Over Spring Break this past March, Rev. Lane Glaze led a team of 42 to the beautiful island of Eleuthera for a week of mission and retreat.  Since 2003, Clemson Wesley has sponsored six teams to the Bahamas, with over 200 different students and others participating over the years.

“People often say to me with a puzzled look, ‘Why are you going to the Bahamas? I want to go on THAT mission trip!’ as if the Bahamas is one big Garden of Eden,” Glaze noted.  “What most Americans do not realize is how Madison Avenue has trained us to feel certain emotions when we hear words like ‘Bahamas’ or ‘Caribbean.’  Sure, the Bahamas is a beautiful place with beautiful people.  But outside of the key tourist areas of Nassau and Freeport, visitors experience a way of life totally unlike what you find on a cruise.”

When arriving in Clemson six years ago, Glaze had the goal of creating a long-term relationship with an agency or mission outside the U.S.  Through the UM Volunteers in Mission office in Atlanta, Glaze met Shaun Ingraham, a native Bahamian from the island of Eleuthera.  Glaze and Ingraham have formed a strong friendship over the years, working together to create opportunities for students and others to discern God’s voice and call while serving others in need.

This year’s team was based at Wesley Methodist Church in the fishing village of Tarpum Bay.  Throughout the week the group helped build or repair several homes and a new building at a local school, in addition to spending time volunteering at the local primary school and clinic.  In the evenings the team spent time experiencing the local culture through visits to churches, sharing a meal and Holy Communion with the Haitian community, and enjoying the local Fish Fry in Governor’s Harbor.  For nearly a quarter of the group, this was the first time that they had ever traveled outside of the Carolinas or Georgia.

“Since our first trip in 2003, Shaun and I have been intent on creating an experience much different from what many American Christians know,” Glaze added.  “We have begun to describe these trips as part mission trip, part retreat, part study abroad and part spiritual pilgrimage.  Our hope is that after a week disconnected from cell phones and the familiarity of home students will be able to experience the Spirit of God in a new way.  The Bahamas is a very Spirit-filled place.  The average native Bahamian does not have 10% of the material possessions that the typical American has, yet in many ways they have so much more.  Their life is rich in family, rich in community – indeed, rich in God and the things of God.”

“Since that first trip over four years ago, dozens of students have either heard their calling or been affirmed in their calling during our time in the Bahamas,” Glaze noted.  “As a 40 year old, I know so many folks my age and older who are still trying to find their path in life.  I can’t imagine a greater gift than to find that path in your early twenties, before choosing a spouse, a job, and a home.  For this and many other reasons, CW continues to lead groups to the rural islands of the Bahamas.  It’s a place where true transformation takes place.”

Rev. C. Lane Glaze
Director - Clemson Wesley Foundation
Campus Minister - Clemson UMC
PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633
864-207-9135 (c) or 864-654-5547 (o)