Hellos and Goodbyes (again)

It seems that the last two or three years have been full of more hellos and goodbyes than we can really record.  Between moving from Lancaster to Maryland, spending 10 months at Pastor's College, saying goodbye to all those new friends, moving to Nassau and saying goodbye to all our U.S. friends, and then the many deaths we've mourned while here...well it's just been a lot.

Yesterday, around 9:15am, Keith's dad went to be with the Lord.  It was not quite 14 months ago that we all said goodbye to Mom Bunting and we wondered how long Dad would last without his lifetime sweetheart by his side.  So, in many respects, yesterday was a joy to our hearts.  Knowing Dad loved Jesus and not only has now seen Him face to face, but has also seen his sweet Jackie, gives us great comfort.  This set of parents and grandparents leave behind a legacy to their family; of love for Christ, love for one another, and love for all those God brought into their paths.

Dad and Mom Bunting
August 2012

Still in love after 55+ years of marriage

 

 

And in the midst of this bittersweet time, we've had the company and fellowship of good friends from Terre Hill, PA.  Addison and Dana Waite, a couple we befriended through Keith's car sales job, brought their three children and came to spend the week here with us.  Addison and Dana have been faithful friends to us; laughing with us, caring for us, and providing a friendship that has proven to withstand all our moves and chaos.  These two, along with their children, were our only "non-Crossway Church" friends during our years in Lancaster.  Attending Petra Church in New Holland, Addison and Dana are highly active members of their beloved church and are an example to us in the way they love their children.  They have been such a blessing to us this week; bringing us treats, taking us out for dinner, encouraging us, and giving us the gift of laughter in the midst of what could have been a sorrowful week.  Ultimately, we see God's kindness to us through them.  How He loves to care for His children through the hands of His children!  And that's exactly how we see it this week.  Their love, expressing God's love to us. 

Dana and Addison

Alyssa, Dana, Mikaya, Addison, and Zane Waite

 

Due to the quick plans for Keith's dad's funeral for this Saturday, Keith leaves today to fly to Orlando and help with the planning.  The girls and I will not be going, but are so glad the Waites are here to keep us company for another night and half of tomorrow.  Again, God's provision to us when we didn't even know we would need it!  Today we rejoice that in this life, though there is sorrow, and though the hellos and goodbyes seem to never cease, God gives us many wonderful people to share the journey with us.

according to the Spirit

Last Saturday night, I (Kristin) awoke from a nightmare.  In the wake of the fearful dream, I sat motionless on our bed, asking God for help and assurance.  You see, in the dream, I was dying.  But beyond that, in the dream, I was crying out "Jesus, Jesus!"  but could not get my voice above a whisper.  In the nightmare, I could not feel the presence of God or see anything like a "light" or any of the things I was looking to see or feel.  It was dark, empty, and scary.  I began to doubt God's ability to save me from the grave...then I awoke.

Immediately, I began praying, asking God to help restore my confidence in Him and all the truths I know about Him from reading His word.  And He answered.  He gave Isaiah 43 to hold on to.

43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
    peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;

I knew in the moments I sat there in the dark, praying, that God wanted me to share this the next morning at church.  During the church prayer time before the meeting, I took the prayer need listed to "Pray that the Spirit will be at work this morning, helping us to employ the gifts that have been given us..."   I knew in my heart that I would go to the prophecy microphone to share.

God arranged it, no doubt.  The flow of the songs we were singing led right to the word I wanted to share :

What heart could hold
The weight of your love?
And know the heights
Of Your great worth?
What eyes could look on
Your glorious face
Shining like the sun?

Your name alone
Has power to raise us
Your light will shine
When all else fades
Our eyes will look on
Your glorious face
Shining like the sun

Who is like You, God?

 

You are holy, holy, holy
God most high and God most worthy
You are holy, holy, holy
Jesus You are
Jesus You are

(Read more: Matt Redman - Holy Lyrics | MetroLyric)

As I shared, I knew God wanted to speak to those with nightmares, both of the night and the day.  Lives that felt like nightmares due to oppression, sinful choices, or other circumstances along with those who battle nighttime dreams of great fear.   And the Holy Spirit was at work.

