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CHURCH OF CHRIST

James & Sarah Redmon

Box N1674

Nassau, Bahamas

Sponsoring Church:
South Side Christian Church 2600 S. MacArthur Blvd.

Forwarding Agent: George C. Meador

449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, 111. 62.704

March - 1975
Dear Friends:

Springfield, 111,

62703

The Queen has come! Yes, Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, paid a short visit to the Bahamas on February 21st. She arrived by jet but stayed on the Royal Yacht which had arrived earlier. The Mon arch of England has only visited the Baham.as two times in history and we were here to see both occasions. There are over 100,000 people on this tiny island and at least half of us were packed into the dock area to greet the Queen. The Bahamas
is an independent nation but still gives .allegiance to the Crown as a member of the

British Commonwealth of Nations. One thing that amazed me was that most of the Englishmen I know had never seen their Queen and yet in Nassau she strolled along within ten feet of the crowds and rode in an open car. Seeing the Royal visit gives us a deeper appreciation of the scriptures and the coming events when the King of
Glory will come to earth.

Much of our news is a copy of everyday life in the United States.^ We have
been very busy, we have all had the flu, and prices keep going up. Young toughs are robbing everything in sight with sawed-off shotguns and the traffic death toll is rising. Last, but not least, I'm way behind on everything. I think this is the longest gap in the newsletter publication we have ever had. In passing I must mention we have been privileged to serve here for 13 years now. Our anniversary was in January.
GOLDEN GATES GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Who can find words to thank God enough for all His wonderful blessings?

We

are at a loss to find ways to express our gratitude. Gifts for the building project have poured in and often from unexpected sources. Sunday School classes and Youth Groups sent checks to buy a hundred blocks. College students have sent large checks from their mission funds. We have even received gifts because some churches had money left over at the end of the year. So all we can say is
THANKS, News of gifts often came after I had ordered my supplies. Now after many weeks of hard work I have the walls nearly up. Volunteer help has been in short supply so I have employed self-help. I didn't mind mixing the mortar to lay blocks myself at first but when I got up on the scaffold it was more difficult. The forming and climbing up with buckets of cement to pour my columns was something else. Next comes the most fun. A belt of re-inforced concrete must be poured all the way around the top of our walls which are 12 feet above the ground. I have been saving many of my workers for the days we do this. One great result of this hard work has been to eliminate my "middle age spread". As soon as we can get the roof on and closed in we can begin using the building. I can hardly wait and want to express again our thanks for your prayers and gifts.

OTHER NEWS

After a couple of months slip past it's hard to remember all the news,

I'll

do my best to remember a few of the things.

We'have requested prayer for Brother John Rolle who was the preacher at-the
Grans town Church. He is still confined to home primarily with diabetes.. Diabetes

and high blood pressure are the leading diseases here and it's very difficult to con vince Bahamians of the necessity of proper food and regular medication. Every thing is supposed to be cured with some "bush tea". Brother Herman Neely is leading the group in Grantstown now and this group needs our continued prayers.
The Spencers visited Oregon in September for the area School of Missions.

They will soon.be leaving for a year. The building in Nicholl-'s Town is nearly complete and the wiring is to go in this month. Several new projects including a :
new hotel may help the general prosperity of the area. Some of the .church menhad to leave to find work.

Chris is in 5th grade now and recently won a second and a third place in some,
races at the school's "Field Day".
Softball.

They have been learning to play- football and

Right now the big thing is marbles.

The students at Sherry's school are divided into groups called "Houses'!. She

won third place in a spelling bee for the 7th and 8th grades this, past wee,k. Shr ha& beeii practicing the high jump in the back yard every night. I guess that's an",
unusual combination.

We have learned that my sister and brother-in-law are busy with plans to go to New Zealand. Robert and Barbara Miller have been ministering to the chucch
in Lake Wales, Florida and have three children - Cathy, Anita and David.' We wish them the best in raising the necessary funds to go to Hokitika. So until I can write again, remember us in your prayers. From the islands .

in the sun where the prices go up and the water pressure goes dov/n.
Yours in Christ,
James Redmon

Atlanta Christian College

2605 Ben Hill Road East Point, GA 30344

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

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East Point,, GA

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Bahama Mission News

Jim &: Sarah Redmon

toes

ju!?r75
CHURCH OF CHRIST

James & Sarah Redmon

Box N1674 : = NasrauV Bahamas

Sponsoring Church;

... o .

