Progressive Bible Studies...

What in the world... Read on and you'll find out.


The few times we've visited back home, wife and I would regularly hear that, 'Sure, you can get a ton of bible studies, but they don't progress...'

Where that thought comes from we have no idea. Those that say this have never visited, and usually aren't keen of hearing experiences from those who have experienced this first hand. The truth is we're swamped with people who want to study, but we have to ignore many of the requests simply because we've run out of time in the day. Our days are loooooong, and coming home after the moon is high in the sky is an all too common occurrence.
Typically, we have this reaction of those that do study...

...we have various members of this family that are studying. In total, there are four studies with five different people here. They have come to the meeting for the second time, and have only studied five times. They have made arrangements to come regularly to the meetings, and have already started making changes in their lives.

Of course, not everyone progresses so quickly. In this family photo, we study with two people. The father, Orlando, has been studying five months and has only now been written up in the school :)...

His first talk!

 Why is it that studies progress so well? It can have something to do with their study habits. Look closely at their bible teach books...

Of course, there are others studying too:

In this last photo, the man in the pic plies me with questions, and as I finally walk away (usually two hours later) he plops two or three more questions for next time.

What's the territory like where we find these people?
Many can be found in the city. Although daylight territory in Volcan is done every 7 days, we still can find one study a day while preaching. Nighttime territory is a different ballgame. It is seldom worked, and of those who have gone out evening witnessing they have had tremendous success.
However, Chris and I have made a purchase that allows the both of us to go to territory that rarely gets done. Some may remember my dirtbike, which is now sold:

 And wasn't very good here:

Or here:

So we've lately been using this:

Which has allowed us to get into some very extreme territories. Yes, I am using the winch in this picture. The gradient is VERY STEEP, and I had snapped a driveshaft too. I only had front wheel drive which brought us home but couldn't get us over the big climbs.

As the rains are coming, we've now equipped it to handle knee deep mud and heavy downpours, which should allow us to keep preaching as we ford instantly formed rivers:

Instead of wading, haha, we can now do this:

 Look at the background...There's a river there :)

 
And another one there...

Sometimes we get a little wet, but I think you'll agree our coordinator thinks it's worth it.

Below is a tiny leak I still haven't quite fixed.

Of course, even with this vehicle, it doesn't mean we can get everywhere in the comfort of our buggy seat. We still have tons of walking to do.

(Yeah, that's me...)

(No, that's not me, but the same trip though)
But it's worth it, as meeting attendance at the Brisas group and congregation will show:

And along the way, we come across all sorts of interesting things that add spice and variety to the service done here:

 (Sugar canes being pressed)

 (A visitor who dropped into our little home)

May is tarantula season - it's the time Tarantulas get out to mate. If you're driving or riding a bike along a road, you'll be sure to encounter one or more. Most of the ones I've seen are hand-sized - massive creatures that carefully walk across a roadway - until they're threatened. Then they can run surprisingly fast.

In Panama - Banana country may I remind  you, we have HUGE bananas, as you can see:

 ...and pretty parisitic flowers.

 One of our publishers impressed with this tree

 A hotel in Colón, a town named after Cristobal Colón when he 'discovered' America

 A common goody given us by our study. The cakes are baked in coffee leaves.

In short, studies progress very well here. It's unfortunate that so many who want to study aren't able to for lack of workers. For this reason, Luke's words resound in our hearts: "The harvest, indeed, is great, but the workers are few. Therefore beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."

Service in Central America...

Many have wondered if moving to Central America to help out is really worthwhile. After all:
Sure, there's lots of seldom worked territory,
And sure, you can get a ton of studies,
And yes, everyone listens,
And of course, you can have in depth conversations on bible topics that can last an hour or more,
And many beg you to return,
And experiences here read like yearbook experiences, ...

BUT.
Do studies REALLY progress?
I've heard C.O.s back home say that they don't.

Then again, they've never visited. Why they would say that sounds more like...well, you be the judge:

3 years ago, we averaged around 65 at our meetings here in Brisas del Norte.

Now, we're at 165 average, and one REGULAR meeting saw 203. Our last C.O. visit had 204. More importantly, our C.O. is begging any and all to speak to their friends to ask for help from any who can come.

We've had the privilege of seeing various studies get baptized, with their extended families also coming into the truth and being baptized too, and have several more either as publishers or in the school.

What's more, our brothers are having even greater successes. A couple visiting from Canada for a month have invited 6 couples to the meeting. 5 came (the 6th would have, but the bus broke down). All are progressing well in their studies - and did I say it's been only a month?

Of course, there are substantial challenges in preaching here, like this one...

But that we can handle. Of a more difficult nature is the difficult terrain outside of Volcán centro and the rainy season.

For this reason, we've decided to make a major purchase to help us in visiting seldom worked territory:

(...in case you're wondering, that's my wife's thumb in the pic.)

This rugged 4X4 has 13 " of ground clearance and comes fully equipped to reach these difficult areas.
As for those who might remember my dirt bike, this is the story: Taking my truck here was ruining the truck. Taking the dirt bike here was ruining me. This is the perfect machine.

This family was very happy to see us. This time, Mark came with me, but from now on it will be Chris.


Mark and his wife Helena have been very effective in the ministry here during their one month visit. They have started several studies, and various couples have come to the meetings. We're very happy in continuing two of their studies when they leave. The others will be shared with other brothers in the congregation. 

Kids at play. It's amazing what they will entertain themselves with. After the study, they spent the morning telling us all about the fruits surrounding their home. Their diet is almost completely vegetarian, except for eggs and the odd chicken.

On this path, we found a house we didn't know existed. I had heard noise when in the area and followed it until we got to the place. Once there, the man plied me with questions and we had a great one hour conversation. I had begged to leave a number of times (we were late for a study back in Volcán) but the man kept insisting on more replies. As we left, he asked two more questions for us to reply when we returned. We'll be back this saturday.


Not all preaching will be done by buggy. Below, you can see pics of a two day hike we did to get to some nearly inaccessible areas.

The river was perfect - both for relaxing after a grueling hike, as well as for preaching. It was here that everyone crossed to get to where they were going. We saw and heard traffic going through here day and night.

Our little campsite. It was awesome, except for the fact everyone crossed here all night long. Oh, and there were these frogs whistling loudly right near our heads too.

A surprisingly secure bridge!

Looks like I was hiding and waiting for my next victim right? We were actually having a pretty serious bible conversation.

In total, I'd guess we walked a good 60km+ in two days, over extreme terrain -- so extreme I would never make it through there on a dirt bike. However, it was very enjoyable, and we plan to return soon. Want to come?