"Is it really worth it?"

Hello Everyone,

The boat with the plank & dead sheep

How are you?  As we took shelter from the rain and wind, watching the boat we were going to spend the next 6 hours on being tossed by the waves, rocking back and forth like a giant was playing with it, that was the question that crossed my mind.  Is it really worth it?  To board the boat you actually had to walk the plank.  There was a piece of wood laying from the concrete on land to the boat.  You had to walk it as the boat tossed to and fro.  Oh, and the bonus, in the water below the plank, a floating dead sheep.  Don't fall.  At least you would have a flotation device.  And as it was Ashtyn's turn to go, a large spider appeared at the top rim of the boat. Let's just say we're happy she's still here to talk about it. We all made it on safe.  Wet and anxious, yes, but hoping it would get better, and it did.  The rain stopped, and once we got out from land, the water was super calm.  Just 6 hours in a hammock, slipping in and out of sleep watching the jungle scenery pass us by.

Once we arrived, we stayed at the house behind the Kingdom Hall.  Some friends of ours live there, Travis & Kristian, along with a local sister and her daughter, Shereen & Phoebe.  The house is actually the local sister's home, but friends stay there all the time.  We had a great time with all of them.  Phoebe is 3 years old, so cute and smart.  She had us all laughing.  She even gave me licks a few times.

The picture doesn't do it justice

Saturday morning we got to see what Orealla looks like.  In a word, beautiful.  The village is built on a hill.  If you go to the top of the hill you have amazing views.  It just happened that is where we worked in the Ministry.  Ministry was fun.  Orealla is an Amerindian village.  Most Amerindians are hard working humble people, easy to share Bible thoughts with.  After service and Bible studies, we cleaned the Kingdom Hall.  I attempted to cut the grass the Guyanese way, with a machete.  I failed.  At least the brothers and sisters got a good laugh at watching me attempt to do it.

Sunday, we had meeting.  The Congregation has 11 publishers, but we had 40 at meeting.  Including a old uncle that is blind and can't walk to well.  A brother brought him to the Kingdom Hall in a wheelbarrow.  What an example of appreciating Spiritual things!  The friends are all so kind and appreciative.  One brother has a farm and brought some amazingly juicy and sweet watermelons.  After meeting, Jaide and Ashtyn did some studies and I, well I went fishing.  They have peacock bass.  I have always wanted to catch one.  It didn't happen.  But we did see a anaconda's head.  Not a big one, Travis and I tried to lift it out with sticks, but he escaped.    

Now, coming to Orealla the boat was not crowded at all.  But on the way home, that was a different story.  I think Jaide described it best.  She said she felt "like a refugee on a boat."  We were packed in there like sardines, tarps covering the sides as if they are hiding us.  Jaide and Ashtyn had people touching them on 3 sides of them at least.  Right, left and on top.  Jaide had some dude's and Ashtyn's feet in her face, and Ashtyn had some guy right on top of her.  The worst was when we hit some rough water and the hammocks went swaying, knocking us into each other, like balls on a pendulum.  One guy was swinging so hard I thought he would fly out.  Good thing Jaide's hip broke his swing. I had to hang my hammock on the bottom.  But, I still had people and luggage all around me.  Funny thing about hammocks, the longer your're in it, the more it stretches.  So, by the end of the trip, the girls and the people around them were one big lump of hammocks.  And I was laying on the ground. I thought about getting up and tightening my hammock but I couldn't stand up because someone was right above and there were people sleeping on the ground all around me.  We boarded the boat around 8pm, left the dock a little after 9pm and didn't arrive until 5am.  I felt like a hot dog inside of a hot dog bun by the end of the trip.  I just wanted to get out of the hammock.

Is it really worth it?  Absolutely!  Would we do it again?  Absolutely!  Its great to experience the love in Jehovah's Organization. Doesn't matter where you go on earth, from the biggest city to a small village in a rain forest in Guyana, you have family that love you.  Beautiful!

Love,

G&J