Nassau -Dec.-Feb.

HEALTH TALK

How Not To Catch A Cold 12

FEATURE STORY

Derrick Gilford’s 3 Miracles

SPECIAL FEATURE

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Heart Ball Golden Anniversary 10

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Publisher’s Note I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on Earth, good will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Christmas is a time of joy for one and all because Our Father gave the ultimate gift of his son Jesus.

So no matter what your circumstance remember the gift that was given for you and give thanks.

“The love that was born on Christmas day is unmatched by any other far or near so let it light your hearts throughout the year.” Shevana Wilson Continue to watch for these magazines for we will have great information to share with you each quarter. Also find these magazines on the web at www.bahamasfamily.com and www.bahamaslocal.com/hooknows.

Don’t forget to tell our advertiser’s “HOO” sent you.

Shevana Wilson - Publisher

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MARCH 2014

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Feb. 15, 2014

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Derrick Gilford’s 3 Miracles Derrick Gilford’s life is a living testimony, a tribute to redemption and education and how learning to read changed his life from an unfocused, anonymous life to a lifestyle so structured and inspired that he is teaching it to others.

Miracle One: 1987 It was the week before Christmas.

Gilford was living in isolation from mainstream society. He was sitting in a crack house with friends he had known since high school. Drug dealers and drug users, they were doing what they did nearly every day -- smoking, selling, hanging out.

This life had been waiting for him since he was 9 and he had missed most of third grade because of operations on the two dislocated knees he was born with. They made him walk funny, made him fall down a lot and be the butt of bullies. He could not wait to drop out. It took seven years to leave and 24 years before he would recognize that he could not read.

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One’s

crack house, a dealer he knew called and asked him to do a drop for him. He’d pay him $5,000.

“I told him no,” Gilford recalled. “I later found out it was the police, and he got 2025 years in prison. He’ll be getting out next year. God had saved me the day before. So let me tell the kids when your grandparents are telling you to do this, do that, that’s God warning you.”

life

path

can be determined through a series of incidents or a series of choices. Or your life’s path can be determined by the

Within months of leaving the dope apartment, he became a dishwasher at TGI Friday’s in Dearborn.

“One night I heard the manager complaining about the poor job the cleaning company was doing and felt an opportunity,” Gilbert recalled.

“I told him I could clean up.

He said, ‘If they mess up again, you’ve got the job.’ “ They did and he got the job.

Without a diploma, his choices were limited to find a menial sheer recognition job, or hang with friends who knew another way to make a that you can change Gilford opened a janitorial service. He stopped washing living. “I was just sitting there,” dishes and began cleaning up.

Gilford recalled. “All my friends it at any time.

And word spread about his that I grew up with, girls that I diligence. grew up with; and God called me. I stood up and said, ‘I’m fixing to go get saved.’ They flipped out because they “First, we got the Friday’s in Dearborn, then thought I lost my mind. I left everything. I Southfield, then Troy, then Utica and then left my money, drugs, and my car. I walked the Applebee’s started calling,” he said. away and caught a cab to my grandmother’s And then he met Lynette. They dated for house.” four years and got married. He thought he It was half past 11 p.m. on the Saturday had it all, until he realized that he didn’t. before Christmas. “She came to the door, she didn’t know what was going on and I Miracle Two: 1996 told her, ‘I think I’m fixing to die, I want to Gilford was branching out. He wanted to be saved.’ She said, “Come in the house.” own several other businesses, starting with She put me to bed and the next morning, I a car wash. His attorney set up a meeting went to church just as I was. I walked up and with the owners. said, ‘I left the drug scene.’ And everybody started screaming and hollering and crying “The owners wouldn’t agree to the terms for the bank,” Gilford said. “They said if I and praying for me.” defaulted, they wanted first claim on the The day after he had walked out of that building. My lawyer was reading this and

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said, ‘No,’ and they started arguing and he got up and just walked out of the room!

“I hadn’t read the contracts. I couldn’t read them. I looked at him. I said, ‘Man, I got all this money down, and I got all this equipment and told everybody I was opening a car wash, and he was walking out!’ He said, ‘C’mon, Derrick.’ So I got up.

“We didn’t even get out the door before the owners said, ‘Mr. Gilford, we’re going to agree to your terms.’ That’s what made me start seeking help to learn how to read.

That’s when I saw how powerful reading was.”

One’s life path can be determined through a series of incidents or a series of choices.

Or your life’s path can be determined by the sheer recognition that you can change it at any time. For Gilford, that first life, that unfocused life where he endured shame and drugs, ended when he left the crack house for church and honest work.

But his second life didn’t begin until he went the Oakland Literacy Council and asked for help. There he met Margaret Gazette, a 59 year old medical billing company owner who volunteered as a tutor, but became Gilford’s second mother. When the literacy center assigned Gilford to her, he had met his match. Gazette met him Thursday nights at the Orion Township Public Library, and helped reconstruct his thinking. They began with the basics ABC’s, vowels, how to pronounce your consonants and syllables. It was definitely starting from scratch.

