New Digs - New Responsibilities

First of all, sorry for the delay in posting this. We moved house and have been without internet for some time. Today we finally got back online.
Well we have moved into our new house in San Lorenzo. Here are some pictures of it:

The fig tree is on the other side of the house!

The lounge which we can use for meetings if we wish

Adobe oven on the right, gas on the left!

 

Our landlord, who we mentioned in the last post, hasn't missed a meeting since we first contacted him in the door to door work. He even travelled into the city to catch a meeting he couldn't attend here. He actually censured us for not studying with him regularly enough! The other day he told us it was the truth and he wanted to become a Jehovah's Witness. Since then he has been bringing a constant stream of his friends to us here at the house, for us to study with them. Some of them are turning into VERY progressive studies. I am amazed by the humility of Bolivian people. Our landlord is a paediatrician AND a dentist, and all his friends are professional people, but so willing to accept direction from the Bible!

   Well last Wednesday night we had our inaugural mid-week meeting in San Lorenzo. For the last month or so on weekends we have been getting 60-75 in attendance with only 20 publishers. We thought the mid-week meeting may be different, because the people work late in the countryside, but we got over 60! These are all interested persons other than the 20 publishers, so much potential. Here is a photograph of the attendees:

Our landlord Juan Carlos Flores, is towards the middle, in front of Synta and Drew in a white shirt leaning forwards.

   Well the hard work for Drew and I starts next Wednesday. We both have service meeting assignments, and I have the Bible Highlights. I guess that will be pretty much the norm from now on. It was a bit surreal the other night, we had an Elders meeting, me and my son-in-law! Anyway, Lois beat us to the draw, she had her first talk last Wednesday. She was very nervous, but did an excellent job as I knew she would. To conclude here is a link to view her talk. See you all next week.

Lois' talk

San Lorenzo

For a while now we have been trying to move to San Lorenzo, which is a small town of about 10000 people about 30 minutes drive from Tarija. We are in a congregation in Tarija called Guadalqivir, and this congregation sponsors the group in San Lorenzo of which we are a part. We have been looking for a house there for quite a while, but they were all either too expensive, too rudimentary (i.e. outside kitchen etc.) or too far out of town to be within reasonable walking distance. Well last week in the ministry we met a man at a door who invited us in. We discussed the Bible with him for about 20 minutes and he agreed to come to the meeting the next morning.
   Before we left somehow we got onto the subject of houses, and he offered us his house to rent. At first we thought we may as well look at it because some other witnesses in Tarija are looking for a house in San Lorenzo also. When we looked though, it became evident it was ideal for us. Three self contained bedrooms, a HUGE lounge, kitchen, even a separate toilet for guests. It is a little bit rustic in some ways, for example it has an adobe bread oven in the kitchen which works like a pizza oven, but it is very tidy and includes about a hectare of land running down to a stream. The house is about 800 metres from the central plaza. We mentioned we didn't have furnishings like a washing machine, stove, fridge etc. and he said he would furnish it for us. Before we knew it we had signed a contract on it for a year! It is costing us $250 US per month. Not cheap but not too expensive either for here! Tarija is about double the price, so for us it is perfect. As a bonus, our hall in San Lorenzo is the lounge of an English couple here, which is quite small. We get lots of interested people at the meetings and some have to sit outside in the courtyard. Our landlord (who did come to the meeting by the way, and intends to come again tomorrow) said we are able to use our lounge for meetings. We may end up doing that as it is twice the size.
   Anyway we have one meeting in San Lorenzo on Sunday, and attend the mid week meeting at Guadalqivir in Tarija on Thursday nights. Last Thursday Drew and I were called into an Elders meeting after the meeting. We thought it may be about our appointments coming through from the branch now that we have our residence visas. But no, it was to talk about forming a full congregation in San Lorenzo, now that we have two Elders there - Drew and I. Scary stuff! From the 17th of this month San Lorenzo will operate as its own congregation, although I guess formal recognition will come when the Circuit Overseer visits.
   So here we are, not even appointed yet, in fact we haven't even given a talk yet and we have a congregation to run... and we don't speak the language, why would we have a problem with that? Carl Smith we need you!!
   So a bit scary yes, but exciting, and a real privilege to be a part of. Actually I joined the school 2 weeks ago and have my first Bible highlights in 2 weeks time, despite not being appointed yet. Lois isn't very impressed as when I joined they added her name too and she has a talk before me!
   On a different subject, I finally got my motorcycle license. After they gave me the pass without me even having to answer a question or ride a bike, what a drama with paperwork! My receipt wasn't green which for some reason caused quite a ruckus. Apparently the receipt should be GREEN not WHITE! Who cares if it shows the right amount has been paid to the right people, it SHOULD be green! This honestly took half a day to sort out. Various managers had to be consulted until one was found who was either colour blind or mysteriously endowed with common sense. Also I had one form which had extra information on it. All the other forms I needed had my name and various other bits of information. But one form ALSO had my mother's maiden name on it. UNACCEPTABLE! In the end I had to go and reapply for another license without the extra information, and get fingerprinted twice more. Anyway I now have my license and a motorbike. I will post a photo of it next time.
   One last thing, we saw our first serpiente (snake) yesterday, it had just been run over by a car, but here is a picture of it. Apparently it isn't a venomous variety. That's all for this post, thanks for reading.

