My reason to come here, and my joy

Let me tell you a bit about the people we talk to here in Las Morenas (which is the congregation we attend while we are in La Blanca).  I wish I had more photos, but I was reluctant to make the families uncomfortable by asking for a picture.  I wish I had done so, though...

(1) 

Her house was beyond the horses

I was able to attend a study with ____, a young mother with a 6-month-old baby.  She lives in a small home at the end of a dirt lane, on which there were horses tied up to feed on the grass on the side of the road.  ____ offered us some plastic stools to sit on - they were dirty and broken, but they worked and we were happy to sit down. As does everyone here, outside the home, she had a pila, an outside sink/work-area made out of concrete (very common here) and a wood-burning stove on which there was a pot of corn boiling.  Later she would take that cooked corn and grind it for her tortillas.  She sat down on the stoop of her doorway, with her baby Leiser on her lap, to study.  I took Leiser from her so she could concentrate, but was warned that he had no diaper, so any sudden 'accidents' could happen!  As I peered into her home, there were some beds formed out of lumber and rudimentary mattresses (perhaps straw?), and there was a kind of basket hanging from the roof support, for the baby, a kind of hammock-baby-swing. There was also a hammock inside.  (PS, Little Leiser did not have any 'accidents' on me!) 

But _____ was happy to take some time to talk about the Bible.  She read aloud but very very quietly, since she was shy about an unknown American sitting in. She learned about the promises for the future, about the end of injustice and hunger. She learned that what she was suffering was not because God does not care, but because he has a set time to make a change.  And, that we are living in the "last days" before that change will come, which was good news to her! 

(2)

We went down the road to the next Bible study, with _______.  She has a larger home, maybe 25' x 14', cinderblock with cement floors, with a lovely garden out front of her dirt yard. We sat on the cement front porch, next to the maca (hammock), when she brought out some molded plastic chairs for us.  She went back inside and then offered us some plastic bags with frozen sweet tamarinda juice. I offered mine, sadly, to my friend, mostly since I wasn't sure how it was prepared, and offered regrets for my being unable to eat or drink sweets.  She talked about having dreams and asked what they meant.  We talked about how God has used dreams in the past (as with Daniel) but now that we have the complete Bible, he uses the Scriptures to talk to us.  I'm not sure she was convinced - she really likes her dreams! and likes to share them, but she listened. She spent 15 minutes proudly showing us pictures of her children, a few of which are in the United States. She showed us photos of the contests that the girls won in her town in Guatemala, kind of like in the US there are "state fair princesses". She spent considerable money on elaborate costumes! As we left, she offered us armload of platanos, (plantains), a banana-like vegetable that you can boil or fry.  They were delicious! 

(3) 

There is a cluster of homes, all members of the same family, where we study with some of the kids and adults.  These homes were of wooden planks, perhaps cement floors. Some outbuildings were common work areas with plastic sheeting overhead.  The girls bring out the plastic chairs and we sit out in the middle, in the dirt under some trees.  As we sit, the turkeys and turkey chicks wander about.  The kids bring out their Bibles and some books, and they read and look up scriptures.  At first they were nervous around me, either reading quietly or stealing furtive glances at me, but quickly warmed up. By the end of our study time, they were giggling and having fun.  My silver/grey hair attracts some interest, since that's not as common here!  And, I had some small toys and suckers with me that day, so they delighted in those!  

(4)

I made an initial call on a home, and spoke with a young adult named Sara. Her home had parrots and a monkey climbing above us! I was told her whole family used to attend the Kingdom Hall some years ago, and her father still kindly buys paint for an annual paint job for the hall, but they do not attend now, for some unknown reason.  Sara lost her mother in death a few years ago, and wanted to know what the hope for the dead is.  I showed her some key scriptures, such as John chapter 11 where Lazarus' death was compared to sleep, and John 5:28, 29, where it says that the dead will arise again - both righteous and unrighteous, and Revelation 21:3,4, that promises a time on earth when there will be no more sickness, tears, pain or death. She was shy but touched to read the verses about the hope to see her  mother again. She is continuing to study. 

(5)

We parked the truck and walked down a rocky lane, hearing scurrying iguanas in the bushes as we passed.  We arrived at the house of another young woman, ___________, who just started to study, and who has four children. The walls of the home were just bamboo sticks tied together, or else no walls in places, with sturdy tree limbs at the four corners, and I think she had a bent up old metal sheets as a roof.  There was a recent addition to the home of more metal sheets or else a big piece of plywood with the remnants of a political sign painted on the side.  The floor was dirt, but molded so the dirt floor of the home was 4" higher than the dirt of the outside yard so that during rainy time, the water did not flow inside. There were macas hanging inside. 

