuel filter - there is a 3rd primer pump filter hidden on the other side of the bus that looks like it never was changed - it was totally plugged with goo". He had found the problem.
Alleluia - Alleluia - Alleluia -- with that I feel more comfortable with the diesel from the local station and we are back in business. Hopefully we have de-bunked the Voodoo business as well and nipped that one in the bud, but I'd love to discover who is digging holes and filling them with pennies.
One last new thing on our plate has to do with crime. Violent crime is out of hand here, we are a nation of 350,000 with a murder rate, after 9 months, of over 100. That is an incredibly hi number if you study murder statistics. The local government has a firearms amnesty program for the month of OCT and the Archbishop has asked that all Catholic Parishes be a drop off point for illegal firearms if their owners are fearful of dropping them off at the police station. So, while nobody has visited us yet, should anyone want to deliver illegal firearms to us, we will take them and get them off the street and then deliver them to the police station ourselves. Just one more interesting twist to ministry in the Bahamas.
Keep us in your prayers - we sure can use them.
Till next time.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Just an update for you all
Hello my friends -
Well things here are starting to ramp up.
Our new AA group is meeting at the Fr. Gabriel Roerig Parish Center on Saturday mornings and it seems to off to a great start.
Our CCD program seems to be pretty well set and, when you add in RCIA, bible studies, Adoration, . . . our week will be very full. All of this will crank up the first week of OCT.
Next week we will be travelling to Nassau for our monthly 'Pastoral Day' where all the clergy of the Bahamas come together for a day of prayer and community. This one will be unique in that the Archdiocese of the Bahamas is implementing VIRTUS, an educational program for clergy and those that work with youth about protecting children. This is a program the Archdiocese of Boston implemented years ago and I have already taken the class twice - but I'll be doing it again here. Nassau has not had any cases of clergy sexually abusing children but this will do a good job of educating us about the issue and protecting our children.
Usually when we go to Nassau for this meeting we stay Wed-Fri and enjoy time away and get some shopping in for those items we cannot get on Andros. This will be a Tue-Wed trip however because of other things on our schedule. For example, when we did RCIA last year we had two women who have crazy schedules. The result was that when Easter came around they were months behind in their classes and we felt it best to defer their acceptance into the church. So - all summer long we have been doing make-up classes to catch them up. Then we have 3 new people who want to begin RCIA this year. So we will have the new people on Mon night and the catching up people on Wed night. The end result is we do the Mon night class, fly to Nassau Tues morning, shop on Tues, attend the Wed Pastoral Day, then fly back to do the Wed night class. Run, run, run.
The following week CCD starts so our weekly schedule will be
Monday afternoon - grades 7-9
Monday night - RCIA for those from Fresh Creek
Tues afternoon - grades 10-12 (our confirmation class)
Tues night - RCIA for those from Cargill Creek
Wed afternoon - grades 1-6 from Fresh Creek
Wed night - RCIA makeup from last year
Thurs afternoon - grades 1-6 from Cargill Creek
Friday - we saved for ourselves (except for 1st Fri Adoration and Bible Study the 2nd and 4th Friday evenings and a need to do homily prep for the weekend)
Saturday should be finalizing the homily prior to the Saturday weekend liturgy
Sunday is full with 3 liturgies from 8AM until 4 PM
It will be interesting to get back into all this after taking a breather over the summer
Keep us in your prayers.
On a lighter note - fruits and veggies on Andros seem to come in all at once. What I mean by that is you will have weeks of Mangos - and nothing else, but Mangos are everywhere. Then its cabbages, then sappodillies, then onions, etc. You get swamped with gifts of that one particular produce, from everyone (and I do mean swamped). Right now its avacados - they grow them huge here and they call them pears. These avacados are all delivered, sold, or give away, rock hard. They are inedible - but a week on the window sill and they are delicious. The problem is that you go from zero - to 12 really ripe avacados all at once. And the gifts keep on coming.
When we first arrived here 3 years ago I planted a pit near a sea-grape plant that was on its last legs. The sea grape is long gone but the pit took root and is now 3-4' tall. In another year or two I will be picking my own avacados!
The same thing happened with a mango pit - although I think this pit was just tossed aside by one of our children. It landed under a bush by the front of the church and now it is taller than I am!
My last bit of news is related to the community in North Andros. The Archbishop has given us permission to build a chapel there called Our Lady of Hope. I did some research on Our Lady of Hope and found the National Shrine to Our Lady of Hope in the US is in Tewksbury, MA. It turns out this was a devotion fostered by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). Coincidentally, the OMI's used to be located at St. Jean de Baptiste parish in Lowell, MA - the host parish of St. Joseph High School for Boys on Merrimack St (where I went to High School).
I sent them an email explaining what we are doing and they sent a packet of prayer cards and booklets explaining about the apparition of Our Lady of Hope in France. We have distributed them to our local folks and I will be giving some to the Archbishop when we see him next week. God is amazing!!
Next week I will be meeting with contractors to try to get a sense of how much a simple chapel would cost to build - nothing more that 4 walls and a roof. The community in No. Andros has already donated enough to clear the land and put in the foundation but we clearly will need to do a development campaign to add those four walls and a roof. I'll let you know what I find out.
