"Back to Normal....but don't get complacent."

We have internet at Camp Symonette!!!
I must first apologize for falling so far behind on our "up-to-date" Hurricane Irene blog. It has been quite a "whirlwind" around here but there is some "normalcy" that is creeping back into our lives...and it is welcomed.
Eleuthera and Cat Island are also getting back to a stay of "normal" but we can't get complacent. Electricity has been restored to the vast majority of the islands that were affected by the storm, which is a huge blessing but that is just one piece of the Relief puzzle. There are still hundreds of families that have tarps on their roofs, other families are having to dry out clothes from the sea surge flooding, more are trying to figure out how to get back on their feet. Things were tight in the Bahamas before the storm, now it's even more tight.
I received a call yesterday from Capt. Russell of NEMA and he asked us to be ready to start work on Monday, September 19th on Cat Island. He informed us that they have already distributed materials to families and they are ready for us (KP and I actually saw the materials on our visit to Cat last Saturday).  I assured him we would be there with our volunteers and ready to Roof! KP and I are rounding up our local volunteers from Eleuthera that have expressed interest in going to serve with us in Cat and the plan is to mobilize there over the weekend and jump on the roofs on Monday!
There are many homes that need repairs and many families that need love.
Please start making your plans to come join us in the recovery efforts if you are able.
If you or your church, group of friends, family, etc would like to come serve with us, please fill out our Volunteer Information Request Form and state in the Additional Comments block "IRENE". We will then send you the details of coming to serve with us.

Camp Update:
Camp Symonette is looking great. The roofs are fixed (Camp, Cottage, my house), half the trees are trimmed, brush is cleaned up, windows are washed, floors have been mopped, driveway is swept and we have Electricity and Internet! What more could you ask for?
We had 3 volunteers come serve with us last weekend from Orange Beach UMC, Alabama, 2 from Port Orange UMC, Florida and a pilot who flew all the way from Detroit to deliver supplies and help us repair the Camp. The six of them really pulled Camp back together along with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force guys that are staying with us.


I am off to the airport to meet two more planes with supplies headed to Cat Island so I will write more and send pictures on the next blog!
Keep praying WITH us and we also need your financial support as our Recovery Efforts continue.

DONATE

Peace and Love.
Abe and the entire BMH Community.

It's Monday ... in Nassau

Today started out early for KP and I, with a 6:00am wake up and a 7:15am flight from Governor's Harbour to Nassau (we had to fly commercial...what a bummer).

We met with the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church (BCMC) Disaster Relief Committee at 10:00am and mapped out a clear path for our continued response and relief efforts. There was a lot of Hurricane Response history and experience around that table this morning, myself being one of the most "green" even with six years under my belt! Hurricanes are not new to the Bahamas nor is Hurricane Response new to the BCMC!

One of the most touching moments was when Rev. Carla Culmer said that after a hurricane hit Abaco while she served there, the thing she remembered most was a small care package sent from a member in Nassau and the time she was able to simply share her story with one of the volunteers that had come to serve. It was a spiritual 2x4 that was again knocked some sense into me and reminded me that we are a relationship based Christian ministry that just happens to also do Disaster Response and Sub-standard Home Repair. God has put a great burden on our hearts to serve and love the people of the Bahamas. After we recieved our assignments we each went our own way so that "many hands could make light work"!

Following out meeting, KP and I were interviewed by two national reporters for TV, Radio and the Newspaper! I have added it to the blog so you can check it out. I had to go old school/new school and record it via my handy iPhone.

We were then requested to come meet with Capt. Russell the head of the National Emergency Management Agency of The Bahamas (NEMA). We had a wonderful 45 minute meeting that was very productive. He has A LOT on his plate but is doing a good job with the entire country and we are excited to be able to assist in the efforts with him. We have worked with NEMA since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have continued to have a wonderful partnership with them. Capt. Russell requested our assistance on Saturday afternoon and we have already flown relief supplies for them to Rum Cay, Acklins, Cat and Crooked Island! This is a beautiful relationship because they provide the supplies that have been donated by Bahamas Red Cross and NEMA, the Defense Force delivers them to Odyssey FBO in Nassau and our pilots are then able to pick them up and deliver them where most needed! We like those kinds of partnerships!

This evening, Cameron King and I coordinated our flights for Tuesday and if all goes as planned, which sometimes it changes... we should have seven planes in the air tomorrow! Please say a prayer for our Bahamas Habitat staff in Ft. Lauderdale who are working selflessly to ensure person's that need the most assistance get it. They are being creative, bold and passionate about reaching out and giving person's the opportunity to serve throughout the Bahamas!

