Roller coaster

26.2.13

Aftermath of MASH

On Saturday Guyana celebrated the MASH festival in Georgetown with a parade of floats and dancers – we didn’t go as it looked like being too crowded but we saw a bit of it on TV and it looked like everyone was having a great time!   However, when we went into Georgetown on Monday we saw the aftermath which consisted of even more rubbish than usual – it was shocking to see the amount covering the roads, verges and into the canals.  There was also smashed glass all along the road edges from the beer and rum drinking that went on – all in all we were glad we hadn’t been there Saturday!  We just can’t understand the mentality of people who have so little pride in their country and city and it makes us so sad.  Guyana is advertised as an ‘Eco-tourist’ destination which makes the huge amounts of rubbish even more distressing. 

Bad day

Sunday was the dip in the roller coaster weekend…we were leading two services at 8am and 11am but both felt a bit flat and low because of the apparent apathy in the churches.  The first service we went to was quite cheerful and lively but at the second chapel there were hardly any people there and no-one seemed interested in being there.  While Mark was preaching everyone was just chatting to each other like they were at a coffee and chat and I found it hard not to get angry with them for being so rude.  I just don’t understand why they come at all if they are not interested.  We were going to do an open air preach but no-one came to support us so we abandoned that! 

Good day!

Then Monday we had several things to cheer us up and encourage us!  Firstly we received a parcel from England with a book and some favourite sweeties and only had to wait half an hour at the customs desk for it!  We also bought some resources for ministry including a laminator and a portable amp – we laughed because we can potentially now play music extremely loudly and compete with our noisy neighbours.  We figured there is a gap between about 2am and 6am when no-one is playing music so we thought we’d play ‘Silent Night’ on repeat at a great volume between those times so that there is music constantly 24 hours a day!! 

We also had a boost as we found some Cadbury’s crème eggs and mini eggs in a shop!  Then in the evening we went to a welcome service for a team of Americans who come every year from North Carolina to help rebuild chapels here and do children’s work.  They had kindly brought us a bag of goodies that are hard to get here, including olive oil, coffee, baking ingredients, tampons and some little instruments to use with the children!  Bless their hearts!  We went to bed Monday feeling a lot more cheerful than we had on Sunday! 

Update on phone

Hahahahahahahaha! 

The phone and line were fitted on Thursday last week but still no connection.  We have called them every day since and they just keep saying it is a problem with the line but have no suggestions as to how it is going to get sorted.  So although we are at the point of giving up hope of ever having a phone or internet we keep holding on and praying for a miracle.

As for the water, the plumber seems to have improved the water pressure so we are enjoying being able to flush the toilet and wash our hands (in the sink!) AT THE SAME TIME!   Hooray!