Umm, rule universe will I.

Hello Everyone,

Hows it going?  Jaide and I are bracing for another loud night.  For holidays, the popular thing here in Guyana, is to set up literally a wall of speakers,  measuring 10-15 feet tall, by 10 feet wide.  Then you blast your music as loud as humanly possible and offer food and alcohol.  People flood to the streets.  A massive sea of people walking, somewhat aimlessly, from one beer stand to the next.  Liming around and sporting it up (hanging out and drinking/partying).   For some I think its a Pavlov's dog's response.  They see large speakers, hear insanely loud music and start to feel the need to walk the streets and drink.  I don't know, maybe I need to get some funding for an experiment.

In the top picture, you see Ramzan and what he learned from his study.  This is the man who we have been slowly explaining the issue of Universal Sovereignty.  Well, if you look closely at the picture he has drawn that he will support Jehovah's rule and not Satan's.  And yes, that is Satan on the your right side of the paper, not Yoda. ( UMMM, rule universe will I.) He may not understand all the details, but he gets the point.

The other picture is of our sign language class.  Or, as we refer to it 'informally teaching sign language to some friends from the hall.'  Nothing official.  Starting from the left and going right, we have Roxy and Mary.  Now they are supposed to be doing the sign for Satan.  Where the learned the sign they are doing beats me.  Both at the same time, like they had been practicing, made horns with both hands.  The class has been really fun.  A good reason to get together, laugh and eat some good food.  The best things in life!

The Guyanese word of the day:  sleeping officer.  Translation: speed bump.  The first time I heard a brother use that expression I was looking around for a police officer asleep.  The brother noticed me looking around and asked, "isn't that what you call them at home?"  I responded, "yes, or sleeping police."  Another brother then explained what it means.  They all got a good laugh.

Love,
G&J

You only eat sandwich's!

Hello everyone,

How are things?  Jaide and I are doing good.  Last Sunday, we had our full sign language meeting.  There was 55 in attendance, 25 deaf.  We only managed to get 3 deaf from our side of the river to go.  As usual, we hired a private bus to take us.  This time we hired Rafeek, aka tall boy ( He is the Muslim man who knows 5 deaf that he is supposed to help us meet).  After we picked up everyone that were going, there was still empty seats.  Rafeek looks at me, shakes his head ands says, "Graems, next time tell me what this is for and I will fill this bus with deaf and blind!"  I appreciate his zeal.  Man, can he talk.  Oh, my favorite moment was when he told us, "white people don't cook, all you eat are sandwiches."  We explained that we like to cook, in fact we even cook Guyanese food.  That was the funniest concept in the world to him, he just kept laughing at us cooking curry and roti.  He said he was going to come by our house and teach us how to cook Guyanese.

How do you explain the issue of Universal Sovereignty to some one with a very limited sign language vocabulary?  That was the the dilemma we faced on Ramzan's study this week.  The hardest part was explaining what a challenge is.  To illustrate what a challenge is I drew a picture of a woman cooking, and a boy.  I explained that the woman is a very good cook, but the small boy comes up and tells the woman she is a bad cook and that he is a excellent cook.  What does the woman do?  Slap the kid?  No, she says, "okay, you go ahead and cook some food and I will cook some food, give it to people and see what they say.  Then, we will know who is a good cook."  Both cook, once finished they give their food to people. The woman's food everyone loves.  The boys is disgusting, it makes people sick.  Proof, the woman was right.  After, drawing and explaining that, I drew the same picture but with Jehovah and Satan.  Not cooking, but ruling the world.  Then I showed a picture of what Satan world looks like.  Followed by a picture of what the earth will look like under Jehovah's Kingdom.  I think he is starting to understand.  Next week we will work on it some more.

The cutest thing is trying to watch Mukesh do the sign for Jehovah.  You see,  he can't make the handshape to sign a J.  To sign the letter J, you make a fist, and leave your pinky sticking up, than draw a shape of the letter J.  Mukesh has to take his other hand and hold down all his fingers except his pinky finger, than draw the J.  The H he has no problem with.

Guyanese word of the day:  Plait.  You don't braid your hair, you plait your hair.

Love,
G&J

The casserole that united two countries.

Hello Everyone,
How are you doing?  We are doing good.  Today, Don and Jodee are leaving.  To quote one of the greatest movies of all time, "Muppets take Manhatten", in the song "Saying Goodbye", Scooter sums up how we feel,  "Saying goodbye, why is it sad?  Makes us remember the good times we've had.   Much more to say, foolish to try.  Its time to say goodbye."  We have had a blast with them.  The deaf and the Congregation will miss them both.  But, most of all I will miss Don's casserole (mashed potatoes, hotdogs, mashed potatoes, topped with a scrumptious layer of fake cheese. Sorry, Don, for giving away your secrets).   His casserole will be spoken of here in Guyana for years to come.  It was a smash hit among the local friends. Thanks for coming guys!

