May I just say adulting is a whirlwind of excitement and challenges. Frankly, I have grown a great animosity towards chicken breast. As I battle in the kitchen daily learning to cook, it seems to be the one thing that smits me the most. I either seem to succeed in over cooking it till it's like chewing on jerky or getting it just right, while burning the vegetables in the pan I added to help spice up the flavour. Either way I know I will get it down one day. Any cooking recipes or advice are always appreciated…..this is my Mayday Call!
Anyways, I have been living in the Bahamas for almost a month now. Crazy! I have loved every minute of it and been absolutely blown away by its beauty. The people here are so welcoming and loving. I have truly felt a deep sense of open arms from the community and it's starting to truly feel like my home. Each day has its new set of challenges from flat tires because of nails or screws on the ground, starting to learn Creole, or simply getting lost trying to find my way to places. School has been going very well from getting my classroom set up after it being torn apart and meeting all my fifth graders. My fifth graders are a very vibrant and hilarious bunch who love putting on drama plays and currently pretend to have a dunkin donut drive outside our classroom window during break time. Fun fact there is no fast food here, which honestly I don’t miss at all…as of now. I’m sure a Chick-Fil-A craving will come on sooner or later. So, it's been a slow start transitioning here but soon things are about to get very busy.
Wednesday, the 21st was our first youth group night for the BYN! I met so many new faces and will be leading a middle school/early highschool girls small group. Please be praying over them this year as I walk beside them in their lives. The night started off with games and food, then we headed inside to hear Carrie Hendrisckson deliver a message about truth. We have a great number of kids showing up and families who are getting involved.
Teaching is overwhelming at times and so funny. My fifth graders manage to make me laugh each and every day. I’m not just talking about a small chuckle, but full on joyous belly laughs. I recently had a great battle in my classroom of “Emma versus the Cockroaches.” Recently, someone generously donated some nice old desks for some of the teachers. However, they were sitting in the store for some time and were not cleaned out. After a great struggle I got this desk all nice and set up and decided it was time to open the drawers. Well, to my surprise, it was filthy and full of cockroaches. I’m sure all of Agape heard me scream that day and sprint out of the room. Thankfully some fellow students and administration came to my rescue with brooms, roach spray, and lots of soap! Thankfully the desk is cleaned, roaches are dead, but it still has a faint odor I’m sure will never go away. Each day is full of new surprises and I love it!
In other exciting news, we host mission trips and spots are filling up quickly. There is still so much work to do here and we could deeply use your help. If you are interested in hearing more you can visit: https://www.boyermission.com/about-3 or email me @ boyermission@gmail.com. We will send an interesting email with some information and a form to fill out. Once we have a form we will send you a packet to review with your church, youth group, or group of friends. If just you and your family/friends are interested in coming down for some time, please reach out as we have options for smaller groups such as families and friends who want to come help, but aren’t going through a large church group. Below are a few things your family & friends, church, college, or youth group could come help with!
Mission trip opportunities
-Opportunities to assist with youth and children outreaches that we regularly do: Youth events, summer camps and sports outreaches.
- You can also work with Youth by helping with after school tutoring programs, VBS Bible school in the summers, and local school Agape that may have maintenance and other projects that need assistance.
-We usually schedule at least one evening and an additional, full afternoon to enjoy one of the local world class beaches.
Lastly, Hurricane Fiona has missed us, but another one is on its way through Florida now, so please be praying for protection and low damage. The Lord has been so present in my life this last month, teaching me to grow and fall in love with new people, but also take time to mourn the life I left behind in America. I do miss you all so much and think of home often, but I know this is where God has called me. I hope you are all able to come down at some point and experience this place for yourselves and see how the spirit is moving in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas!
Prayer Requests
5th Grade classroom and Agape school community of students and teachers for this year.
As I transition not to just a new culture, but also full adulthood and finding friends and community.
BYN youth Group on Wednesday for the Lord just to move within the leaders and students to share and come to know the Gospel of Christ.
Emma, this is all very exciting. I love to read your news letters. I would quite interested in talking with you about short term team hosting.