Sorry I have not written any stories in a while, life sure has a way of keeping us busy!
So much has happened in the last couple weeks. As a congregation we rented a guagua and headed up the mountain to a small city to preach.
That's us in the field on the right preaching...
There was 20 of us snuggled into a bus for 15! As we made the trek up the hill it became clear how high we were really going! As I looked out the window I could look straight down....to the bottom of the mountain! There was no guard rails or fences or even rocks to indicate the edge!! Just the edge! Well, we made it safe and we have another life experience to add to our belt of life.
Once up the mountain we used a women's house as our home base. This women's name is Jesus...she is a bible study of a sister in our congregation. Once organized we got started.
A group was assigned to begin the city and we were assigned to the "projects"
We soon saw why they were called the "projects", the Haitians live in homemade shacks, made of whatever they can find. They usually build there huts right on the property where they are hired to work in. I have to say this was a real humbling experience, seeing how this people live while others live in palaces!
(picture above) This is a kitchen of one of the Haitians we talked to. His house is in the fields behind the crop.
At least we know soon that God's Kingdom will bring justice and fairness to all these people that have never known the real meaning of those words.
We learned a few words in Haitian Creol, but mostly we could speak our simple Spanish and they would understand.So after our lunch we finished preaching in the city. There was a great sense of accomplishment by all the brothers that we finished the whole town! Although tired there were only smiling faces the way home.
This town is called Puerto Escondito and we only get to work it once a year! Some of the sisters in our congregation make the effort and go on Mondays when they can. There is so much work to do here, many people havent been able to have the chance to hear the message from the bible.
Our next chapter takes us to the capital in search of a car!
Our decision to buy a car was a tough one, but we were really finding it difficult to get around as our territory consists of many towns. Although we can take the guaguas, its not as nice. Also the other need greater couple wanted Gralyn's help to find a car too. He wanted Gralyn just to look the cars over to be sure they were working well. Sounds easy right??!!
Not at all!!!! We arrived in the capital on a Wednesday with some appointments to see cars. We took the 5am guagua from Duverge and arrived at 9am. The driver drove like a demon! We were glad to get off!
So our hunt began...we called a taxi driver because at this point we were only on foot. Our plan was for one of us to buy a car so we could have something to drive around the city....well easier said then done!!
After looking at numerous cars, walking from one end of the capital to the other; we came home empty handed. And really discouraged! Buying a car here is actually harder then getting your residency visa to live here!!
First you have to find the car you want...then you have to hope that its not garbage and is drive-able....so once you have decided this the fun begins. These are the things you need : a licence plate check to be sure its not stolen. This is done downtown at a government office,
A licence plate renewal sticker you purchase at a head office of the bank,
Another sticker you buy at a different bank, but then you have to go to another government office to have them walk around your car and declare that it is fit to drive before you get the sticker, and while you try to get all this done you have to register that you bought the car at another government office to have the ownership turned over!!! Are you all thinking...why bother??!!! Cause we sure were!!!!
Its the worst system we have ever seen!! So...we were all kind of ready to give up, but then we got in contact with a brother that helps people buy cars in the DR.
So we called him...his name s Ezekiel. And he helped us through the whole process!! He drove us around for hours (granted we paid him) but we at least felt safe and that we were in good hands.
So once we found our car he did all the rest! All the paper changes, the police check, the stickers! It cost us more then if we did it ourselves but it was worth it!!
So we are now the proud owners of a Peugeot 406 from year 2000. However we do not have our drivers license yet!!
Life can be so complicated, but so far things have been working out....not easily but in the end they are working out.
So, on Monday we find out if we have our International Drivers Permit and then we can go back to the capital...meet Chris and Lisa who are returning with our licenses and drive our car home. It currently is parked at a brothers house in the capital....and we are in Duverge dreaming of not taking the guagua anymore!!
Everyday presents different challenges and we learn more about ourselves, and become better at navigating the roller coaster of emotions. I think that this is the most challenging thing that we have done, and we keep reminding ourselves the reasons we are doing this. The language is still a challenge and not understanding is really hard. We often wonder if we will ever understand.
Our ministry is really the only thing that keeps us going at times, We have some great bible studies and they are very patient with us, and are eager to learn.
I have this one return visit that I have been trying for months and could never find at home, but we had such a great conversation that I didnt want to give up. So finally just on this past Friday I tried her house and she was home!! Her name is Jarus, and she was really happy to see me. She explained that she had been working a lot (she is a nurse at the hospital) and hasn't been home much. But that she has read almost the whole Bible Teach book and was hoping to see me soon. So, as I did my happy dance in my head, we made arrangements for me to return the very next day at 11am for our bible study. So, when we got there, she was ready and it went so well. We have made arrangements for every Saturday at 11am now. I am glad I didn't give up!
The other day Gralyn had a good experience, as we were walking down the street a man yelled "do you have the Watchtower?!" So we stopped and said YES...he told us that he was here visiting and loved reading our articles because they are very interesting and they really direct you to the bible. He was in Duverge just visiting family, but we think that he is a return visit. He thanked us for distributing the Watchtower and Awake magazines and he said that they can help people. It felt really nice to see how much our articles can influence people.
Jehovah is really blessing us, he knows exactly what we need when we need it!
