It’s hard to believe another week has gone by and I find myself sitting here writing again. As is true all around the world, we are busy in the work of inviting all to the Memorial this year on March 22nd. We have five auxiliary pioneers this month, Norma, Seeta, Joyann, and Solo and Golden Fazarali. Also, Margaret has started in the ministry as well.
Today we were working in Hosororo. At one house, after I had given the invitation, I also offered the March magazines. There was a woman sitting on the steps to the house, and there was also a young man standing in the yard. I gave the magazines to the woman, and called her attention to the cover of the Awake, which poised the question, “Is there one true religion?” I acknowledged that there were many different churches, with differing teachings in the area, so this was an appropriate question.
At that point, the young man spoke up and asked how we can know which one was true. He did so with a bit of an attitude, but I just kind of put it back to him, asking him how he thought we could know truth. He said by what the bible says. I agreed with him, and said, “For example, many churches teach that Jesus and God are the same.” He agreed, and asked if that weren’t true. I said, “Well, what does the bible say? Let me show you a scripture,” I opened to John 14:28 and asked if he would like to read it. He said no, I could read it, so I did. I then asked him if Jesus and God were the same, how could Jesus say, “The father is greater than I am.”? I then showed him Matthew 24:36, where Jesus said, “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father”. I asked him, if they were the same, how could God know something that Jesus didn’t know?
He then said, “So then you don’t believe in Jesus.” I assured him that I very much believe in Jesus, I just don’t believe he is God. He tried to counter with the scripture where Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life. I agreed, but then finished the scripture where he said no one comes to the father except through me. I reasoned with him that Jesus wanted us to come to the father through him, so the goal is the father, not Jesus. I reasoned with him from a few different angles, and when I left he said that he had learned something. He had always been told we didn’t believe in Jesus, so he never had good feelings towards the witnesses, but now he realized that wasn’t true.
Terri worked with Margaret this morning. Terri mentioned that she didn’t feel like she was working with a new one the way Margaret spoke at the doors. They met a young woman who mentioned that she had just moved here from near ‘town a year ago. While there, she used to attend the Kingdom Hall. She mentioned she really liked all the people she had met there. Margaret asked her if she had studied there and she said she had. Margaret then asked her if she would like to study again, and she said she would like that so they made arrangements to come back Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, Dirk and Esther Bahr came for a brief visit from Kaituma. They drove down in a boat that Dirk had had built. It is smaller than the one we have, but with the same size engine. They had called and said they were leaving about 10:00 AM, but were going to stop and visit a few people along the way. It should have taken less than three hours for them to have made the trip, but they didn’t arrive until about 5:00 PM. They would have run out of gas if they had not stopped someone they met and bought some from him. They stayed up at the front house Tuesday night. Wednesday morning they came and had breakfast with us, and then we showed them around a bit. They had to be back in Kumaka at 1:00 PM because the person who built the boat was supposed to be there, and he was going to look at the boat to see what was setup wrong, since it had taken them way too long to reach. He ended up not coming because he was drinking somewhere. But it was discovered that the propeller on the boat was designed for a heavy load, rather than for speed. We had an extra one, so we traded them. Also, the angle of the motor was adjusted. The boat then went much faster. They left a little before three and they text messaged us that they had made it back in two hours, forty minutes.
While here, Dirk had expressed his concern over Kaituma. They are leaving March 23rd, and then there will be only a young local brother left in Kaituma. It made us appreciate how much better the situation is here at Mabaruma. Joe had mentioned that the branch had told him while he was there that they were sending a letter to Brooklyn, advising them that there were twelve congregations or groups in Guyana in need of qualified brothers. Truly, the harvest is great, and the workers are few.
Last Sunday, one of my studies mentioned that he was getting up early Monday to help his sister butcher a young bull. I mentioned that we had never eaten beef in Guyana, since we never could be sure how fresh it might be. He asked me if I would like him to bring some by for me. I told him I would, but I told him we were picky about what we ate. I said we didn’t want souse (face) or something like that. He smiled and said he understood. No hooves or tail, or such like. So Monday he came by with a nice piece of meat. Terri was a little grossed out at the sight of it, but I assured her it would be fine. We cooked up a couple of small pieces, and it was like rubber. Later in the day, we mentioned to a study that we had just bought some beef, and were trying to decide how to cook it. She mentioned that you had to ‘pressure it’ as it was usually ‘hard’. We borrowed a pressure cooker from Mary Baxter and it wasn’t too bad. We had a couple of meals from it, and then gave the bone, with a good deal of meat on it to Joyann.
This weeks pictures feature more of our wildlife. The first is some kind of bittern that I saw out in the ministry. The next is a picture of a monkey in one of the trees by our house. We see them so often that we don’t hardly pay any attention to them any more. The last is a spider that I saw on the window curtain a couple of mornings ago. It looked kind of scary, but what was even more scary was that I’m not sure where it went to.
