Service in Bastiementos

Here you see me in my Panama service get-up!

Val was still under the weather on Thursday but I went out to support the service group.  Every Thursday, the service group travels to Bastiementos Island to conduct several studies, follow up with return visits, and work the territory door-to-door.  Travel time from Bocas Town is about 15 minutes and the cost is $1.50 per person each way.  Here is what the little town looks like from the water taxi:

Bastiementos is one of the few islands that the brothers are able to reach on a regular basis to carry out the preaching work.  There are a half dozen other islands and even part of the mainland that do not get covered because either there are not enough brothers to handle all the workload or it is too expensive to reach them via water taxi.  Just two weeks ago, a water taxi was hired to reach some of these "seldom worked" islands and many residents stated that they have never seen Jehovah's Witnesses before!  The reception was warm and inviting and many expressed a desire to learn more about the Bible.  Because of lack of funds and available brothers, however, there are presently no plans to return to these sheep.  If only we had a boat of our own.

As for Bastiementos, many of the friends have a full day of studies one after the other and do not return back to Bocas Town until well after dark.  In two hours of door-to-door service, I believe my partner and I covered four or five houses.  Each householder was willing to stop what they were doing and engage in a discussion on a bible topic-- imagine that!  Little children will grab you by the hand and take you to their house, eager to show off their english; they love watching the videos from the JW.org website and if you stop to show one child a video by the time it is over you will have an audience of five to ten.

The friends used to conduct a weekly public talk on the island which was nicely attended but there are currently too few brothers to handle to responsibilities of conducting two meetings per day.  Hopefully some day soon meetings can resume so these humble studies and return visits on Bastiementos can receive regular spritual food and enjoy the gathering together of ourselves.