Enough for now - keep us in your prayers
Deacon Frank Tremblay
Well things here are starting to ramp up.
Our new AA group is meeting at the Fr. Gabriel Roerig Parish Center on Saturday mornings and it seems to off to a great start.
Our CCD program seems to be pretty well set and, when you add in RCIA, bible studies, Adoration, . . . our week will be very full. All of this will crank up the first week of OCT.
Next week we will be travelling to Nassau for our monthly 'Pastoral Day' where all the clergy of the Bahamas come together for a day of prayer and community. This one will be unique in that the Archdiocese of the Bahamas is implementing VIRTUS, an educational program for clergy and those that work with youth about protecting children. This is a program the Archdiocese of Boston implemented years ago and I have already taken the class twice - but I'll be doing it again here. Nassau has not had any cases of clergy sexually abusing children but this will do a good job of educating us about the issue and protecting our children.
Usually when we go to Nassau for this meeting we stay Wed-Fri and enjoy time away and get some shopping in for those items we cannot get on Andros. This will be a Tue-Wed trip however because of other things on our schedule. For example, when we did RCIA last year we had two women who have crazy schedules. The result was that when Easter came around they were months behind in their classes and we felt it best to defer their acceptance into the church. So - all summer long we have been doing make-up classes to catch them up. Then we have 3 new people who want to begin RCIA this year. So we will have the new people on Mon night and the catching up people on Wed night. The end result is we do the Mon night class, fly to Nassau Tues morning, shop on Tues, attend the Wed Pastoral Day, then fly back to do the Wed night class. Run, run, run.
The following week CCD starts so our weekly schedule will be
Monday afternoon - grades 7-9
Monday night - RCIA for those from Fresh Creek
Tues afternoon - grades 10-12 (our confirmation class)
Tues night - RCIA for those from Cargill Creek
Wed afternoon - grades 1-6 from Fresh Creek
Wed night - RCIA makeup from last year
Thurs afternoon - grades 1-6 from Cargill Creek
Friday - we saved for ourselves (except for 1st Fri Adoration and Bible Study the 2nd and 4th Friday evenings and a need to do homily prep for the weekend)
Saturday should be finalizing the homily prior to the Saturday weekend liturgy
Sunday is full with 3 liturgies from 8AM until 4 PM
It will be interesting to get back into all this after taking a breather over the summer
Keep us in your prayers.
On a lighter note - fruits and veggies on Andros seem to come in all at once. What I mean by that is you will have weeks of Mangos - and nothing else, but Mangos are everywhere. Then its cabbages, then sappodillies, then onions, etc. You get swamped with gifts of that one particular produce, from everyone (and I do mean swamped). Right now its avacados - they grow them huge here and they call them pears. These avacados are all delivered, sold, or give away, rock hard. They are inedible - but a week on the window sill and they are delicious. The problem is that you go from zero - to 12 really ripe avacados all at once. And the gifts keep on coming.
When we first arrived here 3 years ago I planted a pit near a sea-grape plant that was on its last legs. The sea grape is long gone but the pit took root and is now 3-4' tall. In another year or two I will be picking my own avacados!
The same thing happened with a mango pit - although I think this pit was just tossed aside by one of our children. It landed under a bush by the front of the church and now it is taller than I am!
My last bit of news is related to the community in North Andros. The Archbishop has given us permission to build a chapel there called Our Lady of Hope. I did some research on Our Lady of Hope and found the National Shrine to Our Lady of Hope in the US is in Tewksbury, MA. It turns out this was a devotion fostered by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). Coincidentally, the OMI's used to be located at St. Jean de Baptiste parish in Lowell, MA - the host parish of St. Joseph High School for Boys on Merrimack St (where I went to High School).
I sent them an email explaining what we are doing and they sent a packet of prayer cards and booklets explaining about the apparition of Our Lady of Hope in France. We have distributed them to our local folks and I will be giving some to the Archbishop when we see him next week. God is amazing!!
Next week I will be meeting with contractors to try to get a sense of how much a simple chapel would cost to build - nothing more that 4 walls and a roof. The community in No. Andros has already donated enough to clear the land and put in the foundation but we clearly will need to do a development campaign to add those four walls and a roof. I'll let you know what I find out.
Enough for now - keep us in your prayers
Deacon Frank Tremblay
Saturday, September 3, 2011
AA on Andros!
Well surprise surprise - two blog entries in two days - this is a record!
With Ginni away I just had to tell someone about my morning and today you, my blog readers, are the lucky ones.
This morning is rainy and overcast but, true to form, our local homeless man limped his way up the driveway for his daily sandwich. I had given him a Maryknoll magazine we had for something to read and he sat on the porch watching the rain and eating when a car pulled up.
I went out to meet whoever it was to find it was Ernie - an employee at the AUTEC Navy Base. He had a bahamian man with him and a 3-ring binder. It turns out that Ernie is active in the Alcoholic Anonymous group at AUTEC and he'd been coming off-base to meet with this man who had just started his road to sobriety. They had been meeting in a park, then in a local bahamian home, but today the home wasn't available, and with the rain, neither was the park and he hoped he could meet on the porch.