We continue to be fine and are starting to think about seeing everyone when we return home, so keep yourself safe.
Today we were working in Hosororo. At one house, after I had given the invitation, I also offered the March magazines. There was a woman sitting on the steps to the house, and there was also a young man standing in the yard. I gave the magazines to the woman, and called her attention to the cover of the Awake, which poised the question, “Is there one true religion?” I acknowledged that there were many different churches, with differing teachings in the area, so this was an appropriate question.
At that point, the young man spoke up and asked how we can know which one was true. He did so with a bit of an attitude, but I just kind of put it back to him, asking him how he thought we could know truth. He said by what the bible says. I agreed with him, and said, “For example, many churches teach that Jesus and God are the same.” He agreed, and asked if that weren’t true. I said, “Well, what does the bible say? Let me show you a scripture,” I opened to John 14:28 and asked if he would like to read it. He said no, I could read it, so I did. I then asked him if Jesus and God were the same, how could Jesus say, “The father is greater than I am.”? I then showed him Matthew 24:36, where Jesus said, “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father”. I asked him, if they were the same, how could God know something that Jesus didn’t know?
He then said, “So then you don’t believe in Jesus.” I assured him that I very much believe in Jesus, I just don’t believe he is God. He tried to counter with the scripture where Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life. I agreed, but then finished the scripture where he said no one comes to the father except through me. I reasoned with him that Jesus wanted us to come to the father through him, so the goal is the father, not Jesus. I reasoned with him from a few different angles, and when I left he said that he had learned something. He had always been told we didn’t believe in Jesus, so he never had good feelings towards the witnesses, but now he realized that wasn’t true.
Terri worked with Margaret this morning. Terri mentioned that she didn’t feel like she was working with a new one the way Margaret spoke at the doors. They met a young woman who mentioned that she had just moved here from near ‘town a year ago. While there, she used to attend the Kingdom Hall. She mentioned she really liked all the people she had met there. Margaret asked her if she had studied there and she said she had. Margaret then asked her if she would like to study again, and she said she would like that so they made arrangements to come back Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, Dirk and Esther Bahr came for a brief visit from Kaituma. They drove down in a boat that Dirk had had built. It is smaller than the one we have, but with the same size engine. They had called and said they were leaving about 10:00 AM, but were going to stop and visit a few people along the way. It should have taken less than three hours for them to have made the trip, but they didn’t arrive until about 5:00 PM. They would have run out of gas if they had not stopped someone they met and bought some from him. They stayed up at the front house Tuesday night. Wednesday morning they came and had breakfast with us, and then we showed them around a bit. They had to be back in Kumaka at 1:00 PM because the person who built the boat was supposed to be there, and he was going to look at the boat to see what was setup wrong, since it had taken them way too long to reach. He ended up not coming because he was drinking somewhere. But it was discovered that the propeller on the boat was designed for a heavy load, rather than for speed. We had an extra one, so we traded them. Also, the angle of the motor was adjusted. The boat then went much faster. They left a little before three and they text messaged us that they had made it back in two hours, forty minutes.
While here, Dirk had expressed his concern over Kaituma. They are leaving March 23rd, and then there will be only a young local brother left in Kaituma. It made us appreciate how much better the situation is here at Mabaruma. Joe had mentioned that the branch had told him while he was there that they were sending a letter to Brooklyn, advising them that there were twelve congregations or groups in Guyana in need of qualified brothers. Truly, the harvest is great, and the workers are few.
Last Sunday, one of my studies mentioned that he was getting up early Monday to help his sister butcher a young bull. I mentioned that we had never eaten beef in Guyana, since we never could be sure how fresh it might be. He asked me if I would like him to bring some by for me. I told him I would, but I told him we were picky about what we ate. I said we didn’t want souse (face) or something like that. He smiled and said he understood. No hooves or tail, or such like. So Monday he came by with a nice piece of meat. Terri was a little grossed out at the sight of it, but I assured her it would be fine. We cooked up a couple of small pieces, and it was like rubber. Later in the day, we mentioned to a study that we had just bought some beef, and were trying to decide how to cook it. She mentioned that you had to ‘pressure it’ as it was usually ‘hard’. We borrowed a pressure cooker from Mary Baxter and it wasn’t too bad. We had a couple of meals from it, and then gave the bone, with a good deal of meat on it to Joyann.
This weeks pictures feature more of our wildlife. The first is some kind of bittern that I saw out in the ministry. The next is a picture of a monkey in one of the trees by our house. We see them so often that we don’t hardly pay any attention to them any more. The last is a spider that I saw on the window curtain a couple of mornings ago. It looked kind of scary, but what was even more scary was that I’m not sure where it went to.
We continue to be fine and are starting to think about seeing everyone when we return home, so keep yourself safe.