The day ended with a pizza dinner, Hell's Kitchen and a night of air conditioning. KP knocked out early because he is exhausted. He has literally been working since before the hurricane!

Please take this time to DONATE to the ministry so that we can continue to serve and love throughout the Southern Bahamas.
Thank you all for your support once again!

Peace and Love.
Abe and KP from Nassau


I didn't take any exciting pictures today so I am sharing a few highlights from the past couple of days.

James Cistern Methodist Church

Camp Symonette and it's minimal damage, check out the trees...

Cat Island resident telling us about the hurricane as she pulls water from her well.

Gene Schmidt unloads a bunch of happiness!

The beautiful and fully intact Zion Children's Home on Current Island!

Jon Short's "AzTruck" load of supplies in Rum Cay.

Big Jon Short's little helper on Rum Cay.

Sunday, the day of rest...

Crooked Island Chief Counselor
with a part of our delivered supplies 

Today started out with a 3 hour wait for a phone call that I had given up on happening but in the end it all worked out!

I was able to finally tarp my own roof this morning so no more water would find it's way into my kitchen. 

About 10:30 this morning I met up with Jon Short, Barry Marz, Tom Jones and Dave Brantley at GHB. We all loaded up, topped off our fuel tanks and headed South. 

At the request of NEMA:

Jon went to Rum Cay (pronounced key) and delivered 1,000 pounds of water and food. 

Tom, Dave and a bunch of supplies..
.oh and then I had to cram in too!

Barry and I delivered a load of food and water to Acklins where the Defense Force Officer informed us that roughly 17 homes were flattened, 20 homes had major damage and 40 homes had minor damage.  Roughly 77 homes in Acklins need assistance. We left the supplies with the Bahamas Red Cross for distribution. 

Dave and Tom met us there and I jumped in their Baron while Barry flew back to Ft. Lauderdale. We headed to Crooked Island, where Dave throws an annual Christmas party for the children. There are less than 300 people there and the island is actually larger than Nassau, which hosts over 300,000! We took a 3 hour tour of the island and made some good contacts with their local Government Officials and even met the Member of Parliament for the island.

Off loading on Crooked Island.

While were making our runs south, Fred Ahles flew supplies from Ft. Lauderdale to Cat Island. We were supposed to have two other planes deliver to Cat as well but don't have confirmation at this time. 

Upon my return from Crooked Island I met with Capt. Russell, head of NEMA, at North Eleuthera. I gave him an update from our day and we strategized a bit for the rest of the week. His concern and priority is Cat Island and Acklins. 

KP and I are headed to Nassau tomorrow for a BCMC and BMH meeting to update our staff and plan for the long term recovery. 

Many of you have expressed interest in serving with us. The people of the Bahamas  will need you. Professional roofers all the way to "Go-fers"... All skill levels needed. We will know more details tomorrow afternoon. 

Are you ready? Because "we ready"... 

a Hurricane preparedness poster in Crooked.

It's been a long day bit restful. 

I will leave you with wise and loving counsel that I received today:

As you start your Sunday remember the practice of Sabbath, the day of rest. I know you will probably not be taking a day of rest - when there are so many people in need. But rest in the idea of trusting God. There is so much work to do and so little time, so many people you are helping, so many volunteers working to get people the things they need. Trust that God is big enough to get the job done. So remember to get some rest, and take care of you and those volunteers around you! - and know whatever you don't get done today God is big enough to take care of it.

Amen!

Peace and Love. 

Abe

 
Almost home!

Eleuthera and Cat Island

Eleuthera
KP, Sam, Zack...and a lot of tarps!
Today on Eleuthera Island
the camp staff and other volunteers were able to gather and distribute supplies
such as tarps and nails to the local community. They were able to deliver
around 30 tarps and had a few local volunteers around to help put them on the
houses. The local volunteers also put tarps on the roof at camp. KP was able to
visit many of the BMH recent and current worksites. Many of you have asked
about several of the houses so here is the update:

   Olga Bowles–James Cistern – the roof and new rooms are all intact
Janette Davis/Burrows – Governor’s Harbor - There were only two pieces of plywood that came off the side of the house so minor damage. The yellow house that Janette and family is currently living in had a lot of shingles that came off the left side of the house. Today they were able to get a tarp to cover up the damaged area
Scavella – House is all good
The Pink House in Cat Island – only a couple of shutters fell off.
There were four planes of supplies delivered to Eleuthera today.  
Cat Island
Cat Island Water damage

