Day four in Abaco by Leah Osborn, a student with Pella Christian’s team.
Imagine walking in turquoise, clear waters; sand at your feet; and surrounded by fluffy clouds and majestic greenery. Imagine observing this amazing landscape God created and suddenly feel a creature caress your toes; maybe even take a bite! Looking down you find a stingray, floating around the shallows greeting everyone there and taking any squid or fish they offer. This is one of many experiences that occurred for me on this trip.
Culture Day brought many fun adventures: traveling to swim with pigs, swim with stingrays, and souvenir shopping. Our boat captains were very kind and told us about the geographical details of each island we visited. During this IMPACT Trip, I have gotten to know more about Bahamian communities.
One interesting thing I have found is their resourcefulness. While we were helping at a church there was a woman taking peas from a bush for a later meal. She saw it was free use and could see the potential so she utilized it. Meals for others are not so easily accessible. The kids we spent time with were from lesser luxurious homes and may only be able to eat one meal a day, if that. However, all the kids, as well as any locals we saw, were very grateful for what they do have. Gratitude is heavily expressed throughout each community. There were some members of the church who visited while we were working. They greeted us and asked about our purpose. In addition, some offered a helping hand. They even continued painting after we left. The people seem tight knit and are always willing to do what they can to help another in need. There were many other stories we were told that showed examples of generosity and putting others ahead of themselves.
So far, this mission trip has displayed the Lord’s creativity through his nature and sea creatures, His love through people passing on his kindness (“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19)) and His all-knowing plans through this great organization, location, and team I get to experience this journey with.
Day four in Abaco with Mason Westercamp, a student with Pella Christian’s team.
Today was one of the better days that I experienced on the trip! When I knew I was going to go to the Bahamas I was expecting what you see on the brochures and pictures online, but when we got here I was definitely disappointed in the view. I probably should have expected this because of the storm, of course, but I was still disappointed. The destruction that the storm left behind reminded me a lot of a mission trip I went to this summer in Kentucky. We went down and cleaned up after the tornados that went through there in December of 2021. The landscape is almost identical, there is just a lot more sand here. I think I was expecting pure white sandy beaches and a lot of palm trees but the camp we are staying at has three of them and a lot of rocks on the beach. Today we got to see the real beauty of what the islands can and should be though. We went on our culture day and were taken by boat to a couple islands that were very beautiful. We traveled to them by boat and the water was crystal clear, you could see the bottom of the ocean floor when it was around twenty feet down! We first went to an island where we could feed and swim with wild pigs. The beach was full of very white and fine sand and the water was as beautiful as ever. We had lunch on the beach and then made our way to another Cay where we got to swim and feed the stingrays. We never got to see a shark, but the Boat Captains said they saw one when we went off looking for some. As the trip progresses I keep thinking more and more that the Island is beautiful just the way it is. Watching the sunrise one morning, I flew my drone and I caught a picture of the rocks that surround camp. I think this was my turning point in seeing the island a different way. I’m not sure what it was but I’m guessing those rocks taught me to appreciate things the way that they are and not try to change things to accommodate my situation.
