The countdown begins

We finally received some Memorial invitations, so this last Wednesday, rather than go somewhere in the bush, we stayed here at the Ridge and started distributing the invitations. When I go to Kaituma this week, I hope to be able to determine whether there will in fact be a Memorial held there. It all hinges on whether arrangements can be made for a place to hold it. If there is going to be one there, I think we at the Ridge will be doing the work of distributing the invitations there as well. There are three sisters from ‘town who are coming here next Monday (4/6) until after the Memorial, and they can help with the work as well.Stephan and I were talking recently about the mixed signals we get at times from our studies. For instance I have a study with a young man Lear. The last couple of times I had gone, he wasn’t there. This week, as I was walking out to go, I saw him on a bike in front of the hall. I mentioned I was just coming to him. He said he had to get something at a shop. I told him I would start walking towards his house. He said he’d meet me there. When I got there, I sat by the road waiting. I waited about 15 minutes, and was just about ready to go, and probably write the study off when he arrived. We were studying the promises in the bible for the future. We read the prophecy in Isaiah where it mentions that no one would be sick. He made the comment, “I would really love to be there.” He said it with complete sincerity. It really touched me to see a young one like that accepting, rather than questioning what the bible says. Needless to say, all thoughts of terminating the study vanished.My study with Junior continues to progress. I am also teaching him to read. He now is willing to make the sound of the various letters he’s learning. At first he was reluctant, I guess he was self-conscious, but now he calls them out nicely. This week, for the first time, he told me he will come to the meeting next Sunday. We will have to wait to see if he follows through. Filbert walked out with me again today. It was cute hearing Filbert whisper the answer to Junior during the bible study. But as I was leaving, I heard Junior tell Filbert he would come by Filbert’s and they could walk to the meeting together, so I’m somewhat hopeful.When I walk to my far study on Mondays, I have been watching as a large area of forest has been cut down for a ‘farm’ I commented to Michael today that it’s a shame that all those trees can’t be cut into boards, but I realized it would be a far way to have to carry the boards to get them out to the road to sell. I mentioned that at least a large house could be built there in the bush. He mentioned that no one had a chainsaw to cut the boards. I asked about some of the larger trees that had been cut, and he assured me they had all been cut down with axes. I was amazed, because the largest one was 3-4 feet in diameter with larger buttress roots on it.With a little help from my friend, we have made our reservations for returning to the states. We will be leaving here May 29th. Now that the date is set, I find myself thinking in terms of ‘until we leave’. For instance, I have three more Public talks to give (we will be missing two Sunday meetings for the SADs). It’s not that I’m anxious to go, it’s just my nature to be always looking forward. When I think of all the things I want to accomplish before leaving, my stomach starts to turn.Between the Memorial and then the SAD in Mabaruma (we leave for Mabaruma two weeks from tomorrow), April is going to fly by. And then in May we have the SAD in Barimita, the CO visit, and getting ready to leave, so May will go even faster.As a side note, we had 71 at our meetings this Sunday. This week’s picture is of the huge tree that was among the many cut to clear for a ‘farm’. That’s my backpack hanging near the base of the tree to try to bring a little prospective to the picture. And remember, that was cut down with an ax!!

