1,000 words

I have finally gotten around to trying to post a picture. It takes about ten minutes to add this to the page, so it wasn't too bad. I thought this would accomplish a few things. It would show all a better idea what I have been talking about when I talk about the canoes we have been using, as well as prove that the Finches really did come here, rather than sneak off to Hawaii again.

It's getting late, so this won't be a long one. Tomorrow we are getting another worker here from California. He will be staying with the 'boys' and will be here until April 4th.

Everyone has been commenting (that's everyone of us outsiders) on how hot it is starting to get. Every day now the sun is getting higher and higher overhead, and you come to appreciate the expression, 'the sun beating down', but it could be worse, it could be winter.

Help has arrived

Wednesday saw the arrival of four more workers. Eliesha returned from going out for her Grandfather’s death, and the Finches (Richard, Joelle, and Rachel) arrived for three weeks. All had uneventful travels and arrived safely. Of course the arrival of new ones is always an event because of the things they are able to bring for those here. Eliesha even brought a new set of tires for the bikes, as the originals are getting quite smooth, which is a problem when it’s wet, since many of the tracks we have to ride on are dirt, which become very slippery when wet. Plus with no tread, they are much more susceptible to flats from sharp rocks and the like.

Friday, Terri and I took Rachel to Kobarimo with us. Friday was a holiday here (Independence Day) so there was no school, so there was a limited number of boats to chose from. We picked what seemed to be the best one for us and headed up the creek. The problem with going once a week is that any feeling of comfort that we may gain the time before, seems to have evaporated by the time we go again. But we made it up dry and had a couple of nice studies. Some of our calls were out for the day, (probably because of the holiday, but we had a sweet young girl spent the morning with us as our guide. She couldn’t understand that we weren’t visiting every house, as that was the way it had always been done before. She asked us if we couldn’t come on Saturdays instead, as she is normally in school on Friday.

When we returned to the landing, for the third week in a row, the boat we had paddled up in was gone. The boat we took back down was actually a little wider and flatter, but the sides were also lower, so we only had about three inches out of the water on either side, which meant that we couldn’t let the boat rock very much or we would have been instantly swamped. We were doing pretty well until we ran up onto a stump or something that was only slightly submerged, and we had quite a close call, but we arrived back to the landing dry once again.

Two buses passed by just before we reached the landing, but once we got out and tied up the boat, there were no more coming, so we started walking back. The farther we walked, the darker the sky got and we could see a curtain of rain coming in the distance. I said I thought if we walked fast, we could make it to a bus stop up ahead, but then saw it was coming too quickly, so we went underneath a ‘high’ house we were passing and waited for the rain to pass. It wasn’t raining real hard, but I could see over toward our house, it was pouring, which is just what we needed. It finally stopped enough and we walked into Kumaka, only to find the parade just about to set off for close to where the house is. I told Terri I had seen a few buses out on the other side of the parade gathering and said if we walked back there we could probably catch a bus. But as I started to walk back, I saw the parade was already setting off, so I just turned aside and waited for them to go. But Terri and Rachel didn’t see me, so they kept walking, and at one point were walking along with the parade. But they did the power walk, and soon were out ahead but then had to keep up that pace to keep ahead. After they had walked about ½ a mile, Richard and Josh came along on a bike, and Richard got off and Josh took Rachel home and then came back and got Terri, before returning for Richard.

I on the other hand, decided just to wait in Kumaka for the parade to have gone. I checked on the boat and saw that it had a good bit of water in it, so I bailed that out and then started out on the bike. Unfortunately, the parade hadn’t gotten as far as I had hoped, so I had to keep stopping and waiting for it to get ahead. Finally they reached a point where there is a back street running parallel to the main one, and I was able to get out ahead of them. When I got home, I found that it had indeed rained heavily, and the top tank was filled, and the bottom ones were about ¾. Since then we have gotten a bit more so they are more like 7/8.

The Finches have gotten right into the swing of things here, with all of them having been out for long trips on the bikes with others here, Richard has had a long day of far walking, and Rachel has done the canoe thing.

We are all well and thankful for our recent rains.

Hope you are all well also, and please drop a short email when you can.

Kobarimo II

This last Friday we had our second trip to Kobarima. We went down to the landing a little later than the first day. I dropped Terri off and then went to get the paddles. She told me that all the children had already came, but there was a man who told her she could take any one she wanted. She said that she pointed to one that she said looked good, and he told her, “That’s me mother’s”. He pointed to a different one and said that the person who owned that one wouldn’t be back until 4:00. So we got in that one and started paddling up the creek. The current was flowing against us, so it was a little more work, but we went along so smoothly that I was thinking I should keep my camera out to get pictures, instead of keeping it inside a ziplock bag in case we tip over.

