This morning I was able to sit down with the staff and establish the goals for my time here on Bonaire. Without getting into details, my first priority is to launch the twrbonaire.com website. I will also be doing some marketing and communications projects, but more about that later.

In the afternoon, I was able to finally launch a temporary website, and start to play with the settings. I’ll be sharing the URL once we’ve done a bit more work on it. After planning this for months, It was very exciting to  be able to edit the actual website.

The template is a proprietary platform built and hosted by The A Group. Strictly speaking, we don’t have full control of the hosting package or much of the back end, so it can easily be maintained by the staff on the ground here. Although there is no email account associated with our website, people can still contact us by filling out an online form. All tech support goes through the TWR Cary office. The best thing is that it is browser based, so it does not require any software to update. Plus, it is a fairly robust package that seems capable of handling all of our needs at present. So we have a GO!

I spent Friday afternoon reading the manual for the website, and playing with each item. One page was for listing our ministry partners. The problem was that they were from Venezuela, and their website was in Spanish. So I copied their info into translate.google.com and got the translation for our website. First time I’ve done that.
While I was sitting downstairs in the lobby reading the manual on my iPad, a lady walked in and asked if there was a package for her. It turned out that this was the lady I was waiting for! Chris Dicks had given me a package of dress material that I carried down in my suitcase. So that connection worked out well.

When I got home, I decided to take some photos of my guest house, as people have been asking. This is just another example of how much the Lord has blessed me down here. The guest house is very well maintained, and has A/C for the bedroom, which  has been a life saver. There are even four dogs that I am babysitting for the director, Joe Barker. All I have to do is feed them twice a day. But since I am an animal lover, it is nice to receive the tail-wagging welcome when I get home.

The best part about my accommodations is the location. It is directly across the road from the Dive Flamingo Resort where they have an excellent dive shop. There is a secondary tank pickup locker that is three hundred yards from my door. It is accessible with a door code 24/7. How perfect is that?

Now a couple of comments about how this tropical environment has affected my health. When I first arrived, my body had to adjust to the heat. It is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit all the time, and humid. Normally the trade winds compensate, but they have not been consistent. But, within two days, I had adjusted. I just drink lots of water.

Back in Canada, I had been having trouble with a constant cough. I just seemed to always  be coughing to clear my throat. I now think it may be the smog or an allergy in Canada (Kitchener, Ontario). I haven’t had to cough since I arrived here! Even my eyes that used to water all the time (allergies?) are fine down here. So just one more blessing.

Friday night I was invited over to the Pedersens’ place for pizza and a movie. They live in the former Roswells’ house in the Belnam area near the transmitter site. Dave and I have been connecting about my iPad issues all week, so we’ve gotten to know each other fairly well. They have been on Bonaire for about nine months. They have three children, two dogs and two cats. Interestingly, Dave is a ham radio enthusiast, just like Chuck Roswell used to be.

I must say, their kids are adorable.  It was really great getting to interact with each of them and see all the distict personalities.

The kids are all home schooled, and you can tell by their positive attitudes. Unlike so many North American children, they are not jaded and withdrawn into their own little world of cell phones and earbuds. Their youngest daughter runs around giving everyone hugs without any fear. It was very refreshing to be in such a loving atmosphere.

The evening proceeded with a movie from Netflix, and, of course, home-made pizza. Dave also showed me his “man cave” where his ham radio is set up. I must say, I have never met a gadget man quite as skillful as Dave. He even installed AirDisplay for my iPad, which allowed me to display my diving photos on the big-screen TV directly from my iPad without any wires attached. Cool!

As I drove home, I reflected on how wonderful the universal welcome is that the body of Christ affords.

Today started as usual with my getting up at six, making my breakfast, feeding the dogs, and getting to work by 8 a.m. As I get to know the Bonarian workers during devotions, I’ve begun to realize that some of these guys really love the Lord.

During the morning I set up my computer with some of the software I’ll need. I also had the chance to discuss my vision for eventually including a listen-live button on our twrbonaire.com site. I was able to tweak Brad Swanson’s imagination with the suggestions from our engineer. Bear in mind that this is only an idea at this stage, and we are unsure if we’ll ever be able to make it a reality. He asked me to write up our discussion in a discussion paper that could be given to Joe Barker, the director, who is on furlough, once we had agreed on the concept. I was able to introduce the staff to Google Drive, and shared our discussion paper online with all of the staff. This is the first time some of them have used this collaboration tool from Google, and so far they quite like it.

Overall I was very impressed with how open-minded the TWR staff are to new ideas. When I pitched the idea to Benjamin on our Skype call, he basically said that I was preaching to the choir. However, implementation is very complex. Please pray for us as we work through what will be required to be able to deliver streaming audio of our Spanish broadcast to the entire globe. A concept is a fragile thing.

At about 10:30 we hooked up with Benjamin Tangeman from the Cary, North Carolina, office of TWR. He is a former MK (Missionaries’ Kid), just like myself. He works in the Cary IT department, and was very knowledgeable and helpful. I actually did most of the call with Brandon’s wife, Laura, who does marketing here, as well as many other jobs when she’s not caring for their son. I was impressed with Laura’s knowledge and experience.

Basically, what we have been given is a web template designed by the Agroup. It has been paid for by a gracious donor. We found it to be very robust, and could accomplish almost everything we need. While there is still a bug with the online shopping cart, everything else seems to be in place. We have a steep learning curve ahead of us over the next couple of days, but it is doable.

When we hung up two hours later, Laura and I were very excited about the possibilities of this new web design tool. It is proprietary software, however, but there seems to be a decent support system.

We have set up a brainstorming session for 11 o’clock tomorrow where we can set out the various tasks that need to be accomplished during my time here. So far we’ve established that the creation of this website is a top priority. That still leaves numerous marketing and communications projects that I can work on once the website project is complete. I must say, I’m very excited about the work that I’ve been given here.

On my lunch hour, I walked across the street to a new shopping plaza, and had lunch at Ellis Café. They were advertising traditional goat stew, but they had run out just before I arrived, and I ended up having a hamburger. A little lizard got a bit of my salad in return for letting me photograph it. I still haven’t figured out how to get the photos out of my cell phone.

After lunch, I took a drive down by the water plant, and took a few shots of mom and dad’s old house. They have kept it up very well. It is too bad that Trans World Radio no longer owns it. More or less across the street is the Britton’s former house. I took a few shots of that as well of the water plant and Capt. Don’s Habitat (a dive shop). Then I went back a bit early, and uploaded my photo albums. They are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/sirjohnamcdonald

I kept busy typing notes and installing software the entire afternoon, and left around 5:30. I decided not to attempt to go scuba diving today, but to get some chores done. The first stop was the warehouse supermarket, which is about four blocks from where I’m living. It is not a bad supermarket, and I got most of what I needed. I also checked out the huge Dutch supermarket about three blocks further up the road. I think that’s where I’ll begin next time.

The existence of such a new and very modern supermarket illustrates just how developed Bonaire is becoming. I spoke with my sister, Joanna, over Skype tonight, and was describing how impressed I was with all the new development.

Overall, it seems that this is a very positive development for the island. Bonaire changed the Island’s currency from the Antillian Guilder to the American Dollar back in 2011.
Signing off until tomorrow.