Tuesday the 30th

This morning we had made arrangements to preach with a local sister. She was previously part of the ASL Cong here in Belize City but has been with English since it dissolved. We picked her up at the KH close to the house we are staying at and she directed us to the park where the English meet for preaching.

GPS was a little wonky getting us to the KH so we were late picking up the sis and just on time getting to the park. We met with the group and then headed out.

Our first contact is a deaf publisher who regularly connects with the Cayo Cong on Zoom. We had a wonderful time visiting him, his mother, his sister in law and his nephew. Plans were made to pick him up to go preaching this Friday.

Then we went to a local store where a deaf man works. He was at work so Nate & Horace made plans to contact him when he was not at work. After that, we went downtown. We were headed to two stores where other deaf work. Along the way we noticed that we were seeing more and more white people and more and more police. When we crossed a bridge, I looked out towards the ocean and saw a cruise ship was in port.

We parked in a lot and then walked to the first store. On the way, the local sister stopped to talk to a woman she knew. The sister had her preaching bag, which is clear and you can see that she was carrying Awake magazines. Just then, a little train-like cart went by carrying cruise tourists. The tour guide said “and on your right, you’ll see Jehovah’s Witnesses!” We were already standing there, smiling so now the riders, on hearing that, smiled back and many waved! I wish I could have gotten a picture!

We walked to the store and Nate, I and the local sis walked in. She knew what the two deaf men looked like so she looked around for them. I saw a male employee and ent over to ask if the deaf men were working today. He was one of them! So then a female employee came over and while we were signing with the deaf man, the sis asked her if she could please nab the other deaf man briefly. He came over as well and we made arrangements with both of them to meet them before work on Friday.

We left and were standing outside the store updating a Horace and Reymona when a group of cruise passengers crossed the street to us. The sister recognized this tour guide as a local brother. He then introduced us to his group, all Witnesses! They were from Atlanta, Dallas & Denver (Erie, CO). We warmly welcomed them and explained why we were all in Belize City. Such a small world in the truth!

We walked on to the 2nd store. Horace & Reymona were able to confirm that a deaf man still worked there but that he was not there today. We headed back to the car to try to find some other contacts. On the way, we saw one of the deaf men we had met earlier, he was on his way to lunch. He met Horace and Reymona and signed that he was looking forward to Friday’s chat.

Next we went to a deaf couples house. The local sis used to study with this woman. She was home and warmly welcomed us in. She shared with us that she had previously studied with the mennonites but that it was boring, they taught the same things over and over. But she said that she really enjoyed watching the sign language videos from JW and that she enjoyed learning new things from them. We took a picture together and made arrangements to return on Sunday as this is the only day her deaf husband has off work.

By now, we had been going strong for 4 hours! We were ready for a break but the local sis was like one more! So we went to a house where she thought a deaf woman lived with her father. It was the father’s house but the woman didn’t live there, she lived with her aunt. He explained where the aunt lived and it was just a few streets over. So the sis came back and said One more! So we went to the aunts house. The aunt confirmed that the woman did live there with her boyfriend. The boyfriend worked at the second store from this morning but he wasn’t at work remember? Neither of the 2 deaf were there right now but would be back later and the man would be back at work tomorrow. So we decided to try again later today.

We dropped the sister off and went on to the grocery store to pick up a few groceries and to use the restroom. While there we asked 3 different employees if they knew any deaf. Two did not but the third man knew of a deaf family. He believes that they live nearby as he sees them often. As we are staying nearby, we will see if we can find them this week.

We came home for some lunch and to rest a little. Later we got back out and went back to the last house we had called on. The deaf woman was home but the man was not yet. While we were waiting for him, a woman rode up on her bicycle. She was also deaf! A new contact! We chatted with her and exchanged numbers. We also made arrangements to call back on the deaf couple on… you guessed it, Thursday!

While we were chatting with the deaf man, I asked if he knew of other deaf in the immediate area. Horace had already explained why we were in town. The man told us where the deaf woman on the bicycle lived and then where 3 more deaf live!

D & M

We had plans for one more stop before dark so we said our goodbyes and headed over to a witness family’s house. The dear brother had a stroke about a year ago and has been contending with loss of speech since. He and his family warmly welcomed us, offering us coffee and refreshments. The son was a part of the ASL Cong here but has been Zooming with Cayo while also going in person to Kriol with his family. We spent time visiting, encouraging and being encouraged ourselves. Wt the end of the visit, the sister told us in Kriol, we want you to let us know if you need anything we have a motorcycle and we can bring it to you, quick time! They also offered to escort us home since it was almost dark. We were just a 4 minute drive away so we said we can make it but thank you!

Ah, home! Finally at 6pm, after a long wonderful day spent pouring ourselves out, we got home and collapsed. We talked and ate and then got ready for the next day! Tomorrow we will do it all over again, this time with the Kriol Cong. We can’t wait to see how the spirit and our angelic pioneer partners work with us tomorrow!

Other photos from today’s adventures: