We are here, we are there, we are everywhere! Unfortunately the one place we are
not is in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. Early last month we left Mexico to head back to the States. No, we aren't worried about the whole Mayan calendar thing (just in case though...) but we had some family matters to attend to. So we decided that since we were leaving to get all our visiting in now and head back in January. So the first stop on our journey...sunny Jamaica!
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| working by threes |
We spent a few weeks there visiting Suzanne's dad and he was happy to see her of course. Visiting the island gave us a chance to renew acquaintance with the brothers there and also experience the ministry in Jamaica. In all the times we have visited I have never engaged there in the ministry; partially due to lack of time and partially out of fear. Yes, fear. You see, I was always worried that the first door I would get would be answered by a dread-lock rasta who after *ahem*
meditating wit di ganja would want to discuss the deeper points of Revelation. I also am hesitant to talk much to anyone in Jamaica because I have such difficulty understanding the Jamaican patois. But, muster up the courage we did and we enjoyed a nice time in the ministry.
One of the interesting differences in the ministry there is that we worked not in pairs but in threes in door to door. The friends also do not leave sight of one another. If you reach the end of the block, you wait for any who are still working before turning the corner. I was told that this was a safety in numbers thing and strongly encouraged to put away my tablet and stop taking pictures. Duly noted! and yeah, I kept looking over my shoulder the rest of the morning.
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| Suzanne and her Dad |
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| this fella came over and posed for a photo |
While there we also got to work with Terry and Trish Stires, a missionary couple from California who are serving in the same congregation with Suzanne's dad. We were very encouraged by them and "traded notes" so to speak about the adjustments we made to serving in a foreign land. It was extremely reassuring because we learned that many of the same feelings and thoughts we may have had, they experienced too. I also appreciated what a privilege it would be to have Gilead trained missionaries in the congregation. We soaked up as much as we could from them and look forward to our next visit and sharing in the ministry with them again.
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| sweetsop ( soooo good! ) fresh from the tree |
So for now we have returned to Florida and are enjoying visits with our old congregations and family. It is so great to see everyone but we are eager to get back to Guasave next month. We keep thinking about the congregation there and the studies and calls we left behind. Funny how that works. We just arrived there a few months ago but already it feels like home. We miss the brothers, we miss the ministry, we even miss the quirky little things that annoyed us when we were there.
We plan to head back after the new year and hope to be able to share "a good report from a distant land" with you very soon.
