In some respects this picture shows that people here are taught to "think before they follow". They do not assume that things will be done for them. They look where they are going at all times (except during Carnival), they know that lawyers have their limits and things are NOT solved by going to court. They also have the capacity to make good judgement calls...... and their "logic" is sharpened each day by the culture they live in....... They DO NOT take life for granted. They assume (and rightly so) that the only one that cares about them is themselves...........
Now think about that in the context of field service and the obstacles that must be overcome to reach them......................
In their mind God doesn't care either...........nor do other people......... except perhaps very close family.
And they know that to survive they have to look after themselves and don't expect someone else to do it for them.
Now look carefully at the picture below and imagine this in the United States....... The Land of Lawyers and O.S.H.A.
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| Did you notice the Ditch??? However since the Boquete highway first started they HAVE added paving stones in the Medium for crossing the Hwy. Just watch out for the ditch..... |
This story is from Lawson:
We had a fire here recently. We have fires here every year because as I have reported before, the locals burn off the fields because the grass is 6 feet high or taller and there are may snakes etc in this grass, and they are clearing the rodents out.
I looked and about 450 feet away from our house there was a fire burning but not coming in our direction.
I went to the front door and there was a red pickup truck outside and the 2 fire fighters were sitting on the neighbors front porch drinking coffee. (This is normal)
So I went back and started watching the movie I was watching..... (Fires here have become the normal sort of thing and don't cause a lot of alarm..... after all the house is concrete...)
Then Mom called to me from the bedroom.... the fire had moved closer and I came out to check. I heard the crackling of the fire very close to the house.
When I looked out the back door the fire was within 10 feet of reaching our back fence..... a lot closer than last year.
In that moment another sister came banging on our door, "Are you all right?". Opening the back door allowed the smoke in and it was so thick that we could not see the back yard and could not see even as far as a foot in front of you INSIDE THE HOUSE. And could not breath without a wet towel over your face.
We grabbed the dogs and the laptops and planned to leave.
FRIENDS, THIS IS WHY THE SOCIETY SAYS TO HAVE A "GO BAG", READY FOR ALL EMERGENCIES.
The fire burned up to our fence and about a foot under and into the yard, toasted our beautiful fruit laden Orange Tree (heavy with fruit) and our young avocado tree and sizzled to a stop.
With the immediate emergency over I went out to check on the neighbors up the street and I see an antiquated Fire Truck from about 1945 sitting in the road. There are 4 fire fighters with the truck.
They jump off and uncoil the hose. Two of them grab the slack, flat hose and go running into the fire dressed IN SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS. You see the hose jerk and then jump and fill with water, and then about 45 seconds later it stops, goes flat and the 2 firefighters come running back out of the fire at high speed....... and the other 2 pick up the slack hose and go running in, also dressed in shorts and t-shirts and not a mask among them......
They take turns this way every 45 seconds or so (they are holding their breath !!)...... And they switch off like this for about 10 minutes.
At this point the fire is NOT out but whatever they were hosing down is thoroughly wet and they are satisfied and stop.
Mind you..... they have new fire trucks here in Boquete.....We've seen them..... usually in a parade somewhere...... And the firemen in the Parade wear dress clothes..... so I would have to say we have never actually seen Equipment with our firemen.....or face masks or breathers..... etc.
They are truly a BRAVE BUNCH of men.....( you might choose other words to describe them), charging into a blazing fire in only shorts and t-shirts.
And I want you to know that it was not just a little fire. The flames are over their heads !!! when they run in......
One of the many AMAZING SIGHTS in Panama.....................
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| Our now BLACKENED orange tree.... so sad. Now to get to the title of this Post............................
Yes, friends, the title is in the Past Tense...................
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In the spirit of Modesty (see insight book, Vol 2, pg 422) we realize that staying is not possible.
We have stayed as long as the money will allow. We have successfully sold nearly all that we own so that we could stay longer. But like many other Need-Greaters, we must go back and earn more money so that we can do it again at a later date. ..... And.......
I have too many health issues to remain.
Two years ago I got Dengue Fever. It was very hard on me physically and although I recovered, it left problems in my right arm for over a year afterward.
I have recovered 90%, but still have left over issues with it.
If I were to contract Dengue again my chances are extremely high that I would not recover.
Here in the higher elevations it is less likely that I will get dengue again, but when I go down to the lower elevations, like David, it is a risk. And on the news lately the entire country has been notified that an epidemic of Dengue Fever has been recognized.
Hopefully by the time we must catch the buses and leave the worst of the problems will be over.
So what has Jehovah let us see, and what has He taught us in just under 3 years?
What has happened since we first came to Panama in June of 2011? (Remember that this post does not report on other growth in Panama. The entire country has also seen growth that is nothing short of miraculous).
We started in David's "Group" in February of 2012.
David had at the time around 12 to 15 publishers (they now have over 50 also !!), 2 elders and 3 Ministerial Servants at the time.
The CO did not appoint Jim as an elder in David because by the time he arrived we knew that staying in David was not possible because of my health.....