I told them they were always welcome to come here to have the meeting, but with my other friend eating his sandwich I thought they needed more privacy than this area and invited them into the rectory to use the screen porch. They gladly accepted and spent a little over an hour there.
When they were done I made a point of telling them that if they EVER needed a place to host an AA meeting for the Bahamians we would be very open to being a place they could meet. Ernie jumped at the offer and said, "OK, how about Saturday's at 9:30". So it looks like we are now blessed to have the first and only AA meeting on Andros! I couldn't be happier.
Then, Ernie looks at our homeless friend and invites him to come too! Now this fellow has a definite issue with rum and drugs and when he asked what AA was I explained that it was a meeting for people who had problems with rum and a way to help stay sober. He actually said, "You know, I could use dat Deac" and Ernie laughs (turns out Ernie knows him only too well).
Drugs and alcohol are a major problem in the Bahamas and on an island like Andros there are literally no resources to address the issue. If the established AA group on the Navy Base really is willing to come off base and conduct a Saturday morning AA meeting at our church it would be a great beginning to something that could make a very real difference.
Keep this one in your prayers - till next time.
With Ginni away I just had to tell someone about my morning and today you, my blog readers, are the lucky ones.
This morning is rainy and overcast but, true to form, our local homeless man limped his way up the driveway for his daily sandwich. I had given him a Maryknoll magazine we had for something to read and he sat on the porch watching the rain and eating when a car pulled up.
I went out to meet whoever it was to find it was Ernie - an employee at the AUTEC Navy Base. He had a bahamian man with him and a 3-ring binder. It turns out that Ernie is active in the Alcoholic Anonymous group at AUTEC and he'd been coming off-base to meet with this man who had just started his road to sobriety. They had been meeting in a park, then in a local bahamian home, but today the home wasn't available, and with the rain, neither was the park and he hoped he could meet on the porch.
I told them they were always welcome to come here to have the meeting, but with my other friend eating his sandwich I thought they needed more privacy than this area and invited them into the rectory to use the screen porch. They gladly accepted and spent a little over an hour there.
When they were done I made a point of telling them that if they EVER needed a place to host an AA meeting for the Bahamians we would be very open to being a place they could meet. Ernie jumped at the offer and said, "OK, how about Saturday's at 9:30". So it looks like we are now blessed to have the first and only AA meeting on Andros! I couldn't be happier.
Then, Ernie looks at our homeless friend and invites him to come too! Now this fellow has a definite issue with rum and drugs and when he asked what AA was I explained that it was a meeting for people who had problems with rum and a way to help stay sober. He actually said, "You know, I could use dat Deac" and Ernie laughs (turns out Ernie knows him only too well).
Drugs and alcohol are a major problem in the Bahamas and on an island like Andros there are literally no resources to address the issue. If the established AA group on the Navy Base really is willing to come off base and conduct a Saturday morning AA meeting at our church it would be a great beginning to something that could make a very real difference.
Keep this one in your prayers - till next time.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Another week without Ginni
Well its been two months and finally Ginni is due back next week Wednesday, less than a week. In that time she's missed a baptism, a funeral, a hurricane, my first encounter with a tarantula, lots of work planning CCD, and yesterday my newest Bahamian experience - a camelion frog.
Yep, a frog that actually changes colors to match his (or her) surroundings. Now frogs are very common here, but to see one huddled up on top of a white bench we have in an open patio - and to see the frog also be totally white, well that was amazing.
Ginni has our camera else I certainly would have taken pics of this guy (and the tarantula) to share with you all. During her US trip she was going to visit our newest grandson so she HAD to take the camera for that.
On the spiritual front, tonight we are going to try something new at our monthly First Friday Adoration services. Instead of my doing a short reflection we will sing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This should be interesting since those that attend the Holy Hour are somewhat musically challenged. I trust that God will understand and accept what we offer.
While summer is a slow time for me here this month is crunch time to get ready for next years religious ed classes and RCIA. I have been cranking on the laptop to put together a curriculum for the High School and the Primary School kids we will have. We estimate that this year we will have almost 50 students. Before she left Ginni and I decided that since we have no 1st communion kids this year that we would use the parables to teach the Primary School kids about the life and teachings of Jesus. For the High School kids, however, it will be Confirmation year so our classes there will have to cover the doctrine they will need to learn. Suffice it to say its alot of material to pull together. Doing this without Ginni also has the risk of her coming back, looking at what I've done, and say, "Gee - did you forget about ---", and she'll be totally right and I'll have to re-work it. For now all I can do is keep plowing away and we'll see what happens.
A complication we always have is primary school. There is only 1 High School so we can grab all our kids off the bus as it passes the Parish Ctr and do them in one class. The Primary Schools are spread all over the island so we have kids in at least 4 different schools over a wide geographic area. Planning how to pull them together when some parents don't have cars, parents work, schedules don't cooperate, . . . With minimal to no parental catechists.
