Obviously the big news this week is Matthew’s Ridge. We made it down to Kumaka at 7:30 AM on Tuesday. Terri had planned on picking some things up in the market while we waited for a boat to Kaituma. But as soon as we got there and walked over to the waterfront to see about a boat, a boat pulled up all loaded and ready to go. The driver said he could take two more if we were ready to go so we jumped in.
I thought we would get to Kaituma nice and early, but then we stopped to get gas along the way and sat there for 45 minutes.When we finally got to Kaituma, Dirk was waiting at the landing. He said he had a bus lined up and he was going to be leaving soon. So Terri did a little shopping in Kaituma, because everything is more expensive, if even available, at the Ridge.
We were soon underway and heading off in a minibus, which was nice because we rode through a few showers. We had to head towards Aracaca before going to the Ridge, but we only went part way, so it only added about half an hour. We arrived at Matthew’s Ridge about 1:30. One thing that I noticed as soon as we went inside the house was how hot it was in the house. I had been hoping that having the ceiling higher would have made a noticeable difference. But the sun beating on the metal roof just radiates the heat throughout the inside of the house.
It was nice though to see how far the project had come since we had last seen it. The exterior was pretty well completed.Inside, the wall between the Kingdom Hall and the first apartment was about 2/3 completed. There were no interior walls in the first apartment. The far apartment had all the interior partitions up, but no boards on. Rather they had put up tarps for all the walls. The kitchen sink was in and piped up, so we had running water for cooking and washing dishes. Richard Cruz moved out of his room so Terri and I could stay in that.
We had to soon think of getting ready for the meeting, because the meeting is at 4:30, so everyone can get back home before it gets too dark. We had the bookstudy in the Revelation Book. We had twenty nine in attendance. Six of us in the house (Dirk had ridden up with us to see the Ridge before leaving Guyana), one unbaptised publisher, and the rest either bible studies or visitors. I had forgotten what the meeting could be like with these new groups.
Wednesday, Dirk headed back to Kaituma bright and early. He took with him the big job box that Mitch had shipped all the tools for building the hall with. A few items were held back to help complete things here, but most were sent off. Dirk is going to put it on a boat back to Georgetown, were Paul will pick it up and send off to Letham were they may be building a new building come January.
Later in the morning, Stephen, Blake, Richard, and I got a ride to Aracaca to give invitations to the Memorial. It was the first time I had made it all the way there. Aracaca sits on the Barima River. In fact I wondered while I was there if Joe and company had reached that far in their boat trip. I will find out when we get back to Mabaruma. We met several people who mentioned that they had come last year and they would come again this year. We also met a man whose brother lives in Kaituma. Their grandfather was mentioned as one of the first witnesses in Guyana. We took a little break at his shop to wait out a passing shower. He treated us all to sodas.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for the Memorial. We took part of the wall between the hall and the first apartment down so we could use the first apartment for overflow seating. I commented that this would work well because after all the benches were taken back out we could figure out where to locate the interior walls. I worked Thursday wiring in lights in the apartment for the Memorial. Friday I worked on installing a railing around the deck on the front of the hall as well as on the stairs. I ended up finishing up the railing Saturday morning. Friday afternoon we brought a bunch of benches from the local school to accommodate all the extra people we were expecting for the Memorial. Friday we also had a number of local ones come help to prepare the hall for the Memorial. We had no idea what to expect for the Memorial attendance. Last year there were 185 who came. The invitation had 6:30 on it, but I was told that was not the actual time for the start. It seemed a little strange, but I was told that was the way it was done every year. So when 6:30 came, we probably had 20 people at the Kingdom Hall. Even Doris, our only unbaptised publisher didn’t arrive until about 6:50. We started at 7:00 PM. Our attendance ended up at 106. We didn’t have any sitting in the apartment area. I said that there won’t have to be a big concern for next year about what to do, since taking down a wall won’t be an option, as the apartment will be finished then. We sat around speculating why it was so much lower this year. I favor the idea that in the past, everyone knew it was a once a year thing, since there was no Kingdom Hall here. But with the hall here, there was more of an idea that you might be getting involved in something, so some may have chosen to stay away. I know the attendance at Mabaruma has gone down since the novelty of it has worn off. Tomorrow I will be giving the Public Talk. I figured as long as I’m here, I might as well give the brothers here a little break. Monday I hope to spend some more time out in the ministry here, just getting a feel for things here to help us in deciding where we will return to when we come back next time.
Tuesday we will travel back to Mabaruma. I will try to post up some pictures Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m hoping to send this out to someone to post it up for me. If you are reading this before Tuesday, I must have succeeded.Here’s hoping all are well and your Memorial was a time of reflection and appreciation.
