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.

There was a popular song many years ago where the refrain went, “We need to get back to the Garden.” Well, today, 60 feet beneath the waves of Bonaire, I went back to a tiny piece of that Garden. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Ivan, one of our Bonairian workers, has been serving with TWR Bonaire for 36 years.

As usual, at 8 o’clock we met at the studio where we held devotions. I love how the staff come together every morning to read the Bible and pray. I met one of the Bonarian workers, Ivan Statia, who has been working for Trans World Radio for 36 years.

After devotions, Brandon made contact with the States to find out when the conference call would be. In the end, it was rescheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. Please pray for this meeting today, as it will set the tone for the entire project that we are working on. I will be including my IT assistant, Pat Newman in Canada, in this conference call.

With Dave’s help, I tried to get my iPad to recognize my micro SD card from the phone. After several attempts and Internet searches, we were unsuccessful. So I’ll be replacing my cell phone with my regular camera from now on. It is just not quite as handy.
Dave has helped me with numerous issues on my iPad, which is just tremendous. He also invited me over to the pizza and movie night at his place this coming Friday. I must say, the entire staff certainly knows how to make someone feel welcome down here. With the finance person, Donna, I was also able to complete some refunds for expenses on my trip down.

It was the afternoon when we discovered that the conference call would not go ahead, so Brandon suggested I take the rest of the afternoon off and get some diving in. I told him he didn’t have to twist my arm. I was able to hook up with Larry and Regina Sanders who did the tour yesterday.

The really neat thing is that the Dive Flamingo’s dive shop has a system where they simply give you a door access code to the tank locker, which happens to be right across the road from my house. You simply grab a tank and mark it on the log sheet, and they bill your credit card later.

We decided to go to the south part of the island, just short of Far Beach, to a spot called Pink Beach, since it used to have pink sand there. The dive marker is a fair distance from shore, so we swam out and then dropped down. We went to 60 feet, and swam along the to the left.

One of the first things I spotted was a stonefish. It had just parked on the bottom and opened its mouth wide, so I moved closer to take a few shots. It was only then when I noticed that a tiny cleaner shrimp was inside its mouth, cleaning its teeth.

I was just in complete awe of the spectacular beauty surrounding me. There were 5-foot- wide swaths of orange sponges. There were beautiful French angelfish, parrotfish, and so many others I couldn’t identify. I really think that the reef environment is closer to the original Garden of Eden that was on land. The intense variety of hundreds of species within a few square feet is just amazing!

After we made the turn-around, Larry pointed to a large, spotted eagle ray about 30 feet from us. It was flapping away on the bottom, and apparently trying to fan away the sand in search of some meal. It was about 4 to 5 feet across, and had about a 10-foot long spiked tail. We got within about 20 feet before it spotted us. As it flew away, I marveled at the beauty of this creature that seems to  fly effortlessly through the water.

After we stowed our gear in my Jeep, we decided to continue on around the south tip of the island. The salt flats seemed to be very busy, and we saw the bulldozers harvesting the salt at one point. We also stopped by the slave huts and took a few pictures.
Then we came across the kite boarding school. This is where a surfer is tethered to a large parabolic type of parachute that pulls them through the water at high speed. It is spectacular to watch. But at $300 for three hours of lessons, I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon.

Next we stopped by the lighthouse and took a few more pictures. Then we came across a large windmill near where the Sorbon Hotel used to be. A quick jog to the right, and we found a lot of people going windsurfing in Lac Bay. I think my sister, Joanna, will be doing that when she arrives here in about 4-1/2 weeks from now.

As we drove back to the hotel, I was again impressed about how much development is taking place in Bonaire. It really has become a busy place. You have the impression that there are a lot of funds going into Bonaire right now.

As I dropped them off at the hotel, we decided to meet again in an hour to go to lunch. After I had rinsed my equipment and showered, they met me at my house. We walked about 10 minutes into town, and found a lovely restaurant.

It seems the waterfront is now so built up with restaurants that they offer competing specials. We had steak and shrimp for a very reasonable price.

After we walked back to the Flamingo Hotel, Larry and I went out to the dock and sat admiring the waves and the stars, and talked for almost another hour. He is the director of Heralds for Christ, and was absolutely fascinating to speak with. His life experience is tremendously varied. We also looked across the water at the TWR towers, and discussed where the future of this wonderful ministry may be going. My thought was that we would begin to see more of a focus on Internet broadcasting.

And so ends another absolutely spectacular day on Bonaire! I came home and greeted the four dogs that live in the backyard, and finally got to pet the small shy dog, Kiko. As I sit here now, I can’t help but praise the Lord for blessing me so richly.