Soiiitli'Side'Chiris.tian Church i26()0 is. MacArthur Blvd. = Springfield, III. 62704

JUNE 1975

Forwarding Agent; George C. Meador

449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, 111. 62703

^ 'Ij^a'r "Friend is;

, f ;*;

1 am Just, copping out of a long darlt ttmnel. I couldn't turii to the right or
AXtfeft s'o the only chpi,<je has been to push ahead to the light shining at the end.
Last'iiight we celiebra^d a special Thanksgiving Service in our new building in

GoM^ti Gates.. Tj^jS building isn't cbmpleted iDut as things go here, it's certainly
Vaidialf^SLte. I'm so relieved, to have it closed in since this is our storm season
and%e couldn't get insurance until the windows were installed.
In our last newsletter in March, we had completed the walls. Like a miracle,

funds were availalile for the roof. Our trusses were 34 feet long and fairly heavy. With a little engineering I raised these with one helper. After lining these up I started daily loading the V. W. bus with sheets of plywood, then tar paper and later shingles. It.was a tiring task and when I had finished, the muscle in one leg had given up from squatting so much. I still walk a little funny but we are
so thankful to have a roof.

My folks and the McKenzies, who have been a lot of help through the years with our newsletter, spent a week here in May. I couldn't resist the chance to have a college president mix some concrete so we built the front porch. After that came the inside walls, windows, doors (just the front one) and dozens of
other left-over chores I had bypassed.

Keeping pace with the expenses have been additional generous gifts. Some of the last gifts were from the two local churches. Grants town gave $300'and
Coconut Grove gave $400 plus gifts from individual members.

1So last, night we paused to give thanks.

area^d our sister churches.
attendance we have ever had.
area.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme

People poured in from the
I counted 158 which was the largest

Court, Sir Leonard Knowles, brought the message.

for e36t-ra'sea:tirig as the building filled up.

I had to pull boards and blocks out of storage

Of that number 48 were from the Golden Gates

Amazingly enough, when we had determined to move into the new building,
the owner of the building we were using came along to ask us to please move out.

The timing was great and we were so thankful for their generosity during these
beginning years.

What now is our future? The building is not really finished. It lacks wiring, plumbing, ceiling, tile and plaster. These projects can all come in good time... ,What isrimpprtant to me is that we have space. We have been-i . stranglecJ.and unable to grow. Now as our area is rapidly-growing we have a
and -sreyeral other churches are turning their attention to this same district.:

chance to. reach more people. We are in the fastest growing area of the .island.
The largest shopping center in Nassau has just opened up and construction of

homes is moving along at an improved rate^; In the coming year we plan to spend
a great deal of time in teaching both in Golden Gates as well as the other churches
Because of the strain of the work these last few months and the needs for the

future^ we wiU.be rtaking a.njionth^s vacation during July. (Thanks* to the generous
_assistan.cft anj<j |nsi&<^nee-o^-ou

speaking dates a.t,this time but rather rest and a chance to stand back and-plan: o^'P^iOig^ram. We .look forward to attending.the Convention in^Detroit and catci^'ng up on the. latest ideas and materials that may help us here. Please pray for us

and the churches. Thanks again for your prayers, gifts, and concern, Hopefxilly;:,
we can soon publish a picture story of the building progress.

, ;w,;,We can use help to\yard these items:

( . .1) .
I -i ...

Electricity
Plumbing
Tile . Ceiling

$2,000
$2,000 $1,000

.
.

,
i; /

: :

$1,000

Yours in Christ,
James Redmon

rf

Atlanta Christian College

2605 Ben Hill Road East I^oint, GA ,30344
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,Non-Profit Org,. U. S. Postage

PAID.

.East Point, C*A;

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Bah^rc^^ ,lvli|s^^ ion News

Jim & Sarah Redmon

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James & S^raB, Redroqn

CHURCH .OF. SliRIST

Box;,Nl674

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NassaU/, Bahamas

Sponsoring Church
South Side Christian Church
2600 S. MacArthur Blvd.

