Month: December 2023

Love one another. Hmmm…how many times is that theme emphasized in Scripture? This year Bill and I were recruited (is that the word?) by Ingrid to help her garden at the Grand Bahama Children’s Home. Ingrid is an 81 year old powerhouse who has volunteered at The Grand Bahama Children’s Home (GBCH) for 30 years. She’s sweet enough to pick us up and drive us there on Fridays. We have so enjoyed loving on these children (and teasing Ingrid just enough to make her laugh).

Serve one another. That’s another thing I remember reading about in Scripture. Gardening isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to my mind when I wake up in the morning, but I am doing it on Fridays now! I can’t do everything to serve the Bahamian people, but I can pull weeds.

And I can rejoice when God’s children innocently shout our His praise. These boys worked on this part of the garden with Ingrid for hours and then named it ‘The Garden of Eden’. That these little ones are living out their faith every day, even in the little things, sure gives me hope for the future.

Break bread together. I think that means eat pizza together. And Christmas candy! (Please give me an Amen if you agree!) The GBCH does not currently have a cook on Fridays. To meet this one need Bill, Ingrid and I put on a Christmas pizza party on the Friday before Christmas 2023. Pizza Hut delivers for $2-can’t hardly beat that. And I really do enjoy making candy while watching a Hallmark Christmas movie or two. Everyone ate to their hearts content, then ate candy canes while I read “The Candy Cane Fiasco”. Fun, fun, fun.

“I am the way, the truth and the life” proclaims Jesus (John 14:6). I have to tell you that Bill really did spend a lot of time preparing to share the Gospel with the children. However, a 10 year old pretty much summed it all up after Bill’s first question.
Bill: Why was baby Jesus born and why was He so special?
David: Jesus was born to save us from our sins and save us from hell!
Ok then, like I said before, I’m really not afraid about what the future holds because these children got it!

Bill and I are happy to be spending the winter on Grand Bahama again this year. The Bahamian people are so warm and welcoming. Ocean Reef Resort and Yacht Club (oceanreefresortmarina.com) feels like a second home.

In late November 2023, I saw a FaceBook advertisement inviting the public to the Grand Bahama Children’s Home Christmas festival which sounded like fun and a way to gather information on how to plug in there. Back in Jacksonville I love volunteering at The Nest, a Women’s Center (thenestjax.com), and I always miss that community connection and opportunity for sharing the love of Jesus when I’m away.

Together with our friends, John and Michele, Bill and I had a great time at the Christmas festival playing Bingo with the children, watching them get their faces painted and jump in the bouncy house. We were barely through the gate when we were approached by a volunteer overzealous to recruit us! Ingrid is an 81 year old Canadian who has resided on Grand Bahama, and has volunteered at The Grand Bahama Children’s Home, for 30 years. She does gardening and landscaping, as well as teaching the children how to crochet. Ingrid also volunteers at a few other places on Grand Bahama. She is a real powerhouse and a genuine pleasure to be with.

The Grand Bahama Children’s Home (gbchildrenshome.org) serves abandoned, abused and neglected children of the Northern Bahamas. They provide housing, meals, love, and support of all kinds in a Christian atmosphere for children 6 weeks to 14 years of age. They strive for every child to feel safe and loved as they learn, dream and laugh.

Ingrid picked the four of us up at 8:30 in the morning on the following Friday. We spent 4 hours cleaning up the landscaping: pulling weeds, trimming edges, and generally sprucing up the grounds. Several of the children were all too willing to help. They mostly kept our weed buckets emptied and dumped the wheelbarrow when it got full. Eventually the boys eyed our tools and asked to use them but the we thought best not to set them loose with our hedge trimmers and pruning shears!

We learned quite a bit about the great work The Grand Bahama Children’s Home provides and we will be back to lend our support. We ended the day with a delicious meal with Ingrid at the Taino Beach Resort.