Frustrations

Another week, but not a lot new to report on. This was another Kaituma week, and while I was there I had hoped to take care of some other business. Since I will be here until the end of May or the first of June, I have to do something about my income tax. Last year I had been able to file them online for free, since my income was so low. I had figured on doing the same this year. However we don’t have a reliable internet connection here. And even if I get a good connection when I go to do emails, my battery would run out before I could complete the job. So I decided that I would spend the night in Kaituma where I could have my computer plugged in while I was online. I also figured I would see about making my travel reservations for our return to the states.As so often happens here in Guyana, things don’t work as you planned. The internet connection kept dropping out, so I wasn’t able to complete anything. Plus the one airline site said that they weren’t accepting internet reservations from Guyana, arrangement would have to be made through their travel office in Georgetown. The ministry in the bush is outstanding, but trying to do what would seem like simple tasks can be very frustrating.On a positive note, Eugene’s son was using Eugene’s detector in the backdam, and found a nice piece of gold, so Eugene and Mary now have the funds to travel to the Special Assembly Day in Mabaruma next month. While I was in Kaituma, I spoke to a man I had studied with when I was in Kaituma four years ago. He owns some boats, so I asked him about providing transportation to Mabaruma. He gave a very favorable price. I encouraged him to be the one to drive the boat, so he could come to the program himself. He said he was going to try to do that.In years past, the group had traveled to Kaituma the day before, stayed at the Kingdom Hall, and then gone to Mabaruma early the next morning. But there is no longer a Kingdom Hall in Kaituma, so I had suggested arranging transportation from the Ridge very early in the morning, so as to reach Kaituma about dawn, and then go directly to the SAD. A number expressed concern that by the time they reached Mabaruma, they would end up sleeping through most of the program. Plus after my recent reminder of how things work (or more accurately, don’t work) here, Planning something that tight, didn’t seem like that good of an idea either.So now I think the plan will be to travel down to Kaituma the day before and let everyone make their own arrangements for lodging. Most have relatives or friends there, so it shouldn’t add that much of an expense to the trip. We had a little meeting recently with those interested/planning on going. I think there were about a dozen. Adding that to those from Kaituma who are planning on going could make for more than will fit in a boat. In fact afterwards, Eugene approached me and asked what we would do if we had too many for the boat. I assured him that Jehovah would make things clear as to how to get everyone there.I have started something new for me. One of the studies I recently started, Junior, can’t read, but he seems really motivated, so I have started trying to teach him to read and write. As I mentioned this is my first attempt, so we are in a sense learning together. I know Terri has found it very rewarding to be able to teach ones to read. Her current class is making good progress, this week she had them reading a scripture from the bible for themselves. She is starting to plan on a little graduation ceremony for them before she leaves. She already has some who have asked to be in her next class when we return.This week’s picture is of our newest student on the school. She is Letisha Scott, Sonia’s next sister. As you can see, Terri gets all the rookies.

