BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH

St. Croix Missions Team Report
July 23 - Aug 1, 2010

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Greetings, Everyone!

We just got internet access back last night. Some of the Island had it and other parts did not. We had a great trip down Friday morning. Everyone made it to the church on time. :-) We got to the airport in record time. We made it through security with no problems, hit Starbucks, and loaded the plane. The flight to Miami was on time. The Miami airport had been closed for a while due to the storm; but we had no problems. We sat on the tarmac for a while, though. There was no gate available for us. Thank God the AC on the plane was working! :-) We made a mad dash for the connecting flight, buying lunch on the way to eat on the plane. We all made it. The flight to St. Croix was great; almost no turbulence.

The Cullens were waiting for us when we landed. All of our luggage made it, too. :-) We picked up the vans with relative ease. Remember, they drive on the opposite side of the road in St. Croix. We started out with the drivers from last year. We added Tony Guest today. Most of us remember our way around the Island pretty well.

We're staying at the YWAM Camp Ground. This is a link to their site if you want to check it out. http://www.ywamstcroix.org/ They're not running our program; but are letting us use their space. We're doing all of our own cooking, transportation, laundry, projects, etc. But the facilities are wonderful! Each couple has their own cabin. The single guys are bunking together in two rooms ... snorers and non-snorers. :-)

Friday evening we settled into our rooms. The Cullens brought pizza for us. And they celebrated my birthday with a dark chocolate cake and cookies and cream ice cream! Most people slept good Friday evening. Our rooms don't have AC; but we all have fans and a nice breeze. We hit it running Saturday morning. Steve organized our team and started pressure cleaning and scraping the Lighthouse Mission. We worked about 4 hours. A few of the team stacked lumber that had been delivered to the lot next to Lighthouse. We're hoping to use it for the butterfly garden. I worked with Carlos, a man from the University of Virgin Islands, along with Debbie Cullen, to start planning for the garden. Cheryl Werner helped me draw out a plan; Carlos took us to a couple of nurseries to start pricing plants. He is also going to donate some from the University.

Saturday afternoon we hiked to the Tide Pools. It's a 2.7 mile hike up and down mountains. Then you climb on rocks to get to the pools. It a pretty intense hike; but worth it. I can definitely tell I'm 50 now! :-) Bob grilled chicken for us for supper. Yum!

This morning started bright and early for church at Southgate Baptist Church. Lori sang "Adonai." Beautiful! I preached. What fun. The churches on the Island talk to you while you preach! :-) I love it! The church put on a potluck dinner for us. We had lots of island food; and other nationalities, for that matter. The church is a little international. Along with Cruzian food, I know there was Thai food, also. The Cruzian food included rice and peas, all kinds of chicken, bread pudding, flan, and lots of other stuff.

I'd better stop; we're about to leave for church. Tony Guest is speaking tonight. I have more to share; I'll try to write again after supper. Bob's making spaghetti! What a great cook! I'll send some pictures, too.

Blessings!

Joey

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Good Afternoon, Everyone!

OK ... excuse the typos! I'm swatting at mosquitoes as I type! :-) Let me pick up where I left off last time. Sunday was a great day. I spoke on the Bible in the morning service; I tried to challenge people to come out to VBS as our theme is "Digging Deeper Into the Word." We had a great morning. The potluck that followed was great. I did miss the goat stew from last year, though. :-)

Tony Guest spoke in the evening. He spoke from Luke and shared the story of his salvation. It was powerful. We all broke up into small groups and prayed after he spoke. The man praying with me was going through some rough times in his life. Tony's message really encouraged him. Bob had spaghetti waiting for us when we returned from church. He's been feeding us well. He grilled chicken the first Saturday evening. He set the bar high! :-)

Monday we picked up where we left off with the work projects. Steve is doing such an excellent job leading the painting team. They have pressure cleaned and scraped the building. The entire building has been primed. They are way ahead on the painting, also. There's a chance they could finish the project by tomorrow! Steve hope to paint the doors and shutters tomorrow. The building is yellow; this is one of the approved colors for buildings in the "Historic District" of St. Croix. The shutters are a crimson red. It is so great to see everyone working so hard.

