Times of the Islands Spring 2020

while not at sea participating in his church—Bethany
Baptist in Blue Hills. Every time you met him, he would
speak of the goodness of his God. He was baptized in
March 1939 and served as a Sunday School teacher and
secretary from 1939 to 1955.
In July 1954, his faith was tested. While he was in his
field, he got the news that his first-born son had suffered
a serious wound. Ironically, there was no boat to
take him to South Caicos to see a doctor. The following
night, the house caught fire. Despite these unfortunate
circumstances, which would have provided good reason
for others to remain at home, Gus was present in church
on Sunday morning.
After teaching Sunday School that day, there was no
preacher present and the congregants encouraged Gus
to take the pulpit. One member argued with him when he
said he felt “unfit for the position,” telling Gus, “If you’re
not fit for one thing, you’re not fit for any other.” He took
the pulpit and from that day, never looked back. When the
new church building was dedicated on March 25, 1955,
Gus was ordained as a deacon by itinerant minister Rev.
R.E. Rhynie.
In 1964, Gus was seconded to lead the congregation
at Jericho Baptist Church in The Bight. Having met that
need and returned to Bethany, Gus was instrumental in
getting electricity to the church in 1971 with its own generator.
He was the first without formal theological training
to become president of the Turks & Caicos Islands Baptist
Union from 1966–1973 and vice president from 1973–
1981.
In 1969 Gus, along with Rev. E.N.S. Hall, represented
the Turks & Caicos Islands Baptist Union at a regional
conference in Jamaica. During this time, the TCI Baptist
churches were supported by the Jamaica Baptist Union.
At this meeting, he made an appeal for help with training
local ministers, and by the following year training would
be provided for the first five ministers from TCI to take
over the running of the churches. This is what he was agitating
for in his speech and daily actions for many years.
His dream had come true and he credited his God for all
of his successes.
Politics
The island of Blue Hills (Providenciales) that Gus lived on
in the early 1950s was undeveloped. Residents traversed
via footpaths. There was no electricity, no banking, no
running water and no indoor plumbing. Commercial and
economic life was centred around Grand Turk, Salt Cay
and South Caicos—the Salt Islands as they were called.
Times of the Islands Spring 2020 19