The BAHAMAS in a new light
DAY 5: Friday, MARCH 25, 2005, WEST END, GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS - I’m still left with a sense of amazement. It’s been six days since we arrived and the devastation to this area is still sinking in. The West End settlement…less than an hour’s flight from the ultimate retirement destination of the Florida coast…less than an hour’s drive from Freeport, the hope to spring breakers from all along the East coast…less than an hour’s walk from a resort some movie stars call on for vacations to escape from the ordinary.
This entire trip has been an escape from the ordinary. Where I come from, if children are found in living conditions like this, they are taken out of their home. Here, they are in the streets until the late hours of the night because there is no one at home to return to - their parents are working late-night jobs to provide for their families. If they have a job, that is. Only one in five adults here has a job.
Piles of debris line the roads and emerge from the sea as the water recedes. Houses without shelter from rain are abundant. Insects run rampant through homes with half a dozen small children growing up between four very unsteady walls and floors being eroded by termites. Litter is scattered throughout the water, along the roads, and in fields and yards alike. In all of this, what do I see?
I see hope. I see opportunity. I see the chance for us to display God’s love to a people that truly are in need. This week, we have met some of the most incredible people… people who have a great need, who have been devastated and been living in the midst of destruction for over seven months; above this, though, people who have made us smile. People who have made this one of the greatest weeks of my life.
As I sit here and write this, the sun has just risen on this Good Friday. Some two thousand years ago, a simple man who truly knew the simple pleasures of life told us, above all, to love others just as he has loved us. By the next sunset, that same man would give to us a love that can never be repaid. That man would spend a day near death, suffering the greatest of pains while being mocked and ridiculed and called a fool. Then, he would be hung from a cross, where his body was broken and his blood spilled for us. Every sin that we have was paid upon that cross so that our lives on this earth are only the beginning of a beautiful eternity.
Some two thousand years later, we will never be able to fully repay Christ for the love that he has for us, but we praise Him for the chance to follow His direction to love others as He has loved us.
That is what this trip has been all about. It’s not about getting away for spring break. It’s not about the beautiful ocean and shores that surround us in the Bahamas. It’s about the beauty that we are able to find in the people of the Bahamas. There is no doubt that this is a place of great poverty and devastation, worse than anywhere else my eyes have ever laid witness to. This isn’t the reason we are here, though.
The roofs that we rebuild, the homes we paint, the walls we build will one day no longer remain. Hurricanes will continue to make their way through this place in time. The one thing that no amount of destruction or storm of any size can destroy is the love that we have for these people and the love that they have shown to us. Throughout the week, I have taken hundreds of photographs. At first my photos were focused mainly on the physical buildings, or lack thereof, that remain. Then I began to meet the people of this place. Ever since, I have tried to capture their splendor through my lens.
As unfortunate as we may consider them, I think these people are some of the most blessed people I have ever encountered. They have a joy for life that few Americans ever grasp. They don’t need a Lexus to bring them happiness; playing the newest video game is not only absent from the top of their list of things to do, it’s not even on their list.
When you pass a stranger on the road, it is odd not to stop and say hello. Where I come from, it is odd to stop and say anything at all. The smiles here are genuine. The people here have found the simple pleasures in life and find delight in them day-in and day-out.
I am sad to have to leave this place. Through the updates we have sent earlier in the week, I hope that you have been able to see how much the people on this trip have grown from their experiences this week. None of us will return home the same as when we came. It has been a joy to share His love with these people this week and many hope that they may return to this place and continue to change lives, the least of which their own.
Thank you for your prayers and support throughout this week. Please continue to keep the people of West End in your prayers. Maybe you, too, may have the opportunity to visit this place and see these people’s beauty for yourself. It is an experience you will never forget; none of us will ever forget the week that we have been blessed to have.
God bless you and keep you for all of your days.
DAY 5: Friday, MARCH 25, 2005, WEST END, GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS - I’m still left with a sense of amazement. It’s been six days since we arrived and the devastation to this area is still sinking in. The West End settlement…less than an hour’s flight from the ultimate retirement destination of the Florida coast…less than an hour’s drive from Freeport, the hope to spring breakers from all along the East coast…less than an hour’s walk from a resort some movie stars call on for vacations to escape from the ordinary.
This entire trip has been an escape from the ordinary. Where I come from, if children are found in living conditions like this, they are taken out of their home. Here, they are in the streets until the late hours of the night because there is no one at home to return to - their parents are working late-night jobs to provide for their families. If they have a job, that is. Only one in five adults here has a job.
Piles of debris line the roads and emerge from the sea as the water recedes. Houses without shelter from rain are abundant. Insects run rampant through homes with half a dozen small children growing up between four very unsteady walls and floors being eroded by termites. Litter is scattered throughout the water, along the roads, and in fields and yards alike. In all of this, what do I see?
I see hope. I see opportunity. I see the chance for us to display God’s love to a people that truly are in need. This week, we have met some of the most incredible people… people who have a great need, who have been devastated and been living in the midst of destruction for over seven months; above this, though, people who have made us smile. People who have made this one of the greatest weeks of my life.
As I sit here and write this, the sun has just risen on this Good Friday. Some two thousand years ago, a simple man who truly knew the simple pleasures of life told us, above all, to love others just as he has loved us. By the next sunset, that same man would give to us a love that can never be repaid. That man would spend a day near death, suffering the greatest of pains while being mocked and ridiculed and called a fool. Then, he would be hung from a cross, where his body was broken and his blood spilled for us. Every sin that we have was paid upon that cross so that our lives on this earth are only the beginning of a beautiful eternity.
Some two thousand years later, we will never be able to fully repay Christ for the love that he has for us, but we praise Him for the chance to follow His direction to love others as He has loved us.
That is what this trip has been all about. It’s not about getting away for spring break. It’s not about the beautiful ocean and shores that surround us in the Bahamas. It’s about the beauty that we are able to find in the people of the Bahamas. There is no doubt that this is a place of great poverty and devastation, worse than anywhere else my eyes have ever laid witness to. This isn’t the reason we are here, though.
The roofs that we rebuild, the homes we paint, the walls we build will one day no longer remain. Hurricanes will continue to make their way through this place in time. The one thing that no amount of destruction or storm of any size can destroy is the love that we have for these people and the love that they have shown to us. Throughout the week, I have taken hundreds of photographs. At first my photos were focused mainly on the physical buildings, or lack thereof, that remain. Then I began to meet the people of this place. Ever since, I have tried to capture their splendor through my lens.
As unfortunate as we may consider them, I think these people are some of the most blessed people I have ever encountered. They have a joy for life that few Americans ever grasp. They don’t need a Lexus to bring them happiness; playing the newest video game is not only absent from the top of their list of things to do, it’s not even on their list.
When you pass a stranger on the road, it is odd not to stop and say hello. Where I come from, it is odd to stop and say anything at all. The smiles here are genuine. The people here have found the simple pleasures in life and find delight in them day-in and day-out.
I am sad to have to leave this place. Through the updates we have sent earlier in the week, I hope that you have been able to see how much the people on this trip have grown from their experiences this week. None of us will return home the same as when we came. It has been a joy to share His love with these people this week and many hope that they may return to this place and continue to change lives, the least of which their own.
Thank you for your prayers and support throughout this week. Please continue to keep the people of West End in your prayers. Maybe you, too, may have the opportunity to visit this place and see these people’s beauty for yourself. It is an experience you will never forget; none of us will ever forget the week that we have been blessed to have.
God bless you and keep you for all of your days.
Chris Manley - Junior at Clemson; 1st time missioner
posted by UMVIM at 7:44 AM
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