November 2013 - Brazil

Hi. This is our 6^th month in Brazil. We have divided this page into the following sections:

• Circuit Overseer’s visit
• Tract campaign in the jungle·   
•  Unusual insects and large fruit·       
•  Public talk in Iracema·        
•  Example of the young ones in the congregation·        
•  Progressive bible studies·         
•  A new river port·         
• What does the future hold for us·         
• Our last week in Brazil·        
• Serving in Brazil - our thoughts.

You may remember that our original plans were to serve in Brazil for 6 months or longer, if possible. See what happened to us in November that would affect our decision of where to serve in Jehovah’s organisation.

Following our move to Caracarai and the rewarding month we had in October, we were looking forward to the circuit overseer’s visit on 7^th November. We also started the campaign offering the ‘Can the dead really live again?’ tract.

The coordinator, Samuel, and I wondered how we would cover all of the territory that the congregation was responsible for. Caracarai has about 17,000 people and so is not a large town. However, it is also responsible for the river witnessing which stretches for several hours and also jungle territory where small villages were situated. As was explained in the blog page for October, this involved travelling up to 150Km to reach these villages.

The congregation has 23 publishers, 2 special pioneers and 5 regular pioneers  including Sandra and I and also the couple from Manaus. Therefore we set up daily arrangements for morning preaching as well as 2 evening arrangements. This was in addition to the personal arrangements that many had in the afternoons. The plan was to cover the main area of Caracarai in 3 weeks and use the last weekend to go to the jungle areas.

Circuit Overseer’s visit

During the second week of November, we had the visit of the circuit overseer and his wife, Almir and Marlese. They were a great source of encouragement. They showed a very humble attitude and were very positive about the congregation and the potential growth in Caracarai. We wondered how many there would be at the meetings that week.

The Kingdom Hall only has about 50 white plastic seats. On the Tuesday night there were about 60 to the meeting. We therefore borrowed some more chairs and on the Thursday there were over 70 to the meeting. 

As you can see in the photograph, we had to put some chairs on the left side of the platform which was very close.
I conducted the congregation book study that night and it was unusual to be standing about 3ft (1m) from the audience who were also on the platform!

What would we do for the Sunday meeting? We were confident that there would be even more there and so we prepared for 90. We found some more chairs, but where would we put them? Only one place to go – the other side of the platform! The platform is not very wide and you can imagine how tight it was when you had the speaker and 18 members of the audience also on the platform!

 

We also had a deaf person come to the meeting on the Thursday and Sunday of the circuit overseer’s visit and so we made provision for them in the Kingdom Hall also. A brother and sister from the sign language congregation came all the way from Boa Vista (165Km) to do the sign language translation for those meetings.

Sign language at rear of hall

All went well and we were really excited to have 96 at the meeting for the public talk and watchtower – 4 times the number of publishers!

During their time in Caracarai, we got to know them well as they were stayed in the same house as us and the special pioneer couple. It was a massive spiritual boost especially every morning when the 6 of us considered the days text. It was also fun when we joked with each other about our accents. The special pioneer couple are from the North, the circuit overseer from North East, his wife from Rio de Janeiro and Sandra and I from England. You can imagine the mix of sound we all spoke!

We were glad to see them enjoy their visit outside of the meeting and preaching time. There is a table tennis (ping pong) table at the special pioneer’s house and so we had several games of that during his visit. We also enjoyed a game of football after the meeting on the Sunday night. He put many of the young brothers to shame with his football skills!

The circuit overseer and his wife work really hard in North Brazil. They do not have a place to go to at the end of each week and so they move directly from one congregation to the next. The geographical area is massive and so they when they are serving outside of Boa Vista, they have to travel sometimes for hours on a Tuesday morning to reach the next congregation.

After the visit on Monday night, the day before they left Caracarai congregation, we had news that there were protests blocking the road that they would have to travel on to reach the next congregation. The protests can become very unpredictable and in rural areas there is not much support from police. In some areas there may only be 1 police person. 

Naturally we were concerned for their safety and so they planned to leave early on Tuesday, about 0600. They would try to find another route to get there. In that area of the North, there are very few roads between places. So when you have to take an alternative route, this adds an unknown time to the travel. Also they are not proper made roads but often mud tracks, not always marked on the maps.