Once Ginni returns the planning and scheduling of our classes will be a big one.
Well, enough for now
Keep us in your prayers
Yep, a frog that actually changes colors to match his (or her) surroundings. Now frogs are very common here, but to see one huddled up on top of a white bench we have in an open patio - and to see the frog also be totally white, well that was amazing.
Ginni has our camera else I certainly would have taken pics of this guy (and the tarantula) to share with you all. During her US trip she was going to visit our newest grandson so she HAD to take the camera for that.
On the spiritual front, tonight we are going to try something new at our monthly First Friday Adoration services. Instead of my doing a short reflection we will sing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This should be interesting since those that attend the Holy Hour are somewhat musically challenged. I trust that God will understand and accept what we offer.
While summer is a slow time for me here this month is crunch time to get ready for next years religious ed classes and RCIA. I have been cranking on the laptop to put together a curriculum for the High School and the Primary School kids we will have. We estimate that this year we will have almost 50 students. Before she left Ginni and I decided that since we have no 1st communion kids this year that we would use the parables to teach the Primary School kids about the life and teachings of Jesus. For the High School kids, however, it will be Confirmation year so our classes there will have to cover the doctrine they will need to learn. Suffice it to say its alot of material to pull together. Doing this without Ginni also has the risk of her coming back, looking at what I've done, and say, "Gee - did you forget about ---", and she'll be totally right and I'll have to re-work it. For now all I can do is keep plowing away and we'll see what happens.
A complication we always have is primary school. There is only 1 High School so we can grab all our kids off the bus as it passes the Parish Ctr and do them in one class. The Primary Schools are spread all over the island so we have kids in at least 4 different schools over a wide geographic area. Planning how to pull them together when some parents don't have cars, parents work, schedules don't cooperate, . . . With minimal to no parental catechists.
Once Ginni returns the planning and scheduling of our classes will be a big one.
Well, enough for now
Keep us in your prayers
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Funerals and Hurricanes
Hello again - much to share so let me get right at it.
Since my last post I have been awakened by early morning visitors at my door several times. The first was at 4AM when someone came to tell me that I was needed at the clinic because someone had died. I threw on some clothes, grabbed a prayer book for this type of situation and 15 minutes later I walked into the clinic, which was packed!
It seems that at 2AM this man, a known asthmatic, knocked on the door of the doctor's house, told him "I be dying" and collapsed. Once at the clinic they tried resusitating him, but to no avail, the asthma had been putting a strain on his heart for years and this attack would be his last.
When I arrived the crowd literally parted like the Red Sea and I walked straight into the examination room (there is only one) and, surrounding the gurney were his family and closest of friends. I began to pray spontaneously, then opened the book and read the Rite in praying over the deceased. After prayers they took him to the morgue amid much wailing and crying from the crowd.
I stayed for a little while, but this was a Saturday night (now Sun morning) and, having an 8AM liturgy, I left to try to get a bit more sleep (unsuccessfully).
Here in the Bahamas when someone dies on these remote islands they ship the body off to Nassau since we have no morticians. Usually the funeral is 2 weeks later, always a Saturday morning.
I helped the family plan the funeral and it was clear to me that since he was only in his 30s this would be a huge event - I was not wrong. Every seat in the church was full, I added 8 pews I had in storage to an open patio area we have outside the church and that filled up, then people stood outside peering in the windows. During the service, once again there was the Bahamian wailing and crying and falling down and fainting and screaming and it was clear that he was much loved by all. After the formal funeral service we walked (in 97 degree August heat) to the cemetery. The herse had gone to the cemetery to set up the awning over the gravesite and, with such a huge crowd, the herse could not get back to the church. The church parking lot was full, the driveway, both sides of the street leading to the church - absolute grid lock - so the pall bearers carried the casket out the church, down the driveway to the street, then placing it on the gurney we rolled the casket all the way through town to the cemetery with the entire church walking behind us singing away. Quite the send off - Bahamian style!
The second early morning visitor was knocking on my door a few days ago at 6AM. Their teenage daughter was sick and they needed a place to stay until the clinic opened at 8. She was running a temp and doubled over with cramps. Now, I should explain that Dengue Fever is rampant on Nassau and she had just visited there. This is a mosquito born virus that is quite nasty. Hundreds of cases have been confirmed, 3 have died, and the estimate is that the number of actual cases is in the thousands. We did our best to keep her comfortable, not an easy task, and eventually they left for the clinic. They returned a few hours later en route home to tell me the doc had given her a shot for pain, but all they could do was let it run its course. Island medicine can be a challenge.
As you know, this week hurricane Irene has decided to visit the Bahamas and I have been in prep mode all week. The US Navy has evacuated AUTEC and I put up over 50 hurricane shutters on our house and the church and just when I thought I was about done, with only 3 windows to go, discovered that the frame the shutters connect to was missing on one window. I found the frame in the garage and, although it was bent and rusty and stashed away because it was a wreck, I was going to have to use it.