Gazette became Gilford biggest supporter.

Her family was there when he opened his barbershop and candy store and when he turned his sights to construction, she went and got her builder’s license, and helped him until he got his.

Miracle Three: 2013

Gilford closed his janitorial service in 2001.

He sold the car wash in 2004 and the barbershop in 2006, the same year he got his builder’s license, and eventually opened the company, with Gazette as treasurer.

In 2008, he opened JCA Enterprises. It stands for Jesus Christ Assembly. He also plans to open a school to train young men in Detroit who were once like him or on their way to

where he once was.

JCA’s headquarters is in a large warehouse of offices on Rosa Parks Boulevard. Where his desk is covered with his success. Business is booming, and every time he grows, he goes out and finds and trains more guys.

Nick Vlahantones of MEP Construction, which did the reconstruction of the Belle Isle Aquarium, said he would work with Gilford anytime.

Gilford said he never planned to become a poster child for a problem that has gotten statewide attention and led to community efforts such as Reading Works, which works to raise the level of adult literacy in metro Detroit. But Gilford knows the only difference between people who can’t read and success are people who care and options to the choices they think they have.

Gilford said he hears from people all the time who went to get help because they read about how he did.

For Gilford the training school is his biggest project. He calls it Repairers of the Breach, which is taken from the Bible’s Isaiah, 58:12: “ And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.”

“Not having the ability to read, to be able to go to the next level when God is ready to take you is terrible,” he said. “This country was built on hardworking people, really hardworking people. I see these people, the cement guy, and the framer. I hire these people but you sit and talk to them and realize a guy is a master carpenter and can’t fill out an application.”

He said, “You can take this, but you can’t take my high school diploma. You can take everything I have, but you can’t take away my ability to read. I started four businesses, and now I know I can do anything...”

For more information on the program, please visit readingworksdetroit.org. To read about how it got started a year ago, visit Freep.com/readingworks. On Facebook, visit https://www.facebook.com/readingworks

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On Santa’s Team Author Unknown My grandma taught me everything about Christmas. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” jeered my sister. “Even dummies know that!”

My grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.

“No Santa Claus!” she snorted.

“Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

“Go? Go where, Grandma?” I asked. I hadn’t even finished my second cinnamon bun.

“Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

“Take this money,” she said, “and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.

I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.

The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class. Bobbie Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note,

telling the teacher that he had a cough; but all we kids knew that Bobbie Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. I didn’t see a price tag, but ten dollars ought to buy anything. I put the coat and my ten-dollar bill on the counter and pushed them toward the lady behind it.

She looked at the coat, the money, and me. “Is this a Christmas present for someone?” she asked kindly. “Yes,” I replied shyly. “It’s ... for Bobbie. He’s in my class, and he doesn’t have a coat.” The nice lady smiled at me. I didn’t get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, “To Bobbie, From Santa Claus” on it ... Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker’s house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa’s helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.

Suddenly, Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus,” she whispered, “get going.”

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell twice and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open.

Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie. He looked down, looked around, picked up his present, took it inside and closed the door.

Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker’s bushes.

That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: Ridiculous!

Santa was alive and well ... AND WE WERE ON HIS TEAM!

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H E A R T BA L L C OM M I TT E E G E A R S U P FO R 5 0 H E A R T BA L L A N D OT H E R F U N D R A I S E R S “Celebrating the Golden Anniversary of a Vision…Championing the Cause of Children!”

The Heart Ball Committee is the fund raising arm of the Sir Victor Sassoon (Bahamas) Heart Foundation. It’s a non-profit organization, established in 1961 by Evelyn lady Sassoon as a living tribute to her late husband, Sir Victor Sassoon. The Foundation helps to repair the hearts of children whose parents can not ordinarily afford heart care for them. The Heart Ball Committee host two major events annually: The Annual Heart Ball and The Annual Tea Party and Fashion Show. However, the Annual Heart Ball is the major fundraiser that benefits the Heart Foundation. The Inaugural Heart Ball was held on April 2nd, 1965 to raise funds to aid in heart care. To date, over 4,000 persons have benefitted from the generosity of The Heart Foundation. The year 2014 will mark the anniversary of the 50th Heart Ball. As a non-profit organization, The Foundation relies heavily upon the generosity of others to meet financial demands to save a life. One surgery can cost over $50,000; this is no small amount in hard economic times for many parents in The Bahamas. As Christmas and Valentine’s approach, you are reminded to live heart healthy and to think about children in need of heart care.

Zanda Bonamy gave birth to her daughter Zuri in late October 2006.

