Old Ladies Who Listen to Cricket

A few Sabbaths ago, I went by Sister Iris to peel some yams for her. She opened the door and regretfully explained to me that Nevil (her grandson) had been unable to purchase any fish, and one really can’t have de yams wif out de meat you know, so she didn’t need me to peel yams for her. I offered to read to her. She got a big smile on her face, half agreed, and then took it back. “Cricket”, she said, gesturing toward the radio. “The West Indies and Jamaica are playing.” I almost couldn’t believe my ears. Sister Iris is 88, nearly 89, and lives in what we would call a shack. It is extraordinary that she even gets radio signal in Mabaruma; most people don’t. I blinked hard, and then asked, “Who are you going for?”, reverting to a voice I would have used with a child when asking about their pet rock.  “Well, I’m going for Jamaica. They are up by so many runs, and the West Indies players are looking weak.” Dropping her chin, she explained this with all the seriousness of an avid sports fan. “Listening to cricket is one of the favorite hobbies of mine...”

The next Sunday, when we returned to pipe water into Sister Iris’s house, she was still listening to cricket. Jud surveyed the scene, set Bill and I to work digging a trench, and went off to find more tools. Jake discovered the hidden hazards of the site by standing on an unsuspecting ants’ nest. Tyler documented the proceedings. Trench dug, small geyser quenched, and a few cricket runs later Sister Iris had water flowing out of a facet in her house. Which is handy when one is 88, nearly 89, blind and house/shack bound. 

If I make it to 88 years of age I hope I still live full. I hope that I will have the gumption to listen to the sports I love and cook foods I like right. Self pity sucks. Go listen to some cricket.

Blackwater Part 2

The Blackwater trip this Sabbath was good. I spoke to the women about how last week went and she said that teaching had gone well. She and a friend had used the Moses activity book that we provided her with and they had taught the kids memory verses from another book. “Just like you’alls do.” That was really cool to hear. They had had 8 kids at their home-she explained that it is rather a long way to paddle for the others. Well shoot. Can’t argue with that. I can not say I know many 10 year olds who paddle themselves to Sabbath School. This Sabbath (March 17, 2012), I read the “Baby Moses” story from My Bible Friend Book 1 and we did a craft. I have been coming out to Blackwater with the Wickwire’s since November and it was rewarding to watch the kids work today. They are starting to get the craft procedure down. They know how to use their benches as tables now, have figured out the “paste”, and are getting better at coloring. Part of the craft included writing or pasting Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and to give you a hope and a future) onto the blue background. I asked one of the boys, Akin, if he wanted to know how to find it in the Bible. Yes. I taught him and Lisa and another boy. They found the book, the chapter, and then carefully read the verse. We practiced together during the sermon, the three little kids lined up on a rough bench, Bibles open in their laps.

After potluck, Greg Van Fossen used felts to teach some anatomy and physiology to build a base so that we can help these people combat their “sugar” (diabetes) and high pressure problems. It was noisy and chaotic. When it became apparent that the kids weren’t going to listen to the health talk I brought out shape and color cards (thank you Prep leadership conference group) and taught them to play “matching”. They also thoroughly enjoyed an Alphabet reader (thanks Courtney and Bailey).

I’ve heard it said that every church has a building project, and on the way back to Mabaruma, we stopped at Blackwater’s. A new Adventist church is being constructed on land adjacent to the home of one of the baptized members. The frame work is up and now there are boards sawed and ready to put up on the frame. Tyler Quiring raised money to purchase the paint for the building. This coming week the president of Adventist World Aviation, Ric Swaningson, is coming to visit the Guyana team and we hope to be able to worship in the new church. I am hoping it gets finished up because if we can have church at the new location there is a separate building (a kitchen) where we can do the kids program without worrying about being too noisy during the adults’ lesson study.

Good mission story huh? I get to travel up a jungle river and teach poor little children about Jesus and the Bible. A great “missionary” thing to do. But is that what makes a missionary? Going to new places and teaching people about Jesus? I think there is a whole lot more, and a whole lot less, that goes into being a missionary. Something that isn’t location specific or dependent on the knowledge base of the people....more to come. 

Blackwater Part 1

Some of my favorite Sabbaths down here have been spent going out to the community of Blackwater. Blackwater is located about an hour and a half up the Barima river from where we are in Mabaruma. Wings for Humanity has a former crab fishing boat that we pile into for the ride through the jungle. The river is large, brown, and flat. In contrast, the jungle is filled with different shades of green. Mangrove trees grow right out to the edge of the river and on a typical trip we see scarlet ibises scattered in the trees at least once. We are in a coastal region, and the ocean tides ebb and flow in the Barima and streams that feed in. Houses along the river are built on stilts sticking up from the mucky intertidal zone. They often have little “driveways” cut back into the house from the main river course. “Blackwater”, as far as I can tell, is a loose collection of homes along the river. When we arrive at the church (we think the Catholics built it), Jake or Zack sound the air horn and we wait for people to show up. Once, a while back, someone did an evangelistic series and there are a few baptized Adventist members. Lots of other people come to join us in worship though. I get to pick the story and teach the lesson part of the children’s program. We usually have 20-30 kids. I have been reading stories to them out of the "My Bible Friend" books (the red books) and then we do a craft or color. I love working with the kids out there. They don’t seem to have heard many of the Bible stories before and it is incredible to sit and read to them. My guess is that few of them have been read to before either and the pictures in the books I carry out are fascinating. Being from the river, they have even less exposure to textual materials then the children in Mabaruma do. It is awesome tinged with sad to go through the book with them. Wonderful to get to share, heartbreaking to see beautiful, intelligent children who will probably never get a real shot at a decent education. In general, the “river people” are fairly quiet. These kids don’t talk a ton. They don’t often ask me questions and when asked a question are more apt to smile than reply. But when I point to Jesus, then turn the page, Nalene, Lisa, and Ron (three of my favorites) will search for him and then chorus in soft, high voices “Jesus? Jesus?” as they point. Sometimes I have trouble speaking a response. 

After Sabbath School, we have church and I try and find some kids to “help” me find the songs in my hymnal. Some of them know the songs, some just the tune, but I point with my finger and try and show them that the symbols on the page relate to what they are hearing. During the sermon we look at pictures in my Bible and practice turning pages. Two Blackwater trips ago, a women approached me after church asking if I could bring some books like I was using to teach the children. She wanting to teach the kids on the Sabbaths we aren’t there. Last time we were out there Karen gave me some things to give to her and I got the opportunity of teaching her how to find verses in the Bible. Her Bible did not have a table of contents. With no background, how could you expect someone to know how to find a text!? I hope my explanations made sense and I am interested to hear how things went when we go there this weekend. We also plan to start some health talks out there this trip. I will post on what we learn.