Presque 2 mois

(ci-dessus)Photos en prédication sur la colinne avec vue spéctaculaire sur la baie de Marigot

Megan et Scott

Marina Radisson, un havre de paix et tranquilité

Randonnée depuis Anse Marcel vers le Nord

Nouvelle salle du royaume construite il y a 2 ans qui ressemnble a l'arche de Noé où nous avons eut l'assemblée

Bonjours les amis,

Voila presque 2 mois que nous sommes ici, et les choses commencé a prendre forme. Samedi passé nous avons assisté a l'assemblée spéciale d'un jour avec les français. Nous avons apprécié les discours en français avec une compréhension qui frôle le 100% sans effort! Le lendemain les frères et soeurs en espagnole se demandaient où nous étions passé, c'est bon signe, ils ont pris l'habitude de nous voir aux groupe de service. À cette assemblée, nous avons rencontré les frères de Saint-Barthélemy et nous avons maintenant bien hâte d'aller visiter ce territoire. Malgré une population de 10 000 habitants, dont plusieurs centaines d'espagnoles, aucun des frères et soeurs parlent espagnole donc c'est un territoire pratiquement vierge dans cette langue. Immédiatement après l'assemblée, nous sommes allé chercher Megan, la soeur a Katya, et son mari, Scott a l'aéroport. Donc cette semaine nous fesons notre possible pour leur faire connaitre cette île que nous aimons de plus en plus. Scott est un pompier de 6pi 5po donc il il doit parfois se plier en 4 mais il semble apprécier la vie relaxe sur le bateau. Nous sommes donc allé visité la caserne de pompier ils ont pu parler de camions et feux... Depuis leur arrivée les vents sont resté dans le 30kmh donc nous ne pouvons pas faire le tour en bateau et nous avons même prit une nuit de marina à anse Marcel pour cette nuit (vendredi). Cela nous a permis d'aller faire de la randonnée (voir photos) sur une piste qui longe la mer.

Back in Sint-Maarten

We are back inside the calmness of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. On Friday, I did laundry, not knowing that the rain-cloud above us was here to stay. It’s been raining for the last 3 days and today, the sky is finally clearing. I did manage to dry the laundry in between 2 clouds. In the lagoon, we are surrounded by mega-yatchs, each worth 10-100million!! Some look like mini-cruise ships, but they are privately owned and chartered. One such yatch, called Le Grand Bleu, even has a 60 foot sailboat on top, and a motor boat as big on the other side (see photo). This is without counting the jet-skis, kayak and other grown-up toys that are hidden inside compartments. We are surrounded by these multi-crewed yatchs and they are beautiful to watch, but in a category of their own.

We had a busy week of activities. Richard and I went in service alone a couple of mornings, since there are no groups. We did informal witnessing to people on the street and returned to visit people who had shown interest. One of Richard’s calls live atop of a steep hill, accessible only via a sharp staircase. After ascending for about 10 minutes (one has to be in shape to live here), with sweat dripping down our backs we caught our breaths and called on the young woman who wasn’t home. But her mother was. Richard seized the opportunity to preach to her, explaining that we give free home Bible studies. After answering one of the questions from the tract ‘’Would You Like to Know the Truth’’, she told us that she was very interested in studying the Bible and gave us her schedule. We are looking forward to returning this week. We hadn’t made the climb for nothing!

On Friday night, we had our local pioneer meeting with the congregation elders. In the photo, you’ll see on the left, 2 of the 4 elders, a pioneer couple from Guadeloupe who are moving back home in a few months, Elisabeth, a pioneer from Guadeloupe also who is learning Spanish, and us. We are a small little group, and in a few months, Elisabeth will be alone. The 3 pioneers work full-time, so they go out in the evenings and on weekends. We are trying to be encouraging and supportive of the evening groups, and encourage others to join us. Last week, we had 3 others join us.

Yesterday, we had the privilege of attending a special meeting. Puerto Rico was having its Zone Visit and invited all the congregations of PR to attend a special assembly. The islands under its care were invited to attend via telephone conference for a 3 hour program. Br. Anthony Morris from the Governing Body and David Schafer, helper of the Teaching Committee gave 2 talks: ‘’Earnestly Seek Jehovah’s Blessing’’ and ‘’Keep Enduring in the Work that is Good’’. Both were translated simultaneously in Spanish and were very good. Unfortunately, recordings of this program were prohibited. They mentioned that it wasn’t a program intended for everyone. We were 14 851 in total attendance for the morning session, including Anguilla, Saba, St-Croix, St-Martin, St-Thomas, Tortola and Virgin Gorda. The same program was repeated in the afternoon for the other half of Puerto Rico. It was a privilege to hear these brothers speak and the program was very stimulating.