Today Abraham, John Short,
and Andre Butler flew into Cat Island to drop off supplies and to do an
assessment of the damage and figure out what the needs are there. Cat Island is
in a lot worse shape than Eluethera due to a strong Storm Surge and flooding.
There were three to four feet of water in some of the houses we saw. There are
around 2,000 people on Cat Island and right now they have no power and no
access to drinking water. The Reverse Osmosis Plant on the Island has no power
and no generator to produce clean drinking water. Many of the locals are
collecting rain water right to drink and use for cooking.  The local community on Cat Island are
trying to salvage and clean any items they can out of the water damaged houses.
As you walk around the Island you can see laundry and other items hung out to
dry.  Many people seemed to have
lost most of what was inside their house due to rain and flood damage.  Most of the houses have at least roof
damage and others have lost entire walls. There are some real home repairs
needed on Cat Island.
We are going to head to
Acklin tomorrow to do an assessment of the damage there. NEMA has asked for our assistance so we are flying Bahamas Red
Cross supplies tomorrow to Ackilns and Crooked Islands...the two hardest hit
islands.The Red Cross and NEMA are
counting on our pilots and aviation fuel to get their supplies to the Southern
Islands.  

Most basic necessities on the Island are still scarce and hard to come by on the Island. The local community has no power and will not have it for at least another week. Access to water, food, and fuel is still very limited. They are hoping that that a ship of supplies will be able to leave Nassua on Wednesday.  So the planes of supplies we are delivering is the only access to  the basic necessities for a while.  The aviation fuel to deliver these basic necessities is costly so please consider donating towards Aviation Fuel. We would like to thank our pilots who have already donated their time, fuel, and sweat!  (Did we mention that it is very HOT here?!)
Jon short, Andre Butler, & Dremmy at Arthur's town
Special thanks to our Pilots!
Sam & Zack Frazier, Gainsville, FL
Gene and Suzie Schmidt, Pensacola, FL
Jon Short, Cullman, AL

Barry Marz, Fort Myers, FL


Please continue to pray for
our volunteers, BMH staff, and all relief effort workers as the work continues.
We are all praying for those dealing with Hurricane Irene in the States today
and days to come. 

                                   

Food bucket assembly line!

Camp road

             

Shane, Pauleen, Vonnia, Pastor Whyte, & Randy

Greetings from Eleuthera!!

Waydania and her Daddy's flat tire

Cameron King, Addison Shock, and Abraham were able to fly into Governer's Harbor today. On their way there they were able to fly over The Zion's Children's Home and at 2500ft in the air it looked pretty good. They were able to fly-in with a plane load of supplies ($2500.00 dollars worth of supplies! Thanks to donations!). Our friends Binks, Andre, and Chris met them at the airport and they loaded all the supplies into Wade and Tammy Weinburger's truck. After they loaded it all they realized that the truck had a flat tire.

Welcoming committee at Camp
Randy, Vonnia, and Amelia

    

Once they got the flat tire taken care of they headed to Camp. On their way they drove through James Cistern and although it looks horrible the actual damage to houses and buildings is not too bad. There is no power on the Island right now. The rumor is that some 30 power poles have been knocked down just in James Cistern; so not sure when they will able to get power back on the Island. Good thing is that right now everyone has access to city water. So far we have no confirmation when the Ships from Nassau or Fort Lauderdale will start bringing supplies back to the Island. 

BMH office roof damage

   

We are so thankful for God's protection and guidance through this storm. Buildings can be prepared, roofs can be fixed, and power can be restored. We thank God that our friends and family are all safe. We continue to pray for our friends and families living on the East Coast as Hurricane Irene heads up the coast.

 There is still a lot of work ahead of us here in the Southern Islands of the Bahamas and on Eleuthera. There are reports are saying that the Southern Islands were hit the hardest and have extensive damage to many homes and buildings. We are very thankful for all donations, support, and prayers. And for all those who have joined us already in the relief efforts; the BMH Staff who already started cleaning and repairing Camp Symonnette. Cameron and Addison who are working on setting up Banyan Flight Base Operation (Base Camp) in Fort Lauderdale.  "Big" John Short and Greg Roberts who have flown in much needed supplies today. We are so blessed to have so much love and support from all of our BMH family. Please continue to pray for us and support us as we continue the work of rebuilding and purchasing many needed supplies and materials. 

"Big" John Short and Greg Roberts
2nd BMH plane in GHB

Would you be willing to join us in our relief efforts? We need volunteers to help us rebuild! Over the next few weeks we will be putting together teams of volunteers to help with repairs and rebuilding. We have already started talking with The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) about what areas needs the most help. If you are interested in helping us out please go to the VOLUNTEER PAGE - and fill out the "Request for Information Form" at the bottom of the page. In the box used for "Additional Comments" please put "Hurricane Irene relief" efforts. BMH is asking that anyone interested in volunteering simply pay their own flight (Airport to be determined) and donate whatever you can for Room and Board at Camp. 

