Pioneer School

Well, once again, we have been busy, busy, busy. Two weeks after the District Convention in our last post, myself (Crystal) and six other pioneers from Guyana boarded a plane and flew off to Trinidad for two weeks of pioneer school in sign language. For those of you that have never been, pioneer school is two weeks of intensive study and training. Class is from 9am to 4pm, and the rest of the evening is spent studying for the next day of class. Not really what I would call a vacation, but it was a ton of fun getting to know the other pioneers from Trinidad that made up the rest of the class. Here are some pics:

Our host, Tallia, sacrificed her air conditioned bedroom for us and slept on an air mattress with a fan.

 

My "roomie" Raedona, also from Guyana

 

The class was set up in semi-circle so we could all see each other's comments.



 

A large whiteboard and projector were key tools for teaching.

 

 

Our class included two married couples...

 

A set of twins...

 

and seven people from Guyana...

 

We all studied hard and everyone participated each day. We had one deaf and one hard of hearing sister there, but my picture of them did not turn out very well, sorry.

 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the FOOD! I think we all gained a few pounds, as the Trinidadian brothers and sisters are so overwhelmingly hospitable.

 

 

As you can see, this congregation even dressed up in matching outfits to serve us.

 

 

Yes, this was our last day of pioneer school. We were all a little broken hearted that it was ending. We gave gifts to our instructors...

 

 

Our host congregation gave each of us gifts...

(By the way, the other girl in this picture is also named Crystal, so our gift boxes were marked Crystal White and Crystal Brown to differentiate--we thought this was hilarious.)

 

And we were quite shocked to find out our fellow students from Trinidad also bought all of us visiting from Guyana each a gift!

 

Although we were sad, we hid it well. We convinced everyone we were ready to cut loose...

 

We celebrated with homemade coconut ice cream, cake, and some seriously deep conversation.

 

One brother even showed up with a cooler full of soda, beer and wine coolers. Brother Ward, one of our instructors, almost seemed a little too happy about this...

 

 

We did some other fun stuff while there, but I wanted to make this blog just about pioneer school, so I could let everyone know how awesome it is!

 

Two weeks after I arrived back home we jumped right into the Circuit Assembly "Safeguard Your Mind" I think we are among the first to have this information, since it just started with the new service year in September. We we so proud that once again, two deaf from our group were baptized, Stephen and Tineshea.

 

Stephen is 14 years old, and Tineshea is 16. It is so beautiful to see these young ones take a stand for Jehovah.

 

Thanks for keeping up with the blog. I think I'll let Scott write the next one!

Living the busy life...

Well I just realized it has been two months since our last post, and boy has it flown by! By way of explanation, the reason we have not posted in so long is because we have been having issues with our internet connection for the last month and a half. As anyone who has tried to skype us during that time will tell you, it's been very frustrating. As of today, it is still not fixed, but since I have taken the whole day off, I think I might have the patience to upload some pictures.
Where to start? Well, we just had our 18 year anniversary and this is what Scott got me...

That's right, a new motorbike! In the states we would call this a scooter, but here everything with two wheels is called a motorbike. I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to ride this 125cc monster!

Here is Scott doing what he does best...cleaning it. Yes, my dear friends, he is just as obsessive about this bike as he was about the car back home.

On another note, we just recently had our District Convention, which lasts three days. We were so excited to have two deaf from our group get baptized. Both of them have been studying for more than six years, so they were proud to have finally progressed to this point.

Our two candidates sitting in the sign language section so that the questions can be interpreted for them.
                                                    This is Sonronjinay ready to go in..

                                                             And Trevor just coming out...

This is the total group of newly baptized brothers and sisters. The boy in the middle, Jonathan Loo, is also with our sign language group.

We had a lot of fun at the convention as you can see from the following photos:

Some of our deaf that attended

Notice the comedian in the background, yeah, he thinks he's funny.

Scott giving some direction during the lunch break

Everyone crowds around to catch a glimpse of the baptism.

Chillin with Raeshanna.

So cute! This little puppy decided our stage area for the interpreters was a perfect place in the shade to "have a sleep" , nobody chased him off, so he just slept there most of the day.




After the last day of the convention, all of the "need greaters" and those in special full time service here in the eastern part of Guyana gather at a local brother and sister's house for a little "after party."

                                    We all pitch in for Chinese food and hang out and play games.

OK, I can see that the blog is getting a little long, so I'll just publish what I have for now and save my other pictures of the ministry for later. Until then, we miss everybody!

