New Schedule

This was our first week of the new meeting arrangement and schedule. Tuesday and Thursday seemed very strange to pass without having a meeting. One nice thing though was we didn’t have anyone show up either of those days expecting a meeting. Then Saturday morning we had our first meeting with the study of Jehovah’s Day book, the School, and then the Service meeting. One reason we had given for going to the Saturday morning meeting was that we felt that there is less of a chance of rain in the morning than in the afternoon. But seeing as we are in the middle of rainy season, it was raining Saturday morning. In spite of that we had 30 come for the meeting. Then we had 54 on Sunday.One newcomer on Sunday was a man Eugene had spoken to while out in the ministry on Wednesday. He had invited him to come and he came with his wife and two children. He said he might be away this next Sunday, but when he is here, he plans on attending the meeting. Another group who came had been invited by a woman Terri studies with. Her man had come the week before, and when I was there for a study with another individual Tuesday, I had heard he was there3 but sleeping in another house. I saw him walking by the house later that day and he asked me why I hadn’t included him in the discussion. I said I had thought of it, but was told he was sleeping. He told me next time, to be sure to get him up. He said he planned on being at the meeting Sunday.Sunday I didn’t see him so I asked and was told he had not returned from the backdam (anywhere in the bush they go searching for gold). I saw him on the road today and told him I missed him Sunday. He told me that he had not made it back in time, but hoped to be there this Sunday. Then he asked me if we hadn’t finished the study articles in the Watchtower we had been using. I told him we had, and he asked about getting the one for this week because he wanted to be able to look it over ahead of time. I assured him that I would get one to him.With all the rain, there is a lot of sickness going around, Everything from malaria due to the increase of mosquitoes, to the common cold. I had experience a scratchy throat the middle of the week. I was worried that it would develop into a full-blown cold, but it seems that I may have dodged that bullet.We recently learned that rather than leaving Monday as originally planned, Krystal is going to be spending another three weeks with us. We will be getting another visitor from the Warwick congregation, Jared Karas. He is coming to the Ridge on the 23rd and will be traveling back together with Krystal on the 2nd of February. I think that could be a very timely visit because somewhere about that time, Stephan is planning a trip into Georgetown to get himself a motorbike. So having another brother here to assist with the meeting will be great.As of now, once Krystal leaves, we have no one else scheduled to visit us. But hopefully that will change. We just got a letter from a sister in our congregation and her first words were about how enthusiastic Aletha was when she returned, and how she comments so well at the meetings now. We were encouraged to think that we had been able to play a part in her spiritual growth.In my last post I had mentioned our new Year’s Text. I am including a picture of Krystal with her finished project. Since at present the whole inside of the hall is natural wood, there isn’t the contrast that I could have hoped for. But if in the future we paint the inside, then the sign will be set off nicely. But again, or main goal was to make something that could be easily changed from year to year.

