7 Things: Spanish Wells 1997

Front Row (L-R):  Erin Bay, Teresa Reep, Lisa Kraus, Sara Thacker
Second Row:  Jill Souther. Kristin Landry, Catie Cook, Caron Cook, Jay Lynes
Back Row:  Matthew Teoli, Ben Thompson, Jacob Lupfer, Jennifer Minnigan, Jerry Hanbery, Carl Jones, Jamie Parker

I have already told you about my first visit to Spanish Wells and what an amazing little island it is.  I mentioned briefly that there was a Mission Trip in 1995 that left just hours after Will was born, so I missed that one and have no stories to tell- except that Jerry Hanbery nearly went insane, and the team might still be there if Jill Painter had not been able to get enough cash to pay a fee ( one we didn't know about) they were charged when they left the Bahamas.  The 1997 Mission Trip (July 21-27) was special, and here are 7 things I remember about that amazing week...

1)  The previous summer another church had brought their youth group to S.W. to do VBS (Vacation Bible School) for all four churches on the island, just like we had done in 1995 and were going to again.  The church that came in-between our trips brought way too many youth, which put a serious strain on the hospitality of the locals.  Rev. Bill Higgs, pastor of Spanish Wells Methodist Church, asked me to limit our group to 15 or 16 people.  Since we had abut 50 kids who wanted to be part of a trip to the Bahamas, we made our students fill out applications and do interviews before we selected the team.  It made for some tough decisions, but we ended up with a mature, talented and dedicated group (that's us all dressed up at the top) that understood our mission was to serve.

2)  To leave as many spots as possible for our youth, the only adults who went that week were Jerry Hanbery and myself.  And we did absolutely nothing!  The youth were divided into teams working on various areas of VBS such as crafts, music, recreation and Bible study.  The preparation all had to be done before the trip, because we had to take everything we needed.  There is no Wal-Mart (or much of anything else) in Spanish Wells.  They did the preparation, they did the setting up, and they did the teaching.  Jerry and I simply set back and basked in the glory...

3)  In addition to the Craft Nazis (click here for that story!) I particularly remember the guys doing music.  Jacob Luper was on piano, Jamie Parker on ukulele and Jay Lynes and Ben Thompson were leading singing.  Having that sanctuary full of children every morning and watching them have so much fun praising Jesus was a blast.  Plus Jacob would break into Les Miz music during breaks!

4)  The hospitality of the people of Spanish Wells was overwhelming.  We stayed in their homes, where we were treated as visiting royalty.  I know we certainly ate like kings!  Fresh conch, fresh lobster, fresh mango...well, you get the picture.  They took us out on their boats and took us to hidden beaches for some fabulous swimming.  The folks that Jerry and I were staying with took us (and if memory serves, Teresa Reep and Jennifer Minnigan) by boat to Harbour Island, home of the famous "pink sand."  We ate lunch there and I had the most amazing grouper sandwich in history!   There were special events planned for us almost every afternoon after VBS, and we ate a great meal at one of the two restaurants on the island.  The only downside of the friendliness of the locals was that some of their guys were getting a little too attached to some of our girls...but we all survived!

5)  One of the families of the church had a little boy named Ferris (Full disclosure: I could not remember his name yesterday, and Lisa Kraus Spires rescued me!) who had a serious medical condition.  The entire church family showered love on Ferris, and we joined right in.  On every occasion that week when the church family was together (and that was often) the number one question coming from our group was, "Where's Ferris?"  We all fell in love with that little boy.

6)  It was quite warm in the Bahamas in July (surprise!) and special recognition should go to Catie Cook, Jill Souther, Matthew Teoli (all pictured at right) and everyone else who pitched in with the recreation area.  It was all outdoors, and was at times just a miserable place to be.

7)  Do you want to know how strong the connections were we made that week?  After we returned, we had one of our SHO-Time dinners at the local Cracker Barrel in Kissimmee.  Many of the folks who gathered that night had been on the trip.  At the time Cracker Barrel served drinks in replicas of old Mason jars.  When the waitress brought our beverages, Jill Souther and Erin Bay looked at their glasses, then suddenly sobbed, "Ohhhhh...Mason jars.  There was a boy named Mason in Spanish Wells..."   As is often the case in mission work, the people of Spanish Wells had a greater impact on us than we did on them.

I hope you enjoyed these memories, and if you happen to have been a part of that trip I would love to hear yours (and corrections to mine) as well.  Join us tomorrow when our weekly flashback to The UMYF Enquirer remembers the greatest building never built...

Because of Jesus,