Hey everyone! To Anita and Ernie- thank you for the nice update from Beaumont! We are excited to hear that Allison and April are going to pioneer! Its great to know that the international conventions bore good fruitage in those who were able to go. We look forward to hearing some of the experiences! (wink wink)
Our convention is this weekend Aug 21-23. We have been doing the invitation campaign for the past 2 weeks. We have a very large territory and so not all will be covered. The area’s further into the countryside will not receive any invitations but news of any event spreads very fast here so we know that most families will have knowledge of the event. In fact there was even a commercial on TV about it, so now there are very few who don’t know about it. One good thing about being in a small country, sometimes the media does the work for us!
The response to the invitation is always very positive. Most people we speak of making plans to attend. We are told there are about 1200 Witnesses in this region but they are expecting nearly twice that many to attend the convention. We were able to go help out at the convention site so we already have picked out where we are going to sit. That’s right, we take the best seats first! None of that waiting to be offered a better seat business, heh.
One good things about the invitation work is that we have had an opportunity to go thought the territory more quickly and so have talked to more people than normal. You see normally we only get a small area done each morning since we get invited in often and sometimes talk for a half hour or more. But since the start of the campaign we have started about 6 bible studies between us. There are also 3-5 other potential ones depending on if we can get them on a schedule. So here are a few of the experiences we have had the past few weeks. The First two are Lara’s and the last is Mine.
1) One Saturday morning during the campaign I spoke with a man named
James. He accepted the invitation and asked if I could stay to discuss the Bible. Apologetically I had to decline since we were trying the move fast to cover the territory. He said he badly wanted one question answered. His question was
“why is it that when I go to all the churches in the area (he named several so called Christian churches) that the pastor goes on and on and on but Not Once! Not Once! does he read something from the Bible and explain it! Not Once!!” he kept repeating.
It was evident in his facial expressions and tone of voice how desperate and frustrated he was. During the discussion I read him Matt 7 about how many people would call on Jesus and he would deny knowing them to show that there would be people claiming to worship God and yet will be unacceptable to him. As I read those verses to him he stated to repeated the words to me from memory. He has read and studied much of the Bible on his own but not learned anything from a church.
He then asked,
“Where can I learn the truth about God and the Bible?” He kept on repeating this to me. I also found out that he has never spoke with Jehovah’s Witnesses before. I told him that my husband and I could return to help him learn about the Bible. He gave me his phone number. The next day, Mike and I returned. We were there about an hour, reading and discussing scriptures. James told us he has studied almost every religion in the area- Muslim, Hindu, Catholicism, and numerous so-called Christian churches. It was very clear he was searching and for a long while. He readily accepted a Bible study and is making plans to attend the convention this weekend!
2) Last week while also in the campaign work I met a young woman named
Nadira who accepted the invitation. She told me she used to be Christian but converted to Hinduism when she married her Hindu husband. She expressed her unhappiness with the religion and her desire to return to Christianity. She has not done so because she fears karma and evil spirits who are giving her problems. Yikes! She also has marital problems that bring her much pain. I read her Ps 83:18 and explained the power of using God’s personal name, Jehovah. I read her some verses of Ps 72 to bring her some comfort so she could see than Jehovah watches and cares about us personally. She asked me if she could have a Bible and how badly she needs one.
I returned the next day with a Bible and the Bible Teach book. Unfortunately her husband was within earshot of the entire conversation and she was not as open as she had been before. She agreed to a Bible Study and was very happy to receive a Bible.
Yesterday I returned to see this woman on my own. When I got there she was upset and related to me many terrible things demons have been doing to her home and assaulting her physically even. The problems got much worse since the last time I was there and had given her a Bible. Immediately I asked to pray with her. I showed her scriptures from the Bible about calling on the name of Jehovah for protection and how she can oppose the Devil. She then admitted to having
dedicated her home and land to demons and even making promises of her devotion to them! She did this to give her protection from curses a native tribe religion put on her. I shared with her scriptures to help her see her faulty reasoning. She found comfort in the Bible BUT she is so full of terror that she is torn between drawing close to Jehovah and keeping the evil spirits happy. She knows she cannot serve both God and Satan and she said she has not made a final decision. Today I returned. She said it was not a good time to talk. After talking w/Michelle and Tom about the situation I will no longer go there alone and we will meet her on the road instead of on her property since it is dedicated to the demons. Today I was able to leave her a brochure about wicked spirits and how to break free.