Eprwarding.Agent;
George C. Meador
449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, IL

62704
JULYAUGUST 1975

Springfield, IL

62703

Dearri^rien^s;

Our work papers had expired, ayi^ we would, need them 6^, something befor^
we could: return.

w The,,decision. to go home for July threw us into, a furious flurry...

gear but, we were assured our papers v;ould be compietej|#,tbe^ore we returned, ;Thankfully,. they were right. Second]Ly, ou^V^^io^ been
dogs. had both died co we needed a new dog and someone"to stky in our
house.

As anyone knows ^

depart^^n^;s have no fast

robbed while Sarah was gone for one hour to get gj-Qceries"."^ Our watch
Next we had to select a couple from the Coconut Grove Church to

watch over the Golden Gates Church during our absence.

the insurance,,company. f...- =;

This includes

teaching them where everyone lives and making special arrangements'with

On. June 30th we flew tQ,;4^1^^ta and borrowed a car to drive out ^
to Bremen to see Sarah's parents. After a ,day of shopping we,hitch- .

tounded a^.-to Ivpw far^^bu can ride after living on this tiny island where a ri"4 cpmpletej-y around, pnly equals; 48^:miles.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Convention and;found lots of informationT
and encouragement to help us in our ministry in the Bahamas.
From Detroit we rode a train to visit our sponsoring church in Springfield, 111. This was the. first time our family had been to South Side Christian in eight years. I had made a quick trip five years ago. Our vicit was wonderfulJ The church folk supplied $1,200 for our trip completely aside from their normal mission pro

hiked a, iride with ,my parents

Dotro:-t. Sherry and Chris were ,as

gram.

Although we were not on a speaking trip we did enjoy sharing

slides of our new work in Golden Gates.

The remainder of our month was spent in Bremen with Sarah's, parents.;, We were like tourists shopping and site seeing ajround, the

area.
Since QUT;,return to Nassau we were finally able to get a phone in our home. After '9 1/2 years it seems strange to hear i t ring.

-'-.''.7^'

We live in an isolated area so it*s a comfort at night to know we can call for help.
We have learned that Bob and Baxttara Miller have arrived safely

in New Zealand. It's strange to think of my sister a world and a day away. Their new address is 239 Weld Street, Hokitika, New Zealand.

A new law in the Bahamas prohibits any foreign fishermen from catching lobster anywhere on the Bahama bank which extends 50 miles

from shore in places. -A Baharaian,-,b.pat was blown up in Miami, the Supreme Court buildin^^. here was,,set on;,fire and now a bomb was found
on the steps of the Court building-%

tain of around 40 tons of marijuar^.,found on a small island here.

Also in local news was a moun

So between the lobster war and the'war on drugs, it looks like the
Bahamas may remain much in the news.

GOLDEN GATES

Having a building of. o,ui?-own an^;iroom to grow is such a blessing. Like most of the houses in the Golden Gates area, our building is

only barely closed in.

The lumber yard was short five windows,

^hese

have now arrived costing an extra $20.00 each.

are. still covered ,with sheets of plywood.

Our two side doorways

The big thing we wanted was

-.-pleptric.ity.. We ,are still using the Honda generator that we had . in , ,

^e other: buildinQL.. Now_the .electrician has completed-his -wiring-;

and the inspectipn will be this we^k. -, The power company was paid: $38QfOQ for,,the cable from the street. We only owe the electri.pfan...

. i^jipther $450.-0,0y and the power company a, $100.00 deposit for service.:

Th%t means we hay^:, spent .a total., of $14,:b00 on our building. ;,We .dp. . ; not.jnind completi^g-j the remaining jobs as funds a^^e available- We.
ra-re;ijust thankful^.fp^r what; we. have. ; ; . Since May 1973, The Golden Gates group has contributed just over

$4,000 to their building funds besides caring for their own incidental
running: expenses. Three other local churches contributed: Nichol's Tpwn:,, Andros^ - $50.00; Coconut Grove, Nassau - $400.00? Grantstown Church, -ISIassau - $300.00 When the list is .complete we will, be able

our joy.

to^,giive, spe,cial; .recognition to all those, in the'States who have supplied the balance of the funds. No amount of words,^can.express

Please pray with us t:hat we will be able to quickly build

A'
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(J-iiM^.s. for Christ as we minister; to the Gol^aen Gates ar^^..

