Carrie will be leaning into her love of children and education, walking alongside local school teachers to encourage best practices and support them as they educate and catch up students who fell behind due to Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 shut downs. She is excited to share her love of God’s word while encouraging teachers and students in their learning. She hopes to teach them new strategies and show practical tools they can implement immediately in their classrooms for learning growth. 

Being able to live at Camp Abaco also allows both Doug and Carrie to build relationships with Impact Trip teams and take them into the community where they hope to love and empower others. Carrie will continue her administrative duties with Many Hands, including Child Sponsorship of students in the School of Light in Haiti.

In Doug’s role, his primary responsibility is prioritizing and facilitating the construction projects Many Hands will be helping with on the island. Many of the residents of Abaco are still recovering from the hurricane that devastated the island in 2019. Many of those people are living in homes – along with extended family – that barely provide a roof over their heads. They have been struggling for years to slowly scrape together enough money to finish their homes. Many Hands is focused on providing the needed resources and project implementation to rebuild those homes and ensure safe housing for everyone.

Additionally, Doug is excited to provide general maintenance at Camp Abaco. An important part of the ministry on the island of Abaco is the experience our Impact teams have as they serve the local communities and learn who they are as a child of God. Providing a safe, clean, comfortable place to stay while on the island is a vital part of supporting the ministry. Abaco is an absolutely beautiful part of God’s creation! We invite you to come and visit us here to serve the local communities and reconnect with how God wants to use you to further His kingdom.

Christian education has been a passion of mine for many years, and when I felt God calling me to a job change, I knew it had to be somewhere I could continue to pour into people and be a blessing to them. It was no surprise that when Doug and I talked about possible places that would fulfill this desire, he suggested Many Hands. God confirmed that with a job opening Many Hands had placed on their website that very week. I applied, interviewed and started the week after the school year ended in May.

As an office support person at the Many Hands Pella office, I have enjoyed working on the Child Sponsorship Program, supporting the Many Hand Thrift Markets, assisting the Marketing Team with events and communications, and providing help with the Impact Teams going to Abaco. With this wide range of opportunities within the ministry, I came to understand the growing need for someone to lead the logistics of construction sites and campus maintenance at our Abaco campus. It became clear that the skill set needed fit perfectly with Doug’s gifts and skills. I jokingly shared with him that I’d found the perfect job for him – in the Bahamas. We both laughed, thinking that it was not necessarily the right time in our lives to be in the mission field. But as the next few weeks went on and the needs increased, Doug and I began praying about it being something God was calling us into. After meeting with Tim Brand, and learning that there was a place for me to plug into the school to support teachers and continue to do Child Sponsorship from Abaco, we were amazed at how God was opening doors for us to move forward in service. 

As we prepare to spend 2025 there, we covet your prayers and ask you to partner with us on this journey as we walk alongside the people of Abaco and bring Jesus to them. We are humbled by the opportunity.