CAUTION! Long winded ramblings ahead! ;-)
How would you define 'a successful day' in the ministry? Getting out of bed in the morning? Making it out your front door fully dressed and having eaten? Making it to the service group on time? Finding at least one person to talk to in the ministry? Starting a new RV? Starting a new BS? Teaching someone a new truth and seeing the light-bulb effect in their eyes?
The questions above used to be qualifiers for "success" when we were in Canada ... to be honest we still use the first few questions as measurements since our field service groups are at 8:30 am. But our definition of a truly successful day in the ministry is changing. It was almost easier to be focused on RESULTS when you don't have a lot of successes, just like someone focused on earning money thinks their first million will make them happy. But success CANNOT really be measured by counting results.
Here, you can place literature with almost every person you talk with in the ministry. Most will agree to having you come back for a return visit or a bible study. Some of those bible studies will progress. This certainly brings joy to our hearts. But is it really success in the ministry?
More recently, despite my slightly skewed focus, the feeling of success has come from drawing close to and being available to be used by Jehovah. Some of the times I feel most successful in the ministry I have almost no measurable results at all.
For instance yesterday, despite relentless stomach problems I struggled out of bed and made it to the field service group on time with a fruit smoothie warming my soul. (measurement #1 met). We started our day witnessing to small family businesses along one of the main avenidas in our territory. You know the sort that are painted bright colors on the outside advertising the local cellular companies that are making money hand over fist down here in South America. As we entered, the shop was so filled with goods that it was hard to stand anywhere without brushing into something. Because of the "results" we get in the ministry there is a constant literature shortage in our congregation. I had no more magazines or books, just a few tracts and dog-eared 'Creation' brochures that have been in my case for a while as you don't really need to convince people here that god exists. If our service groups met at the Kingdom Hall each day I would be able to replenish our supplies, but alas, we meet in the territory to reduce travel expenses on the brothers. I opted to use the "Dejaremos de Sufrir" tract for my presentation. The lady gave me a few seconds to talk before she began to warm up her own vocal cords. Once she got going I had trouble keeping up and understanding everything she was rattling off. What I was able to understand was she was "happily Catholic" and even traveled some 6 hours one way each week to get to her favorite church in another city. The very Canadian side of me kept trying to enter the now one-sided conversation but very adeptly was talked over by the approximately 55 year old, somewhat rotund shop owner. The 82 year old brother assisting me on the call decided to stop the barrage of words coming from the shop owner with his own 'A to Z' explanation of the bible, terminating the speech with "you should come to the meeting". The shop owner, whose efficiently shortly cut, permed hair that made her look like a pear shaped Q-tip replied, "well I already go to church and all churches are the same. They all teach the bible." Well ... something in me was awoken and sprung to life! Leaving my deeply ingrained Canadian personality behind I barged into the conversation and stated in a voice loud enough to be heard above hers if she chose to try to talk over me again; "if you think all religious meetings are the same I am afraid you don't know what our meetings are like. I have a video I would like to show you." Whipping out the tablet like a six-gun from a holster (yes I am getting fast with the tablet) I navigated to the correct video while trying to keep control of the conversation. She watch with faint interest in her eyes, but she watched. It is sort of like when you're in a restaurant and you don't really want to watch the television but the conversation has lagged and you can't seem to tear your eyes away from it. Then at about the one minute mark her eyes lit up and she interrupted the video with a question; "What? All your meetings are free? You mean you don't collect the 10% or pass a plate??" She went on to explain that even outside her church people target the attendees selling vegetables and this bothered her. So I showed her Matthew 10:8 that we try to follow Jesus instructions to give free and I mentioned the account of Jesus throwing the money changers and merchants out of the temple. Now she was very animated. She stated that was exactly how she felt and it always bothered her the way things were run in her church. She averred that she definitely would attend our 'church' on Sunday and asked for the directions. The older brother, Andrés, helped me explain where it was located. She even remembered seeing it before and stated again she would attend on Sunday. Andrés made sure to mention she needed a bible study and Rachel and I would come back to teach her, but she declined. She said she already reads the bible. She also said she wanted to still attend her church as her whole family is Catholic, and looking at me with sort of pleading eyes she asked whether or not it was okay to go to both 'churches'. A look of relief crossed her face as I said it is entirely her choice. So we departed the shop.
