Food of Guyana

Hey Peoples! We thought you might like some info on what kind of foods we’re eating around here. Suffice it to say just about everything is different, but if you try really hard you can get some things from home.

Our favorite new food of course is the fruit here. Some of them you can get in the states, like Mango, Papaya and Guava, but they are so much better fresh. Especially when they are right off the tree! One of our favorites still is something called Sour Sop, which tastes a lot like it sounds. Its like eating very soft pineapple, but a little more sour. We eat Pineapple or Papaya just about every day since its so cheap here. There are some oranges here but they are green and a little piffy. Right now we are in the Mango season, so just about every day our studies send us home with a bag of them. Its getting hard to keep eating them before they go bad! There are four types here, Ruby, Pepper spice, Long mango, and a Yellow type. Each has a distinct flavor, and some we have even used to make Mango Pie! Delicious!

- A Mellon, Cherries and Plantains. Notice the Bananas are much shorter here and sweeter. They also have some that are ripe when green. It gets really confusing! -


- Sour Sop -

- Here's the Fruit from a Cashew Nut -


- Something called Bread Fruit. I've heard it doesnt have must of a taste -

- Sugar Cane. Here's what Rum comes from! This is a huge exportation item. Its fun to just cut it up and chew on the inside -

- This is a family thats cutting up a whole bunch of Coconuts. Many sell it for making coconut oil, or just to eat -

- Searching for Mangos! -


Probably the most popular food here is curry dishes. They use curry to make just about everything, from Beef to Chicken to Fish dishes. There’s a strong Chinese food influence as well so many eat Chow Mien with their curry dishes. So far we do enjoy the food, but it is a little hard on our stomachs if we eat it too often. A strange twist is that here everyone loves to put a lot of bones in their food. For example the curry chicken will often have pieces of chicken with mostly bone and gristle. But they love to suck and chew on the bones to get every last bit of meat. There is a large fishing industry here, so fish is a strong staple, as well as rice of course.

- Yes thats a fish skeleton with the head on it! Lara says it was pretty good actually. -

- The white rice above is processed and bleached. The brown rice is unshelled rice. I've never seen it raw before! -

- This is a common method for drying the rice here in Guyana. In the busy season you can drive for half amile on a road with rice all on one side. -


- This is a common stove the guyanese use for most of thier meals. Notice the sofisticated heating method! -



Drinks are another story. We were surprised to learn what a strong addiction everyone has to soda here! Everyone is constantly drinking it, and of course they always offer it to us too in service. But its better than drinking their water since we never know what kind of water they have. They have just about every flavor of soda, including some I’ve never seen, like ICEE Flavor soda. Yes it’s the same brand as the slushies from the states, but just the liquid! And of course Rum could be called a staple too since its so popular. El Dorado is the most common brand, but so far we haven’t cared much for it.



So its been a real change but we have been able to find ingredients to make some of our familiar dishes, like spaghetti, stir fry dishes, pizza, pasta salad, beef stew and chili. Everything has to be made by scratch though, and if you want ground meat you have to grind it yourself too, lol. Thankfully Michelle is a real food connoisseur so we’ve gotten a lot of help and ideas from her.

- They have Breyers Ice cream in the capital but notice the price? over $4000! Thats about $20 in US money for a Pint! -


So that’s some news on our grub here in Guyana, Service is still going well. Tom and I are preparing for our trip into the interior pretty soon. We will be leaving for three weeks starting September 29th. We really have no idea what we will find out there but there’s not questions that the territory has a huge need as it is virtually untouched. We will be going down in a small Toyota, fully loaded with about 20 or so boxes of literature, plus food and supplies and six brothers on top of everything! We will do our best to get photos and video of it all. the next Post on our blog will be about the “Trip to Region 8 of Guyana” so stay Tuned!

Guyana "Keep on the Watch" Convention

Hey everyone! Hope your summer is going well!

We had our Convention just a few weeks ago and it actually went much better than expected! I say this because we have come to realize you can never really know what to expect around here, sometimes things are better, sometimes worse, haha! All in all though the program was just as timely and exciting as the first time. We had a number of visiting speakers from various locations, and a few Missionaries who gave parts. It was very interesting to see some of the parts acted out again, this time with a “Guyana Twist”.