Yours in Christ, u.'-

o.

xmrr iTTT

.James: Redifion

^-TTT

Atlantai:Christian College

26Q5 Bep. Hill Road

East Point, GA
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East Point, GA
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Bahama Mission News Jim & Sarah Redmon

N0V7 75

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rto ,.,i CHURCH OF o.i & Sarah, y^l Box Nl674;h^

Nassau, Bahamas

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Spons9]fi.f}g.^qhurch,- , : : . ^Quth- Side, Ghristian Churchuj.-.;

Forwafid^ng Agent;,:
Ge(5f{ge;.C.

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2600 S, .J^acArthur. B].vd,

-62704
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...The^e past few week^^.have been , sort,..of like a nightmare of a

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merry-go-round.. The thrill is alright but then you discover you can't get off when you are ready. In August we expended all our building . fund money to get our electricity into a new building in Golden Gates I was looking forward to relaxing from the strain of construction. rWhen I went to pay the $150 deposit I was told I needed a certificate from-.. : , the building inspector. I rushed across town thinking that haste was important. Now I've lived in Nassau for over 13 years and should hay^ known better; so they let me fill out a form and said I should call in on Monday morning. ,On Monday the.inspector said I should come and pick up .a card from him and get it signe4 .J?y the health inspector. When I took the

card downtown Tuesday-morningy I discovered a health inspector with ban- -,

da.c^^^ on his arms an^.-hai;^s,o . iHe.;agreed to come look at our building on Wednes^^y. All day Wediiesday ..wjorked around the building leveling up: rougi>,^p|.aces in the yard and got 'thoroughly soaked in several downpours,.. ;
That was during a period when we had five weeks of tropical depressions
hanging over us and two major storms, Eloise and Gladys, just off the

Bahamas.

Its the kind of mug^y weather that makes you tired just climbing

out of bed in the morning.

Since the inspector didn't show up I went back to his office on

Thursday. "Oh, he's been given five days leave. Another inspector is taking his place." The other inspector was out at the slaughter house checking on some meat. Finally, I gave up until Monday but was told the first inspector was back but had gone to the hospital to get his bandages
changed. Tuesday he had gone to have his car worked on but should be right back. This time I waited.

After'^1 'tliis time the inspector told me we would have to have at

least part lour plumbing in before he could pass us, I told him we hadn't had any plumbing in the building we were using in the past andcouldn't see ^^hy we coulcn't get along a little bit longer. But, of course., he ka'd...his. rules. So immediately I had to go full speed-ahead' with the plumbing. This meant an expenditure of $2,000 for which we had no funds. Now i t is completed with part of our fixtures and the health inspector passed us. The remainder I can finish as time and funds permit. I was so happy about the inspection, thinking that maybe I was getting
some place that I rushed the card back to the building inspector. A man said our building inspector was on vacation and that we just have three more inspections. Fortunately, the next day the inspector in charge de cided he only needed to make one final check and he gave us peifmission to have our lights hooked up. So here we are to the place I thought we were six weeks ago.

.'I

I.l> '

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We have wanted to do as little as possible on the building, allowing
the group that is in the process of being formed to have the burden of completion. Even now this is still a sizeable responsibility and we
welcome the challenge.

The unexpected expenses have drained our account to a dangerously low level. Any funds that we can receive toward" the Golden Gates Chapel Building Fund will be greatly appreciated. To complicate matters, we, have been asked to move out of the house we now occupy by the end of
November, All the years we have lived in Nassau we have rented houses

at ridiculously low amounts of $100-$125 per month. With frantic search ing we can't find a thing now for less than $300 and these have not been suitable for our needs. Barrins some special blessing from God we'll need an additional large amount coming in from next month on. We really covet your concerned prayers. In a land where locally grown bananas cost 39<: per pound _and imported ones are .59t; where gasoline is 85<: per U.S. gallon and going up; where milk is $2.59 a gallon and coke costs 35^ to

40<^; inflation has more than eaten up every increase in income we have
received.

be^fi able to visit supporting churches.

Also our field has kept us so completely tied down that we have nptj.