To clarify the reason for that long, novel-like experience ... I only placed a tract (hardly measurable), she didn't want a study or a return visit, she is still strongly determined to be Catholic ... but I felt that was one of the most successful calls of the morning. We were able to show her that Jehovah's organization is not like other organizations. I'm one of the few in our congregation who has a tablet to show videos. The video was one of the the only things that would have likely affected her as she was quiet and not talking over it. It felt that I was working alongside our heavenly father and defending him to one of the only openly non-interested persons in our territory, and it felt like we were being used by him. We may never see that lady again, but it sure felt like success.
Around the corner we called on a house that many publishers would have skipped. Here there are a lot of bad dogs and if there is a strong chance of being bitten the publishers just skip the house. I HATE missing houses. It bugs me that we don't keep not-at-homes here and thus we "miss" many houses each morning in the sense that no one is home and we don't go back again until the next time we do that territory. So I knocked. The dogs were nasty, but we have cases and umbrellas. A young woman exited the house. She correctly identified the hope for the dead in response to my question and added even more details that were all accurate. I asked how she knew and she stated she used to study with Witnesses until her life got so busy with University and her conductor moved away. So I offered to start her study again and she agreed.
True, this time there were results but the 'successful feeling' came, not from starting the study, but from being the foolhardy person who doesn't yet know what its like to be bit by a dog and have to go to a hospital in a 3rd world country. Because of this it felt like again we were used to find a lost sheep.
A week earlier we had witnessed to a man at the public witnessing stand and received his address for follow up. Upon trying to follow up we knocked on about 30 doors. Why? No one has numbers on their houses and the direction was 'this street and that street'. Was it on the corner? Was it on "this street" or was it on "that street"? Impossible to know, so we kept knocking. After talking to about 8 people the next lady said, 'well there is a phone number why don't you call him'? Feeling foolish I said 'because my Spanish is bad and I have a hard time understanding people on the phone.' She offered to call for me and we found out that he lives about 4 streets away and had put down that intersection because it is well known and easy to find. Anyways, I ignored the rising irritation in my soul and focused on giving a witness to the kind lady who helped us. I explained why we were looking for the man and she invited us into her house. We studied a lesson in the good news brochure. As we got her talking she thanked us for coming and getting her back to reading her bible as she hadn't done that for a while. We tried to set up for a return visit but she declined. She stated that she was an Adventist. She then said thanks to Jehovah's Witnesses she started studying the bible. One sister studied with her for about a year and she realized she needed to make changes so she prayed to god to help her find the truth and know what was the true religion. That was when an Adventist approached her and she has been an Adventist ever since. Again pushing aside my Canadian timidity I asked her to grab a pen and paper and we went through the "how to identify the true religion" lesson of the the Good News brochure. I asked her to write down all the scriptures and to read them from her own bible and to meditate on them. I even got her to note down the subheadings that related to each characteristic of the true religion. Then we left.
No placements, no return visit, no bible study, no measurable results. But we by chance talked to a good-hearted, helpful person who had once studied with Witnesses and since stopped. By her own admission she usually is not at home at that hour and is hard to find because she works a lot. And we felt motivated to speak out boldly contrary to the nature of our personalities. Will the scriptures affect her viewpoint? Who knows!!! But it felt like we were used by Jehovah to provide another opportunity to a potential sheep. Regardless of results, it felt like a successful call in the ministry!
To sum up - we are starting to measure success in the ministry by intangibles;
- endurance; faithfully, regularly going out despite illness or setbacks
- availability; being used by Jehovah to accomplish even unfavorable tasks because we are there and we are willing
- boldness; success at overcoming our personality limitations and being more Christ-like and bold when the situation calls for it
It truly feels like success when we can work alongside our loving heavenly father (1 Cor. 3:9) and feel like he is there with us, guiding, directing and using us for favorable or unfavorable work. Having said that, I now fear the repercussions. I assume more unfavorable work will be on the horizon. Oh well, I'm available.