The convention was held in what is called a sports complex, something comparable to a baseball field. We sat in Covered bleachers and the Stage was in the center of the field about 100 feet out. Tom and I were able to help with the construction of the stage, and it was impressive how well it turned out! They had to do a lot of extra work on it so that it would be covered from sun and rain, and also so that the speakers would have a room to wait in. The Baptism Pool was also interesting to see, it was constructed from a PVC tarp put inside a wood frame and then tied around the sides with concrete straps. We were glad not to be getting baptized as the water had a greenish tint to it, heh. But they did add bleach to the water later to “Sanitize” it.

- Here's the Stage During Construction -


- And After -








- One of the many animals running around the field -


Speaking of the baptism it was quite different from what we are used to. Aside from the condition of the “pool”, right after the song about 50 or more people immediately went down and stood around it. No ropes or brothers holding them back here, they just walked right up to it.


We also noticed two men who appeared to be visitors, standing nearby as shown in the picture. We noticed that the one had removed his hat, showing respect for the occasion. After the baptism Tom went down and talked with them to see if they were studying. It turned out that one of them was blind, and after hearing the program, actually wanted to get baptized! Our hearts went out to him and Tom was able to have about an hour discussion with the man explaining how he could be baptized. He turned out to be very responsive and a study was started with both of them!



We were also very privileged to sit immediately adjacent to the ASL group. Brother and Sister Buddon are overseeing the group. They are the Brooklyn Bethelites who left and came to serve in Guyana as need greaters. They are now serving as Special Pioneers and Brother Buddon is a substitute CO. Their zeal for the ASL is so encouraging and they had a peak attendance for the deaf of almost 42! It was neat to watch them sign all the songs in unison. We also enjoyed watching the translators who did a great Job of bringing the talks to life. And of course after every part they would do the ASL Applause, which is holding both hands in the air and shaking them quickly. Something we had never seen before. We were able to meet and converse with many from the group including a couple that have recently come as Need Greaters from Portland! They are, Donald and Sara Campbell; if you would like to contact them, here is their email. donaciano2000@gmail.com

- Here's the Campbell's -

- The Buddons -

- The Songs in Sign Language -



It was amazing to learn how far many of the families had traveled to come to the convention. One family we met who were Amerindian said that they traveled about 24 hours to get to the convention. The main reason is that just outside our territory are many Rivers with no bridges to cross them. So everyone has to take the ferry, which takes hours to wait for and then hours to cross. (Some of the rivers here are very large). Fortunately some of the families were able to stay in homes nearby which greatly lessened their journey.

We were amazed by one family in a distant congregation who did not have enough money to come to the convention. So what they did is they made, by hand, little decorative baskets and boxes out of a wicker material. They then brought these to the meetings and the convention to give to others in exchange for donations to come to the convention. This is just one example of the determination and appreciation people here show in attending the conventions and meetings.

The Drama of course sounded the same, but looked quite different from what we saw in the states. But they actually did a surprisingly good job of acting it out. The rebel youth “Al” was a guy in baggy jeans this time and flashy jewelry. Keep in mind many of the youth here are influenced by the fashions and styles in New York. But the brother did a great job of bringing the character to life, he even seemed to enjoy it, hehe. At the end of the Drama there was a long loud applause, which is quite rare for this area. It seems most here are either embarrassed to clap or not easily motivated to do so. But it was obvious everyone was deeply touched by the drama, and the entire program!

- Here's "Bad News Al". Notice he's still wearing Black, heh -

- Can you imagine being under a blanket in the Heat and Humidity! -


The last part of the Convention was given by the Guyana Branch Overseer. He was a very kind and Lovable brother, he even came by after the session and introduced himself to us! His part included many exciting experiences from the convention weekend including a few experiences from the Expeditions into the interior that Tom has been on.

- The Branch Overseer -


They also gave us some info on Guyana statistics including Memorial attendance. In 2009 it was 11,036 which is incredibly 4 times greater than publisher count! In most of Guyana and in some regions the total attendance was 22 times greater than pulishers! One area has a congregation of about 20 or 30, but for memorial that had nearly a thousand attend! They said it took a lot of work for everyone to enjoy it. They also related an experience of a sister who put forth tremendous effort to attend the Special Day Assembly earlier this year. She was baptized just last year and is the only witness in her entire region! She conducts 15 bible studies, conducts all the meetings which have 23 on average in attendance. To attend the assembly she walked 8 hours, rode on a very cramped and bumpy bus for 12 hours and spent $200 US! She didn’t know how she would get back home but she thoroughly enjoyed the assembly. She walked 3 days to return to her home and witnessed to untouched villages along the way. The experience touched our hearts deeply. All in all we were again very motivated and encouraged to keep watchful and awake in these critical times.



