Kumu Village

The preaching trip to Kumu was absolutely amazing! I should really start from the beginning, the story has really good highlights. So to start with I should explain the pick up arrangments. We were told that we would be heading out at 8:30 in the morning. This worked out perfectly because we were going with a group that included Michelle and Lara, their husbands Tom and Myke were supposed to leave at 6:30 for their interior preaching trip that was a week long. However the brother who's truck they were using was three hours late, or as he said, he will be there short while. So while they were waiting we sat with them, an hour went by and we werent picked up and hadnt heard anything. So finally we were contacted and told the great news, our driver was slobering drunk. So we had to wait another two hours until our new ride came. The boys finally left for their trip, I wish I could post pictures because the way it was setup was hysterical. Tom and Alton, the brother who owns the truck, were up front. Then in the back of the pickup sat Myke and Micaiah, they sat on a make shift bench with all of their bags and literature around them. It was a great picture.

Finally we were picked up by Paul, on the way to the village we made a special stop. We were able to say goodbye to brother and sister Hinds as they were getting ready to get on their plane and head back to Georgetown. After our goodbyes Lara and I piled into his truck with a family from the congregation and headed out to Kumu. Along the way Paul spent a very good amount of time encouraging us with his families story, he also tried to convince us to go back to Lethem. He wasnt aware that before this I had already made up my mind that I would be coming back. Yes for all of you who werent aware of that already, its about time I said it:) So we all discussed our plans, and talked a lot about the area and the needs there. It really did a lot to impress in my head the need there. So after a 45 minute drive he dropped us off and turned around to get the rest of the group. He is a very giving brother, he does so much for the congregation.

So once the whole group was there, we all realized that we wouldnt be able to get any real preaching done. So we all made the decision to go on a little hike down to Kumu falls. It was about an hour hike but we had beautiful scenery along the way. Lethem itself looks like the old western movies, but its surrounded by huge hills covered in jungle. It is beautiful, it again is one of those things were I wish I could post pictures because really descriptions I give dont do it justice. So along the way, the local family decided that it was a good time to tell stories of jaguars and anacondas that have been seen in the area. Doesnt really inspire confidence, so we just kept Jonathan in the front and hoped for the best:) The hike itself was uneventful, one of the little boys brought their monkey with them. His name is Sampson, and he loves me. If I didnt have to quarrantine him I would have tried to bring him home with me. We reached our destination after crossing two different streams and logs, it was a fun hike. Lots of laughing and hoping that nobody fell in.

At the falls itself, its not very deep. You can touch the ground most of the time. We played in the falls and found a spot behind the falls that you can sit on the rocks and look down the river. Its a great place to take pictures, it is very beautiful. We all played in the water and watched the boys try to swim upstream, they are like little fish. We all sat around and talked for a while. Then we made the decision to not walk home in the dark so we all took off, reluctantly of course. As we made our way back we ran into a small group of kids playing with bows and arrows, it didnt look very safe to me. They were having fun though and who are we to take away their fun? We all made it home safely, took lots of pictures along the way and looked forward to eating something.

Once we got back to the camp we all got out of our wet clothes and pulled out our non perishable food. It was mostly tuna and crackers:) After that we all sat around the campfire, then we got the great idea in our heads to make Jonathan pull out his guitar and play something for us. Michelle pulled out her songbook and we spent an hour picking songs and singing along as he played. Then we realized how gorgeous the stars looked. It was a big change for us, because on the coast there are so many people that leave their lights on all the time. So we are never able to see the stars very well, unless we have a black out. Then you can really see them, but nobody is too happy with a blackout. So we took advantage of the oppurtunity and laid on our backs and looked at the stars while we listened to the guitar in the background. It was a very peaceful night. The highlight of it was definetly the sleeping in hammocks. There were 8 hammocks hung outside of our friend Elizabeth's mothers house. People always say how uncomfortable it is to sleep in a hammock, I disagree. It was the best sleep I had in months.