We reached Kobarimo and had several nice calls and set a couple more up for next week. When we got back to the landing, our canoe was gone again, and the only ones sitting there were very narrow. We tried getting in one but it felt very very tippy, so we got back out. We were sitting there trying to decide what to do when a couple of young women with a child each came paddling up and got out. We explained what had happened and our predicament and one of them tried to help us get into one of the canoes. Again it seemed like we were about to tip over, so we got out. She suggested we try the one she had, since she said it was a little flatter (although it didn’t look much so). So Terri got in and sat in the back, and then I got in the front. It seemed a little more stable, so we decided to set off. The only problem was Terri was in the back, and she had no idea how to steer it, so we were crashing into everything. I said there was no way that was going to work, so we paddled backwards back to the landing and she got out, then I got out, she got in the front and I got in the back and we set out again. At that point I was glad everything was inside plastic. As we paddled back (once again against the current), I was reminded of my early days of rollerblading, always feeling like I was about ready to fall. But we reached the landing without incident, and one getting out of the canoe, we gave each other high fives!! So now we have paddled a much narrower canoe. It will be interesting to see what next week will bring.

I had told Paul Donlan that I would come to Kaituma to give a talk there since I figured he was the only brother there. I had initially thought we would just go up Sunday morning to give the talk, and then come back in the afternoon. But I figured it would take three hours to get there in our boat, and if anything happened we wouldn’t make it in time. So I emailed Paul and asked about coming up Saturday afternoon and spending the night. He responded that they temporarily had six brothers visiting there, so there would be no room, but he said if we were late, they would just do the Watchtower first. Then Terri decided that it would be too much for one day, so she said she wasn’t going. I had asked Compton earlier, as he had mentioned he had yet to see Paul & Sinead’s baby. So it ended up just being the two of us. I put the higher speed prop on the boat since we would be light, and we made it to Kaituma in about two hours, fifteen minutes.

We had gotten an early start, so we were on the river as the sun was coming up. I couldn’t help but thinking what an experience it was to be out on the river in the rainforest in South America. I actually found myself thinking, “If I died tomorrow, I would still have lived a very full life.” But since you are reading this, you can know I didn’t die the next day.

Now we are preparing for visitors Wednesday. Eliesha is returning, and the Finches will be coming for about three weeks. We are still very low on water, so the added people will tax it that much more, but we are trusting in Jehovah that he will provide for us.

Captain Jim

Saturday, I, Compton, and Marlon, took the boat out to do some river territory. I had been checking the tides, and it seemed like it would be a good day to go. You don’t want to be on the river when the tide is low, because all the canals that lead to the houses are then too shallow to get the boat close to the house, so you have to either wade up the canal, or try to walk along the soft, muddy bank. I was a little nervous, since it would be the first time I was on my own with the boat. I was looking forward to it though, because the territory we were going to hadn’t been done in two and a half years, and I knew there was a fair sized village in it.

The night before, I had taken the longitude and latitude coordinates of the fork in the river where the territory started, as well as where it ended, off the map we have and entered them into my GPS, just to make sure I was working in the right place. I kind of had a picture of the river map in my mind, but I intended to check it just before I left the house in the morning. But with everything on my mind, I forgot to do that. We got everything together, and got under way about 9:30 am. The boat planed off very easily, so we made good time going upriver. We were going with the tide, so that helped. After we had been underway a while I turned on my GPS. It reassured me that I was going in the right direction, and when we got to where I thought we should be, the reading I had calculated from the map at the house agreed within 500 feet. I was impressed with that.

We started working our way from hut to hut up the river. At one place, there was this huge pile of boulders in the yard next to the hut. Some of the boulders were bigger than a minivan. I have no idea how they would have gotten there as there was no high ground for more than a mile in any direction. Very strange.

We reached the landing for the village a little after noon, the tide was still coming up. The landing was at about the center of the village, so for one side, Marlon and I worked together and then the other side, he worked with Compton. The village was spread out along the side a fairly steep hill, and of course it’s fairly grown up, so you walk along the main ‘track’, watching for small tracks leading off. Early on when I was working by myself, I talked with a family at a house, and explained that we were trying to reach every house in the village. When I got ready to leave, they sent their small son with me to lead me to all the houses. So from then on, I just followed along after my guide, as he took me up and down the side hill on all these interweaving tracks. It was very beneficial, as otherwise I would have gotten lost, or missed a number of houses. The territory reminded me of the way it was in Mabaruma when we had been here three years ago, as everyone was happy to invite me to come sit and they would listen attentively to what I said, and then sincerely thank me for coming.