We were relieved when we heard that they had safely arrived in time for the meeting that night in the next congregation. They were exhausted but the apparently the visit went ahead as planned.

We eagerly continued the campaign through the month of November and we achieved the goals set out to cover the main town in 3 weeks.

Tract campaign in the jungle

Towards the end of November, we arranged to go to the jungle area of ‘Vista Alegre’ to cover the tract campaign there. One of the sisters that is in the Caracarai congregation lives in that village.

Vista Alegre is not as far from Caracarai as the jungle area we covered last month. We set off in 4 cars and headed towards our jungle territory. Even at 0800 the day was hot. As with any trip away from Caracarai, we all had plenty of clean drinking water in each car and food for the day. The cars filled up with fuel and tyres were checked. Our time in Brazil has continuously surprised us at how resilient the cars are to the roads. Most of the cars are standard 4 door family or small cars, yet they are punished by the holes in the roads and the dust and also muddy water that we pass through.

As we drove towards our destination, we had time to enjoy a positive interchange of conversation and jokes in each car. The Brazilian brothers and sisters are by nature very friendly and lively and loud and there is never a dull moment. 

We also admired the creation, the distant mountains and unusual patterns in the sky.

For the first part of the journey we were on the main Boa Vista to Manaus road that is straight and has a tarmac surface. As the heat shimmered off the hot surface and formed weird shapes in the air in front, we eventually reached the point where we turned off the main road and onto the dry orange muddy tracks.

When we reached the village, the local roads had tarmac (asphalt) on. 

We parked at the sister’s house and we had a brief bible discussion and made arrangements to split the group into sections. 

Each section then headed off in different directions to cover all parts of the village.

During the morning we all placed many campaign tracts.

It was difficult to cover many huts and houses because everyone wanted to speak for a long time! 


The sister that lives there regularly works the territory but on her own she can’t cover the whole village thoroughly.


 It was also a privilege to work with Ambrosio and also one of the young brothers in the congregation who for the first time gave a presentation in the preaching work.

About 11.30 we all met at the sisters house and ate our food. After about 30 minutes we headed back out into the midday sun. We would not normally do this but we only had one day to cover the village area and so we did not have time to rest and keep out of the sun.

Throughout the afternoon we met many more people. Everyone accepted the tract and were happy to ask questions. Although the guidelines had said to make a brief presentation and then move on, as most people were asking questions and wanted more information and the territory is not worked regularly, we spent time explaining the scriptures with each person that asked.

After an enjoyable day, we met up near the river, posed for the inevitable photograph and headed back to Caracarai.

Unusual insects and large fruit

As you may have seen on our blog, we have seen many different animals and insects. We have also heard many but not seen them. It is amazing to see the variety of insects and the size of them. Photographs do not do them justice and it is difficult to see the size of them.

The following is called a ‘hopper’. It is like a giant locust but very colourful. The hopper in the pictures below, which are taken in our bedroom on the mosquito net, is about 17.5cm (7 inches) long. The colours are amazing. 

The insect is not dangerous and we held it gently. 

We did however quickly find out how sharp the little claws and ‘barbs’ are on its legs. 

They go in both directions and so once they are in your skin, it is very difficult to make the insect let go!








It's face looks a scary and as I got closer to take the photo, I was not sure if it was posing or thinking about eating me!

After negotiations with it, we agreed that it would not eat me!











To the left is a giant moth that regularly lived on our wall. It is about 15cm (6inches) wide.

We also enjoyed many different fruits and the natural flavours that come from a fresh Amazon fruit is difficult to describe in words. 

Some are similar to fruits that we get in other parts of the world, however the size can be LARGE. 

Look at the melon that Sandra and Samuel are holding!

You can see that it is about 30cm (12inches) wide and 80cm (32inches) long and very heavy. 

Melon is a fantastic fruit for the hot climate and this one lasted several days!

Public talk in Iracema

On Saturday 16^th November we visited the congregation in Iracema which is the closest congregation to Caracarai. I had been invited to give a public talk there. 

There is just one elder there who is also a regular pioneer and they have no ministerial servants.

There were about 30 in attendance and the sisters are used to help with various things including the roving microphones. 

