The Short Story

It's raining right now. That may not seem like a big deal, but according to my records, it has not rained here in Chinandega since November 18th, 2014. This city is dry as a bone! There is dust everywhere. It is impossible to keep anything clean for more than a few hours. Yet, there are fires set on every street daily to burn trash and other things. Today, I witnessed a man set fire a large pile of leaves and trash, right next to a grove of trees and bushes. We then approached the man and had a discussion with him. The fire got quite large and all he had was a small pot of water if it got out of control. I was sure it was about to several times. Even with the wind whipping around and almost igniting the wooden fence a few feet away, the fire eventually went down. I then quickly remembered that the man probably did this a couple times a week and I didn't really need to be so worried. By the time I engaged back into the conversation, my 13 year old companion had started a bible study with the man. As we walked away, Miguel smiled and told me it was his first bible study that he has ever started. He asked me to come with him Saturday morning on the study. But Saturday is a day off for us! I will go though. It kind of felt good for him to ask me to come. After all, I can't really offer much help. Perhaps he thinks my spanish is better than what I think it is.

On the dirt roads, every step results in a ploom of dust

The Language
When people ask how learning spanish is going, it really depends on which day you ask me. Some days I feel confident and it shows because I want to keep preaching and pushing the boundaries of what I really know how to say at the doors. Today was a good day and I actually improvised a presentation for the magazines and reasoned on a few verses I wasn't planning on reading, instead of my normal reading through of one of the new tracts. Other days are just downright discouraging. I feel like I can't understand anything or say anything and it feels like I'm letting the friends here down. Those days don't happen too often. Usually I realize it is because I do need to study the language more because I had been slacking.

Bree preaching with Darling

Right now, one of bigger obstacles in learning the language is learning how to speak spanish. I have learned good amount of what to speak. I know quite a few verbs, nouns and adjectives, so therefore I know what I want to say way better than the last time I wrote. But at times, I will construct a sentence in my head and then speak it, but the listener just looks at me funny and says they don't understand. I know I pronounced all the words correctly! I think to myself. But I know that I may not have used them in the right order or even used the right verbs.

I am in no way discouraged about this. It is part of the learning process. Just simply wanted to let you know where I am at right now since many have asked.

Our large congregation. The sound was broken at this meeting.

The Congregation
We are very much enjoying getting to know the friends in this congregation. They have many strengths here that I hope rub off on me and can use wherever else we serve in the future. Just one example is how willing the friends are here to open their homes for meetings for field service. It really hit me just how important this is since we have to walk everywhere. Having a home to meet in is very helpful. For many congregations where we live in Maine, driving and spending money on gas is a huge part of our ministry. Opening up our home can alleviate some of the expenses for many of the friends incurred during the ministry. Also, we can cover the territory more effectively by being strategically located in parts of the territory.

It is a bit difficult because I want to help more, but I just can't at this time. So my biggest goal has been to just try and set a good example with actions since I can't use words. This means making sure we are on time for everything!

Waiting for the group to arrive.

They came eventually. They always do.

The Ministry
We work the territory completely every two weeks. That is a bit of a challenge because it has forced me to learn new presentations! Bree and I both have a few studies. Today we were walking home and a man was reading the magazines on the sidewalk. Once he saw us he ran up and asked for a tract. I gave him one and then he left. That sort of thing happens a lot. People enjoy reading here. Barely anyone has internet, so information on paper is valued.

Bree doing a study.

One thing that has happened a few times is that often when I don't understand what the householder is saying is that I assumed they are telling me something negative and they aren't interested. First of all, since I have arrived here, only one person told me they weren't interested. This was such a big deal that one of the elders had a group about it. Therefore, there really is no basis to ever assume they would be telling me that.

One very old women I preached too soon after we got here basically was yelling the entire time I was at her door. I automatically assumed after we left that she was not interested in the Witnesses because she kept shouting Jesus' name and so I figured she was evangelical. The next time we preached in her area, I was hoping that it would not be my turn when we did her house, but of course, it was. Once again, I didn't understand any of her yelling. But at one point she got her Bible out and said she had a question about a verse.  She flipped to Ezekiel. Oh boy. Thankfully, I had my english Bible in my bag which I usually didn't bring. I turned to the verse she asked about and read it to myself in English afterward so that I was sure I understood her question. She wanted to know why God called the nation of Israel a prostitute. I actually was able to give a simple answer which she understood!

Piglets at the base of the cardboard.

The next time we preached in her neighborhood, I actually wanted to go to her door. I felt like we had a little bond now. I feel bad for her. Like I said, she is quite old and clearly doesn't have much help from any family. She lives with all her animals in her small home, including a large pig which just had piglets. These piglets are literally her livelihood for the next few months. She can probably sell them for about $20 each in a few months. I asked her if she was satisfied with the answer we gave her to her question. She said, "Yes!" emphatically of course.

The Assembly
I imagine that many are excited to be having our convention in Portland again this year. I am looking forward to it as well. I think from time to time all of us have had a complaint or two about a location for our assemblies or conventions. But let me tell you, I will never complain again about any location after enduring the assembly here on January 4th. The location we used was the local baseball stadium. The stadium is just flat out not a suitable location for many reasons. We had to clean the night before the program right after a baseball game. Cleaning up after a circus is a breeze compared to that. The bathroom situation is atrocious. The poor speakers had dirt blowing on them from the baseball diamond. Then the audience has to endure tempeartures approaching 100 degrees. That's 100 degrees in the shade. Most of the audience is in the sun, so more like 120 degrees. We survived though. I give the friends a lot of credit for dealing with that all these years. They love it though. The spiritual food is what is of most importance. Nobody stays home just because it is uncomfortable. Over 3,100 attended. 3,100 for a circuit assembly! We have 28 congregations just in our circuit alone! The growth has been so fast that the branch has yet to split the circuit to get it down to the normal 20 congregations per circuit.

Setting up and cleaning

Listening and trying to survive.

For many years now, the brothers have let the branch know that there just is not a suitable location for assemblies and conventions here. Needless to say, when the circuit overseer announced that the Governing Body has approved the construction of an Assembly Hall in a nearby town, the audience gave the longest and loudest applause of the day.

The Weather
It is no longer raining. The rain today was definitely an aberration. I think today was the "trace" of rain that is normal for January. The best hope of sustained rainfall won't be until April, the month that we leave.

This sister is showing the river who is the boss.

Normal temperatures during the day right now reach about 93-98 degrees. By March, temps will be easily over 100 every day. Even though it is the dry season, it is definitely not a dry heat. The humidity, combined the strong equatorial sun make preaching dangerous if you are not prepared. Hence, my hat. Make fun if you want, but I have yet to get sunburned.

Last week.

Conclusion
Bree and I really like it here. We enjoy the challenges we encounter because it reminds of just how different of a world it is here. The blessings far outweigh any such small difficulties. It is tough when people ask us what we are going to do next. We really do not know. Right now, it is hard to discern just where we should be; where Jehovah wants us to be. So, we are going to keep learning and pressing on until April comes. In the meantime, our best friends Travis and Nicole are coming the visit us in about ten days! Hopefully, Travis and I will be able to watch the Patriots win the Super Bowl during their visit!!!