So we rebuilt the wall…for the people worked with all their heart.” - (Neh. 4:6)

Dear NDI Friend & Partner,

Once again NDI Board Member, Coy Tillett and the “Manteo Miracle Men” completed building an entire 40’ X 60’ church in one week flat!  Just 7 days from start to finish!  From laying out the foundation on “Day 1” to the dedication service on “Day 7,” they completed the entire project in record time.  Just like Nehemiah and his team, these men “…completed the work…with the help of our God” (Neh. 6:15-16).  And we walked away with lights burning and the fans turning – and all the people rejoicing! This was containerized “church #6” and it was built for the Haitian Diaspora in Freeport, Bahamas. 

The first 4 containerized metal churches were built in various places in Haiti in as many years.  The last two were build for Haitians living in the Bahamas where they do most of the menial and domestic work.  Many are illegal immigrants living there below the poverty line.  Last year Coy & Company built one for the Haitians on the Island of Andros.  This year they built in Freeport after being blocked in Abaco by government bureaucracy.  It took Coy and me 4 recon trips to the Bahamas before we were able to finalize the location for this church.  But through patience and persistence, God led us to the right place and right partner. 

Just as was the case last year in Andros, this latest church was built through Pastor Wilbur Outten, who has been a dear personal friend and partner for over 25 years.  He is not only the pastor of the Freeport Bible Church – one of the most dynamic churches in the Bahamas – he is also the President of the Bahamas Evangelical Church Fellowship (BECA).  Pastor Wilbur had just completed a two year project to build a beautiful new church for his Bahamian congregation.  One of their sister Haitian congregations was also using that facility on Sunday afternoons.  Now the Haitians will have their own church building to worship in weekly.  It will also serve as a Youth Center and Empowering Center where the Haitians will be taught English and some vocational skills – and the Bahamians will learn Creole.  So, we rejoice in the completion of this multi-purpose church building!

When someone is trying to get something built quickly, a worker will sometime quip back: “Rome was not built in a day you know!”  Well, that maybe true – but it’s only because Coy and his team were not doing the work!  It has been an inspiration each year to watch this team of men work with a passion and expertise that is amazing to behold!  Most are professionals in their various vocations: builders, concrete finishers, masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers.  You name it and these men can do it! 

It is a sacrifice for many of these men to take off a week of work like this.  That’s because they are the heads of their own businesses who took off at a time when the economy is in serious crisis and both the housing and building markets are radically down!  But they did so because of their love for God and respect for Coy.  Others are in their retirement years – like Mr. Jerry Cutrell who designs Metal Buildings for a living.  On this trip he was 77 – and still worked like a man a third his age!  And it is my joy to go along each year and teach a daily Bible Study, take pictures – and work on the clean-up crew!

This latest project cost over $100,000 by the time the building was purchased, containerized, shipped, airline tickets bought and food and accommodations paid for.  So I thank God for the love, faith and generosity of Coy and his “Manteo Miracle Men” who made yet another Haitian Church possible! 

As you read through the names of this year’s team, take a moment to pray for each of them that God would abundantly repay them for the time, talent, technology and treasure they lovingly invested in this Church.  And pray also for Pastor Wilbur as he ministers to the Bahamian congregation and Pastor Nelson as he ministers to the Haitian congregation. 

To God be the glory!

P.S. Enjoy the following slideshow of the highlights of this church building project.

Church Building Report SlideShow

 

MANTEO MIRACLE MEN

•      Coy Tillett                        
•      Doug Tillett
•      Jerry Cutrell
•      Paul Creef
•      Sammy Burrus
•      Derick Hatchell
•      Baxter Floyd
•      Michael Coder
•      Paul Midgett
•      Johnny Wise
•      Thomas Biggs
•      Edward Flemming
•      Ronald Clapper
•      Tommy Toler
•      James Phelps
•      Phillip Roughton
•      Christopher Leonard
•      Robert Harrell
•      Kelly Wall II
•      Rockie Williams
•      John Creef
•      David Hatchell
•      Charles Harrell
•      Michael Keller
•      Stewart Moore