Tropical Wonderland

A Mission Trip to Key West

By Lucas Igo

On a cold blustery Michigan morning, the senior high of Cedar Church stumbled into a white van at 7:30 AM.  As they shivered in the cold vehicle, visions of warmth and sunshine entered their minds and they hopefully wished for their dreams to come true.  Drivers drove through the night (with a little help from Red Bull) and a miracle started to happen.  The clouds started to roll away the further south they went.  The temperature rose as well.  And even though some continued to sleep - oblivious to their surroundings - the Florida Keys grew nearer.  By 2:00 PM the next day, they finally arrived in what seemed a dream - a glorious place!  Key West is a place where warmth brings joy and happiness, a place with beaches and waves, a place where a man’s wildest dreams can come true.  Not really, but it seemed that way when we got there!  We had arrived in a tropical wonderland.

After watching Jay down yet another Monster energy drink, I just buried my head in my pillow wishing the long twenty-eight (28) hour ride was over.  “Are we even close to being there yet,” I asked.  “Actually, we are on Big Coppitt Key right now which is where we are going to stay.  So, yes!” my dad replied.  As we pulled into Keys Chapel, we stepped out into a Florida paradise.  There were palm trees with coconuts, a small bay, and a dazzling view of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.  There was only one slight problem in all the scenery – hurricane!  The hurricane had left garbage in its trail, torn off palm branches, and every type of useless and waterlogged car imaginable - though none were in our lot.  The next day we started our work on the inside and outside of the chapel.  Some of us worked on the inside, scraping paint and cleaning moldy cabinets.  The rest of us worked outside - finding garbage, raking leaves, sawing palm trees, dismantling random bridges laying in the yard, and the list goes on. But at 4:00 PM, we all changed and went to Malory Square.

The coolest - yet weirdest - place on earth is Malory Square.  There are acrobats of every kind, fire breathers, sword swallowers, and venders selling everything imaginable.  It seems godless and almost is.  At the northernmost spot in a small circle, there is a place reserved for Pastor Bill Welzien, aka “Bible Bill.”  Our job was to help “Bible Bill” preach the gospel to all the tourists the square attracted.  At Malory Square, you could make money with a kazoo and a top hat - kazoo as your art, top hat to collect money in!  So getting a crowd around his easel board was no tough job for Bill.  Using a unique style of writing he calls “ladder lettering,” Bill attracted a crowd well above 50.  But when it became clear he intended to speak about religion, he lost half his crowd immediately and most the others 15 seconds later.  The job is sometimes lonely and often our group was the only people left standing there.  Occasionally a few Christians would stop by to thank Bill for his ministries, but that was it.  However, my father tells me that Bill’s ministries have been far from fruitless!  The Holy Spirit has worked through him to bring many to faith.  After his first presentation ended at about 5:00 PM, hundreds of people moved to the waters edge of Malory Square and stared in awe at the sunset.  It is ironic that they literally “clapped” at the awesome sight, yet would not listen to Bill preach about the one who made the sunset.  It actually seemed quite foolish to me.  After that, we were free to roam the fabled Duval Street, seeing it’s many attractions and wonders. 

A few days passed like this, but on the third day we did something new.  Early that morning, we drove down to Key West and hitched a ride on a catamaran.  We were going snorkeling.  After a twenty minute ride in the boat, we all jumped in to the repulsively salty water. Even with the nasty taste in my mouth, I still enjoyed the scenery below the water’s surface.  The reefs of Key West are amazing.  As I looked down into the water, I saw many exotic fish swimming in schools.  The second reef we swam in was by far the best.  With cavernous rocks and large drops through their cracks, it was a prime place for exploring.  I could not help but dive down and swim through one of the crevices.  As I went deeper, a long, shiny, silver barracuda swam up to me.  I was terrified and could not breathe as the fish stared me down.  I shot upward as fast as I could - noticing the fish flash in the opposite direction - and swam quickly toward the boat. 

Still breathing hard from the scare, I realized how foolish I had been.  The fish had been more scared of me.  But I wasn’t mad at myself for too long.  The boat had free and unlimited sodas and there were many exotic choices.  I got one and settled down on the top deck to watch the ocean.  The boat ride back was very cool, although I don’t suggest leaning too far over the rail at that fast of speed.  It was a great day and we all had fun on the ride, even the ones who had sea sickness problems! 