The territory that they cover includes the next section of river along from Caracarai. 

It was very encouraging for us to see the congregation and how they persevere in covering their territory, despite being few in number. 

The need is certainly great in these rural areas of North Brazil!

Example of the young ones in the congregation

One of the highlights for us both has been the zeal and good example of the young ones in the congregation. Caracarai has MANY young ones. For example, when we have 50 in attendance at the meeting, over 30 of them are between 0 and 18 years old! You can imagine that the meetings are quite noisy and lively.

When we have question and answer parts on the program, there is always a ‘sea’ of hands that fly up. They are already in the air before the question is asked. When Samuel and I conduct the various parts of the meeting, we try to make sure that we ask all of the different children to answer. For me, it has taken several weeks to learn all of their names. They all have different names and some also have names that they call each other.

Some of the older teenagers also are keen to help with microphones, hall cleaning and maintenance and other things. They NEVER show a negative spirit and it is refreshing to see children of all ages really appreciating Jehovah’s arrangement.

When we first went to Caracarai, we were greeted by everyone and the children flung themselves at us with big hugs and handshakes. We thought that this would diminish once we had been there and they were used to us. However, without fail, every time we went to the hall, a swarm of children would run up to us outside and give us a BIG hug. After a week we realized that we would have to leave an extra 10 minutes early for the meetings as we needed that extra time just to get into the Kingdom Hall!

This really touched our hearts. Being ‘British’ we are from a culture that is reserved and not very outgoing. When we went to Boa Vista we learnt to be more open and accept the genuine love of the Brazilian brothers. When we went to Caracarai, we again experienced such an outgoing genuine appreciation for us being there that many times we were moved to tears.

The thought of having to leave this amazing small congregation at the end of November was probably the hardest thing we would have to deal with in our 6 months in Brazil.

The young ones, like Miqueias shown in the photograph, have great zeal for the preaching. Most had bicycles and were happy to preach for hours at a time. There was never any limit to the time in the preaching in their minds.

The grandmother of Miqueias used a 3 wheel bike to get around. Her zeal is abundant. 

Not only does she look after 4 grandchildren in her hut, cooking for them everyday and caring for their spiritual needs, but she was out most days preaching with her bike.

She pedals so fast that the picture of her was blurred!

Some of the young ones took an interest in learning English and we were able to help them learn a few things.

Samuel, Lene and us continued our English and Portuguese lessons at the house also.

Samuel and I still using the whiteboard at the house.

Progressive Bible studies

During our time in the 2 congregations in North Brazil, we had the privilege of conducting 13 Bible studies in Portuguese. Jehovah blessed our efforts greatly. When we started learning Portuguese at the end of 2005, we would never have believed that a few years later we would be serving in a Portuguese speaking country.

Being able to share bible truth with others in a different language is a rewarding challenge.

In Caracarai we both were amazed at how eager the Bible students were. 

Most of our Bible students very soon attended the meetings regularly.

One of Sandra’s students who is 18 (photo on left) is making good progress and despite work, tries very hard to attend all the meetings.

One student that I studied with called Elvis (yes he is alive!) had many problems in his life over the years. This included drink, drugs and he was often in trouble with the police. He had also left his family but recently he wanted to change. His wife and children were studying and all regular at the meetings.

At the beginning of October I started studying with Elvis using the ‘Bible teach’ book. He attended the meetings with his family dressed in very casual clothes. Within 3 weeks he made great changes in his attitude and started wearing smart trousers and a shirt. He then asked if we could study twice a week. The next meeting he asked where he could get a tie. The next study I gave him one of mine and also Samuel said he could have one of his.

The very next meeting he turned up looking very smart in shirt, tie and suit trousers! He started studying 3 times a week and our last week in Brazil he had 4 studies! He knew that he needed to make further changes including legalising his marriage. This he did.

Sandra with the family of Elvis. Elvis is in the blue T shirt.

Sandra with the youngest of Elvis' children

Lourdes' grandchildren (cousins of Elvis' children)

To see students progressing so well helps us to realise that there continues to be a great need in preaching to all parts of the world. Even though we are not 100% fluent in the Portuguese language, we are privileged to have a small part in studying with Portuguese speaking people.