New Publisher

Well it’s a new year. One of the tasks associated with a new year is getting the new year’s text put up in the Kingdom Hall, “Bear Thorough Witness to the Good News – Acts 20:24”. A sister who had been here early on, had hand-painted the old text. I had thought about what we would do this year. I decided that I didn’t want to have to paint out the previous years text and letter in a new one each year, so I turned the sign over and planed it to a smooth finish. I then put a clear sealer on it. I was happy to see a beautiful wood grain pattern come out. Krystal then made letters using black electrical tape. This way we can just peel off the old and put on new each year.We have had added another unbaptized publisher to our ranks. Eugene Smith has joined us in the preaching work. He has been on the Theocratic Ministry School since I arrived. A while ago I had been discussing his spiritual goals with him and asked him what was holding him back from joining us in the preaching work, since I knew he was always talking to various ones about what he was learning. He said there was nothing holding him back, he just liked to take things in a deliberate manner. He mentioned he had planned to start when he finished studying his second book, but now he had changed books, so it was going to be longer. I asked about thoughts of baptism and he said he was hoping to be baptized at the next Special Assembly Day in Mabaruma in April. I told him that if that was the case, he needed to get moving on the preaching work, since before one can be baptized, they should have been preaching for a period of time. I think that kind of surprised him, as I could see him doing some quick thinking.I let a little time pass and then I asked him again about his plans. He smiled and said he had spoken to Stephan about it. He said he was going to start in December, he had wanted to surprise me. Well, December was rapidly drawing to an end, so I asked him again what was happening. He said, “The first of the year.” I arranged to meet with him after the meeting Sunday to go over the questions. Afterwards I mentioned that if he were to join the group Wednesday, he could turn in a report for December and have announced at the next Service Meeting that he was now an unbaptized publisher. He said that would be fine.Wednesday was a Kaituma day. However I had decided that I wasn’t going to be taking the bike there until the weather dried out, instead I would take a bus or cruiser. I asked Stephan if he would care to alternate visits with me, and he said he would. Since he is planning a trip into Georgetown later in the month, I suggested he go this time. So I was able to stay back to go out with the group here. It was raining in the morning, so I was glad I wasn’t trying to take my bike to Kaituma. I worried whether Eugene would come out in the rain, but right at 9:30 he came walking up. We worked together and after the first door, he walked ahead of me so he could reach the houses first and start the talking. At one point we were waiting for the sisters to finish at a door so we could talk about which way to go next, and Eugene said to me, “I’m going to go over to that house to see if anyone is there.” And off he went to try and find someone else to talk to. Afterwards, he told us it was even better than he had imagined.When Stephan returned from Kaituma, he assured me that I should be thankful I hadn’t tried to take my bike. It rained most of the way there and back, and the road was a mess. He mentioned though how hard it is to be at the mercy of the drivers. They hadn’t gotten there until 10:30 and the driver said he was planning on leaving at 1:00. So Stephan had to cut the study with those there short so he could be back to where he was to meet the driver. When he got there he was told they wouldn’t be leaving until 2:00, and it was close to 3:00 when they left. He said Carolyn had said she really wished we could come and give a Public Talk and Watchtower Study. I told Stephan that maybe sometime when we have extra help, we will try to arrange that. Also with the beginning of a new year, is a new Examining the Scriptures Daily. Since getting literature deliveries is a challenge here in the interior, our new Daily texts haven’t arrived. However this year the Watchtower Library on CD-ROM contained the daily texts through the end of February. So I was able to cut and paste the day’s texts and comments into a Word document and then print that out to give to all those who keep up the program of considering a scripture each day. I also printed out a picture of Eugene’s first day out preaching to go with one that had been given to Mary of her first day. He was very surprised to receive it, since Mary’s had been mailed back to her from the states. I have included a copy for the blog.