On the last day of our stay, we went to the Bahia Honda Beach.  This island/beach had two sides – one for swimming and the other for exploring.  The middle had paths that led to an old bridge on which you could walk a good distance.  We all swam first, but Jay and I got bored quickly and decided to explore.  We hiked the paths leading to the bridge and walked along the edge of the bridge.  We were pretty high up and we enjoyed a good long view.  As we were looking down at the Atlantic Ocean we saw some movement.  Below us in the water, were two (2) gigantic Eagle Rays right on the surface of the water.  These are amazing creatures that look like huge spotted sting rays.  They were supposedly harmless, but I would not have liked to find out personally.  They were monstrous!  We ate lunch and afterwards decided on a small canoe ride. 

Someone brought a one-man canoe along and so we thought about what we would do with it.  First, Ted Jr. used it to paddle in the swimming area - before he learned it wasn’t allowed.  After he was done, Jay and I had the ambitious idea to paddle to a small coral island about a quarter of a mile out to sea.  At first I was enthusiastic.  But when the waves started to rock and our one-man canoe with two people on it felt a little less secure, I almost backed out.  But Jay convinced me to stay and we paddled on.  After about twenty minutes of paddling against the tide, we reached the island and saw little marine life.  One extremely strange fish with very big cheeks looked like a blowfish.  The island was made of either dead or dying coral.  I’m pretty sure the black coral was dead, and the stuff that felt like you were walking on goo was alive.  Jay and I forgot to bring shoes so we had to suffer the agony of sharp rocks as we explored the island.  I still have calluses on my feet.  We saw tidal pools and a lot of stuff washed up from the ocean.  I assume that part of the island disappears during high tide.  After a while, we headed back and the return ride home was much easier.  On our trip back, we decided to pass under the bridge, and go around the island to the other beach.  This was no easy undertaking, for the bridge was infested with Bull Sharks (as rumor had it), but there really wasn’t anything there.  It was my turn to paddle and I was very nervous.  But we made it just fine, returning victorious.

Our day at Bahia Honda Beach was coming to an end, so we all went to the other side of the island.  As we walked into the ocean we noticed the tide had gone out, leaving a miraculous sight.  The beach was covered in tidal pools, fire coral, and sea weed.  We strolled through the area and saw many exotic creatures.  There were Conch’s that had really interesting creatures inside of them, millions of hermit crabs in every type of shell imaginable (including Conchs), sea urchins, and the most interesting were Sting Rays.  Sting Rays may seem frightening, but they really aren’t.  These little guys won’t sting you unless you’re foolish enough to jump on them.  However, they were really fun to chase.  At one point my dad, Mr. VanDyke, and Jay were surrounding one, poking at it.  There were also many exotic fish I did not mention.  One looked exactly like sand and scared me bad when it darted from under my feet.  But they were not nearly as cool as the Sting Rays.  As we neared the edge of the beach, we saw a long flat rock stretching far out into deep water.  It looked perfect for diving, and none of us could resist.  After this, we moved back to our vehicles and drove home. 

The next day we all woke up to a glorious tropical sun and could not help but feel elated, until we remembered we were going back to Michigan!  Back to the land where clouds always rule and the sun never shines!  It was a pretty depressing thought.  However, it did not last for long.  As soon as we stepped out into the 80 degree weather and saw the palm trees swaying, we became glad again - happy that we had enjoyed this wonderful opportunity.  Who can stay sad in Key West anyway?  After a great sermon (compliments of my father), we loaded up into our van and headed off to Michigan.  The ride seemed much quieter, uneventful and faster (since my dad and I wanted to get back to see Ohio State play in the Fiesta Bowl).  None of us really said much because we were going back to freezing our tails off and were also pretty tired.  My dad’s a real slave driver and we all needed our sleep! 

As soon as we pulled in to Michigan, the gray heavens opened up and poured out rain.  What a greeting!  There was no sun.  It was freezing.  And to make matters worse, the van broke down in the church parking lot.  But I don’t think any of us really cared.  We had gotten our break and we had more to look forward too (Ohio State Football for me, at least).  I know I was satisfied through all of these events because even in the nasty, northern, winter weather; in my mind I was still walking in a tropical wonderland!

 The author is a member of Cedar Presbyterian Church and attends Hudsonville High School.