We made it through Matthew!

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning and God has proven His faithfulness to me once again. We made it through a major hurricane with no loss of life or harm to my family or my ALC family or any major damage to the buildings at ALC or my apartment! 

Petting Farm

There was some roof damage and blown off shingles and a majority of the trees are down in the petting farm and at my apartment along with smashed fences and minor flooding at ALC and the Camp. 

Adam surveying the damage

more trees down

I’m sorry to get this blog out late but we still have no power or internet and the few sites that do like DQ and McDonalds are overcrowded. I have spent the last 2 days cleaning up and securing our apartment. 

There is plenty of work, repairs and expense ahead of us to get ALC up and running for program but God continues to be faithful and Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale is already working on sending a team or two to help cleanup.

My last blog asked you to pray that God use the “wind” to impact people in the Bahamas (see it for explanation).  Well something amazing happened on the eve of the hurricane. About 4pm Wednesday, hours before the storm, a NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) official, Scott, contacted me because he had seen the ALC school buses that we had moved to higher ground along an elevated highway. He asked (about begged me), to use our 3 buses for emergency rescue and evacuation by the Defense Force, in high water areas. Without hesitation I offered him full use of the 3 buses which we had filled with fule the day before. I then met Scott at the NEMA headquarters at about 4:30 to get him the keys to the buses. The Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Perry Christie, was there in meetings also. Scott insisted to introduce me to him because of our contribution.  After waiting for about 20 min. the Prime Minister came out of a meeting. Scott introduced us and told him of our offer to use the buses. Mr. Christy shook my hand and thanked me and said “you do a great work down there at the Adventure Learning Centre. In fact isn’t there some land that is next to you that the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) are wanting to get?" I  took the opportunity to explain the issue....

Mark meeting with the Prime Minister

You see for the past 15 years we have been using a vital piece of Crown Lands that we have had an annual license form the Ministry of Lands. The 5 acres portion in particular is laced with nature trails and a beautiful special coppice ecosystem we use for our educational program. In fact thousands of school children learn about and "in" this forested area every year.  

Five years ago the SDA built a school next to ALC and have been petitioning the PM for the same Crown Lands to extend their school facilities onto. We've had many meetings with the Ministry of Education, the Department of Lands and whoever we could would listen. Although we had support from the environmental and educational community we were not able to secure the land for preservation and educational purposes, we were never able to meet with the two different Prime Ministers over the past 15 years. As recently as a few months ago we received a letter from the SDA telling us that they had gotten approval to move forward with construction on the lands. It looked as if we were going to loose a critical outdoor teaching area. But God...

During that God ordained, 90 second meeting with the PM, I gushed as much information as I could. He said; "You need to come see me, I'm in charge of Crown Lands. Get in touch with me after this is over." I said "Your in charge of the whole country. I'll take you up on that offer." but in my heart I was thinking, God is sovereign over all! 

Obviously the meeting has not happened yet but I believe the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas was orchestrated by God through this storm. 

     1. Please pray with us for a successful meeting with the PM resulting in the preservation of this land for our educational program which in turn will result in thousands of school students hearing the gospel and trusting in Christ.

     2. Please keep this information confidential until I know the outcome of this issue. I do not want the SDA to get "wind" of this meeting as they have been able to meet with him in the past. I am only sending this to a select few.

Pray for people to be impacted by the Wind!

Jesus said; "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." And in Acts as the disciples were in waiting on the Lord...... "suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." God even answered Job out of the whirlwind.

God uses the wind to fulfill His purpose. As I sit in Nassau with my family and watch the weather reports of a major hurricane named "Matthew", that is forecasted to head right through the Bahamas and possibly hit Nassau in a few days from now, I know that God is sovereign and does all things well.   
Ironically in Matthew Jesus says; "He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Please pray for safety for my family from or through the storm

Please pray for all who have been and will be effected by this storm

Most importantly, please pray for the Holy Spirit to fill hearts with a fresh Wind as Matthew passes through the Bahamas

I will give an update of all that is going on at the Adventure Learning Centre and with me and my family after the storm.

What a GREAT Summer!

Yes, the days were hot, yes the days were long BUT the summer was Awesome! Over the 6 weeks of Adventure Learning Centre summer camp, 483 children came, had a blast, learned, were loved and heard the good news of the One who sent His Son. Many of the children return year and for all or most of the 6 weeks of summer camp. 

For part of the time I was the "Wacky Science Professor". From sports to crafts to gardening to wacky science and Bible class, Jesus was lifted up and shared in a fun and unique way. We learned things, burned things and  we "Magnified the SON"!

There are so many parallels that can be drawn between the Creator and His creation and the laws that govern it. But, even more importantly, relationships were forged and fostered between campers and staff, campers and each other and most importantly between campers and our relational God.

When I was not teaching science I was hosting campers from other summer camps for a tour of the ALC. This included a puppet show, train ride tour of the nature trails and wetlands, a petting farm tour, time on the super slide and playground and the gospel presented in a closing puppet show. We saw 764 children and adults come on a summer tour.

As Paul said; "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth".  Thank you for your part in enabling me to be a "sower" in the center of God's will for my life. I absolutely love what I do and as I look forward to the fall school semester, again my goal is to share the Gospel with every 6th grader in the government school system in Nassau, Bahamas.

My family and I are heading to NY to visit family and friends and a church in Piseco, NY to raise support and then to Ft. Lauderdale for more of the same. Please pray for us as we go.

If you would like to help me share the gospel with Bahamian children and would be willing to sacrifice some of your hard earned money, I would be blessed. You can donate thru GO! Ministries online at http://go.ccnorco.org    My missionary account # is 1273. 

School's Out For Summer!

As a child, one of my favorite songs was "School's Out For Summer!"  It was also definitely my favorite time of year. Three joyful months of playing, bike riding, sports and swimming.

Well, that's what we are gearing up for at ALC. Summer Camp! From the the middle of June through the end of July we will be hosting 80 to 90 children a day from 9am to 4pm for an awesome summer of activities, Bible classes, learning, field trips, swimming, water fights, fellowship and fun. 

Summer campers having fun

For the past 14 years I have consistently said that Summer Camp is the most exhausting time of the year, but it is also the most rewarding time of year. Instead of a one day encounter with children on a field trip, we spend at least a week, or with many of the campers the whole 6 weeks of summer camp getting to know, love and share God's word with them. Please pray as we share the love of Jesus to campers while we depend on Holy Spirit to keep us energized over the long, hot summer.  

Squeeze "hugging" a child on a summer tour

I will also be hosting summer tours for hundreds of other children that will visit the ALC for a field trip from other summer camps. Through our own summer camp and other summer camps visiting us, we will be able to reach over 1,500 children with the gospel message this summer.



We also finished off the 2015-16 school year well. My personal goal was to reach every 6th grade government school student in Nassau.

6th graders learning the Solar System

We were to able come very close to accomplishing that goal as more than 3,000 of the 8,000 plus students that came to ALC for a field trip were 6th graders that came to the planetarium program. They each learned of our amazing solar system in the classroom and planetarium while relevant Christian principles and spiritual guidelines were shared. At the end of the day, the gospel was clearly presented giving each student the opportunity to become a child of God by believing in the One whom through all things were created and came to die on the cross and raise from the grave for forgiveness of our sins.   

Please pray for the thousands of hearts with the thousands of seeds planted within and for many decisions made during the 2015-16 school year at the ALC.

If you would like to help me share the gospel to Bahamian children and would be willing to sacrifice some of your hard earned money, I would be blessed. You can donate thru GO! Ministries online at http://go.ccnorco.org    My missionaary account # is 1273. 

The tightrope story!

Twenty-three years ago two completely separate events happened that have changed and shaped my life.

On April 24, 1993 I was sitting in front of my television when by “chance” I flipped to a Billy Graham telecast and watched. At the time I was a “CEO” church-goer (Christmas and Easter Only) without any relationship with the living God, divorced for a few years after a brief marriage and very successful in the eyes of the world. I had a great job, a nice house and a new car, I was on top of the game. I had never watched Billy Graham but for some reason his broadcast captured my attention that night.  As Mr. Graham closed his crusade he looked into the camera and asked “do you believe?” then he went on to say; “good for you, but the bible says even the demons believe and tremble”.  He then told this story, a story that demonstrates difference between believing in your head and truly believing in your heart… the tightrope story.

