Flashback Friday: Spanish Wells, 1997

Our 1997 Spanish Wells Mission Team

Jennifer did not appreciate the snacks, apparently! 

Lately I have found myself daydreaming about a nearly 20 year old mission trip we took from Kissimmeee, FL to the Bahamian island of Spanish Wells. It is a place that is indeed worthy of daydreams- and worthy of a Flashback Friday post! That 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 ready to do 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.

Jerry and I in...action?

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 (Lisa Kraus and Sara Thacker) running roughshod over small children, forcing them to do crafts while Erin Bay, Caron Cook and Kristin Landry cowered in fear!) 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!

One of our many boat rides between islands!

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 picnics and some fabulous swimming.  The folks that Jerry and I were staying with took us (along with Teresa 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! I always felt a little guilty that we were the only ones who got to go- but not that guilty! It sure made for a very special day and some great memories! There were special events planned for us almost every afternoon after VBS, including some cliff jumping and a unique battle featuring Ben and Jamie throwing jellyfish at each other. We ate a great meal at one of the two restaurants on the island. The only downside to the friendliness of the locals was that some of their guys were getting a little too attached to some of our girls. This was a serious issue because on the island the girls already outnumbered the guy by a 3-1 ratio. New females who might steal the young men were not encouraged to do so. But somehow we escaped without marrying off any of our folks...

5)  One of the families of the church had a little boy named Ferris 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.

Jill Souther was in every picture...  :)

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 entirely 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.

My 6 years at FUMC-K provided me with more great memories than I could ever list, but this trip to the Bahamas ranks right at the top. Did I mention that there was lobster in the coleslaw?  And fresh mango and "Johnny Cakes" every morning for breakfast?Serving Jesus through serving the people of Spanish Wells was one of the great privileges I ever had in youth ministry. If you have memories of that trip, please feel free to share them. Marilyn and I are having lunch today in downtown Tampa with Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi. Sure do wish you all could join us...

Because of Jesus,

Spanish Wells, Revisited

Our 1997 Spanish Wells Mission Team

Jennifer did not appreciate the snacks, apparently! 

I have spent a great deal of time over the past few days reliving old FUMC-K war stories with my good friend Teresa Reep Tysinger.  If you are friends with her on Facebook, you may have seen her status yesterday in which she wrote that after our conversations she found herself daydreaming about the Bahamian island of Spanish Wells.  It is a place that is indeed worthy of daydreams.  I first wrote about this trip in July of 2010, but thanks to Teresa I wanted to share some of the special memories again today.  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 ready to do 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.

Jerry and I in...action?

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 (Lisa Kraus and Sara Thacker running roughshod over small children, forcing them to do crafts while Erin Bay, Caron Cook and Kristin Landry cowered in fear!) 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!

One of our many boat rides between islands!

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 picnics and some fabulous swimming.  The folks that Jerry and I were staying with took us (along with Teresa 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!   I always felt a little guilty that we were the only ones who got to go- but not that guilty!  It sure made for a very special day and some great memories!  There were special events planned for us almost every afternoon after VBS, including some cliff jumping and a unique battle featuring Ben and Jamie throwing jellyfish at each other.  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.  This was a serious issue because on the island the girls already outnumbered the guy by a 3-1 ratio.  New females who might steal the young men were not encouraged to do so.  But somehow we escaped without marrying off any of our folks...

Jill Souther was in every picture...  :)

5)  One of the families of the church had a little boy named Ferris 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.

My 6 years at FUMC-K provided me with more great memories than I could ever list, but this trip to the Bahamas ranks right at the top.  Did I mention that there was lobster in the coleslaw?  And fresh mango and "Johnny Cakes" every morning for breakfast?  Serving Jesus through serving the people of Spanish Wells was one of the great privileges I ever had in youth ministry.  If you have memories of that trip, please feel free to share them.  And to everyone from FUMC-K who reads this blog, I have one final thought- would it kill you to leave a comment today?  I love you guys!

Because of Jesus,

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,

A Slice of Paradise

My first 6 months in Kissimmee had a little something for everyone.  For the youth, there was a busy summer schedule and a great Fall kick-off.  For the Youth Counselors there were a couple of retreats and pizza rolls at every meeting.  For Jill Painter, there was the fact that I was older than her and that I had the wisdom to buy new ink pens for the youth room- trust me, this was a big deal to her!   And for Marilyn and I, there was a trip to the Bahamas!

Spanish Wells is a tiny island (that's it at left) that is a part of the Bahamas chain of islands.  In the early '90's it had no tourism and was populated almost entirely with Anglo-Saxon lobster fishermen.  The island was quite wealthy, but was a magnet for hurricanes.  After once such storm a mission team from FUMC-K had flown down to help repair the island's Methodist church.  The team had fallen in love with the people and the church, and a sister church relationship began between the two.  Pastor Bill Higgs from SW and Pastor John Willis from FUMC-K became fast friends, and plans were made to have more interaction between the two communities.  I arrived in Kissimmee as these plans were being finalized, and very quickly Marilyn and I learned that we had just won a lottery!  Bill (at John's suggestion) invited us to fly down and spend Labor Day weekend 1994 on the island, leading workshops in Christian education, youth ministry and parenting teenagers.  They would buy our plane tickets and pay me for my efforts.  We were headed to the tropics- and it was free!!!

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale and board our plane to Eleuthera, another small island in the Bahamas.  Spanish Wells had no airport, so we would land in Eleuthera and then take a ferry to SW.  We boarded a very small plane, with two pilots and one or two other passengers- and it was full.  Too full, in fact.  Because of the weight of the passengers (OK- the weight of me- I have never been small but I was huge at that point!) they could not get our luggage on the plane.  So we spent our first day in paradise with only the clothes on our backs.  But it was wonderful.  The island is tiny; you can stand on a hill in the middle of the city and see the ocean on both sides.  The people are wonderful.  You feel like you are a part of their families immediately.  Bill and Lauren Higgs were the perfect hosts.  And the church (above at right) was so responsive and loving.  The workshops went very well; eventually our clothes arrived.  And while we were there it was determined that we would return with our youth the following July to lead a Vacation Bible School for the island and its' four churches, and at some point they would bring the youth from their church to Kissimmee for Youth Week.  A vision had been established.  Teaching had been done.  The entire trip was a smashing success. 

There are not many perks in the youth ministry business.  Aside from all the pizza you can eat and the wonderful people you serve, you give more than you get most of the time.  Our weekend in Spanish Wells was certainly a perk.  Eating conch, lobster and mango with every meal is something I could get used to.  Waking up to an ocean breeze, a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean and the smell of "Johnny Cakes" would be easy to live with. Swimming in crystal blue water, listening to stories of "craw-fishing," and visiting the Higg's amazing home on a bluff overlooking the water were all things I could have spent a lot of time growing accustomed to!  We hated to leave.  I would only get to return once; it was Marilyn's only trip to SW.  But we knew we had discovered a little slice of paradise, and that the students we loved would love it there.  And they did- but those are stories for another day!

Because of Jesus,