New Student

In my last posting I had mentioned how the rain was impacting my Kaituma trip. This last time, on the way back, the road was again quite wet. I ended up dumping the bike again and then a short while later I realized that the back tire was going flat. So now I am in the middle of the jungle with a flat tire. Needless to say, you don’t just call AAA, or anyone else for that matter, since there is no phone service, plus really no one to call anyways. I ended up walking and riding with difficulty about six miles until I happened on a vehicle which had drove out to where he could get phone signal. I spoke to him and then continued on a little farther to where there is a shop by a junction in the road. I waited there until the vehicle came by and between the driver, myself, and the shop owner, we were able to load the bike into the back and take it the rest of the way home.The next day I took the wheel off and then the tire. I was able to buy a new tube and when I inspected the inside of the tire, I could find nothing wrong. The only thing I can figure is that when I dumped the bike, something struck the valve stem and caused it to start to leak. Now I have purchased a small air pump that I will travel with. If I had had that with me, I might have been able to pump the tire up and then drive for a distance before having to stop and repeat it. I think I will also get a tube repair kit and travel with the tools needed to do a field repair.Last Saturday when we were in service, I met a man who mentioned that he used to come to the old Kingdom Hall. I told him he should come to see the new one, as well as meet some whom he might remember from the old days. He asked me what time the meeting was and I told him 10:30. He said he would come (which many often say). I was pleasantly surprised to see him there Sunday, sitting with my study Michael who once again came with his whole entourage. We had sixty one in spite of the weather.We have recently started to give some attention to the young ones who are coming to the meeting. Many of the adults have issues which will make it difficult to make progress with the congregation (ie, not married and unable to get birth certificate so they can marry). As a result, one young girl has joined the school, and there is a young boy who I think will do so shortly. I think it will make a real impression when the community sees young ones serious about spiritual things.I have started spending time after my study with one man, going through the Watchtower helping him find answers that he can give during the meeting. Last week, he not only commented with the answers we had prepared, but also commented once on his own. This week when he gave me his Watchtower at the study, I saw he had already been trying to go through it. I commended him because in fact he had already had one answer correctly underlined. To appreciate it though, you have to realize how limited his education is. He never attended school, but many times in the study, he finds a scripture before I do. We just finished the Require brochure, and I asked him if he could imagine himself going out preaching with the congregation. He said he could, but he wasn’t ready yet, he needed ‘more teachings’.Communication continues to be an issue. I had thought that it would just be a matter of driving out half an hour to where I could get signal. But the last time I was in Kaituma, I wasn’t able to get online. A few days later, I drove out to try and again was unsuccessful, as was the case a couple days later when I again drove out. I was able to get phone signal, so I called customer service to ask if others had reported the problem with data transmission from the Kaituma tower. I was informed that they don’t offer data services through their remote towers. I mentioned that it had worked fine until recently, and I also said I had asked before purchasing the plan since I was going to be in the interior, and I had been told it was available. I was asked the name of the person who had told me that, which of course I didn’t know. Then Sunday morning I drove out once again, and everything worked fine. Such is the challenge of the interior of Guyana. As long as I keep my focus on the ministry I’m fine since there are no disappoints there. So just be aware that if you don’t see anything new from me, rather than get worried that something has happened, just figure that I am having trouble getting through to the internet.. With the communication issues, we have all started using the email server that Stephan has for use over limited connection speed, such as a satellite phone, or as is our case, a cell phone. So if you care to write (and I very much appreciate any communication that we get) just use the address advkingdom@ocens.net. Then include our name in the subject line since we are all sharing the same address. As I am inclined to point out from time to time, this blog serves in lieu of individual emails, so email etiquette dictates that every time you read an entry, you owe me an email. But I won’t hold you to that, just please don’t abandon us. With all the rain we have been getting lately, everything is always damp, and the moisture is taking its toll. Recently my cell phone started acting up, and now the trackball control only works in three directions, so I’ve lost access to many of the functions on the phone. Fortunately the most important ones are still accessible. Then my digital camera quit working. I put it over the condensing coils on the freezer to try and dry it out and it started working again. I have to be more careful of leaving things in my backpack which gets damp when it rains.I am including a picture of our newest student on the school, her name is Sonia Scott.

C.O.

This is the first time that we have been here before the Christmas holiday. It feels very strange to us since there is hardly anything to remind you of that event. Obviously the weather is not what we are used to as the holiday approaches. Also we are not being bombarded with Christmas music everywhere we go. I understand a few of the shops have hung some lights, but I haven't seen that. I find it a real relief.

Speaking of weather, ours has changed. We are getting much more rain, as is to be expected since Dec. – Jan. is rainy season. The good news is it's not nearly so hot since the sun isn't shinning. The bad news is the mud, clothes don't dry very well, meeting attendance suffers, and it's harder walking through the bush trying to hold an umbrella. I'm also concerned how this will impact my Kaituma trips. Last time I went, it had rained before I left so the road was wet. Several times I would feel the bike slipping on the mud so I was taking it easy. But suddenly, before I knew what was happening, the back went out from under me and I was down. Fortunately, my bike has a number of guards on it, so nothing was damaged on the bike or rider except for a couple of the guards which were bent slightly. If a day comes when it is raining before I leave, I will probably take a bus there and back. But then you are at the mercy of the driver as to when you arrive and when you leave, in addition to the added expense ($6,000 GYD).

Sunday some from Kaituma came up on a bus for the Circuit Overseer's talk. I was also very happy to see my study Michael, the one who used to have to walk four hours, coming along with his woman, a couple of daughters-in-law, and a few small children. We ended up with 70 in attendance. I had hoped for more, but again, as I mentioned the rain tends to keep some away. When I was completing the service report for last month, I couldn't help but be impressed when I saw that between the three of our local publishers, two of which aren't yet baptized, they are conducting thirteen Bible studies. The Circuit Overseer was amazed at all the studies being conducted here (over fifty). As he said it, we are conducting studies with two congregations here (many of the congregations in the interior are about 25 publishers). I don't remember the early days of Mabaruma as being like that when it comes to the locals having studies.