A tightrope walker came to Niagara Falls where a wire was stretched across the falls. A large crowd of people had gathered to watch the man traverse the falls. Without saying a word the man took a balance bar and stepped out over the falls. After quite a long time he got to the other side and without saying a word and without even turning around, he stepped back onto the wire and walked backwards across to first side of the falls. The crowd was amazed and grew even larger when he put down the balance bar and without saying a word headed across the falls again. He got to the next side and again silently waved and smiled and proceeded to walk backwards across the falls. This time when he got to the first side he had a wheelbarrow waiting for him and without saying a word he placed the wheelbarrow on the wire and confidently walked across the falls. He arrived at the far side, waved and backed across the falls. The crowd had swelled to thousands as helicopters and live cameras rolled. The man began to shovel the wheelbarrow full with 200 lbs of dirt; he smiled and set back out across the wire. As the wire stretched and the falls roared the man reached the far side and once again without speaking a word then proceeded to walk backwards across the falls. The crowd was astounded as finally he placed a chair on top of the dirt on top of the wheelbarrow. This time the man turned to the crowd saying “Who here in believes that I can go across with this chair on top of the wheelbarrow?” Everyone in the crowd agreed that he was the best tightrope walker they had ever seen, there wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that he could do it. The tightrope walker spotted a man with a baseball cap in the midst of the crowd and pointed to him and asked; You sir, do you believe that I can go across with this chair on top of the wheelbarrow?  The man with the cap said “there is no doubt in my mind, you can probably go across blindfolded, cartwheel, backwards or forwards, you’re the best tightrope walker I’ve ever seen.” Well, responded the tightrope walker, if you really believe, come here and sit in this chair, I’d like to take you across the falls! The wide eyed man exclaimed “you’re crazy; there ain’t no way I’m going to get in that chair, we could fall!”

At that point I realized the point of the story, the difference between believing in your heart and believing in your head was the difference between eternal life and eternal separation from a Holy God. When Mr. Graham lead the audience in the sinners prayer I got off my chair and knelt on the floor and asked Jesus to come into my heart and forgive my sins. That night I truly believed in Him for the first time. Immediately everything changed; I felt loved and forgiven. Within a week I had found a good church, told them about my decision and got baptized. I began to tell anyone who listened about the God who had changed me forever. I started an evangelism course and learned to lead others to faith in Jesus and trained others to share their faith. Within a few years I began to go on short mission trips to foreign countries, first to Russia then 2 years later to Thailand, then to Portugal.  I shared the gospel and the tightrope story with hundreds and hundreds of people and saw many trust in Jesus.

In 2001 I went with my church to The Bahamas on a 8 day mission trip to the Adventure Learning Centre, a ministry that had started the same year I started in Christ, in 1993. While there I felt God’s pull to give up my high paying Environmental Consultant job, sell my house and possessions and to leave my church family and friends and tell Bahamian children about the God who loves to forgive. A few months later, with two duffel bags to my name I flew to Nassau to serve at Adventure Learning Centre where a science based educational program is used to share the love of Jesus and the gospel message. This ministry was a perfect match for me as it has an animal petting farm, nature centre, a planetarium, nature trails and a wetland boardwalk where up to 10,000 school children per year come for a fieldtrip. Environmental science was my vocation, I had been a youth worker since I was saved and telling others about Jesus was my passion.  Eph. 2:10 says “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

I have served at ALC for over 14 years now, sharing the gospel message and the tightrope story with tens of thousands of Bahamian children. Although the tightrope walker traverses the “two bridges of Paradise Island” instead of Niagara Falls, the message remains the same; by believing in Jesus and His work on the cross we can enter into an eternal relationship with the eternal God. Only He knows the full impact that He has had on the children over the years but I know that I am in the middle of His will as I serve here. Almost 11 years ago I married a beautiful Bahamian lady and we now have two precious “BAmerican” children. God is soo good to me, everything I have and everything I am belongs to Him. This year both the ALC and I celebrated 23 years of serving Him and we both look forward to serving Him for the next 23 years as He guides and directs our path.

If you would like to help me share the tightrope story and would be willing to sacrifice some of your hard earned money, I would be blessed. You can donate thru GO! Ministries online at http://go.ccnorco.org    My missionary account # is 1273.