Linda is repainting the two large Lighthouse signs that hang outside the building. The were very faded. They have the name and logo on them. David is painting a beautiful mural inside the building in the dinning hall. It covers a wall. The scene is the ocean as seen from the boardwalk in Christiansted. It's beautiful.

Last year we cleared the lot next to the Lighthouse Mission. This year we're putting in a butterfly garden. This lot had been the daily spot for MANY drug deals as well as prostitution tricks. We cleared off two large dumpsters of trash last year cut down brush; and fenced the lot. This year we're putting in a butterfly garden. Our "Lot Team" has pulled weeds, built two trellises and six large planter boxes, and filled the planter boxes with two dump truck loads of soil.

We've purchased about $400.00 worth of plants and will start planting them tomorrow. We may finish the project by tomorrow afternoon. We're still trying to decide if we're going to try to put in a walkway. This may be more than we can accomplish.

Tony Guest, and Tony and Bimini Murfin are working with the homeless each morning. They share devotions then talk with the homeless who will stay for a while. God is working in hearts. It's pretty incredible.

VBS is going great. We had 72 the first night. 17 of them were adults who stayed for my class on Bible Study methods. Lori is leading the music Sarah is helping. Tony and Bimini are doing an awesome job with the skits. Tony Guest and my Joel are teaching the Bible story. They've seen 11 salvation decisions so far. One of them was the son of a senator! Carol, who is directing the VBS, is also working with the preschool along with Helen. Steve is leading the game time. I'm loving teaching the adults. Linda is leading the handcrafts. Others on our team are chaperons and helpers.

We're loving staying at the YWAM camp. It is perfect for us!!! Plenty of water ... enough rooms ... a great kitchen ... and wireless internet! :-) We have an outside covered dining hall. The bats come out at night to eat the mosquitoes! Thank God for bats! It's fun to watch them fly through the dining area. The grounds of YWAM are an old sugar plantation. The campus is beautiful. We're so thankful we have access to the campground. There's a washer and dryer, also. Helen stayed at YWAM today and washed all of our dirty clothes!!! What a blessing! We're set for the rest of the trip. Preston has led us in devotions each day. God has been working in the hearts of our team. PTL!

OK ... for the sightseeing stuff ... We hiked to the Tide Pools Saturday. It was beautiful; but a VERY strenuous hike. I can tell I turned 50! Thank God for Aleave! Monday we spent a couple of hours in the afternoon in the Historic District of Christiansted. We saw the fort and spent some time shopping. Tuesday we had a cookout at the beach for lunch, swam and walked the beach; then took a group picture at Point Udall ... the most Eastern point in the US or US Territories. This afternoon is a free afternoon. Some are resting; others went shopping. Tomorrow we're going to Whim Plantation, an old Sugar Plantation. We'll also visit the Mahogany Factory in the mountainous area; then drive home through the rain forest. Friday afternoon we'll tour the Government House. Vincent, who works at the Government House, has worked with us on the butterfly garden. BTW ... We've also worked with Carlos from the University of the Virgin Islands. We don't have much free time. We work until Noon; then it's back to YWAM to clean up; a couple of free hours until we arrive back at the Lighthouse Mission at 4:30 for supper; then off the VBS by 5:30. We get back to YWAM about 9:00 PM ready for bed! Breakfast is at 6:30 each morning. Most of us head to bead as quickly as we can. We're tired; but spirits are good.

Saturday includes a trip to Buck Island to snorkel ... followed by the VBS closing program. Sunday is filled with church before boarding the plane to head home.

OK ... enough for now! :-) We're all doing pretty well. Jake got a couple of bee bites ... yes they bite here. His foot is swollen ... but getting better. It hasn't stopped him from working. Tony Guest got a little over heated this morning but is feeling better. Thanks for praying for us! God is at work!

Love you all,

Joey