Thanks for reading, hope you were AT LEAST entertained. That's all for now. Until next time.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Overdue update
LONG OVERDUE UPDATE
Branch / Zone Visit
What a treat it was to have Geoffrey Jackson visit Bolivia. It was a historical meeting for Bolivia! Why? In preparation for the visit the branch required every Kingdom Hall hook up internet and acquire (borrow, rent or buy) a projector or television. Then when Br. Jackson came, there was a 3 hour mini-assembly at the Assembly Hall site in Santa Cruz that was broadcast all across the country. Over 17,000 were tied into the morning broadcast (other congregations would receive the recorded program later in the day during their regularly scheduled meeting times). Br. Jackson's many and colorful illustrations captured everyone's attention and made for a delightful program. The best part ... his talk was in English and translated into Spanish so we understood every single word! Something new too, he even prayed in English and had that translated. What a treasure having such encouraging spiritual food "at the right time."
New Public Witnessing Cart Results
We finally got our new public witnessing carts last month. On our first time out with the cart last month, during just 3 hours, we placed 23 books, 23 magazines and 15 brochures. Plus we got nine names and addresses requesting follow ups.
A Visit to Cochabamba
We decided to take a short vacation in Cochabamba. Friends from Calgary that we met at the English Convention (William, Heidi and Sabrina) invited us to enjoy a change of climate and scenery. What a wonderful time it was.
The first thing we noticed was the temperature change. I forgot to bring my shorts and paid the price. We managed to get quite burnt the few days we were there.
The pictures to the right are of the Palacio Portales - It was built in the early 1900s by a Bolivian millionaire known as the "Tin Baron". It was designed by a French architect and the gardens were designed to resemble those of the Versailles Palace in Paris.
Cochabamba had a beautiful viewpoint. It is accessed by a "teleferico" or gondola style cable lift that you can see in the picture to the left.
Nothing tests your level of "bravery" like getting in a rickety Bolivian gondola. Even one of the windows was broken.
Here we are at the top (to the right). From up there we could see the whole city sprawled in the valley. It certainly is larger than Oruro. It has a population of around 600,000 in the city limits and almost 2 million if you include the surrounding areas, which are so closely intertwined with the city it's hard to tell where one ends and the other starts.
The mountains around it are snow-capped despite the summer weather. We found out there are mountain climbing expeditions to the higher peaks and large archaeological ruins that can be visited by day trips from the city. Maybe next time.
While there Rachel got the joy of going on Bible Studies with Sabrina. When one of the bible studies wasn't available they visited the local orphanage to drop off Caleb videos that were requested on Sabrina's last visit.The children are very affectionate and call all visitors "mom" or "dad", using the power of suggestion (little manipulators).
The children were mainly cute and adorable, except one little naughty girl who tried to steal Rachel's tablet. When Rachel took it back she smacked Rachel on the bum. Her chances for adoption went WAY down.
After that we went to the Botanical Gardens. They were gorgeous. And so were our hosts for the week!
From left to right in the picture on the right - Rachel, Sabrina, Heidi and William.
Below you can see the vastness and tropical nature of the gardens.
We took an artistic moment. Rachel wanted to get naked for this but I refused. Just kidding!! (Rachel made me write "just kidding" - as if you didn't already know that!!).
While in Cochabamba Rachel even got to be a last-minute householder for Heidi's talk. This was Rachel's second time being involved with a Spanish talk. Despite her natural stage fright and struggles with the language she did amazing. She said one thing that helped her was knowing she wasn't the only "guera / gringa". It was nice being in a congregation that had 3 other families serving as need greaters.
After the meeting we went up and enjoyed beers on the apartment rooftop patio with one of the families from the US. The parents and their 3 children (17, 15 and 11 yrs old) sold everything and moved to Cochabamba. They chose a city where the family could be comfortable and adjust to their new life. They even found a brewery that delivers beer right to their door. It was so nice associating with new friends and enjoying a stout on a warm summer evening under the stars.
Goodbye to Dear Friends
On a sad note, our Cochabamba friends are returning to Canada for health reasons. We will miss them dearly. Anyone from Calgary who may be reading, take good care of them for us, they're precious!
And the 'chaps' that invited us to their 'flat' and made us feel so welcome when we arrived in Oruro, our British need-greater friends Chris and Rebecca, have now moved to Potosi at the CO's request - a 6 hour bus ride away. That's 'brilliantly bad!' ... Sorry ... just need to wallow in self pity for a moment ... okay, I'm fine now.