What complicated this is that it was the top bracket of a window using 88" shutters where the window sill was about 6' off the ground. I have no extension ladder so I took my step ladder, leaned it against the side of the church, climbed to the very top step and, holding my drill over my head, drilled the pilot holes for the screws into the concrete wall - not an easy task. Then I repeated this on the other side of the window for the 2nd screw. Balancing on the balls of my feet I then had to screw in the screws (again over my head into concrete). Suffice it to say the screws did not cooperate and each took quite awhile to penetrate the cement. Once done I hoisted the hurricane shutter into place, to find I had hung the bracket 1" too low and the shutter wouldn't fit. So, up the ladder again, take out the screws, take down the bracket, drill new holes, screw new screws to get the bracket in place - all the while balancing on the topmost step of this ladder leaning precariously against the side of the church, while Irene is sending me the early waves of 30 MPH gust, lightning, and the occasional gale of rain which caused me climb down and wait for it to pass. Finally done, the shutters up, I called it a day after 12 hours of getting the shutters up on the church and the rectory. I was pooped!
Today the storm is nearer, it is a constant 40MPH wind with gusts to 60 but the storm itself has veered to the East. It will still do a number on the Bahamas but my island should be spared the most destructive force of the storm which will be here tonight, tomorrow and finally leave the next day.
Gotta run - till next time.
Since my last post I have been awakened by early morning visitors at my door several times. The first was at 4AM when someone came to tell me that I was needed at the clinic because someone had died. I threw on some clothes, grabbed a prayer book for this type of situation and 15 minutes later I walked into the clinic, which was packed!
It seems that at 2AM this man, a known asthmatic, knocked on the door of the doctor's house, told him "I be dying" and collapsed. Once at the clinic they tried resusitating him, but to no avail, the asthma had been putting a strain on his heart for years and this attack would be his last.
When I arrived the crowd literally parted like the Red Sea and I walked straight into the examination room (there is only one) and, surrounding the gurney were his family and closest of friends. I began to pray spontaneously, then opened the book and read the Rite in praying over the deceased. After prayers they took him to the morgue amid much wailing and crying from the crowd.
I stayed for a little while, but this was a Saturday night (now Sun morning) and, having an 8AM liturgy, I left to try to get a bit more sleep (unsuccessfully).
Here in the Bahamas when someone dies on these remote islands they ship the body off to Nassau since we have no morticians. Usually the funeral is 2 weeks later, always a Saturday morning.
I helped the family plan the funeral and it was clear to me that since he was only in his 30s this would be a huge event - I was not wrong. Every seat in the church was full, I added 8 pews I had in storage to an open patio area we have outside the church and that filled up, then people stood outside peering in the windows. During the service, once again there was the Bahamian wailing and crying and falling down and fainting and screaming and it was clear that he was much loved by all. After the formal funeral service we walked (in 97 degree August heat) to the cemetery. The herse had gone to the cemetery to set up the awning over the gravesite and, with such a huge crowd, the herse could not get back to the church. The church parking lot was full, the driveway, both sides of the street leading to the church - absolute grid lock - so the pall bearers carried the casket out the church, down the driveway to the street, then placing it on the gurney we rolled the casket all the way through town to the cemetery with the entire church walking behind us singing away. Quite the send off - Bahamian style!
The second early morning visitor was knocking on my door a few days ago at 6AM. Their teenage daughter was sick and they needed a place to stay until the clinic opened at 8. She was running a temp and doubled over with cramps. Now, I should explain that Dengue Fever is rampant on Nassau and she had just visited there. This is a mosquito born virus that is quite nasty. Hundreds of cases have been confirmed, 3 have died, and the estimate is that the number of actual cases is in the thousands. We did our best to keep her comfortable, not an easy task, and eventually they left for the clinic. They returned a few hours later en route home to tell me the doc had given her a shot for pain, but all they could do was let it run its course. Island medicine can be a challenge.
As you know, this week hurricane Irene has decided to visit the Bahamas and I have been in prep mode all week. The US Navy has evacuated AUTEC and I put up over 50 hurricane shutters on our house and the church and just when I thought I was about done, with only 3 windows to go, discovered that the frame the shutters connect to was missing on one window. I found the frame in the garage and, although it was bent and rusty and stashed away because it was a wreck, I was going to have to use it.
What complicated this is that it was the top bracket of a window using 88" shutters where the window sill was about 6' off the ground. I have no extension ladder so I took my step ladder, leaned it against the side of the church, climbed to the very top step and, holding my drill over my head, drilled the pilot holes for the screws into the concrete wall - not an easy task. Then I repeated this on the other side of the window for the 2nd screw. Balancing on the balls of my feet I then had to screw in the screws (again over my head into concrete). Suffice it to say the screws did not cooperate and each took quite awhile to penetrate the cement. Once done I hoisted the hurricane shutter into place, to find I had hung the bracket 1" too low and the shutter wouldn't fit. So, up the ladder again, take out the screws, take down the bracket, drill new holes, screw new screws to get the bracket in place - all the while balancing on the topmost step of this ladder leaning precariously against the side of the church, while Irene is sending me the early waves of 30 MPH gust, lightning, and the occasional gale of rain which caused me climb down and wait for it to pass. Finally done, the shutters up, I called it a day after 12 hours of getting the shutters up on the church and the rectory. I was pooped!