This kind of experience was a first for me. We do hear of a lot more spiritism here than we expected. There are religions that worship Satan and put curses on people. How comforting it is to know that Jehovah and his angels are with us and provide protection!
3) One interesting experience I had recently and also in the campaign work was with Two Men actually. The One that I found the First time was
Grant but he was not living at the house just working there. But he was very interested in the convention and learning more so I told him I could at least get him a copy of the bible teach book to read. However I was unable to find him there again but the wife of the house was very helpful in helping me track him down. The second time I called the husband
(Ron) was also there and he let me use his cell phone to call Grant. Grant said that his “mistress” was sick and so couldn’t come to work for a while. I thanked Ron for letting me use his phone since cell phone minutes are expensive here especially for locals. I explained to him that I was calling to give Grant the book and that he expressed a desire to learn more about the bible. I asked Rom if he was interested in the bible and he said he used to read and study it when he was younger. I came to find that Ron had a very good knowledge of the scriptures and had good reasoning. Among a number of points we discussed was “why god permits suffering” and “when will he act to change it”. After reading the composite sign he said,
“that is happening right now!” I said,
“Right! So what does that mean?” He said,
“It means we are very close tot the end”. He followed all the points well and even began to finish my sentences as I was explaining the answers! Was so amazed by his knowledge and ability to learn quickly, but told him I would have to come back to give him the book. He gave me his Phone Number to call since he was often working.
I was worried that I would not be able to find him again as is very common here with men.Thankfully when I came back with Lara, he and his wife were home and we had another great discussion with them for about an hour. We talked extensively about the teaching of Hellfire and at the end I asked him
“So what do you think about that teaching” and he said,
“Its not in the bible, so its not true!” How crazy is that? See what I mean about being Teachable? He also asked about Judgment day, and a scripture that says we will see the Dead Rise to heaven. So we explained that there is more than one meaning for “the Day of Judgment” which he understood was necessary to separate the wicked from righteous. We explained that there are two groups who will survive judgment day, the little flock and the other sheep. He said,
“We are all sheep but one flock is Little that go to heaven”. I commended him on his reasoning and explained that this little flock would rule in heaven over the earth, but that we cant all go tot heaven. To which he said,
“yes, we can’t all be the leaders! Who would be left to lead?” The wife also responded excitedly to the conversation but he did most of the talking. So we emphasized that they try to learn together as one flesh. He thanked us for the book and also said they would be looking for us at the convention!
As you can see experiences we are having here are mind-blowing. Its no wonder that Jehovah is so patient when there is still so many people, truly sighing and crying over the condition of this world and wanting to learn the Truth.
One of the best parts for Lara and I is being able to really enjoy the ministry as Jehovah intended for us to enjoy it. We can see now why so often we are encouraged to reach out in any way we can, whether in new lands or new languages. There’s nothing that can compare to being able to teach people who are actually willing to learn. And although it may take the initial sacrifice of time, money or comfort, we always gain so much back in return. “Jesus’ Yoke” always will always prove to be very light and refreshing compared to Satan’s yoke which does nothing but beat us down and enslave us. I don’t mean to sound preachy and we realize that many are not in a position to move to a foreign country. But perhaps even making other small sacrifices like going out in the evenings or telephone witnessing. Its not so much increasing service hours but increasing our contact with people, however we can do so. The more people we talk to, the better our chances are to find the few who will listen respond.
OK I’ll stop there, lol. Sorry about all that, we just desperately wish we could fly everyone down here to experience some of this. Anyway we have Convention tomorrow so our next post will have some pics of how convention is down here in Guyana.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
Michelle and I met this incredibly sweet donkey. He loved being pet!
Here is Tom and Michelle last Sunday on the way to meeting. Don't they look great?
Here are the two brothers that came to go on the mission into the interior with Tom and Mike. On the left is Sam from England and on the right is Maciah from Ohio. They are both very mature and spiritual. It was a pleasure to have them visiting the congregation and a great example for the young ones in our congregation. Until now, the only single need-greaters they had met were sisters. After getting to know these 19 yr old brothers, the young ones in our congregation were moved.
Here is Tom, Michelle and Maciah in service last week.
Down the street some locals caught a BABY anaconda in the trench next to the road. They were very happy about it as you can see in the picture. I think they like to eat them. The young man on the right in the army green shirt is a brother in our congregation.
