The island is 19.6 miles long and 6 miles wide at its broadest point (70 square miles) and most of it can be toured by car. Aruba has good roads, though many are unmarked. However, the government has marked the roads to point the way to the resort areas and specific attractions. Although some of the maps show street names and highway numbers, once you leave the downtown area in Oranjestad road signs and street markers are few and far between. If you venture into the countryside, the roads are not likely to be paved. The divi-divi trees always point southwest, away from the trade winds, so if a tourist gets lost it is important to remember that these trees blow in the direction of the resorts. The island is unusual in that it does not have a lake or river anywhere on the island.  All bodies of water are salt water.

    The population of Aruba is 70,007. The currency is known as the Aruba florin. It is divided into 100 cents. One U.S. dollar is equal to about 1.75 Aruba florin. The U.S. dollar is widely accepted at most restaurants and shops.  There is no sales tax on purchases, though a 6% government tax and 10-15% service charge are added to most hotel and restaurant bills.

   At the island 's northern tip, the California Lighthouse, named for the wreck of the passenger ship California just offshore, is on a cliff that offers a panorama of four beaches. At this point, the difference can be observed between the calm southern coast and the northern coast with waves crashing against the shoreline.

   Practically all Arubans are fluent in four languages: English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamentu, the native language of the three “ABC” islands. Papiamentu is a melodic language derived from a blending of Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, African, English and French. It is spoken by locals at home and with friends. Arubans, known for their hospitality and their friendly, outgoing nature, treat visitors as important guests and extend a sincere bon bini (“welcome”). I feel that their warmness can be traced to a line from the country’s national anthem: “The greatness of our people is their great cordiality.”

   Gold was discovered in Aruba in 1824, attracting considerable investment, but a century later the mine was exhausted. A different sort of gold renewed interest in the island in 1924, when the Lago Oil and Transport Company built a large refinery that brought one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean. This prosperity was furthered by the development of tourism, which became Aruba’s primary industry when the refinery closed in 1985. It reopened in 1991. Because of the focus on tourism and number of resorts on the island, Arubans enjoy a very low unemployment rate. A moratorium on building new hotels or timeshare resorts contributes to sustainable development and a high standard of living on the island. Arubans are proud of their heritage and are concerned that with the importation of additional workers the island’s local flavor might be lost. 

Bonaire -- "Diver's Paradise"

   The title used above is on the license plates of Bonaire. The island  enjoys the same kind of tropical weather as Aruba, with a near constant 82 degrees temperature year round.. It, too, lies outside the hurricane belt. The island is 27 miles long and 2-7 miles wide. The Bonaire Census Bureau reported a population of 14,006 inhabitants as of December, 2006. The island is served by Flamingo International Airport. The water purifying plant in Aruba uses 9 times more energy in one day than the whole island of Bonaire for one day.

A History of the Lord's Church in Aruba

   The Lord's church in Aruba can be traced back to 1955,  when three American families came to Aruba to work with the Exxon Corporation of the Lago Oil Refinery. They lived in an area known as the “colony,” a self-contained community for Exxon employees. For three years, the three American families met for worship every Sunday. They  met in the homes of the members. They wouldn't think of forsaking the assembling and forsaking the partaking of the Lord's supper., but they had done nothing to evangelize the island for these three years.

    The church in Aruba is proof that a population more than 90% Roman Catholic can be taught the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.  In 1959, this group of American Christians woke up to their need to evangelize the people of the island. They  invited C. A. Brown of Dalhart, Texas, to work with them as an evangelist. The efforts of this group are an inspiring example of what members of the church who are employed abroad can do, if they will only try.

    The first convert to Christianity among the locals was Antonio “Tony” Semeleer. He attended special Bible lessons in San Nicolaas in 1963. Tony went from being a strong Roman Catholic and an alcoholic to a faithful Christian and a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was the activities of this week in San Nicolaas that produced the dream that later started the church in Tamarijn. Tony continued to meet with the San Nicolaas congregation until 1969. During those six years, he completed several Bible correspondence courses and continued to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

   The language spoken among the brethren at San Nicolaas was at that time and now still is English. Bro. Tony felt the need to establish a congregation that would use Aruba’s native tongue, Papiamento. He purchased a small wood frame structure for $400. On August 20, 1969, the Tamarijn Church of Christ began to meet at this building. They continued to grow and had plans to tear down the “little shack” and construct a new classroom building, but estimates for construction were $20,000. Since the brethren did not have this much money, they were not able to start their work. It is important to understand that the government of Aruba owns all the land and simply leases it to the building owner for 99 years. The lessee must improve the land within a certain time frame or lose the land. Well, the brethren procrastinated (due to lack of funds) and lost the land adjacent to the existing little building. They later reapplied for it and, by the grace of God, were once again approved. The government will not take land away from anyone if there is steady improvement being made. Without knowing where the money would come from, these brethren surveyed the land, excavated the area, placed the steel reinforcing rods, and poured the foundations for the building. The members did all of the work themselves, sacrificing their Sunday afternoons to do the construction. It took them ten years to complete this project, but they moved into their new building in 1989. With a rejoicing heart that this job was completed, they then undertook the project of building a new classroom annex. It, too, took them ten years to construct and it was completed in November 2005.

    For the first years of the church at Tamarijn, all the preaching and teaching was done by local men. They would occasionally have a visiting preacher from the U.S.A. In 1982, the church at Tamarijn had its first fulltime preacher, Frank Thornton. He and his wife, Telula, worked with the church for one year. In November 1984, Gary Roeder began working with the congregation. He committed ten years to the work in Aruba. He left in June 1994. In January 1995, the brethren hired their first fulltime “local” preacher, Humphrey Kock, a man who had been taught and baptized by Gary. After his conversion, he had been meeting with some brethren in his home. They referred to themselves as the Aruba Noord congregation. These were all Spanish brethren, from Colombia, Ecuador, and Santo Domingo. Humphrey was given a commitment of a salary from the Tabernacle Church in New Jersey for five years (but later two extra years were added) to work with the Tamarijn congregation. When he started working with the church at Tamarijn, the Aruba Noord congregation disbanded and these brethren joined themselves to the Tamarijn congregation. When the support from New Jersey ended, Humphrey returned to his job at the refinery to support himself and his family. The Tamarijn Church is now without a full-time preacher. Humphrey now shares the preaching duties with other men in the congregation.

    The opportunities and potentialities of work on these Caribbean islands can best be demonstrated by some of the results of the work on Aruba itself. Since 1959, more than 125 people have been baptized. Some have moved away and, sadly, some have fallen back into the world. Today there are two congregations on the island and both churches are working to develop stronger leadership.

     The attitude of the people is good; the language of many is English. The people are available, just waiting for Christians elsewhere to teach them the truth. The numbers are staggering. St. Vincent has a population of 77,000; Grenada has 82,000; St. Lucia, 86,000; Tobago, 34,000; Trinidad, 794,000; Barbados, 232,000. These are but some of the islands. A few churches have been established, but when one considers the population of these islands, there is certainly a need for more teachers, more preachers, and more churches.

   There can be no doubt that the accomplishments on Aruba can be repeated on these islands. There are surely several places in the world ripe for harvest of souls, and the Caribbean is certainly one of those places.

A History of the Lord's Church in Bonaire