Finding Online Work
It is amazing how Jehovah provides. From a friend of a friend we heard about a job opportunity teaching English online. Just what we needed to help pay the bills.
It involved moving the office out of the bedroom as I will be starting about 5:30 am, but I got a nice office set up now - it makes me happy.
Service Experiences
I was a big skeptic of the use of tablets before coming to Bolivia. I resisted purchasing one because I already had a laptop and a smart phone. It seemed like over-consumption bordering on materialism. But ... this may be the only time I will utter these words ... I was wrong!
Almost everyday in the ministry we are showing videos - why study the bible, what are our bible study courses, what are our meetings, Caleb etc ... Add to that the need to show videos in Aymara, Quechua and Bolivian Sign and our tablets are our most used ministry tools here in Oruro.
In the picture on the right I'm showing the why study the bible video to a young woman and her family.
Besides showing videos we get lots of opportunity to witness and have bible studies. It is so heartwarming to show up at a studies home and to hear the young children come running and greeting me "Hermano Troy, Hermano Troy" (Brother Troy, Brother Troy).
On one such study my heart almost got ripped out of my chest and run over by a stampede of wild buffalos (not literally). As we were about to leave after a doorstep study with a girl about 18, the adorable little 8 year old sister asked us to pray for their family. She thought because she had bad thoughts sometimes that maybe God would be angry with her. And she asked that we beg God not to let her parents fight anymore because it scared her, especially when her father hit her mother. She even knew that they fought over money.
I told her that Jehovah listens to little girls just as much as he listens to me and that she could pray to him whenever she was scared or felt that she was bad. I gave her the brochure about Your Family can be Happy and urged her to tell her parents how she felt and to give the brochure to them to read together. It's so easy to get emotionally attached to studies.
There are so many more experiences we could share but I risk having bored you to death already with the length of this update. So we will go. Adios amigos. Thanks for reading.
- Branch / Zone Visit
- New Public Witnessing Cart Results
- A visit to Cochabamba
- Goodbye to Dear Friends
- Finding online work
- Service Experiences
 |
| Our Kingdom Hall was filled for Geoffrey Jackson's talk |
What a treat it was to have Geoffrey Jackson visit Bolivia. It was a historical meeting for Bolivia! Why? In preparation for the visit the branch required every Kingdom Hall hook up internet and acquire (borrow, rent or buy) a projector or television. Then when Br. Jackson came, there was a 3 hour mini-assembly at the Assembly Hall site in Santa Cruz that was broadcast all across the country. Over 17,000 were tied into the morning broadcast (other congregations would receive the recorded program later in the day during their regularly scheduled meeting times). Br. Jackson's many and colorful illustrations captured everyone's attention and made for a delightful program. The best part ... his talk was in English and translated into Spanish so we understood every single word! Something new too, he even prayed in English and had that translated. What a treasure having such encouraging spiritual food "at the right time."
New Public Witnessing Cart Results
We finally got our new public witnessing carts last month. On our first time out with the cart last month, during just 3 hours, we placed 23 books, 23 magazines and 15 brochures. Plus we got nine names and addresses requesting follow ups.
A Visit to Cochabamba
 |
| Various vistas of the Palacio Portales |
The first thing we noticed was the temperature change. I forgot to bring my shorts and paid the price. We managed to get quite burnt the few days we were there.
The pictures to the right are of the Palacio Portales - It was built in the early 1900s by a Bolivian millionaire known as the "Tin Baron". It was designed by a French architect and the gardens were designed to resemble those of the Versailles Palace in Paris.
 | |
| Cochabamba's Cristo Rey teleferico |
Cochabamba had a beautiful viewpoint. It is accessed by a "teleferico" or gondola style cable lift that you can see in the picture to the left.
Nothing tests your level of "bravery" like getting in a rickety Bolivian gondola. Even one of the windows was broken.
 |
| View from the top - Cochabamba |
Here we are at the top (to the right). From up there we could see the whole city sprawled in the valley. It certainly is larger than Oruro. It has a population of around 600,000 in the city limits and almost 2 million if you include the surrounding areas, which are so closely intertwined with the city it's hard to tell where one ends and the other starts.
