The Barrel has landed

Wow what an exciting sunday night turned out to be.  Ring ring ring on the mobile and hey presto my barrel appeared at 7 pm last night.  What fun my and trisha my room mate had.  Squeals of delight.  Then hysterical laughter when at one point I actually got stuck in the barrel.  The things you do for fun in guyana.  Dont know if you can read the label but according to the company my name is now Natasha Wallsend.  Sounds not too bad.  So that is why there was a bit of a delay as my name obviously isnt Natasha Wallsend.  But finally it came and as you can see all of my stuff was piled high on every surface.  So today is unpacking day and finally making everything a home.  So trisha is really happy and amber is getting an email back in the US so I think all my nice kitchen bits and bobs will definitely tempt her back to guyana sooner rather than later.

Anyway just wanted to spread the barrel joy with you all.

Take care and speak to you all in 2013.  Wow time is just zooming by.

Love Natalie

Wow 3 weeks already

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all doing ok.  I keep hearing reports of bad weather back home so all be safe.  Well there will never be snow here and the only ice is in peoples drinks.  Hard to believe I've been here almost 3 weeks.  Well the time has just flown by and Im really having a great time.  I feel really welcomed by the congregation and the girls I live with and the ministry is a true blessing from Jehovah.  I seem to be coping better this time with the heat and also the mosquito's.  Well Im am getting bitten up but Im not reacting as bad which means I can sleep better.

So this is the first time Ive ever lived with girls and its really great.  So there is amber who is from Seattle and Trisha from New England.  Amber has just left to go back home and earn more $ to be able to come back hopefully for another year.  And this is Trishas 4th time here and she is here till June so that is great for me.  They have made me feel so so welcome and relaxed and helped me get to know the real guyana.  They are both in the sign language field which is huge here.  Many deaf come to the meetings and they sit at the front left of the hall and for every talk and comment given by the local bro and sis they interpret for the deaf so its lovely to see.  So the cong all expect me to be in the deaf field so as they have found out Im in the english field they are all so happy and I have plenty pio to go out with after the groups finish.  There are almost 20 pio in the cong including 2 missionary's from florida called Brian and Shannon.  They are also back in the states at the moment getting medical checks and visiting family.

So a few nice min experiences that I have had.  Where do I start.  Well my first min was after the meeting on sunday.  I was invited on a sisters bible study and when there I noticed a little girl sitting in the corner of the yard paying close attention.  So I felt the need (angelic direction) to go over and help her follow along with us.  Well she started asking so many ?'s.  Really mature ?'s for a girl of 11.  Her name is cami and so I started to show her how she could get the answers all from the same bible teach book her aunty was studying.  She actually asked me if I can come and study it with her and help her find the truth about all her ?'s as many at school have been telling her lies about God and the bible.  So I have been back to see her each sunday since.  And she loves to read and has read alot of the book already as she has school holidays right now.  

Then my next ministry was on tuesday in my village just near my house.  I met 2 lovely women about my age and as its the tracts this month left them both with the truth tract.  I asked if I could call back the next day and they both said yes no problem.  Pick me off the floor at that point.  So I went back on both and the women Anita that lives just a few doors down my street was so genuine and had so many ?'s we just went into the bible teach book and I offered her a study and she said yes please can you come back friday.  She is hindu but doesnt really understand her faith as many do and has so many ?'s.  She has 2 small children a baby ryan and little toddler maria so asked me if its ok to call by early in the morning as she is up with her kids so that is great for me to start early before the group.  The other girl is called allison and she is happy to have a study but works in the market so is really busy before the Xmas hols but still she is having a study but we can only cover a few paragraphs at a time.

The groups start at 9am Tue Wed Fri and Sat and there are later pm groups for people finishing work and a 6am group Mon and Sat to catch people setting up their market stalls and all groups seem really well supported and the brothers and sisters are a great example to me as they stay out a full morning till past 12 even though the sun gets mega hot by then. Its always over 30 degrees here and the humidity plays crazy with my hair but there is always a breeze which is so gorgeous.  All have an umberella and carry water bottles so that is practical.  And then most pm bro and sis have bible studies.  In fact the co encourages that all publishers in cong should have a study as its so easy to get one here.

So I mentioned about Shannon.  Well she has given me 4 bible studies to care for when she is away which fills in my pm until I can build up more bible studies.  Well I went on 2 of them yesterday pm with a lovely local pio sister called valerie.   And first study is with a nice women called Neeshie and she always gives us drink (sugary pop) and something to eat (sometimes its yummy other times ah well just close your eyes and chew and swallow) well her 2 girls were there and they have a bible story book and learn from the great teacher book.  So they were hanging around so I asked if they want to do a chapter each from there books and they say yes.  So that was so nice and good for neeshie to see that in time she can help her girls learn about Jehovah.