In the second picture, you see Elisabeth with a young sister from the island of Saba.
In the 3rd, we invited for lunch the coordinator, Miguel Salomon, Elisabeth, and Betty a sister visiting from Guadeloupe.

Virgin Gorda once again!

Last Monday, January 4th, we set sail for Virgin Gorda, taking advantage of the fact that we had no activities planned for the week, and the winds had calmed down a bit. This was our opportunity to go visit our friends for a week. We left at 5pm and sailed all through the night, arriving at 9am. The trip took us 16 hours and although the winds were light, the waves were 10-15 feet in height from behind, which made for a rolly trip. The rolling made the sediments from the gas tank clog up the filters, so that the engine stalled at least a dozen times in the last two hours. It was daylight by then and we were in the last stretch of the trip. We could see land, so close yet so far away. Fortunately, we had spare filters on hand, but Richard only changed them once we arrived. We were happy to arrive but only to rediscover the very rolly St-Thomas bay. The swell was exceptionally strong last week, so much that some people were trying to surf on the waves coming in. We have a love-and-hate relationship with Virgin Gorda, and we remembered why we had decided not to spend the 2010 winter there. We headed in to the marina for one night, but the brothers offered us to stay at the Kingdom hall apartment with the special pioneers, Adrien and Michele, which we gladly accepted.

We spent a busy week in Virgin Gorda, preaching alot with Adrien and Michele, checking in on our old calls, visiting the friends, Spanish meeting, English meeting, and even attended an engagement party. We were delighted to see everybody. Richard droppe in at ''The Arc'', a place where lots of single men live in rooms and where he used to study with Johny, a Haiten man. He had moved to Tortola, but surprise surprise, he was visiting Virgin Gorda the day we passed by. He was happy to see us and told us that he has continued his study in Tortola. He was excited to tell us all the things he had learned. Aside from that, nothing has changed. Everything is exactly the same as it was 9 months ago. The one grocery store still has that same awful smell.

We were happy that the weather conditions were in our favour to leave after a week. Yesterday, on Monday, we set sail back to St-Martin at 10am in ESE winds, which is head-on winds, but they were only a light 6 knots, and the waves were 3-6 feet with a long period. Although we motored the whole time, we made it in a record time of 14 hours, arriving at midnight to the nice, calm bay of Marigot. The daytime trip was very pleasant. Richard let out lines for catching fish, but with no success. We saw a school of dolphins, at least 10-15 of them, swimming alongside the boat and putting on a show for us. The nigh time sky is amazing: lots of shooting stars and once in a while, a brightly-lit cruise ship travelling on the horizon. We’ve also seen lots of sea turtles. These little things in nature are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Today we look forward to catching up on a croissant and cappuccino, and stocking the fridge with all kinds of European goodies. Richard will be making us his new specialty: pizza, thanks to the easy recipe of a fellow traveller.

We both finished our 2010 Yearbook thanks to www.jw.org and we are now motivated to be like missionaries and the early Witnesses, or like Paul even, who had to create their own territory. We will endeavour to speak to as many people as we can in the streets and from house-to-house, mustering up boldness to do what doesn’t come naturally.

New Kingdom melodies: I am pretty sure the French haven’t started singing them yet, so I feel privileged to have been able to start on Jan 1. They are very beautiful, and the words of some are even more beautiful in Spanish. They have been putting alot of emphasis on practicing the Kingdom melodies for the week’s meetings in our family worship, so that is what we have been doing. And although we are sometimes off, as a congregation, we are managing not too bad. We listened to the vocals in Japanese, German, Polish, Tagalog, and Italian and interestingly, they all sound the same!

That’s all for now. In 10 days, we’ll receive the visit of my sister and her husband, who will be initiated to life onboard a sailboat. Looking forward to that!

Thanks again for taking the time to write. We know how busy life is back home but we really enjoy reading your emails and keeping updated on what’s going on at home.