We are His hands, we are His feet, Believers in Jesus, children of the King. Good morning from Abaco, this will be the last post from our group as we are returning to Iowa later on today. We came without expectations and are leaving with the hope our journey has blessed some of the people of Marsh Harbor, Abaco. God provided beautiful sunrises and sunsets each day.
“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Sunday we returned to New Vision church, we had a time of praise and worship. Part of the team stayed for the worship service and the rest of the team assisted Mr. Tim in leading the children’s worship. Our team was there earlier in the week and cleaned the Power House. The children and leaders were excited to return to this room as it was unusable for 3 years. Tim Van Maanen told the story of the whole Bible in 20 minutes, he was amazing and kept the children’s attention the entire time. The children were all smiles and gave hugs and high-fives at the end of the service.
We went to Snappa’s for lunch, located on Marsh Harbor, Tim treated us to conch fritters and we had key lime pie for dessert. We returned to camp and people went for walks while others took the opportunity to swim, snorkel, and spearfish. The wonderful cooks prepared the seafood Tim brought in – their conch fritters were superior to the ones we had in the restaurant.
Later in the evening Sam and Lisa Berg shared their story. They began their mission service in Haiti with another organization and worked on their own here in the Bahamas prior to joining Many Hands.
Monday was Cultural Day, we took a water ferry over to Hope Town for part of the day. The ferry had tourists traveling to other Cayes and locals heading to work on this commute. When we arrived at Hope town, we toured the oldest kerosine lighthouse and had lunch at Hope Town Inn and Marina. After lunch, we had an hour to go to the beach or shop before taking the ferry back to Marsh Harbor. The disparity between the towns is sobering. Hope Town was quickly restored for the tourists, while Marsh Harbor which is where everyone comes into the island is slower to be restored. We headed back to camp in time to finish work in one of the dorm rooms before dinner. Then we shared our stories and ended the evening at 321 ice cream house.
As Dave was walking up the 101 steps of the Lighthouse the following song came to his mind.
“The Light House”
There’s a lighthouse on the hillside, that overlooks life’s sea
When I’m tossed, it sends out a light that I might see
And the light that shines in the darkness now, will safely lead us o’er
If it wasn’t for the lighthouse, my ship would be no more.
I thank God for the lighthouse, I owe my life to Him
Jesus is my lighthouse and from the rocks of sin
He has shown a light around me, that I might clearly see
If it wasn’t for the lighthouse, tell me where would this ship be.
Our prayer is that we have been a glimmer of hope to the people of Abaco.