A new river port

On the river at Caracarai is a new port. In the October blog, we had mentioned about river witnessing. Boats travel the Rio Branco mainly distributing fish from the Amazon river, to the villages and towns all the way up to Boa Vista. At the moment they have to moor at the river bank and at floating pontoons.

Rio Branco at Caracarai

In the future they are expecting larger boats and more foot passengers i.e. tourists to come up river. 

The Caracarai mayor or prefeitura arranged for a new port too be built which will enable foot passengers to disembark easily. 

This will be a new way for the local brothers to spread the good news informally. We are sure that when the port opens in January, regular witnessing there will be very fruitful.

Ambrosio and Aderson at the port

Although it is not open yet, the security guard allowed a few of us permission to go down to the port to see it for ourselves.

What does the future hold for us?

Our plans to serve where the need is greater in another land seemed a long time ago now. Many things had happened and we have had fantastic experiences in North Brazil. However the 6 months in Brazil have flown past. Our original intention was to try to find a legal way to stay in Brazil to serve there for longer. However despite the intense efforts of various brothers and ourselves, this was not to be. Brazil is a VERY difficult country to get permission to do things if you are a foreigner. There are many visa options but it is very bureaucratic and we found it impossible to find a sensible solution.

So what would we do at the end of the 6 months? We thought we would go back to England and maybe try to get work and save up enough to return in 6 months’ time. We already had our return flight booked when we made the original travel plans.

However, whatever plans WE were thinking of, Jehovah had other ideas! Just 2 weeks before our 6 months were up, we received an invitation from the Trinidad and Tobago branch to go to Guyana. The reason? To help cover the foreign language (Portuguese) territory in the capital of Georgetown. They asked us to go to help with the Brazilian speaking community in Georgetown and also support any expansion there! There are thousands of Brazilians in Georgetown who have come from Brazil to set up businesses and also to work in the Gold mines and mineral mining areas. Georgetown is a hub of Brazilian activity and the brothers there needed help to cover the territory!

There are no Portuguese groups or congregations at all in Guyana and they desperately need elders and pioneers who can speak Portuguese to fill this need. The border of Guyana  is only 4 hours journey from Caracarai. Sandra and I were excited and shocked to receive such an invitation. The timing could not have been at a more important time for us. Also what a privilege to go to serve in yet another foreign country with the possibility of establishing the first Portuguese group in that country!

However, our original plan and savings were for 6 months preaching in Brazil. How would we live in Guyana? Could we find work, a place to live? Although Guyana is an English speaking country, could we adjust to the Caribbean accent, culture, food, health etc? We already had a flight booked back to England and so what should we do? We had to decide quickly because we only had less than 2 weeks left in Brazil.

Sandra and I prayed many times for specific guidance. We also spoke with the special pioneers who we were staying with in Brazil as well as our family. We also made contact with 2 special pioneers serving in Moruca in North Guyana. The safer option would be to return to England. However, we knew that if we did so, there were many things that could get in our way from returning to serve where the need is greater. Also the need was NOW! Our concern was money. Despite our first-hand experience of Jehovah’s provisions in the past and present, we still had concerns about how to find enough money to live in a capital city.

After a couple of days, we began to feel more at ease. Our savings from England had lasted better than we had thought. We had been very careful with money over the last 6 months. Also if we returned to England, we would then have to find the cost of the flight back to South America. If we went straight to Guyana, we could economically travel from Caracarai to Boa Vista and then up to the border of Guyana at Bonfim/Lethem. From there we could travel across the interior of Guyana by road up to Georgetown.

Prayer helped us to remember that we had already learned to adjust to a different culture, food, language and health issues over the last 6 months. We had little health problems in Brazil and Jehovah had always provided somewhere for us to live. So should we go straight to Guyana or go back to England and work for a few months?

The 2 special pioneers said ‘Trust in Jehovah’. We already knew this in our hearts and so with great faith we decided to go straight to our new assignment in Guyana. The NEXT day, we received an email from the coordinator of Cummingsburg congregation in Georgetown (where we would be based) to say that a sister had offered her house for us to share with her! She did not want us to pay rent, just food and help with the energy bills. Jehovah had provided an answer yet again.

