HOUGHTON
TRACK TEAM MEETS NEEDS OF CHILDREN IN BAHAMAS
HOUGHTON,
N.Y.
– The island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas has been described by
travel publications as “the next trendy island destination” and
“a favored destination among smart travelers seeking a bit of
quiet charm.”
With
its breathtaking pink and white sand beaches, serene colonial
villages, countless acres of pineapple plantations, and
beautiful architecture, the island does offer visitors a great
vacation destination. But further down the 110-mile island,
beyond the trendy and the charming, beyond the beauty, in a
village called Hatchet Bay, there is a great need.
Houghton
College cross country and track coach Bob Smalley visited the
village while on vacation with his family a year ago. He saw
first hand the poverty of the people and the needs of the
children and decided he would do something about it.
“I had taught
in Nassau many years previously,” said Smalley. “I knew of
Eleuthera and the poverty of the people of ‘the Out Islands’. I
also had a burden for the Bahamian people. In Hatchet Bay, we
found a community that was desperate for God's love. Social
poverty and poverty in faith and spirit were larger than
financial deprivation, which is also great. There is a
small group of ‘on fire’ saints who know Christ and are
diligently working to better life on the island.”
So in January,
Smalley gathered up his family, three members of his track team,
and assistant coach Matthew Dougherty, and returned to Eleuthera
for a week to serve the people of Hatchet Bay.
The group, in
cooperation with missions organization VisionQuest, worked with
the five churches of the village by offering a variety of
programs. The majority of their time was spent running after
school programs – similar to Vacation Bible Schools – for the
area children. Close to 80 kids each day would come to hear the
Bible lessons, sing songs, play games, and make crafts.
“It was a
great time to hang out with the kids. Without knowing you, the
kids would jump on you and give you hugs. They were all so
amazing.” said Dougherty. “They don’t have a lot. It’s an
amazing physical setting, but there is a lot of poverty. Parents
are typically working on the big islands, so they may be gone
during the week. The kids need people to show them that they
care.”
A trip to the
Bahamas may sound like a great vacation in January, especially
for a college student living in New York, but the three
student-athletes who made the trip to Hatchet Bay were not
looking for a tropical island getaway.
“It takes you
away from your everyday life and puts you in an environment that
is different from that which you are used to,” said junior Meg
Radimer, who was participating in her first missions trip. “It
is also an opportunity for you to grow in your walk with the
Lord. Sometimes you never know what is going to happen on
missions trips and how God is going to work in your life.
“This
trip has really had an impact on my life, and being able to
serve God was just amazing. I loved to reach out to these kids
that may not receive the attention and the love at home. You
could tell that they wanted attention from the first day. I was
thankful that God wanted me to go on this trip.”
Said senior
Mary Gibson: “I think trips like this are important because it
shows the people you are visiting that there are people who live
hundreds of miles away who care about them and their faith. I
think the same is true for anyone going: interacting with a
different culture broadens your view of the world.”
The impact of
short-term missions is not always evident while one is there,
but Dougherty said he could see lives being affected during the
team’s stay in Eleuthera. “Some of the kids were causing trouble
at the beginning of the week, but by the end they were
well-behaved, listening to the lessons, helping others,” said
Dougherty. “Some of the athletes were asking, ‘are we making a
difference?’ By Friday you could see that we were.”
Smalley
intends to make this a yearly event, with hopes of taking larger
work teams in the future.
For more
information on the role missions plays in Houghton’s athletic
department, visit Houghton
Sports
Ministry online.