So I thought I would just send you a few facts and little spiritual gems to add to the movie. Let me know also if anyone has any problems in watching it as I could send it to you a different way. Look at me little miss computer nerd who knew eh!!!!!!!
So as you may of seen on the video we broke down due to an electrical problem. Well 3 different buses that passed by us in the middle of the jungle all had qualified men on them to help us fix our problem. Jehovah really did send us who we needed. And as you saw as the truck was being fixed we preached to all the passengers of the buses. Well the ferry crossing as you see above is on a strict timetable. It opens at 6am till 6pm. So by the time our bus was fixed we missed the crossing. So we were going to have to sleep at the crossing and wait for the 6am ferry. We stopped by a village about 2 hours from the ferry for fuel. Then the driver (who was a lovely brother called paul crawford) lifted the bonnet (us translation hood) to check the wiring and something snapped. So we were told we would have to stay longer in the village while it was welded back. So we were in a good pattern now so all just picked up our ministry things to start preaching. That is some of the pictures you see in the video. Alot of literature was placed. Once back on the bus Tom Sanches (the experienced interior missionary) filled up with tears and announced to us all that he has made that village a matter of prayer so much to Jehovah because that village never ever has been preached because any bus full of witnesses is always racing through to reach the ferry. So again we all felt Jehovahs blessing and direction.
Well that night most of us slept on the bus but the brave (including me shock horror) slept under the stars on hammocks. What beauty we all saw. Well beauty mixed with a musical symphony of snoring. Mmmmmm. My first night on a hammock. Being the littlest I got the narrow hammock and of course fell off twice so there was alot of giggling mixed with the snoring that night. One more memory for the box.
Also on the video do you see the older sister in the curlers. She was all prepared for the assembly to look her best. She is 74 and had more energy than me Im sure. The pictures of us all at Moka Moka and Kumu falls she went in the water with us and had a great time. She was the best. Called Sister Winnie. She is already signed up for next years trip. What an example.
I want to give you a bit of information about the villages we went to preach. So the first village Yakapari hasnt been worked for over 2 years but over half in the village have never heard about Jehovah. We carried in 2 boxes full of literature and placed every bit of it. Over 250 magazines over 60 books alot of brochures and memorial invitations in both english and the tribal language of Mokushi. On the way to that village we stopped at a small village with a local school and michelle (toms wife ) courageously took the lead and approached the headmaster and asked permission to speak to the children.
After we gave all of the kids tracts and their faces of joy was really touching. So when we reached the village and got permission from the toushou Shelly and me went straight for the school. The headmistress was really lovely. She wanted a bible teach book as did the other 3 teachers. And we had a lot of old magazines with us and the subject was teaching children about God and the awake on music so we left her with a huge pile. She promised to read them through with the other teachers and change the lessons for the next week to include our magazines for the children to learn to read. The classroom was divided into 3 sections by ages of the kids. So to the young we gave tracts. The older kids got truth tracts then the oldest got magazines. They were all so proud of them and as you saw were happy to pose with their arms stretched high.
Then we went outside and the school across the grass had just got out and that was the oldest kids. And that is where you saw me being surrounded by them all wanting magazines. There were screams of me miss me miss thankyou miss thankyou miss thankyou miss. We both walked away from that experience with hearts full of joy and tears in our eyes. Then we had to return to the bus to fill up with more mags and books and head through the rest of the village. So you saw the other pics of us going through the village. It was beautiful. Like paradise will be. Stunning views all around and everyone living a simpler life. They really were so starved for bible truths. Each village has a church somewhere but they as you can imagine dont give satisfying answers to the people at all.
And the second village we went to was Shulanab. That is where they have built a beautiful kingdom hall. The toushou under the ruling thumb of the local church has banned the witnesses from publicly preaching in his village which we have to respect but they have a meeting each wednesday evening. And a jeep full of bro and sis travel there each wednesday and any and all are welcome from the village to come and have a bible study and then a meeting. There are only 2 unbaptised publishers but over 20 come to most meetings. Many study in the teach book or good news brochure and the potential in that village is tremendous. Jehovah is clearly blessing their efforts. The journey there was really rough. The brothers vehicle was taking a good battering. And they can only travel there in the dry season. In the rainy season the only transport is boats and bike in between so they are on their own from about May till July.
As you can see the brothers and sisters in lethem really do work very hard. A cong of about 60 with only 2 elders and 1 ministerial servant cover a territory of over half the size of guyana. We have heard that the Governing body are making plans to rearrange how the territory is being worked to spread the load out more. So watch this space.
So hope this information hasnt bored you too much but has added a bit of meat to my little movie blog.
Any questions just ask away. Wednesday our cong skeldon and fyrish are coming together to help brighton cover their unworked territory called black bush. Its rural territory so we are going to go in a blitz it all with memorial invitations so I will let you all know the lovely experiences that we share.
Take Care and miss you all.
Natalie
