~3/18/14
Hi again, I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything but things have been really jumping these past two months. Between strikes, illness, the light going out 3x a week, CO visit, assemblies, schoolwork and getting my hours in, these past two months have been busy, busy, busy.
These days it's also been raining a bunch but that doesn't stop us from going out in service! My friend, Kirsy (who unfortunately forgot to take a picture of herself), my sister and I went out for early morning service. There are decidedly less people out on the streets but we still find a few people out there, usually motorists trying to seek shelter from the rain.
Halfway through battling the morning weather, it began to rain especially hard and we were forced to seek shelter in a covered front of a restaurant. There were four other people with the same idea and we took the opportunity to witness to them. I had an especially nice conversation with one man with the "Can the dead really live again?" tract. He told me he didn't believe that they could because his mother died earlier this year and he hadn't seen her since. Since we were both stranded because the rain, we had a really nice chat and I was able to read him a couple of texts showing what Jehovah is going to do in the future and analyze the rest of the tract with him.
After getting ourselves thoroughly wet, we went to go visit ASL for their Watchtower Study. Denise's, one of the sisters who interpret the meetings, father was visiting and was going to give a special talk in English. There was a nice attendance of 20 something, which is pretty amazing for a small group of 4 witnesses. For the first time since moving to DR, I was cold during the meeting, I was wet and the fans were at full blast, but it was heartwarming to see the deaf visitors nod and really understand what was being "said".
The deaf people here in the DR, especially those who don't live in the cities or big towns, extremely appreciate the effort we make to reach them, much more, I think, than in the States or other "developed" countries. Here there are very, very few schools for the deaf (the closest one from Nagua is 2 hours away!) and very, very few deaf people know how to communicate with each other or others. Too little people learn ASL and those who don't they grow up inventing their own sign to use with a close circuit of neighbors and family. Here in Nagua, the Witnesses are the only religion that offers any type of religious service for the deaf *fist pump* and usually the brothers and sisters have to teach their Bible students how to sign at the same time while teaching them Bible principles.
Signing the Kingdom Melody
Denise interpreting her father's talk
Very soon ASL isn't going to be the only foreign language group in Nagua. A couple of meetings ago, a letter was read inviting us to apply for the Haitian Creole class. It is exciting news since there are almost as many Haitians as Dominicans in Nagua and it will be excellent to finally be able to take care of that territory the way it should be.
Oooh, I almost forgot that I wanted to end this post with a great experience for those who are a little skittish in asking for donations while out in service, like myself (guilty). After having a great conversation about how God does not cause the suffering seen nowadays, my sister mentioned that our preaching work is supported by voluntary donations, the householder asked her to wait a moment. When he returned, he handed my sister a 1,000 peso-bill (about 25 U.S dollars), telling that one should give God everything. My sister tells me that she had to hold in her happy dance while she thanked the householder. Pretty good stuff, eh?
