The Newton Church of the Way has arrived in Abaco. Randy and Carrie share their first-day recap on the island, including cultural experiences and powerful testimonies.
As we were flying in, Randy and I noticed right away that everything looked greener and more grown up than it was last year. When we got to Abaco on Saturday, we were met with a few people from the camp to get our luggage and make sure we had enough room for all 16 of us. We jumped into action right away by going to the local “Costco” type store to get food for our project on Sunday. It was interesting to see the differences in pricing at this store.
We were on our way to the camp down the rough limestone “road” when, at one of the wide spots, we saw something on the side of the road. Randy had put his carry-on suitcase on top of the rest of the suitcases, thinking it would be heavy enough to ride there, not remembering how rough the road was. What we saw on the side of the road was Randy’s suitcase. So, we stopped and picked it up and got a good laugh out of that.
We had the pleasure of having our evening meal with a group that was staying at the camp from the Grace Community Church in Nassau. They were a fun bunch of people that were a joy to be around. Their love for the Lord was evident in their actions and it was a pleasure to be able to have our meal with them. We started our Sunday off with breakfast with them as well.
We were welcomed in at the Kirk of the Pines church this morning for a message from a pastor from a church in North Carolina. He is with a group of men who are at the church to do work in Abaco this week also. It was great to be able to worship with fellow believers, and several of us felt right at home singing some of our favorite old hymns.
After church, we went to lunch at Colors, where some of us had fresh seafood, and others had oxtail. Colors is right on the water close to the harbor. We enjoyed the crystal clear water, and we got to see a sea turtle, several schools of fish, and even a fish that was bright yellow and blue, just like the ones in the movie Finding Nemo. It was the type of fish that we would only be able to see in aquariums, so it was so cool to see it in the wild.
I (Carrie) had my phone out and was taking pictures, Randy told me that if I dropped it, he wasn’t going in to get it. Well, as I was cleaning the screen off, the phone somehow flipped right out of my hand and into the water. So, I wasn’t about to leave it and my money that fell out of my phone case in the water. Thankfully I had shorts on under my dress, and I started in the water after the phone. Turned out the water was almost waist-deep. Do not fear, I retrieved the phone and money, AND THE PHONE STILL WORKS!!
After all the phone excitement, we finally got to our Sunday afternoon project. We were to deliver the food that we picked up on Saturday to 10 families in need. We went to bless them, pray with them, and just listen to their stories.
The first house that Randy and I went to is the one that sticks in my head. The lady’s name was Pleasant, and she lived in a household of 10 people consisting of nieces, nephews, and other children who didn’t have anywhere to go. She talked about losing her husband in Hurricane Dorian and his body being swept away in the water and never finding it.
She also told us a personal story from Dorian. During the storm, there were tornados, and she and several family members held onto a backhoe. Her grandchild was hanging on to her. The tornado picked her and her grandchild up and flung them in opposite directions and the other family member went and held them down.
Through all of the trials, she still had faith in God and, with tears in her eyes, said she still had hope. To me it made me realize that we have so much and sometimes seems like so little hope. But she has lost so much yet still has so much hope. It puts things into perspective real fast.