The mountains around it are snow-capped despite the summer weather. We found out there are mountain climbing expeditions to the higher peaks and large archaeological ruins that can be visited by day trips from the city. Maybe next time.
 |
| Rachel with children at the local orphanage |
While there Rachel got the joy of going on Bible Studies with Sabrina. When one of the bible studies wasn't available they visited the local orphanage to drop off Caleb videos that were requested on Sabrina's last visit.The children are very affectionate and call all visitors "mom" or "dad", using the power of suggestion (little manipulators).
The children were mainly cute and adorable, except one little naughty girl who tried to steal Rachel's tablet. When Rachel took it back she smacked Rachel on the bum. Her chances for adoption went WAY down.
 |
| Rachel, Sabrina, Heidi and William |
After that we went to the Botanical Gardens. They were gorgeous. And so were our hosts for the week!
From left to right in the picture on the right - Rachel, Sabrina, Heidi and William.
Below you can see the vastness and tropical nature of the gardens.
 |
| Enjoying real summer in Cochabamba's Botanical Gardens |
 |
| Bringing art to life! |
We took an artistic moment. Rachel wanted to get naked for this but I refused. Just kidding!! (Rachel made me write "just kidding" - as if you didn't already know that!!).
 |
| Householder in Cochabamba |
While in Cochabamba Rachel even got to be a last-minute householder for Heidi's talk. This was Rachel's second time being involved with a Spanish talk. Despite her natural stage fright and struggles with the language she did amazing. She said one thing that helped her was knowing she wasn't the only "guera / gringa". It was nice being in a congregation that had 3 other families serving as need greaters.
After the meeting we went up and enjoyed beers on the apartment rooftop patio with one of the families from the US. The parents and their 3 children (17, 15 and 11 yrs old) sold everything and moved to Cochabamba. They chose a city where the family could be comfortable and adjust to their new life. They even found a brewery that delivers beer right to their door. It was so nice associating with new friends and enjoying a stout on a warm summer evening under the stars.
Goodbye to Dear Friends
On a sad note, our Cochabamba friends are returning to Canada for health reasons. We will miss them dearly. Anyone from Calgary who may be reading, take good care of them for us, they're precious!
And the 'chaps' that invited us to their 'flat' and made us feel so welcome when we arrived in Oruro, our British need-greater friends Chris and Rebecca, have now moved to Potosi at the CO's request - a 6 hour bus ride away. That's 'brilliantly bad!' ... Sorry ... just need to wallow in self pity for a moment ... okay, I'm fine now.
 |
| My new office |
It is amazing how Jehovah provides. From a friend of a friend we heard about a job opportunity teaching English online. Just what we needed to help pay the bills.
It involved moving the office out of the bedroom as I will be starting about 5:30 am, but I got a nice office set up now - it makes me happy.
 |
| showing videos in service |
Service Experiences
I was a big skeptic of the use of tablets before coming to Bolivia. I resisted purchasing one because I already had a laptop and a smart phone. It seemed like over-consumption bordering on materialism. But ... this may be the only time I will utter these words ... I was wrong!
Almost everyday in the ministry we are showing videos - why study the bible, what are our bible study courses, what are our meetings, Caleb etc ... Add to that the need to show videos in Aymara, Quechua and Bolivian Sign and our tablets are our most used ministry tools here in Oruro.
In the picture on the right I'm showing the why study the bible video to a young woman and her family.
Besides showing videos we get lots of opportunity to witness and have bible studies. It is so heartwarming to show up at a studies home and to hear the young children come running and greeting me "Hermano Troy, Hermano Troy" (Brother Troy, Brother Troy).
On one such study my heart almost got ripped out of my chest and run over by a stampede of wild buffalos (not literally). As we were about to leave after a doorstep study with a girl about 18, the adorable little 8 year old sister asked us to pray for their family. She thought because she had bad thoughts sometimes that maybe God would be angry with her. And she asked that we beg God not to let her parents fight anymore because it scared her, especially when her father hit her mother. She even knew that they fought over money.
I told her that Jehovah listens to little girls just as much as he listens to me and that she could pray to him whenever she was scared or felt that she was bad. I gave her the brochure about Your Family can be Happy and urged her to tell her parents how she felt and to give the brochure to them to read together. It's so easy to get emotionally attached to studies.
There are so many more experiences we could share but I risk having bored you to death already with the length of this update. So we will go. Adios amigos. Thanks for reading.
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