After the convention we were excited to go over to the missionary home for a gathering of all the need greaters and other foreigners. It was so exciting to meet them all and hear how they ended up in Guyana. There were about 25 total, 6 of which were missionaries and the rest are self-supporting need greaters. One of them was a brother named Jonathan Maes from Canada who heard about Guyana much the same as we did. He decided to simplify by quitting college, getting a part time job to pioneer and save up. He has truly been needed as he is serving in the Wickenam Area which is one of the hardest to get to and Live in. There are only two other capable brothers there both of which had been gone for a month. So as he said he “literally knows how a congregation runs now” since he’s the only brother there. But obviously he is getting intense training that will enable him to serve now in any number of ways. This is just one example of how service in a foreign field can train and prepare us for any number of assignments.

- Jonathan Maes (the one the Right, heh)-



So that was our Convention Experience. As always we were greatly encouraged and built up, and are now even more determined to make our stay here a productive one. And it definitely has been so far, Lara has been coming home almost every day with either a new study or an amazing experience of some kind. Right now we are at about 13 studies between the two of us. Its starting to get a little hectic but who dares complain about having too many studies! Lol, “Never may that happen!” As always we greatly appreciate the comments and emails and hope all is going well back home! Keep us updated on any news!

A Few Experiences

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!

A Sunday Experience

Sunday Meeting

Hey Everyone! Thanks again for your wonderful and loving Comments, Its great to hear from home. Just FYI if you were wondering, we do get an email for every comment posted so its kind of like getting an email from you too! =)

We had an interesting experience just this last Sunday Meeting (August 2nd). Tom and Michelle went going to another congregation for a talk out so they wouldn’t be at the meeting that day, which didn’t seem like a big deal at first. We took a taxi to the meeting that day, and arrived in good time, but of course when we got there people were waiting outside the building since no one had a key to open the door. I had no key at this point since its very difficult to make copies of keys here. They have no blank keys like in stores here so they have to find used keys that are close in size and meticulously file them until they somewhat match the original. Then with that key you have to go to the lock and by trial and error continue to file the rest yourself until it works. Needless to say it’s a long process.
So anyway were waiting outside with about 20 people, hoping the One other brother with keys will arrive to open the door. Thankfully he does arrive, but, of course he forgot his key! The brother felt so bad about it he wouldn’t even come inside the gates but just stayed out at the road until I went over and talked with him. Our Only Option was to have one of our younger brothers take a taxi back to the elder’s house, get the key, and come back. Which the brother quickly and willingly did. In the meantime more people are starting to come and wait outside the hall. Keep in Mind we are all dressed up in hot humid weather outside the hall with the mosquitoes =(. At about ten o’clock when meeting is supposed to start there were about 50 people outside waiting with more on the way. Not to mention through all of this I am looking for our visiting speaker who is supposed to give the talk, but is of course running late. If he doesn’t show I was the back up speaker, to give my one outline again, which I already gave the previous week. So I’m getting nervous too, and have no idea what to do. Our one other Elder who forgot his key says we should start the meeting outside so we wait another ten minutes and decide to go ahead. Unfortunately he is severely crippled and cannot stand for long, so it was up to me to get the meeting started out in front of the building in the hot sun. So I said a quick prayer, and tried to get things started with the song. But of course, no one knew how the song went! I couldn’t remember for the life of me, so Lara suggested to sing one that we did know. So we picked #15 “Life without end at last” and everyone sang it perfectly! It was quite touching to hear actually. About this time the speaker arrived finally but I told him over the crowd that we could just do the WT first that way after we got inside everyone could enjoy the part more. I conducted the first five paragraphs outside standing just in front of the hall, and I was again surprised by the great participation and cooperation of everyone. This was obviously not the first time this had happened to them, and probably not as big of a deal for them as for us. Tom later informed us that when this congregation was started they actually did meet outside. Here’ a Pic of the Hall. Note the Nice Mosquitoe breeding pools out front, hah!



