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' CHURCH bF CHRIST

James 'fit' Sarah Redmon

. _ ?ox N1674 ' VNaVsau, Bahamas

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Spo.n^ring Ghujcch
South Side Christian Church 2600 S. MacArthur Blvd.
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Forwarding''igebt; t-\\
GeQrge Cl Meador
449 West Lake'Drive

Springfield, II

61704

Springfield, IL 62703

DECEMBER 1976 - FEBRUARY 1977

Dear; .Friiends
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, Ijt! just touljin't happen in the Bahfinas! There jis no way the-cold'w^ves / pould reach this far but this winter of 1977 has. h^eji; different. I had ' .
p/a^jced .with; every sweater and j acket 1 own. Trees aad T. V. antennas wferid ail over the place and the radio said the wind was blowing 50-75 miles per hour. After waiting at the airport for s^y^ral hp.urs, the airlitie gave up

..' jplanne^ ,a trip to visit the church on Andros. Wh^niwe woke up tlie wiiid Was ^j)iQwing fierce so I called a taxi to go to the ajirpp^rt. My suitcase'was'

an<;i.fjcalledi:f<agf all'-^lightfs for 'tlie day. ^ got back home, heatd tlidt ships l|:ad broken loio^sre all lip arid down the t^ajrbor as the storm ^hlt with such

unexpected ifiercenSiss in the middle of. thie night .r . Then reports bagan to .come

in from the-northern islands. It was snowing in the Bahamais! The t^iJe^ ature in Nassau plunged to 48 and school^ were closed because kids didtt'^t
have enoughsclothes to keep wiim. Of course, no ope hasi any way to heat

their houses so. the wind'rfeally made it seem cold.-;iFish caught in tHU kHallovr
aredsr.were:killed and piieii'up' on the beaches where island residents picked
them up by the sack full. It was a winter to remember.
s; : "M;

DEDICATION IN GOLDEN GATES =

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. j., The month of'Deceiaber and January were occi^pieitj aimost;! entirely With ' preparation for tfie dedication of Golden Gates Chapel.vvll^he South Dade ' Christian ChurchirdJn'Mia&il.' sent us a plasterer for a weekw : I mixed mud just

as ^pt /as tl.; could d-uring that six days and as it was turning dark on Sat
urday night the job was complete and Jiirany Fountain caught a plane back to
Miami.

on the island and wanted to do something f.Oji: us. I rounded up all =the briisWes and rollers .1. could find and in nothing flajt. they painted'our Whole building
inside and out. They also 'helped assemble, sand and finish additional benches.

Inside the building there was a host of trim and completion jobs td ' ' accomplish. During January a group of students from Taylor University were

When they left, they gave us some Ipr^e .puppets for the use?of bbr young people.
All of .this was an unexpected blessing at a time when we needed''help the most.

,0f.course, \^dle we were completing pur building Christmas came; alon^ We were having, special practices as well ^s. owr;. other churches in townJ
Sarah.*s little car decided to break down nearly,-every time we'iriedded ' it ; '

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.Since^iWe have; to pick up and deliver all of oqr groups this 'ptlt

extra wdrk

on me./.: Then to help me out more, the Gra.ntstown Church-cbus 'broke'd6wn.. ' S6^

through the holiday season here is the way my ,Sundays went. ^At -'9:15 a'^^d.' 1 '
left home to make three trips in collecting our church group, conducting our

services and returning the group and returning hpinepby l^OO'ip.ini' After a bit^'e
to eat I*d take Sarah'and'the choir girls for a 2:00 p.m. practice.
and then pick up our group for the evening service.

Then tame

the trip to collect my training class at Grantstown followed by a trip to pick up their youth for their practice. Next I could rush home to collect my family

After returning home Ijd

go take the Grantstown folk home since walking at night here is dangerous.

This certainly isn't a recommended way to enjoy Christmas! For the first time my parents weren't able to be with us as they had gone to New^^ealand to be '
with my sister and: her family.

