The Sopels left Mabaruma this morning. They will be spending a few days in Georgetown, where they will be taking in a zone visit, before traveling back to the states. There were about thirty at the airstrip to see them off. Last night, the School and Service Meeting was handled completely by the local brothers. It certainly made us feel better about how the congregation will be provided for during the next few months.
Our attention is starting to focus on the upcoming Special Assembly Day to be held in a little over two weeks. I made up some invitations to be given to bible studies and return visits. Because of the limited seating in the Kingdom Hall, we will not be making an effort to distribute invitations to all in the territory, rather only to those who have shown interest in spiritual things. Brother Hinds from the branch will be our featured speaker this year.
Our weather has become a little more seasonable with bright sun and clear skies, and with the sun almost directly overhead now, it can be quite intense. It had been almost three weeks since we had had any appreciable rainfall, and the tanks at the front house were getting rather low. We weren’t too much affected, since we had been in the Ridge for a week, and with just the two of us, and Terri having her laundry done by Margaret, we don’t use that much water. We received some nice rain the last two nights, so things are looking good.
A few weeks ago I mentioned how Margaret had started a new study. The second week she went, the woman who she had started the study with wasn’t there. Her sister mentioned she had gone out. Margaret explained to her sister why it was she had come, and then said, “Since your sister isn’t here, but you are, we can show you what your sister has been learning.” The sister was agreeable, so they showed her how a bible study is conducted. The sister can read well, so they started studying out of the ‘Bible Teach’ book. This last Sunday both of the women came to the meeting at the Kingdom Hall. Margaret was fairly glowing. Tuesday evening after the meeting, she informed me that she didn’t feel that she would be able to prepare for all the questions for baptism in such a short time. Rather, she would plan on getting baptized in August at the District Convention. I encouraged her not to sit back now until the middle of July and start thinking about it then, but rather to take a little time each day or week to prepare now.
After most of our time here without a problem, the current has become a little bit undependable. When you only get it for five hours a day, when you don’t get it at all, it can be a bit of a problem. Rumor was that there might be several days before we got it again, but the next night, it actually came on an hour early, and stayed on for the whole evening (until its regular scheduled time to go off). We were all so surprised and happy to get it. As I had mentioned in some of my early posting, life is good when the little things (like having electricity at its scheduled time) can make you happy. Last night, it went off after only two and a half hours, so we will have to wait and see what this evening brings.
I’m hoping our travel plans are finally in place for our return. I may have mentioned in an earlier posting (I don’t feel like going back and reading through them all to check) that we had originally made all our travel arrangements before coming this time. In the past, I had always just bought one-way tickets, and then bought a next set before we left, When we arrived, we learned that the SAD program was scheduled six days after we were scheduled to leave. So I rescheduled both return flights to allow us to stay until after the program. Then a few weeks ago I got a notice from the airline we are flying from Guyana back to New York on, that they were canceling all Tuesday flights during April, and I had been rescheduled for two days later, ‘We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.’ I called them and explained that I had a connecting flight I had to make, and they asked for the information, and said they would take care of rescheduling it. I called several times during the next two weeks and was always told that the person handling it was going to take care of it the next day. I was getting a little concerned, but finally I was given the information regarding the rescheduled flight. It’s a three hour later flight than I had originally booked, but I am hoping that if everything goes smoothly and there are empty seats, they will let us go on the earlier flight. We had done that once before. But I won’t have to stress if our departure is delayed on our first flight, or if our baggage is slow on coming, or we get held up in customs.
We’re getting at that point in our stay where the ministry becomes changed because at this time, there is no point in offering a bible study to someone, because we aren’t going to be here long enough to accomplish anything. In fact, we are starting to have to consider which of the studies we have merit trying to find someone to take them over. The problem is being exacerbated by the fact that Amy Oka is also going to be leaving, since it has been decided it would not be good to have foreign sisters living alone in the house, and she has studies to try and turn over also. So now in the ministry, I just try and teach a truth from the bible, and if someone shows real interest, I encourage them to come to the meetings at the Kingdom Hall. As the bible says, “the harvest is great and the workers are few”. We are torn between looking forward to seeing everyone back in the states, and hating to have to leave the congregation here.