Arakaka

As I mentioned in my last posting, Wednesday, Stephan, Eugene, Compton, and I went to Arakaka to preach. As I had also mentioned, I had Eugene and Compton work together, and Stephan and I worked together. I sent Eugene and Compton off to an area which didn’t have too many houses, but there was a place where a couple of Rastafarians lived. Compton and I had bumped into one of them earlier in the week in Matthew’s Ridge, and it turned out that Compton knew him. I told them that after they finished that street, they could work their way towards us. At one point, Stephan was trying to get someone to come to the door at a shop, so I was standing out in front, and a woman came up to me and started trying to talk to me, but I could hardly understand her. She came really close, like to give me a hug, but I could smell no alcohol on her. She continued to babble away, so I told her we were trying to reach all the people in the area. She then started to walk with us as we went. At the next house, I called out to see if anyone was at home, and she also started calling out too. As it was no one was there. But at the next door, Stephan found someone to talk to, and this woman was trying to join in the conversation. The woman at the house asked Stephan if she had come with us. At first he said she had, but then quickly added that she wasn’t with us, she had just started following us. It reminded me of the account in Acts 16:16-18. She finally left off following us. I asked a man who had been watching if the woman was drunk, and he said, “Yes”. I told him I wasn’t sure because I hadn’t smelled anything. I said I thought she might be crazy, but he said, “No, drunk.”At a shop we went into, we met a girl who was from Georgetown. She mentioned she saw the witnesses there everyday and would always get tracts from them. She asked me if I had any. I started to take out a magazine, but she said she didn’t care for a magazine, she would rather have a tract. I didn’t have any, but Stephan gave her a couple. While we were talking to her, she excused herself, and then came back with a cold drink for each of us.We continued to work our way back towards where we had left Compton and Eugene. Stephan mentioned they must have been working the rest of the village before they came working down the road we were on. I told him not to be too sure of that, as I knew how Eugene liked to try and debate with the Rastafarians, since he at one time had been one of them, at least in appearance. We finally met up to them almost where we left them (I think they did two or three houses on the road we were working. It turned out they had been talking at the one place almost two hours. I don’t know how much was accomplished, but at least they can’t say we avoided them (a claim they have made in the past)At one point, I had mentioned to Stephan I sometimes wondered why we went to places like that, since we couldn’t really follow up easily on interest we might find. But then I remembered the recent Watchtower article reminding us that we never know how the ‘seeds’ we plant may develop in the future. It’s all in keeping with our text for the year to bear a thorough witness.After we finished the settlement, we started working our way back up the road. At that point, Compton and I were working together, and Stephan was with Eugene. Compton and I ended up taking a side road leading back into a mining area. At the first camp we came to, we found someone to speak to. It turned out he was from Mabaruma, and he and Compton knew each other. We talked to him about why we worked so hard to try and reach everyone we could find. He thanked us for making the effort to come to him.As we walked into the next camp, I remarked to Compton about all the pieces of heavy equipment that were lying around. I said that must have been quite the operation in its day. I asked a man we met about it, and learned that at one time, between two and three hundred people were working there. The man seemed happy to see us, and asked if we were in a hurry, or if we could come and sit and talk with them. It turned out he also was from the Mabaruma area (White Watta). In fact, Compton studies with his brother on Wednesday, a study I had been on a couple of times. The man said it was a shame we couldn’t come more often, and expressed a strong desire to be able to get a bible. I told him that when we got the ones we had on order, I would bring one to him. He was happy to hear that.In other news, I spoke again to the branch about a Memorial for Kaituma. I was told they were sending a letter suggesting that someone from Mabaruma might travel to Kaituma to hold the Memorial. So I called Bro. Gomes to let him know. He said Compton had mentioned the possibility to them and they had talked a little about it, but in view of what I had told him, they would get more serious about it. I told him I thought we could do a lot of the invitation work there, and I would try to learn more about what was happening there when I went Wednesday.I also spoke to a sister in ‘town that I had heard was planning on coming with another sister to Matthew’s Ridge for the Memorial. She confirmed those plans, so I asked her if she could bring a bottle of wine with her that can be used for the Memorial, and she assured me she would be happy to do that, so that’s one less thing for us to worry about. However, I learned that rather than two sisters coming, there will be three, so it will be cozy in our guestroom for the week. But I know at least one of the sisters is quite petite. The weather here has taken a very wet turn. This should be well into dry season, but we have had pretty steady rain for the last five days. In fact today when I was walking out to my far study, there was more water in the track than I ever saw, even in the middle of the rainy season. Here’s hoping that things dry out by Wednesday when I go to Kaituma. It will be a busy day, since I have to look more into the Memorial arrangements (only about 3 ½ weeks away), as well as arrangements for getting to the Special Assembly Day in Mabaruma (less than five weeks away).This week’s picture is of the four of us returning from Arakaka. No, I haven’t put on serious weight. I have to wear my backpack as a ‘frontpack’ when having someone ride behind me on the bike.