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was broken open. They stole a drop cord, two gallons of paint and a picture

Robbery is such a common event here and before Christmas our church

of Christ. They had stolen a 50 pound brass cross from a Catholic Church and two gallons of wine from thfe" Arigiidaiik.
Finally, we were ready for our dedication on January 30th. Bob and

Jeanetta Green came down ftom our sponsoring church in Springfield, 111. It was a beautiful day. The building was packed with 200=^people, 'this is iarges.t group our three churches here -have ever assembledi: ''During the
lives, to Ghrist and were baptized.
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1^^tings that followed seven young people made coiranitmenfc's of their

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FEBRUARY- CATCH UP TIME

We were worn out.

I started trying to catch up on a lot- of' thiiig^ I

We installed an electric

had rolled back until our building was complete.

pump on a well we dug in our yard. The long promised .water being barged from . .^s,a,ha>Llow promise. The barges are too.small. They <:ah't' load up

l^ecause fh^. barge had been used to haul tallow for. years. Water serVick is diit ofJ^:fo 18. hours-per day now. Thankfully, we have water all th^'tiiie,
ifhanks .to.,,our own pump. .
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bec^vs^ith^y hit bottom^ at the dock on Andro.s., The water tasted'funny

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!.. sppi^e^that it wouldn't snow a^ain,|' I.'decided:to go t6 Andtds; ' tH^

,,^^4 jS0Q4 j|Sei;yices.land I jw^ *^&blfe tJ'meet more of the members ".and "s'e^ the Progress., th^y have itfade dn: their biiilding. They ,have now completed =the P^'ast^ripg and.painted-the inside. Their next, maiin project is tb proseating^,.,

good pl?6gres^;'since i yisited them in the' fa'll. ' ^e

mb'hfcjji^y _ for,^eincouragementi and;^ teaching. Each .trip will cosf about $50.00.
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P^^ay,/fo? all of.our churches. I wiil. continue to try to^-vi^it

miiSs having the Spencers but are doing "Very w^ll.

LOOKING FORWARD

Coordinating the pfogram'-of four congregations will be our primary task this .yean.Jhree ofthese -groups-haye-no trained leader^lp%This means I

and matefial to develop a leadership. Too mucii. 'help a= itcng time coiild -.h^ harmful. ^9? Ri:ogress iri' the' area, or:

''^^ses.'of.;.pa;tience> You can make this a matter.of daily prayer. '

This is an election year.
evangelistic efforts.

ingredients'. I,!11

along with massive

^.

Politics create a difficult atmosphere for

We had wanted to visit our supporting churches this

siimnier but ^e feel .it would be unwise to be gone at thi time. We are; having so nian^ i^w opportunities opening up in Golden Gates and we'have worked too
. day.:to,i risk losing th^Se pppor.tjuni^ schools are hope jto.break intonew area this year, by use-^of- a V.Sb.S'.

; ' in the face of rising costs-of everything else,.pur landlord:is raisitig

"Bur reiit. . This is fprcing us to consider with our sponsoring church the ad-

visailiHty of purchasing a house. We seem to be on the, ibrjLnk of a neil^ day and wie trust God. that you and us together can meet- the .challenge. Of 'cour*se,

praise ^ad d^ily .^qx yourr love and -support .. Pray .for all pur. missionaries. ^ H^ip thi^,'i^ their-;harvestt'rtl^ any xii>!ay^yipu-^ ^
(5'br display material, contact MirsJ J. C. Redmon',^249.5 Dp^son Drive, East i>cjint,.:;.d^6rgia ,'3634^). : "
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a general "wa^^^^

opportunities dp no.t come without problemis and he^jct;b,re^k.. We have seen be fore that jtHe Spirit of God mdveis -ah^^d at kis a\m speed.m; We can only plan in

.Wje watch-for-leading PfVthW ^

of:.a loving God. We '

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AtlariM" Chr^r/tian. Coiiege -

East" I'pi^tj ^Georgia 30344;
Return Requested

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QZMXX DIDLn COLL-Gi:: i i i i II. MAirj

Bahama Newsletter

JOPLiri, MO.

64031

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CHURCH OF CHRIST James & Sarah Redmoii

Box N1674

-(i:i

Nassau-, Bah^a^
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Sponsoring Church:
South Side Christian Church 2600 S. MacArthur Blvd.

F6twarding Agent;
George C. Meador

Springfield, IL

61704
March-June 1977

449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, IL 62703

Dear Friends:'

of the events have been problems but all of them so small they aren^t really worth
mentioning.
Oil-

1 think this, has been the longest lapse between newsletters^ in our entire fifteeii years. All sorts of little things have happened since our l^st letter. Most
They just caused a lot of wasted; time.
ELECTIONS

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The Bahamas will celebrate four years of independence from Great Britain this .

