The Third Church IMPACT Team saw the breathtaking beauty of Abaco on Culture Day! Read about the adventure of jumping into a 600-foot-deep blue hole, the beachy vibes and shell hunt at Pete’s Pub, and the fun, competitive afternoon spent at Long Dock. Emerson, Kelly, and Sarah paint a picture of their day of joyful rest.
Having our Culture Day today was honestly a great blessing, as we were able to see the vast beauty of Abaco. Nature has always fascinated me and reminded me of God’s great intentionality in everything. We were able to visit a blue hole (a natural fresh water “hole” that is over 600 feet deep) and have a blast jumping off the side of the rocks and into the deep, clear water. It was fun to watch the creativity of people as they did flips or threw people through the air. It filled me with a great appreciation for the gift this trip is in that families could come together and both grow and have fun. Today at the blue hole, we were able to simply hang out, some having conversations on the side, others relaxing in the water, and yet others challenging themselves and doing flips, all the while spending time away from the worries of the world as families. It makes me wonder what God was thinking about when he made these blue holes. He must’ve known the blessing it would be, not only to us, but to so many others.
Our second stop for today was Pete’s Pub – a fun restaurant with beachy Bahamian vibes, country tunes blasting intermittently by the beach out front, and t-shirts from all over the world (including my childhood community of Lynnville-Sully) whipping in the breeze. After putting in our orders, some of the girls took up a game of tetherball on the beach, and many of us went to the other side to take in the breathtaking views of the surf pounding against the jagged rocks while trying to swipe for the unique shells being thrown onto the shore. Sarah was a hoot as she scurried about adding to her growing shell collection – not sure how she’s getting them all home.
After a tasty lunch (I personally think my steak/cheese wrap was the best by far), we all lounged a bit more. The Wheelers and I were able to hear more about the condition of Abaco by a frequent visitor – the price of things, the unpredictable electricity, the lack of community for young families… Very interesting. Family pictures on the beach, lots of genuine smiles, a spirit of gratitude. It was my favorite stop of the day.
Our last stop was called Long Dock, and it was a very unique experience as well. Just as the name says, there were two very long docks over the beautiful, clear turquoise water, and the sand was so fine and soft. The depth (at least where we were) varied from ankle deep to about knee deep, and was a great opportunity for some of the kids to snorkel a bit. I must admit, I was as excited as a kid in a candy store, finding TONS of beautiful conchs, sand dollars, and sea biscuits, and even another (live) starfish! Unfortunately, many of the conchs were “occupied”, and a good share of the sand dollars were still alive… so we sadly returned them to their natural habitat. 🙂 Even though we couldn’t take them all home, it was a really neat experience seeing so many in one area!
The beauty was endless, and it was a very peaceful place to enjoy the afternoon. We ended our time there with a competition. There were three teams, and the winning team would get to be first in line at the ice cream shop! That was a great motivator, as we had been hoping for an ice cream stop all week! We had to build a sand castle in 5 minutes, and the judge was Leah. It was a lot of fun seeing the creativity and hustling as we tried to create a masterpiece in very little time…. with sand that did not “pack” very well. There may have been some smack talk from the first and second runner-ups, but the winners weren’t going to let that rain on their parade!! A fun time was had by all. It was another great day of relationship building and enjoying God’s creation!
I am continually amazed by Leah and her wisdom in leading us. It is very obvious God is using her in mighty ways, and I feel privileged to get to know her and learn from her while here. This whole experience has been such an incredible blessing, and I hope I can bless those we are here to serve even half as much as it has all blessed me. Tomorrow, we will see what God has in store for us as we get back to work and, Lord willing, have another very productive day! (It’s hard to believe our week is approaching its end already!)
– Emerson, Kelly, and Sarah