Worry

This past week was another Kaituma week. I did something I had never done before, I drove to Kaituma in the rain. It was lightly misting when I left and I told myself that it was just the morning fog lifting. The farther I went, the more apparent it became that it wasn’t that. At one point, the rain was so heavy that I pulled over and waited in a little shack along the road. By then I was well on my way, so I just continued slowly. It took me three hours to reach. When I got near to Kaituma, I checked on my phone and saw I was getting data signal, so I sat in a bus shelter and sent out emails (including my last posting). I was even able to access my MSN account for the first time in over a month. It was strange because while I was there, a heavy shower went through, but I was able to keep the data signal the whole time.The group study at Kaituma was nice. Monica, Sharon, Juliet, and Caroline were there, and for the first time, Sherwin’s twin sister was there. She is a teacher at the school, and the reason we have had the study at noon was so she could come on her lunch break, So this week she did. It was kind of nice because after the study, I overheard her making arrangements to come and study with some of the women. After the study, Caroline asked about the Memorial in Kaituma. I explained that last year, the branch had mentioned they wanted an elder to give the Memorial Talk at all locations. Assuming the same would be true this year, there is no way Matthew’s Ridge could help with the Memorial in Kaituma. But I said I knew there were two elders in Mabaruma, as well as a number of baptized brothers to assist, so maybe they would be in a position to do the Memorial there.I told them I would speak to the branch about it, but in the meantime, inquiry should be made as to getting the Community Center to hold the Memorial. I said it would be inappropriate to try and invite people to the Memorial, and then have it in the little shed we used for the study. Sherwin’s sister said she would look into it, and pass word along to Sherwin, in Mabaruma. I later spoke to Brother Hazel, at the branch, and he said he would discuss it with the other brothers there.On the same day that I went to Kaituma, Stephan drove his bike to a place called Bamboo. The husband of one of his studies mentioned that he was going, and Stephan thought it would be a chance for him to have someone show him the way, as he wanted to go there on one of the off Wednesdays. He had mentioned that he would be leaving at 7 AM, which was when I was planning on leaving for Kaituma. Stephan is not a morning person, so I called in to see if he was awake as I was leaving, and he said he was. I asked him if he could hear the rain falling, and he said he could. When I got back from Kaituma, he wasn’t around, so I asked and was told he had indeed gone to Bamboo.He still wasn’t back at dark and we ate without him, getting a little more concerned as the time passed by. I told Terri I would be more concerned, but I knew he was with an adult Guyanese, so I figured they could take care of themselves. I said if it got late and they still weren’t back, I would figure they had decided to stay in Bamboo rather than being caught on the road by the dark.Just before dark, I had gone to one of the shops to get something for Terri for making supper and saw Eugene there. While we were standing there talking, the man in the shop told Eugene that he had just had a call on the radio from Barimita that a brother said he was coming across tomorrow. Eugene asked him if it was Brother Smith, and he said, “Yes.” We wondered what he had called to tell us that for. I said maybe he wanted to come across to go preach with us, since he always has to preach through an interpreter in Barimita.We woke up in the morning, and there was still no Stephan. I told Terri that if they had stayed in Bamboo, it would be afternoon before they would reach, so there was no point in getting too worried before that. About 2:30 Stephan came driving up. When he came up to us, I did my best indignant parent impression and said, “Why didn’t you call?!” Stephan responded with a surprised look and said, “Didn’t you get my message?” I thought at first he was just playing along with me, but then everything clicked, since we had seen no sign of a brother from Barimita. It had been Stephan radioing from Bamboo to let us know that he would be returning the next day. So he had been very responsible, however the message didn’t get delivered right, so we had a rather anxious evening as a result.He mentioned it had been a five hour trip each way, and it made the trip we took into Big Creek seem like a drive on an expressway. He said there was no way he could have made it alone, as many times the two of them had to work together dragging the bike over huge ruts and trees and mud!! But he said it had been worth the effort as the people he met were happy to hear what he had to share, and are very much looking forward to our coming for the purpose of preaching, not just scouting. He mentioned that he had slept in a hammock on a back porch, but had not slept well because they had planned on leaving as soon as it got light, and he was afraid he would oversleep. Plus early in the morning he was awaken when a tiger attacked and killed a dog about 50 feet from where he was sleeping.This week we have been enjoying a visit from Brother Baxter from Mabaruma. He arrived Tuesday afternoon and will be with us until Thursday. It was a nice break, as he gave the talk Sunday. We had 62 in attendance. He had originally planned on leaving Tuesday, but decided to extend his stay a couple of days so he can go with us to preach in Arakaka. We had originally planned on going last Thursday, but since Stephan got stuck in Bamboo and didn’t return until Thursday afternoon, we decided we could go Wednesday. The plan is for Stephan and I to take Compton and Eugene on our bikes and preach in Arakaka, as well as the road between there and The Junction. I think I will have Compton and Eugene work together, rather than have it look like the white guys are training the Guyanese.Terri finished the lettering in the sign for the Kingdom Hall and I hung it up. I had wanted to get a picture showing both the sign as well as the two new windows on the west side of the building. And since Compton is visiting, I thought I’d have him in the picture as well. Unfortunately to get everything in the picture, you end up not really being able to make out anything in the picture, so I settled on two out of three. And even then, you can’t really make out Compton all that well. But take my word for it, it really is him.