Senate so there is no check and balance unless the ruling party gets tired of their leader. The Prime Minister can call an election whenever he feels like it within
expecting an election for a year but the Prime tiinister .

The only,position a Bahamian.voter elects is the member of the House of Assembly ' for his di^tric^. The party with the most members of the House selects its iparty/' leader ^s the Prime Minister. They also select the majority of the members to,,the,"'

here is similar to the British with only national government.

has had a lot of trouble with a large section of his party. Now an election has been called for July 19th. The extra excitement of an election brings the whole country to a stand still. Strong racial feelings surface and cause us some unhappinp.ss since we are the minority race. Any attempt to deal with new people is outV
question so ve*ll be glad to have this over with.
; . COSTS CONTINUE TO RISE

hand some of the problems they should be prepared to face. Food prices are a big
item so Bess went to our supermarket owned by Winn-Dixie and listed 33 items she

of working in the Bahamas.

Bill and; Bess Cook from Daytona visited u5 in April to discuss th^ possibility .
They have corresponded with us and wanted to see first

would normally buy. The Nassau price was $70.54 and in Daytona the same products were $47.38. Amazing as it may sound, there are no local products, that are cheaper
than imported ones. Local seafood is abundant but too expensive to afford. Local fruit is the same. Pineapples shipped half-way around the world fro^ Taiwan are cheaper than the local product that is a whole lot smaller. It's the same with oranges, grapefruit, or bananas. Local watermelons are only refrigerator size and sell for $4.00 and up. Fifteen years ago we could live on about $350.00 a month.

$1,704.68 to operate it. The older these get the more repairs they require/ The bus has been losing power and needed work but the V.W. people were swamped with
work.

ment scholarship but schooling cost for the children still amounted to $771.05 last year. We have two vehicles. Sarah drives a small 1966 English Morris. Because of good mileage, we use it all we can and pay most of the expenses on that ourselves. We have a 1969 V.W. bus also with over 96,000 miles on it. Last year it cost us I finally got it in last week and the job cost us $666.38. I can't believe

Now our food and rent are each more than that. Sherry received a $400 a year govern

how much better it runs and I'm so relieved with our busy summer approaching.

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So it is important for you to realize the rising costs we face.

need to complain because you have-'shared with us in all of this.

We have no

We have not done

much in promotion but rather trusted in the Lord to work through you to provide our
needs. We have been too busy to be up-to-date on other areas but I'm sure the situ

ation must be similar.

Living her6 iii ai tourist center just exagerates the situa

^

tion but we are grateful for your help and care.

VARIETY NOTES

The trips to Andros continue on a monthly, basis.

I missed one trip due to an

airline pilot's strike. All of my" trips' have been exciting due to poorly maintained aircraft. It took us four tries to land at Fresh Creek, Andros on one; trip, This month the plane was five hours late for this 10 minute flight. The church is doing well and making plans to dedicate their new buildings Last month they got new songbooks and this month I helped them build a dozen benclies, '
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C.B.'s have hit the Bahamas.

old to learn a new language.

In the last few months the. rage has hit and.jthose

I-laybe I'm getting too
The station has

wierd antennae have suddenly sprouted from nearly every car. "The bug hasn't bitten

me so I guess I'm not in a position to understand the craze,

Also cbmihg to town is Bahamian T.V.

been under construction and broadcasting is to begin next month., ^Th,? .funniest thing -is that none'of'the Bahanlian people seem to want the station whl^qh is ..government .
dwned'^ahd built dfi botrowed money. ' The situation is further, aggravated by,the fact

that the" transmissiori'tower is so located as to block out th^ U.S., stations now
being viewed and the'mention that a hfew tax will be levied to cover the cost. The

station will only operate during the evening hours. My parents were able to visit us in May.
atChriStmas time ashas been their custom.'