Two of this week’s pictures are from the Sopel’s departure today. The third picture is of Margaret at the meeting with one of her new studies and the studies children.
Once again, I’m starting to feel like that monkey that got his tail caught in the lawnmower.
Our attention is starting to focus on the upcoming Special Assembly Day to be held in a little over two weeks. I made up some invitations to be given to bible studies and return visits. Because of the limited seating in the Kingdom Hall, we will not be making an effort to distribute invitations to all in the territory, rather only to those who have shown interest in spiritual things. Brother Hinds from the branch will be our featured speaker this year.
Our weather has become a little more seasonable with bright sun and clear skies, and with the sun almost directly overhead now, it can be quite intense. It had been almost three weeks since we had had any appreciable rainfall, and the tanks at the front house were getting rather low. We weren’t too much affected, since we had been in the Ridge for a week, and with just the two of us, and Terri having her laundry done by Margaret, we don’t use that much water. We received some nice rain the last two nights, so things are looking good.
A few weeks ago I mentioned how Margaret had started a new study. The second week she went, the woman who she had started the study with wasn’t there. Her sister mentioned she had gone out. Margaret explained to her sister why it was she had come, and then said, “Since your sister isn’t here, but you are, we can show you what your sister has been learning.” The sister was agreeable, so they showed her how a bible study is conducted. The sister can read well, so they started studying out of the ‘Bible Teach’ book. This last Sunday both of the women came to the meeting at the Kingdom Hall. Margaret was fairly glowing. Tuesday evening after the meeting, she informed me that she didn’t feel that she would be able to prepare for all the questions for baptism in such a short time. Rather, she would plan on getting baptized in August at the District Convention. I encouraged her not to sit back now until the middle of July and start thinking about it then, but rather to take a little time each day or week to prepare now.
After most of our time here without a problem, the current has become a little bit undependable. When you only get it for five hours a day, when you don’t get it at all, it can be a bit of a problem. Rumor was that there might be several days before we got it again, but the next night, it actually came on an hour early, and stayed on for the whole evening (until its regular scheduled time to go off). We were all so surprised and happy to get it. As I had mentioned in some of my early posting, life is good when the little things (like having electricity at its scheduled time) can make you happy. Last night, it went off after only two and a half hours, so we will have to wait and see what this evening brings.
I’m hoping our travel plans are finally in place for our return. I may have mentioned in an earlier posting (I don’t feel like going back and reading through them all to check) that we had originally made all our travel arrangements before coming this time. In the past, I had always just bought one-way tickets, and then bought a next set before we left, When we arrived, we learned that the SAD program was scheduled six days after we were scheduled to leave. So I rescheduled both return flights to allow us to stay until after the program. Then a few weeks ago I got a notice from the airline we are flying from Guyana back to New York on, that they were canceling all Tuesday flights during April, and I had been rescheduled for two days later, ‘We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.’ I called them and explained that I had a connecting flight I had to make, and they asked for the information, and said they would take care of rescheduling it. I called several times during the next two weeks and was always told that the person handling it was going to take care of it the next day. I was getting a little concerned, but finally I was given the information regarding the rescheduled flight. It’s a three hour later flight than I had originally booked, but I am hoping that if everything goes smoothly and there are empty seats, they will let us go on the earlier flight. We had done that once before. But I won’t have to stress if our departure is delayed on our first flight, or if our baggage is slow on coming, or we get held up in customs.
We’re getting at that point in our stay where the ministry becomes changed because at this time, there is no point in offering a bible study to someone, because we aren’t going to be here long enough to accomplish anything. In fact, we are starting to have to consider which of the studies we have merit trying to find someone to take them over. The problem is being exacerbated by the fact that Amy Oka is also going to be leaving, since it has been decided it would not be good to have foreign sisters living alone in the house, and she has studies to try and turn over also. So now in the ministry, I just try and teach a truth from the bible, and if someone shows real interest, I encourage them to come to the meetings at the Kingdom Hall. As the bible says, “the harvest is great and the workers are few”. We are torn between looking forward to seeing everyone back in the states, and hating to have to leave the congregation here.
Two of this week’s pictures are from the Sopel’s departure today. The third picture is of Margaret at the meeting with one of her new studies and the studies children.
Once again, I’m starting to feel like that monkey that got his tail caught in the lawnmower.