Today the storm is nearer, it is a constant 40MPH wind with gusts to 60 but the storm itself has veered to the East. It will still do a number on the Bahamas but my island should be spared the most destructive force of the storm which will be here tonight, tomorrow and finally leave the next day.
Gotta run - till next time.
Monday, August 1, 2011
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
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
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Vacation, Independence Day, and back to work
Well its been a month since my last post, delayed primarily by a 2 week trip to the US, so let me try to catch you up on things.
My last post was after an angina attack that put me in the hospital for a few days, followed by the Vicar General's direction I should do nothing for a week or so. So, that's what I did. Once we were back on Andros with new medications and a relatively clean bill of health we got a surprise email from one of our tenants saying that things were tight and they didn't think they were going to be able to make their rent so - they were leaving in 2 weeks. Despite having a lease committing them thru September they were simply abandoning thier lease and leaving.
While this was a shock, it was complicated by our having told the other tenant that since they had been unable to make their rent payments we were exercising our option to ask them to leave (they were a tenant-at-will month to month renter). So - while I was to avoid stress and take it easy, all of a sudden we had no tenants renting our home and that income was how we paid the mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc. We had tried to sell the house prior to starting this ministry but, due to the housing market, were unable to do so and we rented it. Now we still have the financial obligations but with both tenants leaving we are in a financial bind.
So Ginni headed home to deal with finding new tenants and get in some nursing to make a few dollars. We had planned to take a few weeks in June to go home for my nephew's wedding, but now our trip had double duty - the wedding and the house. Originally it was a one week trip to go to the wedding but now I had to arrange coverage for two weekends here in Fresh Creek because of this renter situation. In the 3 years we have been here I have never been away for two weekends in a row but the Archdiocese assured me they'd find coverage and I was to deal with the problems at home.
A week after Ginni left I followed. The tenant who left on two weeks notice had left, but had left alot of personal items behind, while the tenant we had asked to leave was still packing up. The house was in chaos but we were able to clean one apartment and begin showing it to possible tenants pretty quickly. With a few possible tenants on the hook we sent off their credit info for credit checks and then took the vacation we promised ourselves we needed.
Ginni had traded a timeshare we have for a week in the Berkshires and it was great to be back in that part of the country where I grew up. I grew up in Pittsfield and we stayed in Lee. What a difference from the dry flat tropics of Andros. Here were green mountains and hills, lush green seemed everywhere, while the rain had yet to arrive in Andros and our grass literally crunched under your feet there. The first 3 days we drove thru back roads and visited my old house; Bear Town State Forest, where I used to camp; and used the putt-putt mini golf and pool at our resort. Later in the week it rained a bit so we visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, a local winery, the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, walked the grounds of Tanglewood, and even rediscovered the old ShadowBrook Jesuit Seminary (now a Yoga Center). Ginni and I met on a retreat at ShadowBrook when Ginni was at UMass so it was wonderful to see the place again.
With the rain persisting we left a day early to deal with the house and spent a day following up on possible renters and cleaning before leaving for my nephew's wedding and an overnight stay in Lowell. A high point of this trip was seeing our newest grandson again. I hadn't seen Leo since the winter when he was only a month or two old - he's a different little boy now at 6 months old. Sitting up by himself, smiling and rolling over he will be a handful once he starts crawling! What a cutie. The other high point was our son Mike brought a date to meet the family. A scary step with my family but one she handled very well. Mike has been dating her for several months and he is smitten - time will tell where this leads.
Anyway, now its back to the house and finally getting the upstairs tenant to come and remove their belongings. We also hired a friend from St.Timothy's who works as a contractor to come and fix a long list of items needing repair who made great progress while we were in the Berkshires and at the wedding. One thing we found was that, with the housing crisis, alot of people looking to rent are people who have lost their homes by not being able to pay their mortgage. Consequently, the credit checks are all pretty horrible. We finally settled on one man who was divorced, but liked the larger apartment because it gave his kids a place to stay when visiting on weekends. His credit was just as bad as the others but his mother was willing to co-sign and her credit was great. So we do the final meet the day before I have to fly back to Andros, his mother signs, I sign, and Ginni and the tenant were to sign a few days later when he would bring his security deposit and the 1st month's rent. So, I fly home and when Ginni meets with him he can't come up with the money and his mother really doesn't want to loan it to him. So that falls through and we are back to square one interviewing tenants.
Ginni has to return to Andros and currently our friends are showing the apartment and collecting Rental Applications and sending them off to the credit check company, who email the results to us. Doing this from the Bahamas is a royal pain, but we have no choice.
Anyway - when Ginni returns I meet her in Nassau and the next day it is my followup appointment with the Doctors who treated my Angina attack. All the test results were fantastic, I have no coronary blockages at all, 100% clear, and the drugs have my pressure down - all is well. The Dr that did the MRI says I have arthritis in my neck that will continue to cause me discomfort but no heart issues. So I can resume life and get back to work.