'

This was to make up for not coming

Now We'look fonward to our siimmer prograni.' Bahamian schools close on July 1st
and we start V.BiS. the following i^riday. We will hold four one week schools. The

first week of August we plan our first attempt a:t Christian .Service .C^p^, We will use a local camp and divide- the week into two segments to cover both age groups. It should prove to be a very interesting week. Following that we plan to vacation on Eleuthera a few days while- We put ourselves "back together. We anticipate some help for the week of camp but the facility is very primitive. Keep us in your

prayers.
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2605 BehHill Road East Point, Georgia-

30344

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OZARK BIBLE COLLEGE' n i l W. MAIN':

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Bahama 'Newsletter

6480a

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Jith' S Sar&h Redmo^'

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CHURCH OF CHRIST

James & Sarah Redmcn Box N1674

Nassau, Bahamas
"l *

-Sponsoring Church

Forwarding Agent:

South Side Christian Church

2600 S. MacArthur Blvd.

George C. Meador
Springfic-ld, XL

= '
62703

449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, XL

61704

JULYAUGUST 1977
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.'.Thanks!

That's been our wa^hword this sunnner.

We had five str^ght weeks of

So

various daily youth activitr.es and not a single day was disturbed by bad weather;'

we offered thanks for wonderful ^ceather.

without a tropical storm to dodge.

X still can't believe having a whole Eltikner

The weatherman has now made up for lost time with

wave after wave of horrible, muggy, sticky weather. Xf we stay here fifty years', X still won't like Septembers. X sura am thai.kful when each hurricane season is ovfer.
V.B.S.

Schools closed in the Bahamas on July 2nd. We began immediately oUr series of ,,Vacation Bible Schools for the three churches here. We used an bid series of lessons and only had one bock and one set of visuals for each cla6s. So all summer we had to

pass along the materials for the next school as soon as the last one was co^plbi^ed*
Miraculously, no one lost=a book or their visuals. The first school was held in .

Golden Gates. Housing is widely scattered co X had to transport nearly all of the kidjSvin this school. = Wc started small with 51 and grew to a high day of 102. Our daily average was 80. Next we moved to Grantstown which is our smallest building. This school started on the national Independence Day which is a hard way to begin. Again, X had to trans port everyone because none of the people live in the area. We averaged.35.

i): .. .Finally, we went to Coconut Grove. Election Day fell A the midst of this . loschool buti did not particularly affect us. We averaged 64 da:ily. Fortunately, .'!;
didn't have to transport anyone at this s'ool.
All three schools ran smoothly and wc kept them small enough to be cdtafortable

in the various buildings.

We were afraid to overcrowd when the kids were so ekbited

with the campaigning. With a minimum of staff we held good schoolG so we said "Thank You" to the Lord.

TEEN WEEK

This year we limited our V.B.S. in Golden Gates to those under 12. All of btir workers were teenage cjirls and we wanted to h::>.ve some learning opportunity fpic th^
and the. rest of our older youtli. V/a pl.-nnad a weeh of evr^ning sessions for teenagers and had projected a group of 20-25. Tc ny sr^.-izetient wc turned up with 49 the first night and maintained an average of 50 for the week. This was the most enthusiastic and energetic group I've ever iseen. I i:h5.nk I was entirely too tired to do justice

to the week.

Just the job of driving all around collecting the kids which took o^ler

an. hour was enough to wear me out. God provided for us and x^e were able to break into a new area and add fuel to the thought that our older youth hold the real key to growth in our Bahamian churches. Once again our thanks were offered to the Lord.
CAi-IP

The youth group frcm the South Dade the Bahamas this sunmer and do so.tiething and they wanted to bring c^bout a donen. pp:pt them in my van and they didn't h ve decided :.o try a we'-:k of camp. We could

Christian Church in Miami wanted to come to for the Lord. They wanted to spend a week I couldn't sleep them in our house nor transthe money to stay in a hotel, finally, I; use the grounds of a very primitive camp That

is operated by a group of Bahamian businessmen.

(Mostly Brethren)

None of our church

kids here have ever been to camp. To make matters worse, Bahamians have a lot of hang* ups that would make selling the idea very difficult. Their eating habits are very strange. They eat only what they like, even of strictly Bahamian dishes. With a

mixed group of Bahamians . a d d - ^ . 3 , we were going to have to eat whatever the gang from Miami brought along. Parents here will let a two year old baby wander along a busy street but not let their kids "sleep out" at night. Especially girls.
The only well known camp program around is operated as s charity so there is no cost. X was determined to make the caaipers pay. Our camp week began on'the most popular Bahamian holiday and a good number took the bird in handthat is to go on" a day outing to the beach rather than risk tx^o birds in the bushthree days in camp.

