We have our daddy back!

Rob continuing his mission work here on the island

Having a GREAT TIME!!!

Hey folks,

We had a little free time this afternoon due to rain. So I am sitting on the front porch of the training center looking out in the Caribbean Ocean. Its a pretty rough life right now. We have done quite a bit of hard work over the last 3 days. Let me catch you up with a bit of detail on what we have done so far. On Sunday, we went to Spanish Wells, an island just off the north end of Eleuthera, to attend The People's Church. The pastor of this church is a graduate of the training center we are serving this week. The missionaries that are here at the center strive to attend their graduates churches periodically in support of their different ministries. That afternoon, we were able to go snorkeling at a James Point. A couple of us went spearfishing (with success) and the rest did some snorkeling and swimming. That evening, we all began work on the cistern by grading and preparing the form for pouring concrete. Monday, it was all hands on deck at the center as we poured the base of the cistern one wheelbarrow at a time. It was a long day, but again we were able to go have a cool down at another local beach, Rainbow Beach. Tuesday and Wednesday, we split up with the majority of our crew heading back up to Spanish Wells to work on a variety of projects. The main focus has been a home that burned a few weeks ago. The home looks intact from the outside as most of the homes are concrete. The inside was destroyed however. The guys and ladies have been diligently hanging paneling, painting, roof repair, and other miscellaneous fire/termite restoration projects. MacGoober(Rob Allen), Stinky Pete(Jerry Marshall), and myself have been hard at work on the cistern project here at the center. As you can see in the pictures, we are almost finished with the construction of it. We have a few more block to lay and then we have to waterproof the inside. At completion, it will hold over 10,000 gallons of water. Its a cool project to be on and its where I have been the whole trip. I've mixed more concrete that I have ever cared to mix but have had a blast with MacGoober, Stinky Pete, and Kevin when he rolls in around lunch. Tuesday evening we all were able to go to Spanish Wells and the wonderful people of the church served us a feast to die for. Great Bahamian food and lots of fellowship were had that evening. Speaking of Bahamian food, Billy is about to here with our dinner. Billy is a chef on the island and graciously brings our dinner each night. Let me tell you, billy can cook! We are having a great time and I would love to share more, but I will do so the next little bit of time that I have! Thank you all for your support!!

Rain Delay from the cistern! Rob's old and needed a nap I guess

Not the most intact, squared building materials here on the island

The cistern project

Stinky Pete

The rest of the crew hanging some paneling in the home that burnt on Spanish Wells.

Our first days

On our way home from church on Sunday, I was able to feed a manatee that hangs out by the fishing boats on Spanish Wells. We have to take a ferry to get from Eleuthera to Spanish Wells.

A view of one end of Eleuthera coming in for our landing on Saturday

We caught a very small plane from Nassau into the island. The whole airline employs 8 people.

I caught my buddy Kevin singing on the front porch of the training center. Can't argue with the view

We started working late Sunday night to beat the heat on Monday morning. We began digging the and leveling out our site for the new cistern. Notice, there is no "soil", but only limestone and old coral. It is not at all easy to "level" these materials. On Monday we got the base poured by mixing our concrete one wheelbarrow at a time and pouring almost 6 yards of material. We start in the morning laying the first of our 450 concrete block we hand unloaded off the truck today. Not complaining, but its quite exhausting! Not a better place to be working though!

We are here! Arrived at 5 today and very tired so we are all going to bed. More to come soon!

Charlie flies out in the morning!

Hey guys,

This is Charlie and I fly out toward Eleuthera in the morning around 9:30. Please keep our team in your prayers over the next 8 days or so as we serve away from home. I hope to update at least every other day while I am in country and would love for you to keep track of our progress through this blog. I look forward to telling you all about what God is doing in the Bahamas! I love you all and thank you so much for your support in many different ways!