Speaking of Mabaruma, we recently received word that Rasheeda is engaged to one of the special pioneers assigned there, Bro. Gomes. When Compton told me, I said, “That was quick”. He agreed. He mentioned that Rayburn had only recently mentioned to him that they were dating, and then about three days later, he told him they were engaged.

I had mentioned to some of the others here that one nice benefit of being in a small group like we have is that when the Circuit Overseer comes you get a lot of his attention. I asked him if he would help with the annual pioneer meeting and he said he would be happy to. I asked if his wife had had the meeting yet, and he said she hadn’t, so she joined us as well. After the meeting someone decided they wanted a picture, then everyone got their cameras, then someone suggested we set them on timed delay. That ended up being a project because every one worked a little different, so it took several attempts with several cameras before everyone had a picture. I am including the resulting shot.

Note from state-side web helper: There has been difficulty in getting emails through in the past, and therefore a December 2 entry was late getting posted to this blog, but is now there, hopefully in the proper order, according to email date.

Visitors

I am just writing up a short post as I am going to try to drive out to find a place where everyone goes from here to get signal. I’m hoping that my phone will be able to also get signal so we can send and receive emails easier than me having to go all the way to Kaituma. So if you are reading this, I guess I was successful.The biggest news here right now is visitors. Both received and anticipated. Krystal O’Keefe arrived safely here last Wednesday. She is really adjusting well and seems to be enjoying her visit. The young girls in the Hall really are loving her.Monday, she walked with Stephan and myself out to our farthest studies in the bush. It is an hour each way. So now she can definitely say that she has been in the jungles of South America.The other anticipated visitors are Bro. & Sis. Rainey, our Circuit Overseer and his wife. They are scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning and be with us until Monday. Bro. Rainey said he would help me with the annual pioneer meeting, so that should be a treat for those here. Especially since Krystal will be missing her meeting back in Warwick.I have completed closing off the wall between the two apartments, so we can no longer just talk over the wall as easily, but it does give the place more of a finished feel, although it is a far way from being finished. When Paul was here, he reminded me that I should be happy that there was so much work to be done on our living quarters, as this way I have been able to make it the way I want it, and it feels more like it’s mine.I have been really encouraging all my studies to come to the meeting this weekend to hear Bro. Rainey. I have been telling them it’s like the ‘Bishop’ is coming to visit Matthew’s Ridge. It will be interesting to see how many actually do come.I’m attaching a photo of Krystal in the jungle just so all her friends know that she really is here with us.