With the Dr's under control we fly back to Andros and Ginni has her first day home in about a month. Of course as soon as we get home the power goes out, the water pressure drops to zero, and the heat and humidity is through the roof. Eventually power returns, we unpack settle in, and Ginni goes to take a shower. First, she runs into a 3" spider crawling up the shower curtain, kills it, turns on the water - and there is none. She takes a bird-bath in the sink and comes into the bedroom. She turns on the lamp on her nightstand and it flickers so I suggest it needs a new bulb. She goes and gets a bulb and when she comes around to her side of the bed she says, "OH, Oh, Fire!" and I see that the extension cord from her lamp to the outlet had split and now it is spouting sparks and fire. Well she unplugged it and we cleaned the scorch marks off the tile and replaced the extension cord, then climbs into bed - that was Ginni's first night home.
So the first week back has been uneventful but July 10 is Bahamian Independence Day and so on Saturday, July 9, after our normal Saturday liturgy at the Navy Base, I head over to the Queens Park for a ecumenical prayer service led by all the clergy here in Central Andros, followed by midnight fireworks. Since we were away I didn't have any particular role other than being present on the stage - until the moderator realizes they need to fill about 10 minutes before the fireworks and she turns to me and say into the microphone, "before we end tonight why doesn't Deacon Tremblay come share a few words". So, thrust into the spotlight, I do an impromptu talk about to be truly Indepent, we need to be Dependent upon Jesus. Then remembering last week's homily about our being yoked to Jesus, I took off on how the Bahamas has done exactly that, explicitly stating in the Constitution that the Bahamas are a Christian nation. I guess it was pretty well accepted, I got a few AMEN DEAC's from the crowd and I filled the 10 minutes without embarrasing myself.
Next week we will be helping ANCAT, a local conservation group, with their summer camp for youth. Our new Parish Ctr will be a gathering point and our van will be a resource to get campers from point A to point B, but we will benefit from learning more and more about the the flora and fauna of our island and they teach the kids. It will be a busy few weeks but an opportunity to learn and share the faith a bit when opportunity presents itself to both the kids and parents.
Summer time is also a time for us to begin planning next years CCD curriculum and we will begin doing makeup sessions for 2 women who were in our RCIA program and had to withdraw due to work requiring literally all their time. If we can catch them up in July and August, they can resume in Sept and receive the sacraments next Easter! PTL!
Another item coming up is our annual review with the Archbishop. We will have been here 3 years in Nov (imagine that) and when I sit down and list all we did last year in preparation for this meeting I am amazed at what we were able to do. CCD for 57 children, RCIA, funerals, baptisms, restoring St. Gabriel's church, a parish mission, . . . the list just goes on and on.
I want you to know that WE know, without you and the Holy Spirit we would probably have been sent home after the first year. Your prayers and support are a major reason we've been able to do what we have done - THANK YOU.
So - until next time
My last post was after an angina attack that put me in the hospital for a few days, followed by the Vicar General's direction I should do nothing for a week or so. So, that's what I did. Once we were back on Andros with new medications and a relatively clean bill of health we got a surprise email from one of our tenants saying that things were tight and they didn't think they were going to be able to make their rent so - they were leaving in 2 weeks. Despite having a lease committing them thru September they were simply abandoning thier lease and leaving.
While this was a shock, it was complicated by our having told the other tenant that since they had been unable to make their rent payments we were exercising our option to ask them to leave (they were a tenant-at-will month to month renter). So - while I was to avoid stress and take it easy, all of a sudden we had no tenants renting our home and that income was how we paid the mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc. We had tried to sell the house prior to starting this ministry but, due to the housing market, were unable to do so and we rented it. Now we still have the financial obligations but with both tenants leaving we are in a financial bind.
So Ginni headed home to deal with finding new tenants and get in some nursing to make a few dollars. We had planned to take a few weeks in June to go home for my nephew's wedding, but now our trip had double duty - the wedding and the house. Originally it was a one week trip to go to the wedding but now I had to arrange coverage for two weekends here in Fresh Creek because of this renter situation. In the 3 years we have been here I have never been away for two weekends in a row but the Archdiocese assured me they'd find coverage and I was to deal with the problems at home.
A week after Ginni left I followed. The tenant who left on two weeks notice had left, but had left alot of personal items behind, while the tenant we had asked to leave was still packing up. The house was in chaos but we were able to clean one apartment and begin showing it to possible tenants pretty quickly. With a few possible tenants on the hook we sent off their credit info for credit checks and then took the vacation we promised ourselves we needed.
Ginni had traded a timeshare we have for a week in the Berkshires and it was great to be back in that part of the country where I grew up. I grew up in Pittsfield and we stayed in Lee. What a difference from the dry flat tropics of Andros. Here were green mountains and hills, lush green seemed everywhere, while the rain had yet to arrive in Andros and our grass literally crunched under your feet there. The first 3 days we drove thru back roads and visited my old house; Bear Town State Forest, where I used to camp; and used the putt-putt mini golf and pool at our resort. Later in the week it rained a bit so we visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, a local winery, the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, walked the grounds of Tanglewood, and even rediscovered the old ShadowBrook Jesuit Seminary (now a Yoga Center). Ginni and I met on a retreat at ShadowBrook when Ginni was at UMass so it was wonderful to see the place again.
