Young Adult SCUBA Divers Visit God's Underwater Creation

From February 2-7, members of St. Paul’s Young Adult Ministry group made a “Creation Care” SCUBA pilgrimage to the Bahamas to study the current state and health of our oceans.  Together, they witnessed God’s majestic and awe-inspiring handiwork beneath the surface while simultaneously discerning their specific call to become active stewards of our oceans.  

This was the third time the Young Adult group traveled to explore our oceans, and this time three brand-new divers joined the trip.  The new divers recently finished the academic and pool portions of the PADI Open Water Diver course, and they completed their open water certification dives on this trip.  The goal has been for these young adults to become the new wave of leadership in the Church’s Creation Care ministries.  

Fr. Rob Bacon, our rector and a life-long SCUBA diver, explained that this entire SCUBA endeavor was made possible by the generous gifts of an anonymous donor who is not a member of our church, but who is passionate about what we're doing.  “We have been so blessed and fortunate for this opportunity!” he said.  

Rob, a passionate shark fan, was excited about their plans to swim with sharks in the Bahamas.  The video here captures a shark feeding event (feeding pretty much guarantees a lot of sharks).  Rob said, “Sharks have been around for at least 425 million years, appearing long before dinosaurs, and even before trees. And they have survived the ‘mass extinction events.’  It is so spiritual, and so unbelievably marvelous, to be among these majestic creatures, especially when you can look right into their eyes and pet them as they swim by.  What a gift!  God is so good!”