This past week we had a real nice time traveling to one of the towns neighboring Matthews Ridge, which is named Arakaka. You may have heard this town mentioned on the blog before. In many ways it is quite similar to Matthews Ridge, with a bit smaller population. Matthews Ridge is the closest group to this town, and so we try to get out there to preach when we can. Having so many visiting Matthews Ridge this month provided a nice opportunity to go out and work the Arakaka area in door-to-door preaching. There were 12 of us in all who went. 10 made the trip in a pick-up truck, and the other 2 followed on motorbikes. It’s about a 50 minute drive or so from Matthews Ridge to Arakaka. Since we’re still in the end of rainy season here, the regular rains have kept the dust on the roads down, meaning you arrive in Arakaka a lot cleaner than you would if you made the trip in dry season, driving into a dust-cloud the whole way.
As I was beginning the meeting for field service, I was surprised to see the cruiser we had hired to carry us to Arakaka pull up, it being about 15 minutes earlier than I had asked him to come. (for the interior of Guyana, arriving 15 minutes early is quite an anomaly) I went over to talk to the driver, whose name is Moses. He said to me: ‘We have to lef. Dem boys takin de bridge out at 9:00, and nobody gettin tru till it finish.’ Apparently, it was this particular morning that a crew of workers were planning to take apart and rebuild a log bridge on a stretch of the road that leads to Arakaka. And so after a short meeting for field service, we piled into the truck and jumped on the motorbikes. There was only one board lying across the bed of the cruiser, and at least 3 rows of 3 people each had to fit in there. So we looked around the Kingdom Hall quickly to find a couple more planks we could lay across the bed of the truck as 6 additional seats. I quickly found a nice fat plank about the right length, but it was hard to find a good thick second plank. We were running low on time, so I put on a smaller plank I found that was the right length. I’m wondering if the 3 that got relegated to that undersized seating would rather have sit on the floor of the truck bed, though, because after a number of good bumps in the road it snapped in half.
We reached up to the bridge right at 9:00, just as they were about to start dismantling it. We got through, though, and got into Arakaka at about 9:20. We went to the police outpost and told them we were Jehovah’s Witnesses from Matthews Ridge, and we had come to preach throughout the town. They had no reservations about our plans, and told us to park the two motorbikes in their yard right up against the police station. We split into 3 groups of 4 persons each, and went into different parts of the town. We were imagining our visit to Arakaka might also provide a nice opportunity to make some phone calls, as there is no phone reception in Matthews Ridge, and making the trek out to a hill that does get service near Ridge can be difficult. And so after we were finished preaching in the immediate town area, we went over to the call spot in Arakaka. There are apparently only 2 or 3 spots in Arakaka that get phone reception. And by “spots”, I literally mean spots of about 1 foot in diameter signaled by a dirt patch worn in the grass by those standing in that “call spot”. We all tried unsuccessfully to get calls through at these fabled call spots.
We finished working the immediate town area of Arakaka in a couple of hours, and then started heading back towards Matthews Ridge at about 12:00. Over the next 4.5 hours, we worked many houses alongside the road leading back to Matthews Ridge, as well as witnessing to some who were working dredges for mining gold. We were relieved to see that the road workers had just finished building the new bridge as we traveled back to Matthews Ridge. So many we met in Arakaka, and alongside the road leading to it, voiced their desire to have someone come to study the Bible with them along with their families. We told them we would try to come back as soon as possible. We are sincerely hoping we can work to further develop that interest, but balance is certainly needed so as not to neglect the work in Matthews Ridge itself.
Also this past week, we started painting the interior of the Kingdom Hall in Matthews Ridge and making improvements to the sound system. All those who have come to visit Matthews Ridge were able to help with this work, and it has gone well. So far, we’ve gotten two of the walls painted, built a sound cabinet into the wall in the rear of the auditorium, and routed the wiring from the front of the hall under the floor and up into this new sound box. Over the next few weeks we’re hoping to paint the other two walls and the ceiling of the hall, as well as to hang a large mural painting of the paradise that was painted by Ellie Garner, a sister from America who visited Matthews Ridge at the turn of this past year.
