Rafs 1st English talk! & pioneer meeting!

Well this Sunday I was a proud wifey! After almost 6 years of giving public talks in Spanish , Raf gave his first public talk in English!!! He did so good! I know how hard it can be going from spanish theocratic Lingo to English theocratic.. Of course it's all the same but it can be challenging! (I mean I still struggle from English to Spanish.. Haha) any hoo.. He was relieved to get his first public part done, and the congregation enjoyed it. They were surprised it was his first English public talk!(ok here I go into bragging mode! But what can I say I'm proud of my man, haha )

It was such a nice Sunday because that same afternoon we joined the annual pioneer meeting . There were 5 of us visiting pioneers but the hall now has
12 pioneers (with 32 publishers!) it was held in an old Kingdom Hall that is now only used for service meetings..

It was such an Encouraging meeting! Of course there were many good points but a few of our favs were:

Talking about budgets! (Rafs strong enforcement of ours helped us to get here to Chetumal , haha) but how does this relate to pioneering? Well as we all now these days everyone struggles in these hard economic times, and as pioneers the pressure to take on more work just to cover necessities can be hard(we know the feeling). But the brothers and society encourages us to rely on jehovah, that the moment we feel we may need to stop pioneering (from Discouragement / economic pressures) first to analyze our budgets! Many times we can make a realistic physical list/budget to cover properly our expenses. (Many articles but particular one in Awake of June 2011 has article on Budgets) we can both vouch for the fact that giving full time service to Jehovah is great! It helps keep us focused in ministry and so much less stressed! And keeping a budget is a lifesaver for our pioneering(altho i push rafs budgets to limits sometimes,... Ok alot.. Lol)

As one sister said "pioneering liberates you to be used where Jah wants you to be used, and we can truly see Jahs hand in our lives!" Dido sistah:) pioneering helps us to put trust in Jah.

As another brother(whose home was recently broken into and robbed) mentioned: "you don't worry too much about being robbed because we learn to be content with few things. Therefore less things to rob!" Lol, what a great attitude in a tough situation!

Going along with what the brother mentioned.. Here in Chetumal one thing that I personally have been surprised by is that we honestly have nothing in this apartment of ours (compared to back home) yet we are content and able to do everything we do at home! I should clarify.. When I say nothing I mean a few service /casual outfits, a very small kitchen with literally one small shelf for storage, and a fridge that is about 1/4 the size of our fridge at home! Lol. We have 2 pans, 1 pot and a small 2 burner stove. Only COLD water(when the water is actually working..)for showers, 2 kitchen towels, 2 bath towels.. A small bed that poor rafs feet hang off of, a dining table that barely fits 2 plates at same time ... This may seem like a little bit or much to you, but for me/us very eye opening! My shopaholic ways, need for space and THINGS is truly being adjusted here!! We really focus on service, studying, and meetings here! Everything else is extra . We also don't worry too much about being robbed because the only valuable things are really just our phones. We are just happy making our main priority service !

The pioneer meeting mentioned the text in 1 Timothy 6: 6,7,8 "... For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things" so we learn that being content with basic things coupled with having godly devotion makes us happy. Here in Chetumal we really see this is soo true.

Keep life simple, serve Jehovah the best you can, set spiritual goals and with Jahs help you can accomplish them! :-)