With the rain persisting we left a day early to deal with the house and spent a day following up on possible renters and cleaning before leaving for my nephew's wedding and an overnight stay in Lowell. A high point of this trip was seeing our newest grandson again. I hadn't seen Leo since the winter when he was only a month or two old - he's a different little boy now at 6 months old. Sitting up by himself, smiling and rolling over he will be a handful once he starts crawling! What a cutie. The other high point was our son Mike brought a date to meet the family. A scary step with my family but one she handled very well. Mike has been dating her for several months and he is smitten - time will tell where this leads.
Anyway, now its back to the house and finally getting the upstairs tenant to come and remove their belongings. We also hired a friend from St.Timothy's who works as a contractor to come and fix a long list of items needing repair who made great progress while we were in the Berkshires and at the wedding. One thing we found was that, with the housing crisis, alot of people looking to rent are people who have lost their homes by not being able to pay their mortgage. Consequently, the credit checks are all pretty horrible. We finally settled on one man who was divorced, but liked the larger apartment because it gave his kids a place to stay when visiting on weekends. His credit was just as bad as the others but his mother was willing to co-sign and her credit was great. So we do the final meet the day before I have to fly back to Andros, his mother signs, I sign, and Ginni and the tenant were to sign a few days later when he would bring his security deposit and the 1st month's rent. So, I fly home and when Ginni meets with him he can't come up with the money and his mother really doesn't want to loan it to him. So that falls through and we are back to square one interviewing tenants.
Ginni has to return to Andros and currently our friends are showing the apartment and collecting Rental Applications and sending them off to the credit check company, who email the results to us. Doing this from the Bahamas is a royal pain, but we have no choice.
Anyway - when Ginni returns I meet her in Nassau and the next day it is my followup appointment with the Doctors who treated my Angina attack. All the test results were fantastic, I have no coronary blockages at all, 100% clear, and the drugs have my pressure down - all is well. The Dr that did the MRI says I have arthritis in my neck that will continue to cause me discomfort but no heart issues. So I can resume life and get back to work.
With the Dr's under control we fly back to Andros and Ginni has her first day home in about a month. Of course as soon as we get home the power goes out, the water pressure drops to zero, and the heat and humidity is through the roof. Eventually power returns, we unpack settle in, and Ginni goes to take a shower. First, she runs into a 3" spider crawling up the shower curtain, kills it, turns on the water - and there is none. She takes a bird-bath in the sink and comes into the bedroom. She turns on the lamp on her nightstand and it flickers so I suggest it needs a new bulb. She goes and gets a bulb and when she comes around to her side of the bed she says, "OH, Oh, Fire!" and I see that the extension cord from her lamp to the outlet had split and now it is spouting sparks and fire. Well she unplugged it and we cleaned the scorch marks off the tile and replaced the extension cord, then climbs into bed - that was Ginni's first night home.
So the first week back has been uneventful but July 10 is Bahamian Independence Day and so on Saturday, July 9, after our normal Saturday liturgy at the Navy Base, I head over to the Queens Park for a ecumenical prayer service led by all the clergy here in Central Andros, followed by midnight fireworks. Since we were away I didn't have any particular role other than being present on the stage - until the moderator realizes they need to fill about 10 minutes before the fireworks and she turns to me and say into the microphone, "before we end tonight why doesn't Deacon Tremblay come share a few words". So, thrust into the spotlight, I do an impromptu talk about to be truly Indepent, we need to be Dependent upon Jesus. Then remembering last week's homily about our being yoked to Jesus, I took off on how the Bahamas has done exactly that, explicitly stating in the Constitution that the Bahamas are a Christian nation. I guess it was pretty well accepted, I got a few AMEN DEAC's from the crowd and I filled the 10 minutes without embarrasing myself.
Next week we will be helping ANCAT, a local conservation group, with their summer camp for youth. Our new Parish Ctr will be a gathering point and our van will be a resource to get campers from point A to point B, but we will benefit from learning more and more about the the flora and fauna of our island and they teach the kids. It will be a busy few weeks but an opportunity to learn and share the faith a bit when opportunity presents itself to both the kids and parents.
Summer time is also a time for us to begin planning next years CCD curriculum and we will begin doing makeup sessions for 2 women who were in our RCIA program and had to withdraw due to work requiring literally all their time. If we can catch them up in July and August, they can resume in Sept and receive the sacraments next Easter! PTL!
Another item coming up is our annual review with the Archbishop. We will have been here 3 years in Nov (imagine that) and when I sit down and list all we did last year in preparation for this meeting I am amazed at what we were able to do. CCD for 57 children, RCIA, funerals, baptisms, restoring St. Gabriel's church, a parish mission, . . . the list just goes on and on.
I want you to know that WE know, without you and the Holy Spirit we would probably have been sent home after the first year. Your prayers and support are a major reason we've been able to do what we have done - THANK YOU.
So - until next time
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