Stickin'round

Greetings to all.  Since our last posting we've been busy, for example we traveled to some new areas in Guyana and even stepped over into the country of Suriname.  We visited a popular swimming area, finally saw the inside of our local hospital, purchased a motorbike and got our visa for the next three months, so it looks like we're going to be stickin'round.

To begin, we had the opportunity to go with some friends to a place about 3 hours from where we live to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation, the name of the place, "Splashmins".  Basically it's a water resort where you can swim, paddle boat, play volleyball and have cook outs. It does have a little beach but no one actually lays out and tans, everyone is there for the swimming.  Here are some pictures of our day in the sun and the sand.

For some time we have been wanting to visit the area of Linden which is to the southwest of New Amsterdam about a six hour car/bus ride.  The congregation in that area was having their Circuit Overseer visit and was hoping for some help with the interpreting, so Crystal and I finally got our chance to go.  After a long day of traveling, which began by catching a car to Georgetown, upon arrival at GT you are overtaking by bus drivers trying to persuade you to get in there bus, if you are a first timer or a timid person this experience can be frightening to say the least.  Once you commit to a bus then you sit on the bus (no A/C) and wait till they fill the bus which may take five minutes to an hour or more.  Here is what you see when your waiting....

But once we finally got on the rode and arrived at Linden around 4:30, it was easy going after that.  The congregation was very warm and friendly and the area of Linden was refreshingly clean and quite.  They have a big Bauxite mining company in this area and some of the locals are Amerindian descent so it was neat to see the ethic diversity.  The town sits on the edge of the Demerara river and has a small fleet of boats ferrying people to and fro across the river, on the Linden side you can feast upon the deliciousness of Churchs chicken and Marios pizza, which of course we did...twice.  Here is a picture of Crystal near the boats.

As many of you know for foreigners you have to leave the country ever three months to renew your visa so this time we decided to visit Surniame.  We left early Saturday morning for the Stellen (boat dock) to catch the ferry to Surniame.  All went well and soon we were under way....

We traveled with some sisters who had never been to Surniame before, so the four of us stayed in a guesthouse near the Kingdom Hall in the town of Nickerie.  There we enjoyed some shopping, eating and just laying around.  We were hoping to travel into the capital, about a three hour road trip, but things did not quite work out so next time we hope to plan better and see more of the country.  By the way if your planning on traveling to Suriname be sure to have U.S. currency instead of Guyanese, the exchange rate is much better and also remember when arriving in Suriname from Guyana the time is one hour ahead.  One thing I appreciated about the area we were visiting was the overall cleanliness, in Guyana most of the waterways are filled with trash and the water itself is disgusting but here as you can see, it was just the opposite.   Also check out the restaurant we ate at, somebody took a long time painting the walls every wall was painted like this.

As for visiting the local hospital, a number of people we know have had to go to the hospital for various reasons and we went to visit with them.  The hospital here is farely new but it looks like it's 100 years old. You have these "wards" that are just large rooms with about 50 beds with only a curtain to separate the patients.  There is absolutely no privacy and your business becomes known to the community within hours of your being checked-in.  No major medical care is provided and your really at the mercy of these Cuban doctors who are just passing through for there intership.  Even though the services are free you truly get what you pay for!

Times have been good for us lately and our little world is spinning along just fine, but so many around us are in desparate need.  Our neighbor recently ask for some assitance becauser they had no food in the house.  We helped out best we could and the little boy who lives there was soon trying his best to make his own food contribution.  The video below shows what he was able to do and it also provides you a glimpse of our place.  Enjoy!

Yes, I did mention that we bought a motorbike.  It's just a 125cc so we won't be winning any races but we feel it will help us to get around better and ease the physical demands put on our bodies.  Some of the brothers and sisters are not very supportive of our decision because of the risk and possible injuries that could result in riding in this area but we are going to do our best to be safe.  I hope that all will go well and Jehovah willing we'll keep stickin'round.  We send our greetings to all. 

Scott & Crystal

The Heat is ON!

Man is it HOT!  The temperature is rising to a boiling point, my nose has been sunburned so many times that it's in a constant state of peeling.  One young Guyanese sister asked me if all white people have red noses, as I looked around at all the other white need greaters the answered appeared to be, yes!  Crystal bought herself a new sun hat to offer some protection and I must say the chair that it is hanging on has not burned yet, (she always forgets to put it on when we go out).  One nice thing about getting tanner, it makes your teeth seem that much whiter....

