The Halfway Mark

Greetings!  At the end of March I had completed month #3 of my assignment - putting me at the halfway mark.  In just a few short months I will be heading back home to the states.

I had a lot going on in March.  So, needless to say it was quite busy.  At the beginning of the month I deviated from my adventures in Guyana to experience some adventures in Suriname.  The immigration laws of the land (Guyana) stipulated that I was only allowed to be in the country for 3 months at a time (depending on what country you're a citizen of the time could be longer).  Once the 3-month period has lapsed a foreigner must leave the country for at least 24 hours before returning, at which time he/she is granted another 3 months.  So, I took a brief trip to neighboring Suriname a few weeks before my initial 3-month period was up.

I only spent 2 days in Suriname.  I wish I could have spent a longer period of time because I really liked it.  Here are a few random shots from around the hotel where I stayed.  They're nothing spectacular but they'll hopefully give you some idea of what it was like there.

I also got to visit and tour the Branch in Suriname.

Here are a few random shots of the lobby area.

Here are 2 of the many people that I met there.

Sandra is the receptionist.

And Naomi was my tour guide.

The tour started here...

This is the Kingdom Hall that is on the grounds of the Branch.

The tour continues....

the shipping department

the automotive department

laundry

the dining room

the library

This is what could be seen as you walk from one building to the next.  There were about 5 buildings in total.

The tour was very nice, as were the friends that I met.  They even called me the next day to make sure that I made it back safely to Guyana.  Very thoughtful indeed!

With my visit to the Branch completing my Suriname experience, we now head back to Guyana where the adventures continue once again.  Before heading back to Georgetown, I stopped over in Berbice (the countryside) for a few days.  This was my second time.  You may recall from my last post that I spent some time in Skeldon, which is an area in Berbice.  This time I stayed in an area called Brighton.  I stayed with a nice couple Tom and Michelle Sanchez.  The accommodations were very cozy.  I could tell that a lot of thought and effort went into preparing my sleeping quarters.  So, I took a few shots of what they looked like.

Cute and cozy, right?

All of my time in the Ministry in Brighton was spent with Michelle on her Bible studies.  Here is one of her students.

This is Corletta.  She is an amzing Bible student - the kind that all publishers wish to have.  She's enthusiastic, she prepares well and she attends all of the meetings.  Her next goal is to join the Theocratic Ministry School.  I think it's only a matter of time before she becomes an unbaptized publisher and subsequently gets baptized.

One day after field service, I took a trip with Michelle to the market and I saw this most unusual sight...

...this man laying on the ground while getting a picture painted on his back - definitely not something you see every day.

And as we were leaving these goats decided to visit the market as well.

Apparently, they come in whenever the market is about to close to partake of the day's scraps left behind.

And then on our way home from the market, look where we stopped.

I literally got to "step over into Macedonia" (Acts 16:9)

And so ends my time in Brighton.

I arrived back in Georgetown a day before the Special Assembly Day, which I attended.

I got to spend a little time with Nikisha (l) and Debra (r) during intermission.

Both of them are in my congregation.  Nikisha and her husband Nicholas are special pioneers.  We preach together regularly.  They have been true lifesavers.  When no one else is out in field service or everyone goes in early, I can almost always depend on them to accompany me so that I can continue my day in the Ministry.  I don't know what I'd do without them.

My 3rd month in Guyana also happened to be the month of the Memorial.  We had an attendance of 212.  My Bible student and her family were part of that number.

This is Belinda.  You may remember her from the 1st post.  She attended with her 3 children.  And she also brought her husband.  I was really happy that the whole family was able to attend.

In the month of March I also gave a talk on the Theocratic Ministry School (no picture).  I also got to do a demonstration on the Service Meeting.

And so ends my activities for the month of March.  See!  I told you I had a busy month. 

Well, I think I'll end here.  Thanks for continuing to follow me on my adventures in Guyana.  Until next time....signing off.

A Pioneer's Paradise

Hello again!

I've now completed month #2 in my assignment.  My adventures in Guyana continue in Skeldon, which is a small area within the village of Berbice.  Berbice is one of the villages in the rural part of the country.  My time there was very brief but I enjoyed it tremendously.

This, as the signs so prominently indicate, is the Kingdom Hall in Skeldon.