Then up to the next village in a tapier (local bus that is really a kind of jeep with benches in the back) to John and Tinas.  Also shannons study.  John cant read at all so she does the read and write brochure with him then studies the teach book with Tina and he listens and can answer from memory.  They were seventh day adventists so they have a strong bible knowledge but got sick of being asked for money all the time and not getting real answers to there ?'s.  So John has his study and does homework to write down a full page of the letter he learns in the lesson in upper and lower case and is just so humble and grateful to be able to learn.  The brochure is really really good and he is learning so much each time.  Well they have 3 boys Samuel Sam and Joey.  And they have bible story book,learn from great teacher and oldest has both new YPA books.  Well when we arrived the parents were still at work as they have to do alot of over time before holidays and we had travelled so far to meet them so I said to the boys would they like to study their new books.  So we sat in their porch and had 3 separate studies as they all have diff books but all sat at the table and got involved.  All 3 of them love the bible story book and its the new addition with the excellent ?'s at the back.  There knowledge of the bible is amazing.  The family are a new study of shannons but I can already see them coming into the truth.  They are so loving and really appreciate all that they learn about Jehovah and have a good base knowledge of the bible already.  So we came home doing some street work both shattered but really boosted.  So shannon will have more studies to come back too.

Today went on Veta a hindu lady that is almost half way through the bible teach book.  She says shannon and her husband are an answer to her prayers and she is so grateful to Jehovah God to offer even a hindu a chance to learn about him.  Now she calls herself a christian an seeing the way the truth is making her feel almost made me cry today.  I cant wait to study with her again next week.  And her daughter and husband seem keen too so who knows what 2013 will bring for the rest of her family.

Every morning on first call you call INSIDE at the gate and wait for the householder.  Many doors you are invited in and the bible is opened up with almost all who show interest.  Ive also been given more contributions of people here in 3 weeks than probably all  my time as a pioneer in the UK and that is no exaggeration.  Really shows how much the people here value the bible.

Just had the end of year pioneer meeting on sunday and that was so nice to see the pioneers and elders together.  We had such an encouraging outline and then after that we had a little party and sisters brought local dishes and everyone really relaxed.  The bro and sis here are so so funny and easy going and the meetings are so so funny with the expressions the bro say off the platform and they way they go on.  Not always how things should be done but there heart is in the right place and I think they must make angels laugh alot.  

Well we serve a happy God and Im so so glad to be here and feel Jehovahs blessing on my choice to come here and sample a real pioneer paradise.  Sorry if I bore you with a mega long email but now you know the names of my studies I can give you an up date in the new year and as you can see Im just a bit too excited by the ministry.  

Love you and miss you all so much and love to hear how you are all doing too.

PS Im getting so many freckles and the kids love to look at them as locals here are black or indian so they dont see many freckles Ah well got to entertain the kids some how

PPS I got butted by a goat today while I was trying to cross a bridge over a dam and when I say bridge I mean a plank of wood.  So that was a first.

PPPS Ive been proposed to by 4 local shall we say drunk men already.  Amber and trisha say after a 100 you soon forget.  Our name through skeldon area is White Girl Ive heard worse eh!!!

PPPPS The photo is of all of us at the pioneer meeting and also a group for field service which they have at the road side or the entrance to a local shop.  

First day in guyana

Well Im here.  Got a lift all the way to gatwick airport by the fabulous driving skills of tim growe London Bethel and really the good stuff never stopped from there.  Virgin flight was great again and managed to get connecting flights and luggage all the way through to Guyana phew.  And got my 3 month visa without too much wangling.  Mind never stopped praying to Jehovah the whole journey to the immigration office.  They can be really fussy about offering 90 days so clearly Jehovah was behind there approval.  

So got the taxi no probs with a really kind brother from the next village down.  It was just about 2am and took over 4 hours to get to my new apartment.  So nice to see amber and posh dave from upstairs and also the new and totally lovely sister trisha.  So me being me to all who know me well am all unpacked so that is great.  Just waiting on my super packed blue barrel to arrive in few weeks then I will be really settled in.  I have a pile on ironing that is almost too much to look at.  But am a bit pooped since been up for over 36 hours and with the heat here dont have stamina to stand over iron for few hours.  My room is so great though.  Has all I need and more.  Once I have all my bits and bobs from the barrel I will send you some pics.  So going to my first meeting on sunday and the cong are doing a welcome cook up bbq for me and to say goodbye to dave from upstairs who is going back to uk for a few weeks to catch up with pals.  They love any chance to have a good get together so will send you some pics of that too.  

Im being balanced which is a bit frustrating but have to be sensible so going to take it slow to adjust to the heat and new way of life before jumping into ministry on tuesday.

Thankyou all for all of your support and love over the past few busy months.  I wont bore you all with loads of blogs.  Just build up some nice experiences and funny little stories to send perhaps once a month.  If you ever want to post a comment on my blog that will be great or you can email me anytime natmcrazy@hotmail.co.uk.

Take care and hope to skype some of you over the next few months

Lots of love Natalie

Geordie Girl in Guyana