I had told myself, that I wanted to be heading back by four pm, as I had no desire to be caught on the river after dark. As it was, we finished the village at 4:15. When we got back to the landing, I checked the coordinates of where the territory ended, and saw we had about 3.5 miles left, so I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish it if we tried, so we figured that was a good place to end for the day. The tide had changed some time before we got back to the boat, and we found it sitting about a foot out of the water on a log that was along side the dock. So we pushed the boat off into the water and headed home. We were again going with the current, so we made great time on the return trip, and had the boat secured and everything put away well before dark. All in all it was a great first time out on my own.

Our first canoe trip

Tuesday the group that meets in Kumaka went to finish up the territory in Hosororo. I was working with Compton. At the first house we went to, I asked the young woman what church she went to and she told me she was a Jehovah’s Witness. I thought she misunderstood what I had asked, so I asked again and got the same response. So Compton asked her where she was from and she said she was from Baramita. She said she had been here for about a month. There is a large congregation in Barimita, so we told her she should come to the Kingdom Hall while she was here. She said she didn’t know how long she would be staying there. We explained that all she would have to do was walk to the foot of the hill and catch the bus as it went by. But the only ‘church’ allowed in Barimita, which is an Amerindian reservation, is the Kingdom Hall. So everyone in Barimita who wants to go to ‘church’ goes to the Kingdom Hall, and then call themselves “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. So I asked the girl if she was baptized, and she said she wasn’t.

Also that morning, we were talking to a young girl and shared the scripture at John 17:3, where Jesus said that it meant everlasting life to take in knowledge of God and Jesus. So I asked her if she knew what everlasting life was, and she said she didn’t. So to try and explain, I asked her how long she would like to live. She thought about for a minute and then said, “Until I am sixty.” So then I asked her if when she got to be sixty, would she be ready to die, and she said, “Yes.” Compton and I both had to laugh at that one. But it worked out well, because the rest of the morning I was able to share the story with the older ones I spoke to and they all laughed as well.

As I had written previously, I wanted to paddle back to the nearby village of Kubarimo. We had paddled there in the rainstorm, but had had several nice calls and very much wanted to try and return to see about hopefully starting some studies. Since they are actually so close, it would be very easy for them to come to the hall. All they would have to do is paddle out to the landing and from there they could catch the Kingdom Hall bus on Thursday and Sundays. I had figured Fridays would be best for our schedule, and most should be home since Tuesday and Saturday are the days they come out to go to market. There is a landing along a road where all the children and others who come out park their dugout canoes when they go to school or work. I had wanted to go there one day and ask to use one to get more practice before trying to go when I wanted to be sure to stay dry, but it just wasn’t happening. I didn’t want to keep putting it off, so Friday Terri and I went, with all our things inside ziplock bags just to be safe. We agreed in advance that if the only ones available were small narrow ones, we would just come home.

I wanted to be there when all the children came to be able to ask to use a canoe, but we ended up getting there a little early. There was a man sitting there and I told him what we were planning He pointed to a rather large one tied up there and said that it would be there all day as the man who had brought it was out working. It was a rather large one, but it also was rather warped so it didn’t sit even in the water. We decided to give it a try and I got in and then Terri got in. She sat in the middle of the front seat, but I had to sit all the way to the side of the back seat due to the warp of the canoe. But we set out just paddling slowly along. The tide was coming in, so we had the current to help us. It actually was very beautiful and serene paddling along the narrow creek. We reached our destination without incident, and tied the boat up at the landing. We then spent about four and a half hours revisiting ones we had spoken to before and explaining that we were planning on coming now every Friday. It was a very nice and encouraging time. When we got back to where we had left the boat, it was gone!! Terri suggested that I hadn’t tied it good enough, and it had drifted off with the current which had now changed and was going out. I said I didn’t think so, but if it had, we should try and find it. So I said, “Here’s another nice sized canoe, I guess we’ll just take this one.” So we did! We started back down, again going with the current and enjoying the beauty. A little ways down we met a canoe coming up, and we said, “Hello.” and passed by. Afterwards I told Terri that I had half expected them to say, “Hey, where you going with that boat?!”, but nothing was said. We again reached our destination dry, and there was a group of people hanging out at the landing. They watched as these two white people came paddling up in a canoe, and one of they asked where we had learned to paddle. Terri explained about the canoes, but no one seemed concerned that we had appropriated two different boats that morning, and we have not be visited by police in regards canoe theft, so I guess it’s common practice for them to use whatever boat is available. We are looking forward to our Friday canoe trips.

