This post is going to read very strange because I’ve written on it a number of times, each time thinking I was going to post it up, but then being unable. Communicating from here is proving to be one of the biggest challenges. There is a gold company here that has a satellite dish which Stephan is able to use and get online to send and receive emails (at least he had been able to), but he can’t browse the internet, so I can’t post up with that. We recently had our laptops network together so maybe I can access the internet that way. Besides that, Stephan has been gone the last few days. He went with a group of people to the Circuit Assembly in Barimita. They left Friday morning at 5:00 AM and finally reached Barimita at 10:00 AM Saturday (a 32 mile journey). He took his computer so he could show pictures to people there. The arrival of the group created quite a stir (the fact that had traveled 29 hours). Some at Barimita were moved to reexamine their not regularly attending the meetings because they have to walk half an hour to get there.
The three young brothers from Colorado are leaving in a little less than two weeks, so I have encouraged them to think of which of their studies are worth continuing, and then take me with them next week so I can try to fit them in to my schedule. Stephan will be able to take some, but he will be gone for about three weeks, so I will always have to try and handle his best studies as well. Hopefully before he leaves we will be able to figure out some way that I can get online here. Otherwise it will be a matter of only being able to communicate every other week when I go to Port Kaituma.
Things continue to go well here at Matthew’s Ridge. Our living quarters are starting to be livable. We now have a kitchen with sink and counter (L-shaped), bedroom with nice closet (minus the door), and bathroom with working toilet and shower.
Wednesday I went back to Kaituma as planned. I stopped in on a couple of studies we had had when we were there about four years ago. At both places the houses looked very different. At one they had broken down the old house and built a new one, and the other had put on an addition doubling the size of the house. At both places they mentioned how they miss having a Kingdom Hall there, which was a little strange because the one who was most vocal had never gone to the Hall when it was there. Someone had mentioned that maybe when a Kingdom Hall is reestablished there, the appreciation for it may be greater; Also the location of the first Hall left much to be desired, so hopefully a next one will be better.
I spent a lot of time trying to find and purchase things we needed to work on the house (I was successful), then I went somewhere I could sit and try and get online with my laptop and phone. I was successful, but it was really slow so I didn’t even get to open all my emails and I hadn’t taken anything to try and post up. The first time I had gone, I was able to get home in about an hour and a half. So I wanted to leave for home shortly after four as I wanted to get back before dark. Shortly before I was going to leave it started to rain. That would be bad enough, but the road turns to muck when it gets wet, so I was sliding all over the road and it took about three hours, so I arrived home much after dark.
We had a special treat because one of the women who studied in Kaituma gave me a whole chicken and some greens. It was the first time we had eaten meat in over two weeks. Friday we were happy to have four more sisters arrive here at the Ridge. Three are here for a week and are staying at the hotel, two are from Colorado, Hannah Hoyle and Cameron Gros, and one is from Wyoming, Chian Johnson. The other is from our old congregation in New York, Aletha Walters. She will be staying with us for six weeks.
Saturday there were twelve of us out in the preaching work. I’m sure that’s the largest group the Ridge has ever seen. I spoke to a woman in her shop and she mentioned she tried to read her bible every day. She mentioned that she was reading the book of Job now. I asked her if she remembered what happened to Job in the end. She said that God blessed him. I asked if she ever looked close at how he blessed him. I showed her how god had doubled all his livestock holdings, but only gave him the same number of children. I asked her why she thought that was. She said she couldn’t say so I asked her what she thought was going to happen to Job and she said that God would resurrect him. I then asked her when he resurrected his children, how many will he have and she thought a minute and then smiled and said, “twenty brother.” I asked her if she would like me to come to study the bible with her and she mentioned that she and her whole family went to the Pentecostal Church and it would cause problems if she were to study with me. But then she said she loved talking about the bible and I was welcome to stop in any time to discuss it with her. So that is what I will do, we just won’t call it a study. The nice thing is her shop isn’t that far away, and she is always there in her shop.
We had decided we needed more benches so we cut up material for them and took it to the man who had made the others. Saturday he sent word that he needed some more pieces, which I couldn’t understand because I knew we had taken enough. I was busy so I couldn’t do it then, but Sunday morning I woke up early and decided to cut the material and take it down. When I got there I saw he had made these different so that’s why he ran short. I asked him when they would be ready and he said in a couple of hours. So I sent two of the guys down later to pick them up. I guess it’s a matter of, “If you built them, they will come.” We had 73 at the meeting Sunday, so the benches were filled. Some had come across from Barimita, and a few who had studied in Port Kaituma came up on a bus. One of the women, (the one who had given us the chicken) mentioned that she is going to try and come every other Sunday.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, but we will be traveling in to ‘town the end of the month for a Circuit Assembly and I will try and post up plenty then. Everyone is doing well here and hope that is true for all of you as well.