                                                     Lois preaching in serpent country!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Let's start with the worst of times;
We have been here since Nov 1st and just today finished the final step in gaining our 1 year visa. Numerous days of travelling all over the city paying this fee and that fee, getting this verified and delivering that form to that department. I think we have visited most of the police stations in Tarija, some several times. Local police checks, Interpol checks etc etc. We have given our fingerprints so many times I think my fingers will stay purple for the rest of the year! And all this after we had to return to Argentina to get the CORRECT entry visa so we could APPLY for the one year visa. Let's just say thank goodness that's over. Martin Rattray made it as easy as it could be, and I highly recommend you avail yourselves of his services if you plan to come here. He guided us through all the drama, and his fees were extremely reasonable.
   Once we got our visa, we had to apply for our carnet, i.e. an identity card everyone has to carry. More travelling around, but at least it involved electronic fingerprinting. Why can't the different departments talk to each other, I mean really, 6 different fingerprint samples? Oh well, today we received our carnets and it is over!! at last!!
   Now let's talk about Lois' coffee machine. We posted it from New Zealand prior to flying out and it cost us $600NZ (a 20kg package) We thought that was exorbitant, but hey she is worth it. Anyway it arrived here the same time as us but to another city, La Paz. The thing is customs wants us to pay about $1000US to release it! Their claim is it is liable to customs duty. We have had to provide proof of purchase, this form that form, etc, and we still don't have the machine. In fact it is still in             La Paz. Today Martin took us to the customs office here in Tarija to argue that it is second hand and for personal use. Martin even had a printout of the regulations which show we should not have to pay the fee. It seems we finally had a breakthrough and they agree it is exempt. However you only have 60 days to get anything out of customs, so we are running pretty close to the wind. We were told today the customs agent in La Paz will release it from customs on Monday, but we have to pay his "fee" and transport costs to Tarija from La Paz, despite having paid in NZ to send it to Tarija. Oh well lesson learned there, don't post stuff to Bolivia!
   Now the best of times;
Oh the dichotomy of Bolivia! Lois and I decided after much thought, to buy a motorcycle. Much of the territory our group has is beyond public transport. Most of this remote territory has never been preached to! Thus the need for a motorbike. Firstly I needed to get a license. You guessed it 20 places to visit, fingerprints etc. However normally getting a license involves studying, a test, a practical test and a night of instruction.
   I managed to get the local road code which seemed to focus strongly for some reason on not using the horn unnecessarily. EVERYONE here uses the horn unnecessarily. Right so I have to go and get a medical. The doctor asks me are you healthy? Can you see? "Yes I can" I reply. Next thing he hands me my medical form - passed 20/20 vision! No test, nothing! that was easy, but I wasn't looking forward to the test knowing my Spanish wasn't up to scratch.
   The instruction night involved apparently an "instructional" video showing possible distractions you may face while driving. Including.... A woman flashing her boobs, decapitated bodies... actually I haven't seen much of that on the roads to be honest! BUT before the video I needed to pass the theory. Well I go in and they realise I don't speak great Spanish. Result? "You won't understand the test so we may as well just give you your license!! I walked out with my license, being spared the video AND the practical! Oh just one thing I have to do, provide proof I haven't been involved in any accidents in Bolivia. Bit strange I thought seeing as I am APPLYING for a license, how could I have already been in an accident?
   An English brother here recently did his license (Ben Golding-Webb). He had a proper medical, a proper theory test. Had to watch the video, (hence I know what is in it) then sat the practical. He had never ridden a motorbike and knocked over every cone in the test area. Result? "but you know how to ride though don't you?" Result - Pass
   So yes Bolivia is definitely a tale of two cities!
I will post pictures of my new bike in future posts but in lieu of a copy of THE video, I will add some random unrelated photos to go with the general flow of things here.

  

Pigs here have a triangle of sticks tied tightly around their necks which still allows them to forage, but stops them getting through fences into crops. More humane than rings through noses I believe.

The hall at San Lorenzo where we attend meetings. It doubles as a dining room for Ben and Dawn Golding-Webb from England. Ben is seated at the rear end of the table.

Dawn Golding-Webb preaching with a friend in San Lorenzo's territory.