I have sent this back with Aletha and asked her to post it up for me, and since she will have a decent internet connection, there should be pictures!!
Stephan has returned from his trip out. He had stayed in ‘town for a week after the Assembly. Actually he had gone to Henrietta. While there, he had attended another Circuit Assembly along with the three brothers who had been here (they have since returned to the states). After that he had flown to Barbados where he spent a week with his family who had flown in from the states (sweet).
While in Henrietta, he had learned that a woman who had lived here at the Ridge for a number of years, and had been one of the principle ones keeping the work active here was living nearby. Her name is Carolyn Walker and we had met her and spent time with her when we visited Matthew’s Ridge almost four years ago. She had taken us around to different ones so we could speak to them and invite them to a talk I was going to give the next day. I remembered how she had cried when she first met us because she was so happy to have witnesses visiting the Ridge.
Stephan was able to make arrangements to visit her and have a study with her. When he told her how things were progressing here, and that Doris was baptized and Stephanie is an unbaptized publisher, she said, "That should be me! I have been involved with the truth longer than any of them. What am I doing?" She has been working as a security person for a private company and has been working seven days a week, twelve hours a day. She said that she was going to start taking Sunday off so she can attend the meeting. Also Stephan had taken a local brother with him, so now the congregation knows where she is, and hopefully can continue to encourage and assist her. Stephan said it had been very enjoyable being able to share with her all the latest goings on here at the Ridge.
On a less positive note, it appears that we may have lost our access to the internet here at Matthew’s Ridge. Stephan had been able to go to a nearby company that had a satellite dish with internet access and they let him use it since they had paid for unlimited usage. For some reason, none of the rest of us could get our computers to work with it. But this last time he went, the modem would not connect. The thinking is that the subscription has run out, and there are no ‘big’ people there any more, so no reason for the company to renew. If that is the case, it will mean the only opportunity to post up, and even email people will be every other week when I am in Kaituma.
For those familiar with Mabaruma, we have recently heard that three brothers from California are there for three months, so now there are five brothers living in the house there. Rasheeda and Alexandra have moved into what used to be Will’s house in the back, quite a change from a house full of sisters with only one or two brothers there. It will also be nice since it will be Guyanese taking the lead, and some ‘white’ brothers there working under them.
I can’t think of much new and exciting to report from here. I finally was able to put a couple of coats of polyurethane sealer on half of the floor of the Kingdom Hall. It has just been the raw wood and wet mopping it has been neither good for it nor real effective in keeping it clean. We tried to clean it as best we could and then put the sealer on it. I said if it didn’t look that good, we could always paint over it, but once it was painted, there would be no chance to try and have the natural wood look. It looks quite good right now, only time will tell how it holds up. But it should make cleaning the floor much easier.
I’ve selected four pictures. One is of Terri’s first class teaching ones to read and write. Also I’ve included a picture of me after one of my trips on my bike to Kaituma when the road was dusty. There is a picture of Aletha giving a talk on the school. The last one (but the order might be different so you will have to figure which is which) is a picture of a critter that Terri saw across the road from our house..
I am encouraging Aletha to go through her pictures and in a few days post some up along with thoughts on her experience, so hopefully you will get to see more.

The Latest From the Ridge

PAUL & GROUP

We recently had a visitor here at Matthew’s Ridge. Paul Donlan who had been in Kaituma for a number of years and was a primary force behind getting things going again here at the Ridge, stopped in for a short visit. He had been in Georgetown for their Circuit Assembly and got in touch with the person who had purchased the building in Kaituma from him. He told the man he had all the documentation for finalizing the sale and would come to Kaituma if the man had the balance of the money. The man said he did, so Paul flew into Kaituma, completed the sale and then came up to the Ridge to see the building (he had not seen it completed) and then flew back to ‘town'. It was nice to see him. We had spent three months with him and his wife in Kaituma four years ago.

Well, it is official, the internet connection is finished here at the ridge. Stephan went a few days ago to try again and learned it had been a six-month package they had had, and it has indeed expired. So that option is gone and he didn’t have much time left on his satellite phone so he decided to let Paul take it with him to see if it would work in Lethem where Paul currently is. I have installed the email program that Stephan has been using on his computer with the satellite connections to see if it might make sending and receiving emails with my cell phone faster. It usually takes me about ten minutes to send or receive an email. I’m hoping that if it does work, I might even be able to send a picture or two which can then be posted up for me.

This past Wednesday, since it wasn’t a Kaituma day, Stephan and I took the bike to Arakaka, and from there a boat to a place called fourteen mile. Since we still had a number of the tracts left, we were continuing to hand them out. It was interesting because we got to see several working gold operations. A number were what they called dredges, where they shoot streams of water against a bank and then pump the resulting muddy water into a box where the gold will settle to the bottom, but everything else washes out. The plan is that the Wednesdays that I don’t go to Kaituma, we will try to go to outlying areas and reach people who may not have been preached to. I think Stephan is hoping to get a bike as well, because the two of us are a bit much for my small bike, especially when the going gets difficult, as it may if we try to reach remote areas. After the first of the year when we go to the new meeting arrangement, we may even try some overnight trips to be able to extend our range.

I have been busy the last couple of days doing some work in the house after Aletha left and before Krystal arrives to upgrade our guest room a bit. I made a real door for the room and am hoping to add some more storage space as well. I am also working to finish all the interior walls in our side. When Aletha was here, one of her walls was just a tarp.

It was nice this Sunday, one of my studies commented at the Watchtower for the first time. Now if I can just get him to raise his hand and wait to be called on.