We have had so many experiences where Jehovah has very quickly provided an answer, AFTER we commit to doing his will. Where some may feel it is a big risk, we have learnt that there is NO risk with Jehovah. If you ever feel that you want to expand your service to him, don’t hesitate. Dip your foot in the ‘water’ and he will open the way for you to be able to fulfil that assignment.

So it was decided! We confirmed our acceptance of the assignment with the Trinidad and Tobago branch and also informed the coordinator, brother Hazel, in Georgetown.

Our last week in Brazil

The last week was an emotional week for us. We knew that it was unlikely that we would have the opportunity to see the brother and sisters and the bible students again.

We would greatly miss Samuel, Lene and Pipoca. We had built up a close bond and despite a few occasions where we misunderstood what was said, we all thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Pipoca, their dog, had a nice character and provided much amusement. One of our suitcases had got damaged on the flight back in June between England and Brazil and so we could not take this with us. We therefore put it outside the back door of the house. The next morning something alive was inside it. Pipoca and her blanket.

She did not want to get out and for the next few days we left it for her to sleep in. She became quite possessive of the suitcase and it was decided that she could keep it!

The last week of November was very busy especially with preparations to move to Guyana. Our emotions were mixed. Our deep love for the brothers and bible students in Brazil was intense. We had not before experienced these specific feelings that we had. The thought of not seeing them again was upsetting.

Our last meeting at Caracarai

At the same time, we were excited. We knew that Jehovah was guiding us to serve in Guyana and despite a new start in a different country, we knew that we could trust him implicitly.

The congregation surprised us with a party before we left. Again it was an emotional time saying goodbye to all our friends. The brothers do not have many belongings there but they all pulled together to provide plenty of food and a good evening at Ambrosio’s house.

Many of the students were there also and we said our goodbyes. A couple of sisters could not make it and to our surprise (again) the next day those that missed the party invited us out for a meal and ice cream.

We had decided to sell our bicycle and one young brother brought the bike from us. The day before we left, more brothers and students passed the house to say goodbye. Elvis and his family asked us to eat hotdogs with them and requested a final Bible study with us.

We felt part of a big very warm, loving family. It was as if the brothers knew they would not see us again and wanted to spend every possible minute with us. They still begged us to return in 6 months when we could get new visas again. However, we knew in our hearts that we were going to a new assignment and that it could be for a long time. We can’t describe the feelings we had but we know that we will NEVER forget them!

On 29^th November we travelled to Boa Vista by coach. When the elders there learnt of our plans, they ‘insisted’ that they see us again in the Bela Vista congregation where we had spent the first 4 months in Brazil. They invited me to do the public talk there and we stayed the night in Brother Jorge and Dores house again. The following day we travelled by bus to the border and crossed into Lethem, Guyana and stayed with an English brother overnight. We were in Guyana and now had a 22 hour bus journey across the country. What would that journey be like, and how would we cope with our new assignment? Find out next month by reading the ‘December 2013 – Guyana’ page.

Serving in North Brazil - our thoughts

Spending 6 months preaching in Brazil has been a wonderful experience. We have learnt many things and have drawn closer to Jehovah. We have seen first-hand why this system has not ended. There are so many more that are learning the truth.

We know that in many parts of the world it may seem that the interest is slowing down. However be assured that there is a great multitude coming in. Continue to be positive in your congregation where you live. We are all servants of Jehovah and wherever we are, we serve him for the same purpose.

If any reading this blog have the desire to serve where the need is greater, please don’t delay. Do not look for reasons why you can’t do that. Look for reasons why you CAN. If after prayer and careful thought and discussion with other mature ones, you decide you can’t serve in another city or another land, be happy with that. Do not despair.

If you can serve elsewhere, we recommend that you speak with your service committee and make enquiries with the branch office responsible for that land where you are interested in serving.

We all have a lot to learn and our obedience is of utmost importance. Without a doubt there are challenges in serving where the need is greater. However, the rewards far out way the challenges and after the challenge is conquered, it does not appear a challenge any more. It becomes another building block in our faith.

Sandra and I have much more to learn and we rely on Jehovah in directing us in our new assignment in Guyana. We hope that you continue to read our blog and we will post new updates each month when we are in Guyana.