The baby appeared sick, with flies hovering in its eyes, and a dull look.  When the baby dropped her bottle in the dirt, they just picked it up and put it back in her mouth.  The oldest boy, maybe 9, was ill as well, looking weak and pale.  A toddler just wailed when he saw me, a stranger, and hid behind his mother, just peeking out from time to time. Then there was a child, probably 6 years old, who was a little pistol!  With a huge grin at me, he goaded his little brother to look at me then start crying!  He came over to me to look at my Bible, to talk to me with glowing happy eyes, and showed me a book he has. During the study, she had water running into the pila, since water is only available for a few hours a day, and she wanted to have the water on hand for when she did her chores.  As we left, she asked for money, since churches usually exchange religious activity for a donation.  We explained that we teach the Bible to help people, but not in exchange for anything - we neither ask for payment nor pay them for their attention.  On the other hand, if it were NOT an expected 'payment' to her, we would be happy to help her in a particular need, as we have many others. 

So, what about giving material help to people?  This is a bottomless pit of need.  There are many humanitarian missions here who kindly provide material help. But our primary focus is on providing spiritual comfort that truly touches people's hearts, and Bible counsel helps them be better people - better mothers and fathers, even better citizens, better managers of what money they have - as they avoid drunkenness (which is common here) and adultery (that tears apart families), and helps them focus on teaching their children to read, a supportive community, and gives them a real specific hope for an end to the suffering.  Yes, we also do provide material help where possible, but just as Jesus was known primarily as "Teacher", we also want that to be our focus. 

Other scenes or visits or comments: 

• I recall seeing a lean-to home, literally in a ditch. Though I didn't talk to them that day, Leo Santizo has talked to them and said they are happy to have a place to live.  These types of extremely rudimentary shelters are absolutely everywhere here. Sometimes, at the side of a simple stick home, there is a pile of cinder blocks; over time, the blocks are collected and eventually they build a room, then build onto that over the years, and slowly improve their housing - if they are fortunate and work hard. 
• A woman talking to us on an initial call, with her 75-year-old treadle sewing machine with a worn rope running from the foot treadle to drive the sewing machine. 
• Many children here are quite small due to malnourishment. 
• Life here is very very difficult. The life expectancy for men is, I think, 61 years old.  Someone may look at least ten years older than I am easily, with her lined face and bent back, but then I find she is younger than I am.
• The heat and humidity here takes your breath away.  Though I didn't see any thermometers, it must have been usually about 100 degrees with very high humidity.  And the zancudos (mosquitoes) are ever-present and love fresh American blood, believe me! 
• I did not encounter anyone who was rude or unwilling to talk. Even if they don't agree or don't want to have us come back for a follow-up visit, they show a respect for the Bible and for our work, and are willing to listen.  They often pull out a chair or stool for us to sit on. 
• As we approach a house, since there is often not an actual door to knock on, we often wait at the gate and call out "Buenos dias" in a sing-song way.  If there is no gate, we just go about halfway from the street to the home, and call out the same. We may call out a couple of times, then slowly someone, perhaps wiping her hands on a towel, comes forward and calls out to us, "Pase adelante", or, come forward, also in a sing-song voice! We may sit or stand with her next to an open fire, perhaps cooking tortillas or a pot of soup. Often there may be family members in a maca or elsewhere, half listening to our conversations.  And it often concludes with a heartfelt Gracias and Que Dios le bendiga from the kind strangers. 
• Many people just have more students than they can handle, there is such eagerness to learn here. Can you imagine, having more than you can handle?  Perhaps 15 or 20 students, individual sessions, each week?  I'm eager to get settled to have such a "problem"!

I am so very very privileged to have come here.  I love talking to people about this amazing reality of God's kingdom. I am convinced it will come very soon. It is worth whatever sacrifices I may make.  Plus, whatever supposed 'sacrifices' in comfort or familiarity are made up for a thousand times by Jehovah's rich blessings of joy, laughter, peace, and purpose. I am not living a grim life of suffering here - I am having a GREAT TIME with a 'hundred fold' in family and friends. (Mark 10:28, 29)

Following are some more pictures of the friends: 

A young sister talking

Circuit Overseer Joel and Rosario Canté enjoying a frozen treat in a plastic bag.

Our service group

The Cantés

Sis Canté scraping coconut meat out of the coconuts we'd just drank out of