We all woke up at about 6:30 and got some breakfast, then all the girls piled into the tent that Michelle decided to sleep in and we read the text and some of the yearbook. We called it our clubhouse, and only girls were allowed in. Jonathan took offense to this, as we all knew he would. He sat outside pouting until we invited him, at which point he claimed he didnt want anything to do with our club and he was going to form his own. After our version of morning worship was over we got ready and sat down for our service meeting. After assigning everyone into groups we headed out. The arrangments were myself, Lara, and a young sister named Veronica. She is 9 and wants to be a single pioneer when she grows up. She has two older brothers named Junior and Jesse. Both of them want to be ciruit overseers. Jesse wants to be a single co, and Junior has decided that he would like someone to take care of him when he is doing co work. That is how it was explained to me, I thought it was very funny. Very important for you to know that this family came into the truth in the last 5 years. The mother was baptized 3 years ago and is well on her way to becoming a regular pioneer, and is really encouraging her children to do the same. They have a lot of wonderful examples in the congregation to help them.

So how we did the assigning of houses was we followed the one road through and one group would stop at a hut, yes they have huts:) and the rest would continue until everyone had reached a hut. This would continue until we had all passed each other and were back at the original house. My groups first stop was an unusual one for me, we went to a school. We talked to the teacher and explained what we were doing. She is a Bible study herself so was very excited to let us in and talk to the kids. The classroom was divided into two sections. One side had the kids that were 5 to 7 years old and the other side had the kids that were 8-12. Lara took the side with the older kids and I took the side with the younger ones. This is an experience I will never forget.

Normally when you go in service you go to a persons house and talk to them there. I have never preached in a school and was therefore very nervous about it. I know it doesnt seem intimidating to preach to a bunch of 5-7 year olds, but when you dont know what to do with them its a little awkward. So after a brief introduction, I asked them if they knew what God's name was. One little boy raised his hand and said," miss Faith, God's name is Jehovah." These little kids knew who Jehovah was! I am sure the look on my face was funny, but thankfully Lara had the same look on her face as me when the older kids answered correctly too. So I decided that it would be fun to teach them a little sign language. So I took the God's Friend brochure around to every kid and had them pick their favorite thing about the picture on the front cover. Almost every kid said that the fox was their favorite, so once I knew what their favorite thing was I would teach the class how to sign that word. Eventually we finished with every kid and I quizzed them. They got every sign right, then it started raining outside. So we learned rain, then I asked who made the rain? Once again they said Jehovah. So I taught them how to sign Jehovah made rain. They figured out that they could use that for all the things they learned. After that we learned about Jesus being Jehovah's son, they knew this before I could tell them:) It was time to start wrapping that up, so I gave all the kids their own brochure. They were so excited to have something of their own with picutres in it. They were even more excited to show the older kids that they can sign a bunch of the pictures. I have a great picture of them all holding up their brochures in front of the chalkboard before shcool closed. I will never forget that experience.

As we continued walking I was able to get to know the young kids I talked about a little better. They told me some of their problems in school, and what they were doing to reach their goals. A lot of the kids in the Lethem congregation are doing really well and have great spiritual goals. We switched up the groups a little and I set off with Michells, Dana, and Jesse. As we approached the next house, we decided it was Michelles's turn and we did our normal clapping outside the gate to call into the hosue. A young woman came out and told us to come in. So we sat down on her bench and Michelle had a nice discussion with her about Jesus being the Son of God, not God himself. The woman listened attentively and accepted Michelle's offer to have someone bring her a Bible for her own use. It was nice to watch someone with so much experience in the ministry as Michelle has. She and her husband Tom are Gilead graduates, the 104th class. She used pictures to explain the idea, she is learning a little bit of sign to help out Niasia.

That was the last house in the territory so we all headed back from a long productive day in service to go and breakdown our camp. We all were sad to have to leave that place, we knew the end of our trip was getting closer and closer everyday, and we were all dreading it. So our ride came and we found out we were all sitting in the back of the truck surrounded by our bags on the ride home. It was a great way to end the trip. I wont talk about what happened the rest of that day, it is the next entry. It will talk about that day until the end of our trip. Until then love you all!