Rainy season continues here in Matthews Ridge, giving us a good amount of rain on a regular basis. When the rain does come, though, it usually doesn’t last too long, and so it is usually just a good time for a little break.
Last Tuesday Evelyn Daniels, the Bible student mentioned in the last entry, was buried. About 60 people came for the talk and burial. A number of scriptures explaining the truth about death that the Bible teaches were presented, and a good witness was given. It was my first time attending a Guyanese burial, and it was quite interesting. They brought the coffin to someone’s house that lives right next to the burial ground. There they opened the coffin, which they put on top of two bottle crates, for viewing the body. Then we went over to the burial site, where they lowered the coffin into the ground. Well, almost. They lowered the coffin down to almost the bottom, and realized the hole wasn't quite long enough in one spot. And so they had to hoist it back up and a boy jumped down in the hole and dug it a little longer. Once the coffin who resting on the bottom, they started filling the dirt back. One of the local burial customs here that is that after the coffin is lowered, most people come over and pick up a handful of dirt and throw it in. Then a crew of men takes turns digging all the dirt back into the hole.
Some interesting developments have taken place here regarding the process through which the Guyanese government grants visas to foreign volunteers. The Ministry of Home Affairs has told the brothers at the Branch Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Guyana that they can only sponsor 50 volunteers to stay long-term, which means more than three months. Andrew, and Tyler and Cheri, were happy to be among those sponsored by the branch office. I was not sponsored, but there are other options those who are not sponsored can take, and so I look forward to seeing how things will develop in the coming weeks and months. On Tuesday I flew to Georgetown, on my way out of Guyana. Tuesday night I was able to attend a meeting with the Soesdyke congregation which meets in Pearl, a village south of Georgetown. Our circuit overseer, Leon Stevens, is serving that congregation this week. After the meeting, he talked to me a bit about the situation with the new law. I found encouraging a scripture he read to me, Proverbs 21:1, which reads: “A king’s heart is as streams of water in the hand of Jehovah. Everywhere that he delights to, he turns it.” Br. Stevens encouraged me to trust in Jehovah and be confident that he will work things out in the way he sees fit. The expansion of the good news despite various hindrances from human governments is certainly a faith-strengthening thing to see!
The pictures included with this week’s entry are of Tyler studying with a boy named Bobnesta, and of Cheri helping with the read and write class after the Sunday meeting.