Some of these groups feel that "

The opportunities in

Morifey worries'|are one of the best ways to detract a missionary from his.
first obligation of sowing the seed of God's love.
Golden Gates are good and we want to be able to give our compilete resources

siiice they haven't seen us we don't need need or deserve their suppiort.

of time a.nd life to the task at hand. We praise God for all who have helped so faithfully each month. We thank God for giving joys to lighten

every burden,

'
Yours in Him,
James Redmon

Vt-'.- -

sop'

Atlanta Christian College

2605 Ben Hill Road

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage
30344

i
[
r.l-

East Point, Georgia

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Bahama Mission News 1X11 IK.IMM

Jim & Sarah Redmon

,J0.PLIN,Ml!0.

64801

;,:yVv

\a)^S

3b

CHURCH OF CHRIST James k Sarah Redmon

Box N1674

Nassauj Bahamas

Sponsoring Church:
South Side Christian Church 2600 S. MacArthur

Springfield, III. 62704

Forwarding Agent: George C. Meador
449 West Lake Drive

Springfield, 111. 62703

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 1975 Dear Friends,

The year is nearly over and I have been reflecting on the position
of our work for Christ in the Bahamas. One word which describes most

of the world is uncertainty. That word also applies to our situation here. The ruling party of the Bahamas is leading the country into a socialist society. New regulations proposed for the coming year will place great burdens of taxation upon all foreigners and foreign owned properties and
companies. A new national youth corps is being formed and a national

defense system. A national voter's registration drive is under way but all the people I have talked with are so discouraged with the way things have gone that they don't even intend to register, let alone vote. It seems certain that an election will be called next year. However, there is no real opposition force to act as a check and balance. Tourism is the only product in the Bahamas and it seems to be declining. Crime is so ram pant that people no longer ask, "Has your house been broken into? " The question now is, "How many times? " Almost all homes now have bars
or burglar screens.

Many of our church families are in very difficult circumstances. Parents are out of work, bills pile up and food costs are out of sight. Funds which our local churches could raise to help with expansion pro
jects are no longer available.

So in the face of the uncertainty of human resources, we gladly ac knowledge the birthday of our King, recognizing the unlimited resources
of the Divine.

Since our last letter we have gone through the "great" experience of hunting a house. Our island is small so it's not too hard to find out what is available. We found a place about ten miles out in the pine barrens at a reasonable price but with our children attending different schools with
different starting times, that wasn't feasible. With a son and daughter we needed three bedrooms and then I needed a study since none of our churches have a place for me to have an office. That left us seeking a large house or at least one with a good many rooms. Two bedroom houses were plentiful at around $300 a month. Finally, after seeing houses that leaked, smelled and a few other things, we were able to find one close by with lots of space for $300 a month. It's as good a deal as we could reasonably expect. The owner had to do a lot of work on the

place and some of it won't be completed when we have to move.

We

will be grateful to have the whole thing behind us.

perience in life I could do without.

Moving is one ex

We packed up all we could ahead of time. Chris hasn't been able to polish his shoes because he packed the polish. On the first cool evening Sarah decided to fix vegetable soup. As the pot was boiling away she discovered the soup bowls were packed. You certainly never realize how much God has blessed you until you try to move all of your posses
sions.

Several news items I might mention. The ruling Progressive Lib eral Party has sponsored two interesting fund raising events recently. First was a showing of a Jamaican movie, "Smile Orange" which was sufficiently dirty that even Nassau's liberal censors had to cut it.
Tickets were $25. The next several weeks the same show was on at

thelbcal drive-in the'atre at regular rates. Next was an exhibition fight by Mohammed Ali, right after his championship bout in Manila. He came for free but evidently he's also setting up some sort of a sea food export business which made the whole thing smell a bit fishy. On several occasions lately the police have located large piles of bagged pot on small, remote islands. Since what they have found weighs tons, it makes you wonder how much they haven't found.
The Bahamas is now singing the praises of its own national hero. A young boxer, Elisha Obed, just brought home the J\anior Middle Weight World Crown from Paris. In a place this small, that's a pretty big thrill. In closing we would like to say to-all of you -- Merry Christmas

and a very prosperous New Year in the Lord. The uncertainty of the future makes the challenge that much more exciting. May our united service for Christ bring peace on earth.
(For display material, write to: Mrs, James Redmon, 2495 Dodson Drive, East Point, Georgia 30344.)

Atlanta Christian College

2605 Ben Hill Road

Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage

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Jim & Sarah Redmon