Wednesday afternoon I was sitting outside the house reading a book when I heard a vehicle stop out front. I looked over a saw a bus parked in front, so I got up to walk to the front to see what was going on. As I was walking over, I saw Sherwin Gordon walking up the steps. He had originally been in Kaituma, but when the Donlans left Kaituma, rather than be there alone, he had gone to Mabaruma. More recently he had been in Georgetown. He said that he had returned for a visit to Kaituma and then was going to be going back to stay in Mabaruma, but thought he’d first come for a visit to Matthew’s Ridge.He had been here for a couple of weeks while the building was being built, but he hadn’t seen it completed. He asked where Stephan was, and was surprised and a little disappointed when he learned he was away. Thursday in normally a off day for me, but he mentioned that he was hoping to spend some time preaching, so we went out and worked some outlying areas since he said he enjoyed walking. We ended up finding only one place with people at home, but were able to have a nice discussion with the one we did find home.Friday morning, Krystal and I went to the airstrip to await the arrival of Jared. Due to the morning fog (not rain), the plane was delayed, but he did arrive about 45 minutes late. It was nice because while we were waiting, a man approached me and asked if I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was at the airstrip hoping to get a lift across to Barimita. He mentioned he studies there, so we had a nice discussion while we were waiting. I told him I hoped to make it across, in fact I was definitely going to be there for the Special Assembly Day, May 10th. When we got back from the airstrip, everyone grabbed a quick bite and went off on studies. I took Sherwin with me and we had four studies. Three of mine, plus I did one of Stephan’s. Saturday’s meeting was nice. I had originally planned on having Jared just do the parts that had been assigned to Stephan, but with the addition of Sherwin, everyone had a reduced load. I had first met Sherwin when we were in Kaituma five years ago. He was just starting to come to the meetings and struggling with his limited education. Since then, he has gotten baptized and has been serving as a regular pioneer for over a year. There were times while the Dolan’s were back in Ireland, that he had had to do the meetings all by himself, and the experience really has contributed to his excellent spiritual development. He actually left school early to devote his time to the ministry, but he has progressed way beyond what the schools here could have done for him.We had our first Saturday afternoon meeting for Service since we adjusted the meeting schedule. Previously we had met a 9:30 on Saturdays. We had announced the new arrangement last week and mentioned that if some wanted to, they could bring a light snack with them to the meeting Saturdays, to have after the meeting, before going out in the ministry, but I didn’t see anyone other than us worrying about eating after the meeting. It was nice to see 100% participation, including our newest addition, Sonia Scott. You may recall that she recently had enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School. Saturday and Sunday have both been dry so the mud is starting to dry up a little. It has really made cleaning the floor of the Kingdom Hall much easier. Jared gave the talk Sunday, I did the Watchtower, and Sherwin read for me. We had 56 in attendance, including Doris’ husband. There was also a young man who had come a couple of weeks ago with his father, but I hadn’t seen either since then. I had told myself when I saw him there, that I was going to see if he wanted a bible study. But after the meeting I got distracted and then remembered, but when I looked around he had already gone. I went outside hoping that I might see him and found Sherwin already talking to him about a study, so I will see how it goes with Sherwin, and then either Stephan or I can continue it if it seems promising. Sherwin would be such an asset here at Matthew’s Ridge, unfortunately there is no work for him here. When he goes to Mabaruma, he will be working part-time for Brother Baxter in his lumber mill. He will do well there, it’s just his involvement here would help to start overcoming the objection that some try to raise here, that this is a “white man’s church”. The same had been true in Mabaruma, but now there are no white people there.Last night, we were discussing the arrangements for Monday. We were figuring who would go with who when we walked out to our far studies. Krystal had mentioned that Jared could go to one of the studies and then next week, he could go to the other one. I had to remind her that this would be the last time she would be walking out to those studies. That realization kind of came as a shock to her. She has mentioned she is not looking forward to having to leave. After the Sunday meeting, she mentioned a young girl approached her and said she would really like Krystal to study with her. She had to tell her that she was going to be leaving, so she wouldn’t be able to do that. Truly the words ring true here, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” I had recently received an email from a couple in British Columbia (as in Canada) who had come across the blog while trying to find information on Kingdom Halls in Guyana. They are considering coming to Guyana to assist in the preaching work. They thanked me for maintaining the site. As I have mentioned before, it makes me feel good to know that people are enjoying and benefiting from this journal.This week’s picture is another group shot. It is of everyone going out in service Saturday afternoon. Sonia is in the front with Doris, then Mary, with Stephanie and Eugene behind her. In the back, from left to right are, Terri, Krystal, Jared, and Sherwin.