To make the story short, the young brother arrived with the key around 10:30 so I dismissed them to go inside. Everyone went quickly inside, found seats, sat down and waited quietly to continue. I was so impressed again at how quickly they did so that I thanked them repeatedly for their patience and cooperation and then continued the WT Study.
All in all Lara and I were very impressed and touched by the whole situation and can really see that the congregation is very sheep like, willing to be led and wiling to adjust. There have been a number of discouragements recently though, so some are struggling. Tom has said that Satan has been trying hard to discourage this congregation by attacking it directly and attacking the need-greaters who come to help. But I would say that the over all attitude is positive and things are steadily improving.

We are very glad we came when we did as just before, two Elders with wives had left back home to save up money and another MS has recently been removed. So right now Tom and I are just about it. As with most other places in the world, there is a huge need for brothers in Guyana, especially ones willing to serve. It may sound like a burden and a lot of work but it’s an amazing feeling to serve in a congregation that really needs help. There’s nothing like using your abilities solely for Jehovah, and it doesn’t take much training to help. When it comes to any kind of organization, its pretty much unheard of here. Even basic things like how to File Papers have not been used since the congregation started. So this congregation and many others need help not just spiritually or in the Ministry, but in Practical ways too.

Thankfully our other Two Elders are coming back around the end of this month so Tom and I will get a huge break then. One is coming from England and I think the other one is from the states. Tom says they have been a critical part of helping this congregation to get back on track.


So I thought I would just share a few thoughts from a Brothers point of View, hope I didn’t bore you too badly, hah! We miss everyone very much and are always looking forward to hearing from you. I’ve included a few Pix following this of some quirky Guyana things. Enjoy!

Mike

"Take it!, Care it!" - Brian Regan

Yes its just as sweet as it sounds. This is one of the many super sweet drinks everyone loves here in Guyana.

This one's for Vince Romans, Only guys can use our Gas! Guy Oil!

For all you Starbucks Lovers, Come on down and Enjoy Our Quaint Internet Cafe!

Expo

Expo


Last Monday (July 27th) Michelle and I went to the Expo at Albion Sports Complex. We had no idea what an Expo here would be. It ended up being like a fair- lots of food, rum, cheap trinkets, and some business promotional booths. It’s about 15 mins from us and it’s the same place we are having our Convention Aug 21-23.



Ramone and Kily Budden, a special pioneer couple from the states and also substitute Circuit Overseer who serve in ASL here in Guyana had a booth at the Expo educating the area about ASL. Ramone asked Michelle to help at the booth Monday afternoon and I got to tag along.



Below is a picture of a girl at the ASL booth w/headphones watching a video w/no sound. The video is of a little girl walking through a big city. It supposed to help hearing people understand what life is like to someone deaf. At the end of the 90 sec video the sound comes on… which by the way made me jump out of my skin. It’s amazing at how much we hear but don’t even think about it.




Another laptop had a video camera on it. The purpose is the do different facial expressions and then a picture is taken. This emphasizes how much facial expressions are involved w/ASL.


They also had a small TV w/DVD player showing a short film of a deaf girl who is an incredible violin player. It was very touching.


The majority of people here do not know what sign language is. We explained how it’s a way of speaking to deaf people. We also asked everyone that came by the booth if they know anyone who is deaf. The Budden’s left w/a list of addresses of deaf people who want them to visit so it was very successful. Below is a pic of Michelle Teaching some children the Alphabet in Sign.


Here is a picture of the Budden’s. They were in Brooklyn Bethel for 7 yrs and left to come to Guyana as need greaters. Their plan was to come here one year to see if they could handle a foreign assignment. Before the end of the year was up they were asked to stay as special pioneers and then just 2 mos ago they completed training for substitute circuit work. They are very nice and down to earth. They are in an ASL group (about 20 people) in New Amsterdam, which is about 30 mins from us.

We were not allowed to witness at the Expo but the sign at the booth (3rd Pic from beginning) clearly stated who we were. It was a very good witness.






After we were finished Michelle and I wondered around to the other booths. Since there are very few events here, this Expo is a VERY big deal. Since it has been a while since we had a night out, we had a blast. We got ice cream, cotton candy, took pictures of people and made a bit of a scene. Cameras are not very common here, especially with two American girls using it.



Everyone one was very nice to us. There was a booth not far from our’s that kept giving us “samples” of cold mix drinks. Even mocha and cappuccinos! Michelle never has caffeine so she was very energetic and cheerful toward the end of the night. There were even rides there! They were made of wood and looked slightly risky so we held back from getting on.