Four ladies came forward at the end of the service, two of whom struggle with nightmares (including ones of their own death, like mine) and one of whom feels that she's living a nightmare due to the oppressive circumstances in her life.  Only one of the women is a regular attender at our church.  Many women gathered around these dear ladies, engaging in prayer on their behalf.  One lady came to me and shared my word was directly for her.  She is not a regular attender.  In fact, though her husband is highly involved at our church, she attends another church.  But for "some reason" she was at Kingdom Life last Sunday. 

It has been many months since we've seen the Lord move through his people like this.  The fact that the previous week had been our Corporate Consecration Week of Prayer and Fasting is no coincidence, I am sure.  But can't every week be like this?  Where the Spirit is moving in and among us, using our spiritual gifts to touch the lives of His people?  I pray so.  Lord, let it be so.

Let me encourage you this week to be praying for the Spirit to move in your respective churches.  God wants to use his flock to reach those inside and outside the fold.  Don't let your pride, fear, or any other sinful response cause you to stay silent or inactive when you feel God prompting you to go.  Even if your church is not one where gifts like prophecy or words of knowledge are held up as "for today," God expects his people to be speaking words of encouragement, hope, and gospel-truth "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father."  (Eph. 5:19-20)

fast and furious

Wow.  Coming home to Nassau has us off and running!  Beginning Sunday, we will be at church every night next week for "Consecration 2014," a yearly week of fasting and prayer in our church.  Sunday afternoon, we will also be hosting the College of the Bahamas students for lunch.  Then we have Kendall's 11th birthday on the 31st, a men's speaker arriving February 1st for a mini-conference, the Waite family arriving February 15th (also Keith's birthday) and the Planks arriving later in February.  Phew!  February promises to be fast and furious folks!

And in the wake of our two recent losses, our beloved pet and our dear Keva Poitier, we are still grieving, trying to put away Christmas decorations, and get back into the swing of school.  There are many other items on our plate as well right now, but we will be informing you of those in the days to come. 


God is near to us in our broken-heartedness.  His Holy Spirit is our Comforter.  We see the goodness of God.  We are excited for the days ahead, though the "last days" of late have been difficult.  It is a new year and we know God's mercies await us each day of it.  Here are some sunset pictures I took back in December.  Though they cannot capture the glory of God, they speak to it.

Psalm 19:
"The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above
proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat."

hellos and goodbyes

As I type this, the thermometer on my parents' back porch is reading 10 degrees Fahrenheit.  Quite a change from the usual 80-85 degrees of Nassau!  Lots of snow has been falling in the 5 days the girls and I (Kristin) have been here in Butler, PA.  It was a sight for sore eyes as we awoke Sunday morning to the beautiful white flakes falling down on the quiet scene outside our windows.  A blanket of newness.  We did not know what awaited us that day or the next.  But God gave us a beautiful winter wonderland to come home to that first morning.  Our "Hellos!" had been a happy time the day before as we met mom and dad at the airport and gave hugs all around.  It was a warm day last Saturday, about 40 degrees and lots of sunshine. 

After attending my parents' church, First Baptist, here in Butler, we went to one of our favorite breakfast places for a meal, then headed home.  After having our traditional Christmas dinner that night and cleaning up all the dishes, I sat down to check email.  A lump quickly formed in my throat as a picture I was not prepared to see showed up on an IM from a lady I've never met back in Nassau.  It was a close-up of our Kali-dog's collar.  Dread grabbed me.  You see, on December 18th, Kali went missing.  We had high hopes of her returning to us and had many people across the island keeping their eyes peeled for sight of her.  But when I saw the picture of Kali's collar there on my computer, there was no denying it, she was in fact the dog that had been hit by a car at the foot of our neighborhood several days before.  A kind lady I've never met went back to the seen of the accident where the person who had taken Kali's body away had left her collar.  It was hers, no doubt about it.  I didn't know what to say or do in that first moment.  How could I tell my girls?  We loved this dog like no other pet.  Now God had taken her.  For us, she was one of the brightest parts of our move to Nassau.  It seemed as though a small little piece of us was now lost forever.

The next morning, after a night of sadness, we received even harder news.  Keith called me via Skype saying he had difficult news.  Keva, our dear sister in the Lord and one of our closest friends at Kingdom Life, passed away Monday morning at 9:30.  She had entered the hospital about two weeks ago, was put on a ventilator, suffered what appeared to be a stroke, and simply never woke up.  Keva is nothing short of amazing in her persevering love for God.  For the last 7 years or so she has been battling illness related to her total kidney failure diagnosis.  Amidst it all, she has continued to serve the church, love her family and friends all the more, and praise God with all that is in her.  It is possible that she may be the most joyful saint I've ever met.  And now, she is with her Savior.  Such a loss we cannot even fathom for our little church of 65 or so.  Keva was a part of every facet of our church and her loss will affect everyone there. 

Keva and me.  August 2013

Keva when we first met, August 2010

Please keep Kingdom Life Church in your prayers.  This is a time of grieving for all of us, but especially for Keva's family and Cedric and Alexine Moss.  Keva was like family to them, and was known as "Auntie Keva" even to our own children.  She was a member of our Care Group, and I cannot even imagine having meetings without her in this new year.

Keva Poiter, second from the right.  Always radiant.  She was the guest of honor this year at our Mother's Day Lunch

 

one week 'til snow

A warm sunny greeting to all our friends in the snowy northeast U.S.!  As I sit here typing, we are in the home of the Seeley family, who we have introduced to you before.  Our washing machine has been broken for about 12 days now and we simply couldn't wait to do laundry any more!  Mindy kindly offered for us to come out and use her machine, so here we are.  Once again, God uses friendships to provide for all our needs.  This weekend Tim and Mindy will be playing the roles of Simeon and Anna tomorrow night and Sunday night in our Christmas presentation, "Hope Has Come."  Their sons Logan and Zach will also be busy on stage with worship team, choir, and narrator roles.  We are so thankful God has not only brought them to 21/7, but made them such active members of our church.  They will also be joining us at our home, along with the Moss family, for Christmas day festivities.  We will have a happy house full of 15 people this Christmas and we look forward to all the fun!

 Though it's Christmastime, we are in what we call "early summer" or "winter" by your calendars.  Early summer here delivers, on average, an 80 degree day, sunshine, and lower humidity.  Not too bad.  Unless you're hoping for the tradition of Christmas snow.  This is the time of year we have to work at creating our own "


Look what came all the way to Nassau!!

Santa's throne and the mall Christmas tree

festive mood" if we're going to fully engage in the joy of the season.   Though there are some decorations out and about town, mostly things look much the same to us.  Beach, ocean, traffic.  Normalcy for an island.   Slightly sad it is when reds and greens on Christmas decorations hung out-of-doors quickly turn to pinks and yellows due to the high sun exposure.  But with the constant sunshine, fading occurs.

Yes, fading occurs in our hearts too.  For all of us, right?  Whether we live in the tropics or the cold of North Dakota, the fervency of our love for God, our love for others, and our love for pretty much anything (except maybe...ourselves?) begins to fade with time if we're not careful.  Upkeep is necessary, though it may not sound very poetic to say so.  The damage of the intense sun here is something I had never really experienced before, having lived mostly in a northeastern U.S. climate.  At first,, it amazed me how quickly the sun could fade our clothes if left out to dry too long.  Beach towels have long ago faded from the vibrant pinks and blues they once boasted.  Bathing suits, with the added enemy of the pool's chlorine, fade very quickly here unless they are constantly washed out and hung inside to dry.  And in our frail human bodies, the intense sun also can dehydrate our systems and create a malaise in us, even with the best attempts at staying "watered."  Upkeep is necessary. I see how my love for right things can also diminish if I leave it unattended.  Daily time with God, reading his word and in prayer, are necessary routines for keeping love for Him alive and vibrant.  And thankfully, the time we've lived here so far has been full of that routine, even when all else fails!  Yes the only begotten Son does not diminish our vibrancy like the created sun.  He is life-giving and ever-replenishing us.

One week from tomorrow, the girls and I (Kristin) will travel to Butler, PA to spend two weeks with my parents.  This year a wonderful friend is helping to pay for this expensive trip, and my parents are paying the rest.  Since this is probably the hardest time emotionally to be on 21/7, with missing family and traditions, we thank God for providing this outlet, both this year and last.  While we are back stateside, we will get in some visiting with friends, much-needed shopping, and some relaxation time after our busy Christmas season at church.

May this be a blessed season for you as you reflect on the One who came, breaking the silence of centuries, to speak Life to His people.  Hope has come.

beauty everywhere

About two months ago, our Kingdom Life friends the Deans took us on a little excursion to a family island, Andros.  A "family island" just means another island in the archipelago of Bahamian islands.  Andros is the largest of the Bahamian islands and is one of the largest land masses in the Caribbean.  Calvin, our host on this little retreat, was born and raised in Andros.  Now, before you think all exotic and begin to ooh and ahh over our "excursion" to another island, let me clarify.  Calvin and Keisha are trying to build a business; a car parts and hardware store, in Andros.  For them, this trip was mostly work.  They paid for our 15 minute flight (20 seat plane) and hotel.  Don't worry...I took plenty of pictures. 

 




This was not a functional buffet, but just some interesting décor

Let's start by showing you the hotel. Above you see the cute little walkway and gate that leads out to the office and parking space.  But this is just the beginning!  Check out what else this place had to offer:

 

Our room was the second door

this was such a desolate place...looks like winter

Two cranes just watching us...a pair of lovebirds?

At sea level, burial is done above ground...creepy...and beachfront!

Bahamian Bush...road to nowhere?

Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole...125 feet deep

Approaching a "settlement" on Andros



Termite nest...common but cool

    A beautiful old church, burnt but still standing



 



I could go on and on with the pictures, but this should give you a feel for Andros.  There was beauty, but it seemed harder to find in such a desolate island.  Austere.  Dark.  Wild.  Small settlements, suspicious of us.  Overcast conditions for the majority of our stay.  No developed beaches.  Convenience stores offering the only grocery shopping.  Keith kept saying how similar to his experience in Cote D' Ivoire, Africa this trip was.

 

We have to say that after seeing the landscape and lack of amenities in Andros, we felt much gratitude in returning to Nassau

gratis

When my husband and I were in college, the term "gratis" was used for the unreimbursed work you would render to the college if you broke a rule.  Examples of gratis would be: cleaning communal bathrooms, raking leaves, sweeping sidewalks, etc.  Of course, neither Keith nor I ever had to give "gratis" because we, ahem, never broke rules.

The funny thing is, I never really thought about the word "gratis" and what it meant.  I knew it had something to do with grace, but I couldn't figure out why the college administration would call punitive action "grace" when you were caught doing wrong.  You broke a rule, you would pay.  What's gracious about that?  Now I realize that it was really the student who would be offering "gratis" or free work to the college as a penalty for their crime.  But this actually defies the definition of gratis.  Wikipedia defines it thus: 
the quality of an action where the action is willingly provided without any requirement by the provider for compensation or monetary remuneration.

The students at our college were receiving something for the gratis work they did: forgiveness.  By doing the gratis, their record of law-breaking at the college would be wiped away for them. 

At this time of year where obvious blessings are being counted, written of and spoken into microphones at churches around America (or is that only at my parents' little Baptist Church in good 'ole Butler, PA?) the one I am most aware of is the gratis work of Christ.  Remember, gratis is the quality of an action where the action is willingly provided without any requirement by the provider for compensation or monetary remuneration.  Every other gratis work or gift ever given has been completed by someone who stands equally in need of true gospel gratis.  Gratis receivers can become gratis givers.  But Christ never needed gratis.  He defines it for us; in his life...in his death.

Remember in this season, no matter what gifts you are given by friends or family, that though they are gratis to you, they do not ultimately compare to what Christ has given.  These earthly gifts have come to you by those who know what it is to need.  They may feel sorry for you, or identify with you in your need. They want to help alleviate your lack.  Ultimately, they want you to experience the good that they themselves have.  But Christ gave to us from a full cup that never grew dry.  He gives things that don't grow old, or stale, or evaporate.  He gives life and healing and hope and joy.  Eternal things.  He gives from his fullness and it never depletes him.  Gratis.  Unspeakable gratis. No payment required.