So much has been going on here, we recently had our C/O visit which went by to fast.  Shannon Rainey and his wife Rosailia have been serving our circuit since 2008.  They are very supportive and excited about the prospect of forming the first Sign language congregation in the country so when they visit we get alot of attention.  The sign language group extended hospitality to them one evening at our house, about 25 attended and Crystal made spaghetti, it was gone in about 20 minutes.  Here are some pictures of the "party".

Another thing that recently happened here was the annual celebration of Jesus resurrection, (kinda like Easter), however they represent his resurrection using kites.  So on that day the Savannah near our house was overtaken by hundreds of people who came and set up food booths and speakers to play "very" loud music.  Then around 1:00 they began to fly the kites, it was to be honest pretty cool to see.  All kinds of home-made kites filled the sky, all different shapes and colors, it made for a good photo-op.  I took some pictures but they really don't capture the color's or amount of kites that were in the air. 

You also have to appreciate that the Savannah truly belongs to the animals and some were not willing to leave for some pagan ritual.

Also we have of course been busy with our ministry and all things theocratic.  Not to long ago we had our Special Assembly Day and had the opportunity to be in the company those whom we don't get to see that often, for example one missionary couple who have been out of country for awhile but have recently returned, Brian & Shannon Geraghty.  Here is a picture of Brian and I, (some say we look alike)

...then there is the big boat ride to preach in an area called Rosignol.

One of my favorite places to visit durning the week is the orphanage.  Crystal has one study there and I have a young boy that I visit and try to encourage but he is so full of energy he rarely sticks around long enough for me to really get to know him.  However the other perk in going is that you have a chance to spend some time with these beautiful children who have become a victim of this system of things, here are a few glimpses of what we get a chance to see.

Not to long ago we had a chance to visit back home and see family and friends.  Crystal and I both want to say it was very encouraging to be with all our "family" and feel it a blessing to have so much support and love from so many.  We thank everyone for taking the time out for us and keeping us in your prayers. Below is a picture of my daughter who lives in Vero Beach, FL. Her name is Tessa.  Our moving away was not easy for her and obviously our time together has been dramatically reduced but she has always been supportive of our efforts even when it meant a sacrifice for her.  We love ya Tess, thanks for making this possible for us.

So, yes the heat is on and will not doubt continue to beat down upon us but with enough sun tan lotion, hats and shady spots along the way we'll keep on going in spite of it.  Please stay safe out there we are living in "critical times hard to deal with".  Hope to be blogging again soon, till then take care.

Scott & Crystal

Memorial

Well, after a long lapse from our blog, we are finally back on track. We took a trip back to the U.S. in the month of February and got to see a lot of family and friends. We didn't get to see everybody we had hoped, but we did have a good time. Since then, we have returned to Guyana and hit the ground running. In less than a month since our return, we have made preparations for the Special Assembly Day, hosted our Circuit Overseer and his wife for a week, had a deaf friend from Linden visit for a week, and made preparations for the annual Memorial of Christs' death. Whew! No wonder we didn't have time to update our blog.
Our Memorial was held last night at Town Hall. They were generous enough to allow us to use their facility for free, and the staff were very helpful to us. We had 91 in attendance, 52 of which were actually deaf. Here are some pictures from our Memorial-

We started out with buses, three of them to be exact, all going out to different areas of our territory to pick up the deaf. The bus I went with had 16 deaf on it, and as you can see from the picture, they all had a good time associating. I couldn't get them to stop signing long enough to smile for a picture, so this was the best I could do.

We spent most of the morning cleaning and decorating the town hall. A big shout out to sister Lorraine Giles, since she did all the decorating with random hand me downs from other Kingdom Halls. I thought it looked pretty good when we finished.

The song is usually a moving experience when you have almost 100 people signing in unison.

Everyone had a good time associating after the program.

                                                               The Skeldon bus
This group comes the farthest. It is about an hour bus ride away from here to Skeldon. There is isolated interpreting at their meetings, but they are not an official sign language group yet, so they technically are part of our territory. We have a meeting together once a month, and meet together for most special occasions. We are always glad to see the friends from so far away.

The Coryntine bus

                                                     

            

Some of the deaf before the Memorial started. The Hall we were in is open air on one side, so it was nice and breezy.

Well, that's it for now. We actually had the circuit assembly before the Memorial. I will try to include pictures of that for the next blog and fill in some of the blanks from our long absence from the blog. Until next time....