The church building

This is one of the many places the church in St. Croix met before they got their own building--the Estate Diamond school. The US Virgin Islands were originally divided into sugar cane (and out west sea island cotton) estates and property still retains the name of the old estate. This school building is Estate Diamond and is now kind of a community center, although it "belongs" to the Boy Scouts.

Before this the church met in a private school building and when it lost its roof in Hurricane Hugo they met in the afternoon at a Methodist church building. A year after the hurricane we moved to St. Croix and the Methodist were asking us to leave--they thought it was only temporary. We moved to the Boy scout building which we shared with the Masons, the Metaphysical Society, and who knows who else. Sunday was usually okay, except every other Sunday morning, when the Metaphysical society met at 11. We weren't good about starting on time, so we weren't that good at quitting on time either. They would stand on the porch, laugh and joke, jingle keys, etc. to let us know we were keeping them back.

After about a year we bought a 20' X 40' tent and a friend allowed us to pitch it on his chicken farm. We were so happy to have our own place, as temporary as it was. We made sides to put down when it rained or was cold (it gets down into the upper 60's sometime in Jan. and with a 10 MPH breeze it can get cold), a small platform that the rolling pulpit fit into, and had 2 classes behind the partition. At first the kids met under a shade tree, but when the rainy season came it was quite muddy there.

The road to the tent was a dirt/mud road, depending on the weather. We had to take literally the injunction to "tarry for one another"--not before starting but when leaving. We would all leave together, so that if anyone got stuck in the mud on the way out they would not be stranded. Do you know how much mud tires can spin back on you????

The foundation for the new concrete building is almost ready to pour, but with the rains it will have to wait a little before it can be treated for termites, then poured. Please pray that it may be finished in good time.

Tol