This is Melinda, who provided me with lodging accommodations in her home during my stay in Skeldon.  She probably has one of the shortest commutes that I've ever known anyone to have to the Kingdom Hall.  A few short steps out of her front door and she's at the Hall.  Her apartment is directly behind the Kingdom Hall.  (That alone made me want to stay in Skeldon forever, seeing as how I've had my share of long commutes to the Kingdom Hall for a number of years.)  Melinda is originally from new York and is serving in the sign language group.


One difference between the city and the country is the modes of public transportation.  In the country, there are surprisingly no horse drawn carts.  Minibuses are used in the country but not for local travel.  They're used primarily for long distance travel, like between the country and city.  The type of vehicle used for local transport in the country is pictured below.

This is called a tapir.  And they are operated pretty much the same as minibuses, where the passenger capacity is far exceeded.  Tapirs have a 7-8 passenger capacity but it's not uncommon for that capacity to be doubled.  The fare is about the same as the minibus as well - $60=100 Guyanese dollars (about 30-50 cents [USD]).

I got to ride in one, which fortunately was practically empty, to the field service group one morning.

The tapir only could bring us to a certain point and then we had to walk the rest of the way to where the group met.

The group met at a sister's house who has a sugar cane field as her backyard. 

The shallow boats are called punts.  They are used to transport harvested sugar cane by floating the punts through the water to the factory, which can be seen in the distance in the photo above.

The 2005 Yearbook describes Guyana as a "pioneer's paradise".  After having preached in Skeldon, I completely understand why.  The people are so receptive to the good news that we're bringing to them.  Literally everyone that you come in contact with will take the time to listen to what you have to say.  I think that this would make any pioneer happy.  I was ecstatic!

Many of the people will even offer you refreshments.  Since many of them have fruit trees on their property, produce is among the things offered.  One day I went home with a bag full of fruits.

This lady, pictured in the top center of the photo behind the leaves, even climbed up on the awning of her porch to get me a cashew pear (pictured below) from her tree.

Apparently, the cashew nut comes from this fruit.  The brown part, of course, is the cashew.  I wasn't crazy about the taste of the fruit portion but it was kind of cool to learn where cashews come from.

Another thing that is very common in the country is outdoor cooking.  A good majority of cooking is done on this grill/stove of sorts called a fireside.

One last discovery I made in Skeldon was this little cutie pie.

I don't remember her name but she had the greatest dispostion....so sweet and friendly.....and just so cute!

I also took a day trip to another village in the rural part of the country called Vergoenugen (pronounced VER JA NOO JEN).

Preaching there is very similar to that in Skeldon - just about everyone we came in contact with there took time to listen.

We even got to talk to this man who owns this chicken farm.

Here are some of the people in the Vergoenugen congregation.

(l to r) Kelon (who is a special pioneer and used to be in my congregation South Ruimveldt), his mom Wendy (who is in South Ruimveldt) and two other sisters whose names I, unfortunately, do not remember but were very nice.

Back in Georgetown we meet up with Natasha.  She's the newest person that I conduct a Bible study with.

(l to r) Natasha, her mom Marie and Wendy

It took a little time before Natasha agreed to have a Bible study.  When I initially met her, she listened and told me I could come back.  However, on numerous occasions when I did come back, she seemed to have lost interest and kind of blew me off.  So, one day I decided that as a result of her seeming lack of interest I'd visit her once more and if she blew me off again, I would just not come back.  So, when I went even though she said she was very busy, she let us in and we had a great discussion that lasted over an hour and included the consideration of the first 5 paragraphs of Chapter 1 in the Bible Teach book.  Natasha now studies regularly and her mother sits in on all of our discussions.  I'm hoping one day she'll accept the invitation extended to her for her own Bible study.  Natasha definitely keeps me on my toes.  Our discussions have covered everything from whether a person who commits suicide will receive a resurrection to does Jehovah use natural disasters to punish people.  What I appreciate about Natasha is that she's like the Beroeans (Acts 17:11) - after our discussions, she examines the scriptures further on her own to make sure that she's received the truth.  I'm hoping that I'll have more great things to share about her progress throughout the course of the blog.


Well, that's all I have to report for now.  I'm heading to Suriname in a few days.  So, next post will be about my experiences there.  Thank you for watching and reading.  Please tune in next time for another thrilling episode of "Adventures of Guyana".