Big Creek

If this goes through tomorrow, I know it will be less than a week since my last posting, but since we have been having such problems getting through (this last time we had three unsuccessful trips starting on Tuesday before Stephan was finally able to connect more than a week later on Thursday, and then he waited around there for an hour before he was able to get on) I decided I would write this up and start trying tomorrow (Monday). If I’m not successful, Stephan mentioned he planned on driving out Tuesday, and if he’s not successful, I will be in Kaituma Wednesday, so I can try from there.This past Wednesday, Stephan and I took our bikes to Big Creek. The road there was very bad in places. Many places had deep ruts, and you just had to drive in the rut, holding your legs up, since the ruts were at times even narrower that the bikes, which made for ‘driving with difficulty’. Then there were many large puddles, but you had no way of knowing how deep they were until you drove through them. Some were only 6” deep, whereas other were a couple of feet deep. One place, the water was deep enough that you couldn’t see the ruts, so you drove, not knowing how the ruts were going. Someone didn’t make it through that one without dumping the bike. Needless to say we got quite muddy. Stephan said if he had known how it was going to be, he’d have brought a clean change of clothes with him. I said when we got to Big Creek, we could wash most of the mud off our pants.It turned out that Big Creek is just a name. When we got to the first house, I asked the girl if there was any water around we could clean up in. She said there wasn’t. I asked her about ‘Big Creek’, and she said it’s way back in the bush. At one of the first camps we reached, three men were working at setting up a new camp. When we arrived, they stopped their work and invited us to come and sit in some shade, providing things for us to sit on. They listened attentively and appreciatively to what we shared with them. We left them with magazines to read. At many other places no one was home, I expect they were working in the bush, so we left magazines. I mentioned to Stephan I wondered what they would think when they returned and discovered that the witnesses had been there.We decided that rather than return the way we had come, we would continue down the road, which joins the road to Port Kaituma. We had asked which way the road was better, and were told it was about the same. But one of the people we asked assured us that ‘since we were moving with the Spirit’, we were sure to be successful. I had my GPS with me, so we were able to map out the whole road, plus we had no way of knowing which was the ‘last house’. I think the other end was actually a little better, but not by much. Afterward, I asked Stephan at what point he would have changed into clean clothes if he had them, and he said, “Good point”.Friday I went with Filbert to visit his relatives in the bush. It was about a ½ mile walk through the bush beyond his house. When we got there there was a man and woman waiting for us. We had a nice discussion, however a number of times I would ask something and get a blank stare. Then Filbert would say the same thing, and they would respond. It was nice having him along to ‘interpret’ for us. Unfortunately, neither of them can read. I left the brochure, Enjoy Life on Earth Forever, and made arrangements to study with them on Mondays after I have my study with Filbert. It will be interesting to see if Filbert is going to want to come with me on the call. I discovered that the man is Beatrice’s son and Patricia’s brother. They are ones who walk the farthest to come to the meetings. I told him he should come to the Kingdom Hall, as I know his mother and sister would love to see that. I haven’t mentioned anything to them as I am hoping for a surprise. I recently finished adding a second window to the other side of the Kingdom Hall to give better cross ventilation. We got paint from Georgetown to match the trim paint, and I finished and painted the trim, so the new windows match the existing windows quite well. Now we are in the process of getting a sign to hang on the front of the Hall. Hopefully that will be finished soon. Then I will post up a picture showing the new look.It’s hard to believe that another month has past, but I was putting the report together for the congregation’s activities, and I thought I’d share some of it with you. We are up to eight people engaging in the public ministry now, up 30% since we arrived. The group reported 59 bible studies last month (between the three of us here in the house we had 47). The average hours for the publishers was 20.6 and for the pioneers 119.7. Our meeting attendance average for February was 61 for the Public Talk, 60 for the Watchtower Study, and 34 for both the Congregation Bible Study and Service Meeting, which amounts to an average of 763%, 750% , and 425% respectively. Next month should be better since our newest publisher, Sonia, is conducting a couple of studies, but they haven’t been held long enough to be officially counted yet.This week’s picture is from our trip to Big Creek. Unfortunately, because of the lag between the time the button is pushed and the camera takes the picture, Stephan has passed the worst part of this spot. But you can see the method of riding in the ruts. You can’t have your feet on the pegs because the ruts are so narrow, so you hold them up and out like outriggers and do a bare-foot water ski (or more accurately mud ski) along either side.