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Wednesday ^o^r. ages, for 12 and over. It was like swimming with your.^hands- tied, beh^ your back to recruit campers. At that a.good number who
agreed to ,,.c,ora%.b,ackedJ out at the last minute.

Since we only had one week, I^^ivx^ed it'"up for two age groups. Monday through
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;.^The Mijajmijgroup,05^, bringing as much food as possible, the yo,linger group had 17 campers and the older' group had 10. Of course, the Florida group only had three
The week was a success. They,ate unbelievable amounts*, nf balanpy, peantit" butter
Milk is unaffordable and eggs were un
It wasn't a balanced

adults so the last three days the kids became campers also.

potato chips and drank gallons of kool-aid.

diet, .:.^a f^ruit, or canned fr.uit either. Also no vegetables. , However, no one .got sicxk,,, We^,di4^;suffef ;a .jew among the Florida gang who are used to
^sand instead .pi., q.ur ,,:roclcs, ^

obtainable so we had powdered milk and cereal for breakfast.

out box springs instead of mattresses.

abundantly hot. We gave thanks.

.We had, a ew vi^welcpme'guests. ^uch as long tailed rat's that came'injthe kithhen a^ nights., .long haired .tarantulas which paid.nightly visits to the girl's dorm, and the innocent ,mice wlio Visited the girls to eat up. all, that .food that they were sneaking to bed with them. The buildings were basic. The beds mostly had old, worn
The water was dreadfully salty and the sun
I There was a good breeze most of the time.

was too tired.to notice the.beds. The food was filling and the fellowship marvelous. , , ,.When.jl, finished transporting two loads of kids and baggage to the airport for

brought^drinking water twice daily from the well I dug at Golden Gates.

Everyone

their flight |iome and cleaned up the grounds and took the campers home, .1 was ready, to drop., :^,Fortynatp;i^y,, I had a,;yacal:ion,,.planned .for.-the following week.-.-We went t:<3

^l^H^JherajWher^.V/^jjh^d^.rent^ a one.;rpopi efficiency right on the water. We owin,' at^.,cocon^|:s:|^n4^.,^e^t;f!:j.. ^ach,-,d3y",we'gave!, thanks:'.to;Obd ;for' leading ius' through '' ' '''
another summer. ^
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;T..Vl"^Aj?i) ELECTIip^S
The ruling political party in the Bahamas is the Progressive Liberal.Party and
An election was called for

July 19 this summer. Amazingly, the new government owned T.V. station began opera
interest with something like that.

their leader, Lyndon 0- Pindling, is the prime minister.

tions jusl;, before .the election. The week before the.election they presented the week .^plspd^s of .Roots'; The two opposing parties had a hard time competing for
. Several interesting facts resulted from the election. First, of the 7Q,905

Clean" due to a number of scandals among the incumbant party. The P.L.P, won 30 seats,
tljie _B^D.P> won; 6 and the F.N.M. won 2.
G<)pdi;iess".......

registered voters in the nation, 88.5% of them voted. The P.L.P. campaigned with a program called "Handle It Express". The B.D.P. had a program called "Sweep it

Now that elections are over we say, "Thank

. , ,, , A. not^. of .interest is that the Queen is to visit the Bahamas and will opeii the
n^w.^ pes.sji^n of J^he House of Assembly in October.

-.>.7:;.^P:^f?.Fe ,we,^are ,yery thankful to be alive and looking forward tp the coming school

sending us your left over Straights, Jet Cadets, etc. ^We' jfipw, h^y^j a^.j^p^pd ^uppl^r.pf teaching aids.' , Our rent .has gone up $54'.00'per month,

^o|h&r .2^^^

92(? ,and mi'lk 20.C. to $2.79 per gallon.' H'a^ anything ever gqne

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odo^.,1 in,;,.(^S:t^j ;W;e..,^pprec,iat^. your continued concern arid prayers.

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Bah^^ Newsletter
Jim.Sarah Redmon

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COLLEGE
1111 J. MA EM
JOPLIii, MC. 64301