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| The picture below is the David Congregation in February of 2012......The 11 people here also include the CO that was visiting that week. We had only 15 publishers at this point........They now have over 50. |
When we first arrived here in Boquete, there were 8 people to greet us..... The Sanders family (4), Pete and Buffy (2) and the Axlers (2). Originally, 5 years previous to this there had been 8 that started the group in the first place. Sanders, Conza's (Pete and Buffy), and Fausts (Jim and Lilly). They formed what served as a "core" here for nearly 3 years. They served alone and plowed the way for the rest of us. They were the original "group", which meant they could have a WT study and public talk ONCE A MONTH in English, BUT only if they had a speaker that was willing to give the talk. They met in the Back Room (Library) for their "meeting", The Congregation Bible Study (formerly Book study) and WT were with the Spanish Congregation.
From small Beginnings.......
From THAT Boquete began to grow. By the summer (June) of 2011 the group had officially 10 publishers. Faust's were away at the time of our visit, but the Axlers had moved in.
We visited for only 3 weeks and determined we were coming back to stay. With much "downsizing" and prayer we came back in February of 2012.
Jehovah had decided it was time to GROW !! Not because of us, but because it suited Jehovah and his timetable.
In August of 2012 the Circuit Overseer had permission from the Branch to officially designate Boquete Chiriqui Ingles as a congregation, no longer a "group". YEAH HOORAY !!!!!!!
That was a BIG moment here.
Within only a few short months, about 12 months, we were able to take the picture below....... This pic includes ALL the visitors that week and ALL the publishers..... There are 22 publishers in this pic. The rest are visitors. So Boquete had grown from 10 to 22.
The picture below shows our "Congregation" in December of 2012, two years ago.
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| This pic is from Dec of 2012 |
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| This was a mid-week service group just recently- Feb of 2014 |
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| This is also a midweek service group from Nov of 2013 |
In the last 6 months the Groups of Puerto Armuellas & Bugaba (English) were dissolved. The publishers from these former groups have been sent to David Congregation.
It has been sad to see this happen, but now the David congregation has the help that they need to begin to complete the assignment that Jehovah has given them. The City of David is SO HUGE, that to date (over 2 years since they were first made a congregation) they still have not been able to "canvass" their territory even one complete time yet..... 250,000 people live in David. And more move in every month.
Most of them Spanish, but there are also a lot of English speakers and Foreigners. They must be found too before the end.
Even with the 3 groups being formed into 1 congregation they are still needing help.......... (hint hint)
I am including Pictures of Volcan Congregation in this post also. They too have seen growth and progress as well
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| This is the outside view of the Volcan Kingdom Hall. They currently have 3 languages meeting in this Hall. |
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| The strange script is Ngobe. They are also making spiritual progress here in Panama. |
One our favorite places to eat is Restaurante Nelvis....... Good, Tasty, and Cheap on the pockets.....
Also Restaurante KM 35 (called that because they sit at the 35 kilometer distance marker........the sign is on the other side of the road)........lololol
The distance markers on the Boquete do not run concurrent on both sides of the Hwy like they do on the interstate Hwys in the US. Coming from David the numbers run up the hill. Going the other direction the numbers start in Boquete and run the other way.... So technically the restaurant 35 sits at the 3 km mark, not the 35 km mark......But this is Panama.... we all know what they meant to say.
They also serve good, basic, and tasty Panamanian food at cheap prices.
No visit to Boquete is complete without a visit to Sugar and Spice. Hands down one of the best sandwich shops here. This is in Bajo Boquete. Ask anyone. EVERYONE knows where sugar and spice is located.
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| You have 2 oceans to choose from in Panama......This is the Pacific Side...... What a view |
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| Sunset at the Beach !!! |
THIS IS A BEE HIVE !!!!!! BEWARE AND BE VERY QUIET !!!!. We have African Bees here and they are nasty!!!!
TAMALE COOKED IN BANANA LEAVES
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| this was my Lunch one day. They are for sale from the street vendors here. YUM !!!!Don't let the appearance put you off...... It has onions, peppers, ham, and spices that are AWESOME! |
No? OK. According to the locals it was started over 50 years ago by a local man that was building it for his wife. Before the house was done she died. He gave up...... and a few years later he died. It is now the property of the family that wants nothing to do with it.....
Who knows....considering the culture we are dealing with here it would not surprise me if they considered the house to be cursed.
Apparently the river water HAS at one point risen high enough to flood the first floor of the house. But that does not happen often.
Not any more often than Bajo Boquete going underwater....... which HAS happened also.....
What the Husband had in mind for his Wife defies imagination !!!! Enjoy the tour.....
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| This is the approach to the Castle from the Road. The trail is only about 1,000 feet or so. |
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| It is 2 stories high with a roof area that could be walked on and used as a third story for BBQ etc.... Did they do that 50 years ago?? Hummmm. |
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| This is the second story with the roof Parapet for safety |
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| The Castle is built next to a AWESOME gorge with a swift flowing river that gurgles you to sleep at night.......very peaceful !!! This picture is zoomed in. It is close to a 100 foot drop from this view !!! |
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| The gorge is over 100 feet deep only a short distance from the castle. The river bank is not as steep where the castle is built. The Castle is nearly 65 feet above the water/River Bed in normal years.... that tells you how high the water can come in the worst years..... |
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| This is only part of the inside on the first floor. This room is nearly 80 feet long and 35 feet wide |
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| this is 1/4 of the top floor...... the place could hold our Kingdom Hall with room to spare. |
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| The house is likely more than 50 years abandoned now, but was fabulous in its day.... |
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| Poor old house, forgotten for many years.... the moss is thick and the bird droppings deep. |
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| No castle would be complete without a Balcony....... |
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