Never would she have imagined that her daughter Zuri would be born with a heart defect. Her daughter needed urgent surgery, without which she could have died. Five weeks later, at the start of December 2006, Zuri received an early Christmas gift, by way of a

heart surgery. Today, both Zuri and her mother are very grateful to The Heart Foundation and encourage others to help. According to Ms. Bonamy,

Zuri Bonamy after surgery 2006

“Honestly, I didn’t have $29,000 on hand to pay for Zuri’s surgery. I thank God for Lady Sassoon and the vision she had. I am forever in debt to the Heart Foundation”.

Under the patronage of His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes and Joan Lady Foulkes, and The Right Honourable Perry Gladstone Christie and Mrs. Bernadette Christie, the 2013 / 2014 Heart Ball Committee will host the 50th Annual Heart Ball, on Saturday February 15, 2014 at Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort. The theme for the Ball is, “Celebrating the Golden Anniversary of a Vision….Championing the Cause of Children”.

February is celebrated annually as Heart Month. Throughout the month of February, the Bahamas Heart Association and Heart Ball Committee will host events to bring awareness to heart health and raise funds to repair children’s heart.

For details on the 50th Heart Ball, Heart Month or for information, please call the Heart Foundation at 327-0806.

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A Little Humour To Brighten Your Day It was late at night and Heidi, who was expecting her second child, was home alone with her 3 year old daughter, Katelyn. Heidi started to go into labor and called 911.

Due to a power outage at the time, only one paramedic was able to respond to the call.

The house was very, very dark, so the paramedic asked Katelyn to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could see while he helped deliver the baby.

Very diligently, Katelyn did as she was asked. Heidi pushed and pushed, and after a little while Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his feet, and spanked him on his bottom. Connor began to cry.

The paramedic then thanked Katelyn for her help, and asked the wideeyed 3 year old Katelyn what she thought about what she had just witnessed.

Katelyn quickly responded, “He shouldn’t have crawled in there in the first place. Spank him again.” www.bahamasfamily.com

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Zion’s Story Our 5 year old daughter, Zion Knowles was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) at Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas on June 25th, 2012.

Soon after, we were referred to Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) for chemotherapy treatment. She began her treatment there on July 2nd, 2012, being admitted in the hospital for nearly 2 weeks while the Induction stage was being performed.

Following this, Zion developed Pancreatitis, requiring her to be in ICU for approximately 3 weeks. During this time, doctors believe she also suffered a mild stroke, which left her unable to speak or move for a period of time. She later recovered and was released from ICU but returned a few days later due to seizures. The seizures were later brought under control with medication, but Zion began having hallucinations due to her long period of sedation in ICU. She also suffered a short period of amnesia. As time went on and her condition progressed, Zion was released from hospital.

Zion completed her Consolidation stage December 2012 and began her Maintenance stage in January 2013. She continued her chemotherapy at MCH in Miami, FL relatively without any major incidents, up until May when we discovered that Zion had relapsed. Doctors advised that Zion’s best option is now to receive a stem cell transplant.

We are fortunate in having obtained assistance to cover the upcoming procedure. We are faithful and optimistic that God will bring Zion through this ordeal and she will be able to live a full life.

At this point, we still face a large financial bill in the hundreds of thousands.

We have been doing the best we can by means of fundraising and have had events such as steak-outs, in our attempt to defray the mounting costs of her treatment. However, we know now that more significant aid is required.

There is an account # 200002632 at CIBC FirstCaribbean Intl. Bank for Zion’s Medical Fund. We know these are challenging times for many, so we are grateful to everyone who is able to offer a donation toward Zion’s expenses.

Most importantly, please keep Zion and our family in your prayers.

Thank you from all of us.

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HELP OR HINDER

“I will make a helpmeet for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

When Adam saw Eve, his tongue did a somersault, “Wow...man.” God had given him exactly what he wanted - a friend and companion. The sheer beauty and allurement of her presence was overwhelming and compelling at the same time. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to share himself with her.

Taken from man’s side, the woman was given to Adam as a helpmate – describing function rather than worth. A fortifier and completion of his person, she was God’s inside man, designed to fulfill the mission of nurturing and multiplying in the earth.

Today, our selfish society has done everything to bring a woman’s role as helpmeet and companion into disrepute. The role of a homemaker and housewife are seen as ignorant and slavish. Submission has become an ugly word, rejected and despised. Few, woman today are able to

see through this deception and embrace their God given role. The ethereal power of a woman who has found her place is incredible in the least. Suffice it to say, she can move mountains through her intercession.

Woman and man were designed to operate as one, however, they must find their place in the marriage. In most marriages today, husbands and wives are performing the same roles leading to confusion, division and divorce. The lie of self-seeking and self-interest has blinded the eyes of many. But woman of God, I challenge you to find your unique place in God. Not a demotion, but elevation into the presence of God where you can change your husband, your home, and your world. This week meet some helpers who assisted in the work of God.

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