The pictures included with this entry are of the service group getting organized in Arakaka by the cruiser and police station, of painting the inside of the Kingdom Hall, and of Kyle working on the sound cabinet.
As I was beginning the meeting for field service, I was surprised to see the cruiser we had hired to carry us to Arakaka pull up, it being about 15 minutes earlier than I had asked him to come. (for the interior of Guyana, arriving 15 minutes early is quite an anomaly) I went over to talk to the driver, whose name is Moses. He said to me: ‘We have to lef. Dem boys takin de bridge out at 9:00, and nobody gettin tru till it finish.’ Apparently, it was this particular morning that a crew of workers were planning to take apart and rebuild a log bridge on a stretch of the road that leads to Arakaka. And so after a short meeting for field service, we piled into the truck and jumped on the motorbikes. There was only one board lying across the bed of the cruiser, and at least 3 rows of 3 people each had to fit in there. So we looked around the Kingdom Hall quickly to find a couple more planks we could lay across the bed of the truck as 6 additional seats. I quickly found a nice fat plank about the right length, but it was hard to find a good thick second plank. We were running low on time, so I put on a smaller plank I found that was the right length. I’m wondering if the 3 that got relegated to that undersized seating would rather have sit on the floor of the truck bed, though, because after a number of good bumps in the road it snapped in half.
We reached up to the bridge right at 9:00, just as they were about to start dismantling it. We got through, though, and got into Arakaka at about 9:20. We went to the police outpost and told them we were Jehovah’s Witnesses from Matthews Ridge, and we had come to preach throughout the town. They had no reservations about our plans, and told us to park the two motorbikes in their yard right up against the police station. We split into 3 groups of 4 persons each, and went into different parts of the town. We were imagining our visit to Arakaka might also provide a nice opportunity to make some phone calls, as there is no phone reception in Matthews Ridge, and making the trek out to a hill that does get service near Ridge can be difficult. And so after we were finished preaching in the immediate town area, we went over to the call spot in Arakaka. There are apparently only 2 or 3 spots in Arakaka that get phone reception. And by “spots”, I literally mean spots of about 1 foot in diameter signaled by a dirt patch worn in the grass by those standing in that “call spot”. We all tried unsuccessfully to get calls through at these fabled call spots.
We finished working the immediate town area of Arakaka in a couple of hours, and then started heading back towards Matthews Ridge at about 12:00. Over the next 4.5 hours, we worked many houses alongside the road leading back to Matthews Ridge, as well as witnessing to some who were working dredges for mining gold. We were relieved to see that the road workers had just finished building the new bridge as we traveled back to Matthews Ridge. So many we met in Arakaka, and alongside the road leading to it, voiced their desire to have someone come to study the Bible with them along with their families. We told them we would try to come back as soon as possible. We are sincerely hoping we can work to further develop that interest, but balance is certainly needed so as not to neglect the work in Matthews Ridge itself.
Also this past week, we started painting the interior of the Kingdom Hall in Matthews Ridge and making improvements to the sound system. All those who have come to visit Matthews Ridge were able to help with this work, and it has gone well. So far, we’ve gotten two of the walls painted, built a sound cabinet into the wall in the rear of the auditorium, and routed the wiring from the front of the hall under the floor and up into this new sound box. Over the next few weeks we’re hoping to paint the other two walls and the ceiling of the hall, as well as to hang a large mural painting of the paradise that was painted by Ellie Garner, a sister from America who visited Matthews Ridge at the turn of this past year.
The pictures included with this entry are of the service group getting organized in Arakaka by the cruiser and police station, of painting the inside of the Kingdom Hall, and of Kyle working on the sound cabinet.
