Addie Pollock and Hadley Oswald
The Kairos team soaked up the natural beauty of Abaco during an unforgettable Culture Day, leaping into a 400-foot-deep blue hole and exploring Winding Bay. While the day brought eye-opening perspectives on the island’s economic contrasts, it provided a beautiful space for the team to rest, play, and grow closer together. Read the full update from Addie and Hadley to see how God revealed His presence through spectacular creation and deep team bonding!
Culture day began with a brief rainshower that we thought might impact our plans, but it quickly passed through and made for a sunny and perfect day to experience the Bahamian culture! We started culture day by loading the vans with lots of floaties and water. We were led by the local Impact leader, Laura, and her husband Stephan. We had a quick pitstop to load up on gas ($146 for 19 gallons!).
After plowing through several miles of forest in the vans (and potentially scratching some paint off with nonstop encounters with the trees), and trekking through a poisonwood-infested path, we finally arrived at the Blue Hole, a 400-foot-deep freshwater reservoir fueled by caves and caverns underground. It was a perfect place to experience the beauty around us and the presence of God together as a group. We tested our cannonball, diving, and rock climbing skills and spent some quality time together relaxing in the cool water.
We took off for Pete’s Pub, a big tourist destination near the boat docks on the bay. After arriving, we challenged our taste buds with conch, fish, chicken, and shrimp. While waiting for our food, we enjoyed looking at the hundreds of t-shirts hung above the pub by previous tourists, as well as exploring the drastically different sides of the bay. One side was extremely rocky with strong and crashing waves, while the other was white sand and crystal clear, calm water. A group of us walked along the boat dock and jumped in the water to test our swimming capabilities back to shore.
We took the short drive over to Winding Bay, a beach only accessible by walking through a PGA golf course. We spent our time at the beach enjoying the soft sand, spikeball, volleyball, and “body surfing” on the fairly small but still strong waves. After our long and adventurous culture day, we got back for a delicious barbecue dinner cooked by Lula and Doreen.
We finished culture day relaxing at camp, playing outdoor yard games, and strengthening our bond as a team. Our Impact session centered around healing the hurt and hardships from the week by directing them toward doing good. We applied this to the experience of God’s beautiful creation today, as well as the beauty in connection with the people around us!
Addie and Hadley’s experience today:
Today was a whirlwind of emotions, and we both found it difficult to believe we were on the same island, much less 20 minutes from the areas where we had distributed meals yesterday. Meals at Pete’s Pub cost around $30 on average for each of us, and this is approximately the same cost as each bag that was distributed yesterday to feed families for around one week. This puts into perspective the many different lives the people on the island of Abaco live. Although these emotions were heavy and unsettling, there was a lot of beauty in the way the team had come together this week. This was all reflected in the joy and playful vibe of the day. Many jokes were had, along with bonding over the accidental $17 cheesecake slice (sorry Jacob). We overall had a fantastic day experiencing the natural beauty of Abaco and the presence of God through each other!
– Addie and Hadley
