On Christmas day I have been here for 4 months
People decorated their houses for Christmas here in Grenada and I saw many Christmas trees out on verandas. Family from Canada, the US and the UK come over to spend time here with their families and some travel in the opposite direction too. Some people I have not met before wonder what this strange English man out in the midday sun is doing!
At Samarian Church we had a candle light service and had just a few people attend, but Christmas morning we had about 40 people attend and Old Year Night I think we had about 50. For Boxing Day I did an informal service not expecting many, but we had 12 people turn up and had to reorganise how we sat! Numbers of people is however not how you should judge a Church and over the years much has been said about what healthy church looks like. I hope over this next year we can grow a healthy Church, building on the good that has gone before.
As I write decisions are being made about whether schools can return to classrooms as Covid19 cases are starting to rise again here in Grenada. I understand I will not be doing a whole school assembly at the senior school. I was looking forward to getting started in my work there. Let see what happens.
I was back to doing a Zoom assembly for the Primary School on Wednesday and we had our second ‘Family Time’ (Messy Church) on Saturday with 8 children and 7 adults.
I drove on my own to St George for a Carol Concert at the Kirk and was pleased not to have to drive back in the dark. Staying with the Presiding Elder I was able to collect post the next day.
Post comes to the post office in St George and has to be collected. I got a parcel from my sister, so I took the slip to the dock post office and they found it. I then had to open it in front of a custom officer who valued it. I then took the slip to pay the post office and get a 1 dollar stamp on the customs slip and went to the customs office to pay the import tax, then back to the post office to collect the parcel! The import tax is high and so sending stuff here does not seem worth it unless you really cannot get the item here.
I have travelled by minibus a few time now and it only cost $6.50 which is less than £2 from here to St George the capital. There is usually a driver and conductor who sits perched near the door and they squeeze in as many as they can. They try to wait until they are full, and when they leave they go slow trying to see any possible passengers coming down roads. Sometimes they may be a mini bus in front stopped and they will shout to try and get passengers to come to their bus. There can then be a bit of race to overtake the bus in front, not so good on the windy up and down roads.
This is not a typical bus but one I saw in St Georges. There are raised parts of the road and they slow down for these, and oncoming obstacles like other vehicles coming the other way and so you are constantly going fast, slowing up and down, moving from right to left and sometimes - if you’re not wedged in well – you have to hold on tight. The drivers know the road and most seem to be good drivers. There has however been a rise in accidents over the Christmas time.
This week we have Back to Church Sunday, I hope some we have invited will come but Covid on the increase here could block this.
We are working towards the Church Annual Members meeting in February and I hope we can get some useful structures in place. And we have my first Presbytery meeting 20th January, where we will discuss my location (it may be better for me to live nearer the Church), the qualification for Elders and training. I pray we can make wise decisions.
I am still up for Zooming in to any Church if you want to know more about life here.
God Bless,
Rev Nigel Lindsay
pastornigel19@yahoo.co.uk