Here At Last!

Hey Everyone! We Made it!

Things have been very busy as you can imagine and the past few days have just flown by. Thankfully we have been able to get internet in the home now which we are all so excited about! Although we have only been here a few days. They have been very eventful and there is so much to share with you all. The Internet speed is not very fast of course (About 125 kbps) but so far we are able to upload pix, so we hope you can enjoy a small taste of Guyana.



So upon arrival to Guyana we had a lot on our minds including whether our luggage would all arrive or would be delayed as was common. Or whether we would be able to get a three-month visa or have to heckle with the “Authorities” as some had before. And of course customs is no fun for anyone. Thankfully Jehovah answered our prayers and everything went perfectly! We did get a little educated on Guyana behavior on our flight, which was interesting. The flight had the slowest departure we had ever seen, it must have taken about an hour for everyone to get on board and get seated. Many would stop in the middle of the aisle and talk to each other holding up everyone. Many had to change seats because they hadn’t looked at their tickets and just took any seat. But overall they seemed very easy going. We also tried to understand the dialect but could only catch a few familiar words. We were able to get some sleep on the way in which we were very thankful for. On getting off the flight the humidity hit us hard. Much like a sauna. I tried to take some pix but the camera lens kept fogging up with moisture. The one pic I did get is still blurry as you can see. Fortunately there is a constant breeze here which makes the weather much more bearable.

After an hour or so waiting in line for customs we finally got out of the airport. One of the workers there quickly grabbed our bags and loaded them onto a cart. We just let him do it since we were so tired anyway. On the way out we met up with Tom and Michelle who were very glad we made it there smoothly. I had to run and grab the over zealous worker who was getting ahead of us with our cart of luggage. One of the bags nearly fell off as he wheeled the cart down a hill. I franticly followed him trying to keep the bags on the cart. Tom just laughed at me as he followed and yelled “Welcome to Guyana!” As we got to the car we told him thank you but he insisted on loading our bags too. “Ill pack ya-up good”, he kept saying as he starting throwing our bags in the trunk. This was our first Guyana experience but definitely not the last.

We were able to go back and see the small branch in Georgetown Guyana, which stood out as clean and beautiful as all of the branches do. There we took what would be our last hot showers for a good while since very few have hot water here. But after being here for a few days I personally wont miss it much. The branch had about 8 people there I think, so it is small. But everyone we met was incredibly warm and gracious. We could have stayed the night there but we had a busy day the next day with errands and meetings. So we left shortly afterward but got a picture together with the branch overseer.

On the way home to Berbice we noticed all the houses are raised up off the ground. Tom says this is because most of the coast is still below sea level and about 40 years ago there was a lot of flooding. So the houses were all above ground to prevent damage. Even the graves couldn’t be put in the ground but looked like concrete caskets all lined up. Another thing we didn’t expect were all the Hindu temples with the familiar ice cream cone rooftops and many gods / images out front. There is a mix of religions here including Hindu, Islam, and various so called Christian. But thankfully Tom and Michelle say that no one is very serious or opinionated about their religion. Some even have to be reminded what religion they even belong to. All in all we have been very encouraged and excited about the ministry here. And now that we are finally here it doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as it did before. There is much more to say but we are short on time. Next post we will share more, including pictures of the Home we are in and the Kingdom Hall!

We are very encouraged by the many followers and new and replies to the Blog! We will do our best to keep it updated with how things are going here. We miss everyone already and look forward to seeing you soon!

Written by Mike