This week was great in the ministry.  It is nice to see the Bible students making progress, and starting to understand more.  Tuesday, on Ramzan's study, Don and I had to try to explain what sin is.  How do you explain what is sin is to someone with no concept of it?  That is what we were thinking.  Thankfully, Ramzan has a decent sign language vocabulary and knows right and wrong, good and bad.  After showing pictures of bad actions, and drawing a picture of a bullseye and a man shooting an arrow.  If he hits the center thats perfect, if he misses that is sin.  After much explaining, here comes the test.  We showed him a picture of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, before the rebelled, and asked "do they sin?"  He answered, "no."  We showed a picture of them after the rebellion and he said, "sin, health deteriorate, die."  That one paragraph took a better part of an hour.  We were exhausted but at the same time thrilled.

Pet of the week:  mostly pre-plucked chicken.  It greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to pluck the feathers before cooking.  Just one look at this beautiful specimen and you start dreaming of chicken nuggets or bbq wings.  If interested in adopting this mouth watering fowl,  please let us know.

Guyanese word of the day: learned me.  Translation: teach.  In a sentence it would go,  "She learned me good." Have fun with it.

Love,
G&J

Fattup!

Mukesh

Hello Everyone,
How is it going? I hope well. We are doing good, thanks for asking. I know I have discussed the music you hear in Guyana before, but I must do it again. You see, life in Guyana is filled with music, at all hours of the day. From sunrise to late into the night you hear all sorts of music. Now, today I am going to discuss the wonderful habit of playing the same song over and over and over and over and over again. No joke, some play the same song for hours. Sometimes its Indian music, sometimes Christian music and sometimes bad R&B. Over and over and over, as loud as they can. AHHHHHHH!

If any animal lovers would like to come to Guyana, beware!! Dogs roam the street with all varieties of ticks and fleas and I'm sure if any other parasitic creature can make a home on a mangy dog, it does here. Then the dog tries to help himself by eating or scratching all its hair off. The product is seen at left. Does anyone want a Guyanese hairless mut?? I'm sure he'll fit in our suitcase and won't shed too much. Perfect for those with pet dander allergies! Let us know.

A few months ago we met a little boy, named Mukesh. His mother called out for him to come meet us.  First, I thought, 'Why is she calling to her deaf child. I hate when people do that.'  Turns out, he can hear, but cannot speak.  He has invented some of his own signs for things, like food, water, and fish.  As we arrive for his study, he always jumps out of the house with a big grin, smelling of coconut oil, which his brother has slathered all over his freshly washed head.  I love when the students bathe for their lessons. We love a fresh smelling student! Anyways, we are studying the Bible Stories book with him. We teach him a few signs, then read him the lesson. When he listens to the story, his job is to sign the words he knows. He looks up with the biggest brown eyes that could make you melt and shyly and slowly starts the sign, looking for our approval. He always remembers the sign for lion. I think he loves to make a big roaring face.  Then we help him to draw and write his name.  His mother always thanks us with a cold drink and a snack.

Guyanese word of the day: fattup.  Meaning:  to gain weight.  This week we went to a family's house for dinner and the mother told us, "Graem and Jaide, come to my house and eat and you will fattup."

Love,
G&J

Don and his trusty camel

Toannia and her son at their first meeting

Hello Everyone,

Whats going on? We are doing good.  You want to know what the best thing in the world is?  Hammock time.  There is not much better in life than a nice piece of afternoon hammock time.  A cool breeze blowing, slipping in and out of sleep, listening to the sounds of the neighbors.  Its the best!  We are most definitely bringing our hammocks home with us.

This week we added up how many deaf on our side of the river we have met since we arrived in August. 24 new deaf, hard of hearing or mute persons have been found!  In Guyana there is a surprising amount of people who can hear but can't speak.  We will soon be up to 29 new deaf.  A Muslim man we met knows 5 deaf and is arranging for us to meet them all at his house.  We have still have many villages to go to and search for more deaf.


Has your Bible student ever said or done something that made you think "Where did I go wrong? Am I that bad of a teacher?" Well this week, it happened to both of us. Toannia is hard of hearing and is learning signs. Recently a DVD signed 'Priest', so Jaide showed her a picture and taught her the sign. After a Brother, the Circuit Overseer, visited for a talk, she signed "the Priest has a big Bible". Jehovah's Witnesses don't use titles, so  now we have to teach her that we taught you that sign but don't use it here. Is that confusing enough?

Haresh's brothers

Today, at meeting Graem was sitting with Haresh, when he started to get a little antsy as young boys naturally do.  So, Graem decided to have him start drawing each Bibe character as we talked about them, then have him write their name under them.  On the top of the page he, then wrote his name, "Haresh".  A couple lines down he took a word from the yeartext on the wall, "endures".  Finally, from the book "Sing to Jehovah", he wrote "Jehovah."  Put those words together and he just wrote the sentence, "Haresh endures Jehovah."  Is he trying to tell us something? Man, our interpreting must REALLY be bad!

Guyanese word of the day; longwata. translation; when you make your curry dish stretch to feed all your hungry kids and the gravy pools to the bottom of your rice like water (wata). Not nice. Not tick (thick).

Thanks for listening,

Love,

J&G