                                                           

God is Good

Front Street in James Cistern

                                            

Cameron knows how to make people happy!

Friday Morning from Orlando!

The Aztec N177PG is packed, fueled and the Eleuthera airports are Open!
We are headed down to Governor's Harbour now and can't wait to see all our friends.

From Sherry Fax in Palmetto Point:
Hi Abe, how are you?
We are doing okay after hurricane Irene, the most damages that is visible are roofing material , such as shingles, plywood, felt, windows, nails, 2x4 and 2x6. This is only  in Governors Harbor, Palmetto Point and James Cistern. haven’t heard from the other areas communications is down. Well you know water and food will always be an issue.
--------------------------------------------------
We will be on touch as soon as we have internet access.

DONATE

Thank you for your support!

Peace and Love.

First shopping spree to Home Depot

Aztec Full of Relief Supplies

Thursday night from Orlando.

Cameron King, Addison Shock (logistics volunteer from SIFAT) and I are safe in Orlando, FL at Katharine Zimmerman's home.
We left Nashville at 7:00pm in our Barron N74EM, picked up Addison in Lineville, AL at 8:00 (and were blessed by runway lights), arrived in Orlando, FL at 11:00pm, grabbed some Jimmy John's Subs and are now knocking out for the night!

Right before we left Nashville I was able to speak with Randy and KP. They were both checking on my home and it was actually the only place they found cell service...convenient. Here is there short handed report.
                                                                                                     
Randy:
BMH Office roof above above back door gone.
Boys dorm on front side of Camp damaged.
A lot of shingle damage at Camp.
ALL vegetation stripped, it looks like an F4 or F5 Tornado (Randy's from Oklahoma...tornado alley)
James Cistern did pretty well.
Some roof damage and the front road was hit pretty bad from the storm surge.
James Cistern Church pretty good.
I could have sworn the Eye went right over us ... but NEMA says something else.
Difficult to find out information about the storm, the news was about two hours behind the storm, not real helpful.
We lost electricity at 8:00am but KP has the generator going for us.
Audrea from Hatchet Bay said they are good.
Cat Island I heard is really bad.
No Fatalities or Injuries!
Governor's Harbour - BTC (cell) Tower snapped in half.
Rainbow Bay got pretty big hit.
GHB Airport, supposed to be open sometime Friday...
Inagua has blue skies and basically all good.
                                                                                                     
KP:
(All said with a smile of relief that I could hear through the phone! You know the smile and laugh I'm talking about!)
We lost some shingles at the Cottage.
A lot of roof damage at Camp.
"Nobody croak so that's good..."
40 people stayed at Camp during the storm, but most have gone home.
A few older folk still at Camp.
I set up the generator for the dining hall.
One plane over the fence at GHB ... "Flip and Mash right up!"

                                                                                                    
NEEDS:
Food
Pole Saw
Chainsaw, Oil, Chains
Large Tarps
Button Cap Nails

Cameron King will be organizing the donation of relief supplies so please wait for her instructions after she returns to Orlando Friday afternoon.
Many of you have already donated Home Depot e-Gift Cards
(Recipient Email: MethodistHabitat@gmail.com) which are wonderful!
You can also Donate Funds on-line. We will use these desperately needed funds to efficiently purchase and ship immediately needed materials to families that have to secure their roofs as well as purchase fuel for our airplanes that will be delivering the supplies!
                                                                                                   
As you can see, we are indeed blessed by the protection that covered Eleuthera during the storm!
Tomorrow brings a new day with new celebrations and new opportunities to serve in our response to the destruction that Irene left in her path.
Our initial plan is to get on the ground Friday, hug our friends and family, drop supplies, assess the immediate needs and then send Cameron back to Orlando to resupply and release the rest of our aviation fleet of volunteer pilots.

Pictures and more details to come Friday as soon as we can share them with you. Keep praying with us and keep the East Coast of the US in your prayers as Irene continues northward.

Please DONATE to our assist in our Response and Relief Efforts.

Peace and Love.
BMH Family
                                                                                                   
Verse of the Day from the Upper Room:
A great word for the day!
Jonah 2: 1-10

2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,"I called to the LORD out of my distress, and he answered me;out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight;how shall I look again upon your holy temple? 5 The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me;weeds were wrapped around my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God. 7 As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the LORD! 10 Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.