It has been quite peaceful as late with only three people in the house, and it has helped to stretch our water supply as we have not had any meaningful rain. Hopefully we will get some good rain from the new moon at the end of the week.

Hope you all are able to keep warm.

The Sopel's depart

A lot has happened here the last few days. Friday night, one of the sisters living in the house here received an email that her grandfather had been taken to the hospital after suffering a major heart attack. She went to the phone company and called back to the states, only to learn that her grandfather had died. She flew out Saturday morning to return to the states. Then two days later, Joe and Christina left to return to the states. So right now, there are only three of us living in the house. That’s a good thing in a way, since we are very low on water here, so the less people using it the better. We had been hoping that we would get a heavy rain the last few days, since rain usually falls around either the full moon or the new moon. We didn’t get much from the full moon, and it will be a couple of weeks now to the new moon. When it does rain we try to collect every drop we can by putting out buckets underneath dripping water. We save all our dish washing water for flushing the toilet, and we recycle our rinse water when doing our laundry. The next person uses it when they do there laundry. It is also amazing on how much water you don’t need to shower!

Compton had a nice party at his house Sunday night. It was a combination, going away for Joe & Christina, welcome back for Will & Jen, and Super Bowl, party. The whole congregation was invited, and there were over fifty people there. Several of the families brought food dishes, and Compton also provided some local cuisine. He had their cook make curried laba which is a large wild rodent, as well a dish with iguana and iguana eggs. I couldn’t bring myself to try the iguana, but the laba was excellent. Terri said the iguana was good, and the eggs were excellent. The shells are leathery, so you bite a hole in them and then squeeze the insides out. She said it was very creamy.

Monday many went up to the airstrip to see Joe & Christina off. It was kind of interesting because there were white missionaries from two different local churches that were also leaving on the same flight. It was nice to see about twenty from the hall to see them off as opposed to just a few for the others. It was sad to see them leave. I don’t think there was a dry eye there.

We ended up not going to try our hand at paddling today, so I can’t report in that, maybe Thursday. I am looking forward to it, because it will expand our ministry some. (Terri speaking) We work our local territory at least once a month not that that is a bad thing. It is amazing how often it is worked yet you still have so many conversations with people and still start bible studies. People come and go here. We are trying to teach them something different each time we go, actually you could probably count them as bible studies. We also do street work we just walk and talk to so many people, and you don’t even feel nervous. People just know us and who we are. You will meet your RV on the street, and talk. People sometimes just ask you for a magazine to read. The security guards usually really enjoy them because they just sit for hours.

Four weeks and counting

I will start by thanking those of you who have emailed us recently. It helps us know we have not been forgotten. I also want to apologize if I repeat myself sometimes. I write these offline and then copy them to the site, so I can’t always remember what I may have shared previously. Today marks four weeks we have been in Mabaruma. Each week seems to go faster than the previous. This Sunday will be Joe and Christina’s last meeting with us. They are flying out Monday morning.

We are definitely in dry season now. Since rain is our only source of water, it is of real concern to us here. A few days ago I checked and we are down to less than 200 gallons of water. We have a total storage capacity of 1200 gallons, so we are getting pretty low. The locals all say that rain falls around the full and new moons, so hopefully we will get some real soon.

This last Monday, Terri and I went for lessons in handling a correal (sp?) which is what they call their dugout canoes. We are hoping to purchase a small one to use to paddle to a nearby village to start some studies there. I figured that instead of waiting until we were able to get one, to start practicing, I would find someone who had one that would let us practice on that, so when we did get ours, we would be ready to start using it. One of my studies who lives on a small creek, offered to help me (I think he was looking forward to a little entertainment at seeing us tip over often). He had said he could borrow one from a relative and have it for me Monday afternoon. I also figured I’d rather learn there than in Kumaka with many people watching and laughing.

So Monday afternoon Terri and I went out to where he lives wearing clothes we could get wet in. When we got there, he said he hadn’t been able to get the boat from his relative, so he just untied one that had been left by his house by someone who had parked it there and then walked into somewhere nearby. But the dugout was an eight person one, so it was about three feet wide, which made it very stable. So the good news was we didn’t get wet, the bad news is we still don’t feel like we are ready to paddle a small one with all our stuff in it. I think this Tuesday, we will go to the landing where all the children from Cobarima come to to walk to school. We will ask one of them if we can use their boat while they go to school to get more practice.