Thursday, February 23, 2006

La Plaine, Dominica, Feb. 2006

Brother Elkin Vigilant's Home
Charlie Norman (one of the elders at Jackson Hts, Columbia, TN) and I arrived in La Plaine about 4:30 PM AST, Mon. the 13th to work with the preacher there. We first stopped at Elkin's house, which you see on the right. After greeting everyone Elkin took us up to the house where we were to stay--everything worked pretty well, we even had hot water. The toilet leaked, so we had to turn it off after every use, but that's a minor inconvenience.
Our Bible studies were scheduled to begin Tues. morning at 8 AM, but the first one was cancelled because she had to go to Roseau unexpectedly. We studied with 5 or 6 people each day, all different. These studies have all progressed to the point they know what they must do to be saved, but. Elkin did a good job with the studies, Charlie and I made a few comments along the way. We studied at the gas station (full service, so had several interruptions) but mostly in people's homes scattered over the village and surrounding area. Thursday at 4:30 PM Elkin and I went to study with some Haitian immigrants. Elkin was not too confident they were understanding his Creole (Patois, broken French) so told me to teach in English, then repeat it in Spanish as one of them understands Spanish pretty well. That was a bit confusing for all--first English, then Elkin would speak Patois to one while I spoke Spanish to another. Fortunately it soon became obvious that Spanish wasn't necessary as Elkin's Patois was fine and the others understood English fairly well. Still, it was a 2 1/2 hour study, with one of the same length the next evening.
The people we studied with were receptive because: 1) We gave Bible for everything we said, 2) They had been confused by different churches teaching different things but could now see the truth for themselves. I expect fruit from Elkin's labors soon. We had 19 present for Bible study Wed. night at the Village Council building--the 6 members of the church there, Charlie & I, and 11 visitors, which is the usual crowd for Sundays.
Tol Burk

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