SAD

As you can see, being where the internet connects faster is helpful when it comes to adding pictures. The first is of preparations for the SAd that were done on Friday. We hung a big tarp off the back of the house to give a place for people to get out of the sun or rain depending on what the weather chose to do.

Next is a picture of the baptism, followed by a picture of most of the group that came down from Port Kaituma. Then we have Will doing an interview of some of the youths, and finally a picture of everyone hanging out under the tarp during the lunch break.

Friday was our last trip to Kobarimo and our string of staying dry came to an end. One of the women we visit was in ‘town, so we went a little later so as not to throw all the other calls off. We took the same boat we had been taking, but Terri had to bail most of the way since it is getting to leak more and more. When we got ready to leave the creek was the lowest we had ever encountered. In fact it was so low that we kept bottoming out and one of us (either Terri or I) had to climb out and push the boat through the mud. The mud was over two feet deep at times and it made for a very nasty and wet experience. Once we got about 1/3 of the way back, we were able to all be in a paddle the rest of the way.

When we got back to the house, the rest of the visitors for the SAD had arrived, and they had decided that the hole in the ground wasn’t acceptable for the baptism, so Compton donated a bunch more wood and a large box was constructed and lined with a tarp. I was a little concerned since it was going to take more than 1/3 of our water supply to fill it. But I told myself that I was going to be leaving Monday, so I didn’t need to worry about the water. But we got some rain overnight, and rainy season is only about 2 weeks away.

Saturday was the SAD and 16 people came in a boat from Port Kaituma, including four from Matthew’s Ridge. We had a peak attendance of 107. I had told Bro. Rainey on Friday that we were going to have 110, so he told me were three short. But I said that with all the children milling around, we did in fact have 110, they just didn’t get the count right. I reminded him that we now had three toilets, so if they were occupied during the count, that too would explain it.

Certainly a high point was Ellis’ baptism. It was so nice to be able to do it right there at the Kingdom Hall before all onlookers. And the ‘pool’ was big enough that both the dipper and the dippee were able to be in it together. I had expected that Will would do the actual baptism, but Saturday morning, Bro. Rainey informed me that Will had volunteered me, so that was a nice privilege, to be able to baptize one I had studied with when I was there three years ago. At that time Ellis had informed me he was like a turtle, because if you try to push a turtle, it just pulls back into it’s shell. So afterwards I said to Ellis, “I guess the turtle made it.” and he just smiled.

Sunday was a special service day since there was no meeting as a result of Saturday’s SAD program. We had 36 out in the ministry. It was nice to see Ellis make the effort to come out Sunday morning. Sunday evening we had a going away party at Compton’s and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see Ellis. Compton said he had mentioned he was pretty tired from Saturday’s and Sunday’s activities, so I said I would rather he missed the party than the morning field service.

Then Monday morning it was time to finish packing things away and walk one more time to the airstrip. We rode back to town with the Hazel’s and another brother who had come out for the SAD. Several others had to wait for a flight the next day. I had mentioned that if everyone couldn’t make it on Monday’s flight, we weren’t going to be the ones waiting, as we had to catch the flight out of Guyana Tuesday morning. We were able to stay at the branch again Monday night, and that was nice because we got to see Bro. and Sis. Hinds. They had been in the states when we had come in. We were quite surprised when we landed at Ogle because since we had been there in January, they had build a whole new terminal for arriving passengers, complete with a nice looking control tower.

Our departing flight was scheduled for 10:00 AM and Gary informed us that they wanted passengers there three hours before the flight, so we left the branch at 6 AM. Traffic was very light and we arrived at about 6:45. We checked in with no problem, and breezed through customs and security, and then sat for about 2 hours forty five minutes waiting for the flight. When we arrived in New York, we were able to reach our next ticket counter in time to catch an earlier flight. When we arrived in Buffalo we were greeted by not only Steve and Michelle Swanson as expected, but Jessica and the boys were there as well, holding up a big banner that said, “Welcome back”. Even with catching an earlier flight we still arrived home about midnight.

Sorry no photo

I just spent about forty minutes trying to upload a couple of pictures only to receive an error message, and it's too late to start again, so I guess this will be like the early days. Sorry-o

Well, time has definitely shifted into hyper-drive. It started Monday. We had planned on taking care of some last minute details at the house before the CO and his wife arrived. So I went to Kumaka early to get some paint, and try to arrange the lumber for the toilet. I went to every lumberyard, and no one had material. The best was one that said in three days. But in Guyana, even when they say, “Tomorrow”, it’s questionable as to when you will see it, so three days is meaningless. Then I went to get paint, and had to go to several shops before I found any.

Then while I was in a shop in Kumaka, along comes Compton with the Raineys. They had arrived the day before we were expecting them. So I rode back to the house with them, and saw a couple of people sitting on the porch with Terri. You may have remembered I had mentioned meeting a young girl who told me she was a Jehovah’s Witness, and it turned out she had studied in Barimita. It turned out the reason she was here was because her ‘man’ had been told to leave Barimita, because he beat the girl, (why she went with him is another question). Wendy had started studying with her, and then Terri took it when she left.

As usually happens, the man has continued beating her and their 2 year old son. Terri had mentioned to her that she needs to get out of that situation. So her mother-in-law had decided, after a weekend of beating, that the girl needed to get away, so she had brought her to the house, to ask us to help, as they had no money to get anywhere. So now I had the CO and his wife, and this young girl with a two year old, and a five month old baby at our house. It was decided that the best course would be to send them to Port Kaituma, where they could get a ride to Matthews Ridge, and from there make their way to Barimita. I called to Compton’s to have him check if the boat that had brought the Raineys was still at Kumaka, and if they were going back to Port Kaituma. But it was getting late morning, and we were concerned whether they would be able to make it to Matthew’s Ridge before dark. Compton called back and said the boat was going to wait until the morning.

So they ended up staying with us at the house, and then early Tuesday morning Terri and I got up early and went with them to Kumaka. As soon as we got out of the bus, a boatman came up asking if anyone was going to Kaituma. I said we had some to go, but we would wait to see which boat was ready to leave first, and that would be the boat they would go on. So now we are waiting, and watching and worrying that the young man was going to show up and we have a scene there in Kumaka. But finally a boat was ready to leave, and we sent them off. There was a woman that we knew going up in the same boat, so we asked her to help Cynthia get a bus to the Ridge.

I have spent the last two days building the toilet for the SAD. Compton ended up scrounging up some pieces of wood and making the lumber we needed. I also took Bro. Rainey’s suggestion and dug a shallow grave which we will line with a tarp and fill with water for the baptism. Tomorrow we are having a congregation cleaning and prep day for Saturday. Terri and I will go in to Kobarimo one more time before we leave. Early in the morning Elroy is coming by and we will hang the second door on the toilet so he can then finish painting it.

I am not sure if I will post one more entry before we leave, or wait until we get back and have a nicer internet connection so we can post up a number of pictures.