Lots of Fingerprints
Dear Friends of Sea Hope
You never know when the need will arise
On April 9th, Mary and I were in North Carolina to enjoy Easter with our family. On the tiny Caribbean island of St Vincent, the La Soufia volcano erupted. Over the next 3 weeks, over 30 eruptions and associated earthquakes happened.
Visiting with our family…my mom and our 4 children
About 15,000 people were evacuated from the Orange and Red Zones near the volcano and most will not be allowed to return to their homes for several months. Two church buildings that I know of have been destroyed. Evacuees are crowded into shelters in the south, including at the Baptist Bible College of the Caribbean. The economy of the island has been devastated.
Hope Baptist Church, Owia before the eruption.
Hope Baptist after the eruption. The pastor is Lawson Lavia.
As soon as I heard of the eruption, I just knew Sea Hope had to carry relief supplies. Sea Hope was in Gulfport, Mississippi waiting to return to the boat yard for annual maintenance. I contacted the yard and asked if they could handle Sea Hope earlier than scheduled and they agreed. We lifted Sea Hope for inspection and painting. Mary and I also had to get our Covid vaccinations, and we had to do the Pfizer routine which required 3 weeks between injections. During this period we worked with our ministry partners to gather food, medical/health supplies, clothes, Bibles and other scriptural material, and other needed items to carry to St Vincent. The Lord just poured out His blessings.
Once the shipyard maintenance was completed, the ship went back into the water at 5:30 pm and then a work crew loaded the boat until 2 am in the morning. In all we loaded about 39,000 pounds of food and about 15,000 pounds of other material. After a few hours of sleep, we did our final preparations and departed Bayou La Batre headed to San Juan Puerto Rico to top off fuel. Once that was completed it was on to St Vincent.
Pastor Dexter Kirby (Grace Community Baptist) is also the president of the Baptist Bible College of the Caribbean which has been designated a private shelter. He and the other St Vincent pastors on the board made excellent preparations to meet us and unload the cargo. Once the paperwork was completed, the ship was unloaded in about 5 hours. We spent the night at the pier and hosted the a lunch for the pastors and our agents the following day.
The stevedores could unload the cargo as fast as we uncovered it
Pastors Lawson Lavia, Dexter Kirby, Presley Daniel, Lenius Lavia and wives were our lunch guests
After a 2 1/2 day transit, Sea Hope was taken to her new home at Puerto del Rey Marina in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. From there we can reach all the other islands within 3 days.
The food we carried has been distributed to 11 churches on the island and the pastors set up food banks for their congregations and communities. The Bibles and scriptural material are being used in an evangelistic outreach.
We are in preliminary discussions about a second relief mission to St. Vincent around the second week of August. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God’s direction and wisdom in using Sea Hope for His glory.
I tried to count the number of churches and ministries that helped with this mission. I just could not do it as there are so many who participated in providing the material, giving financially, or praying. Just know, there are many, many fingerprints on this mission. Each one is vital, and He has the record. To everyone, a sincere and heartfelt "Thank you" from Mary and me, and the pastors and people on St. Vincent.
Sea Hope in her new port of Puerto Del Rey Marina, Fajardo, Puerto Rico