OLD NEWS

 So... we're back! And as you all know if you read DuShey's blog... this post is OLD NEWS (hence the title). But no matter if it's old news or not... it never hurts to read about the joy of a new Kingdom Hall in another part of the world, even if you have read it before!

So this is where the small group met for about 4 years... it's the Hopkins Community Center also known as the Help Age Center. The small group grew and was made a congregation in July 2011! The hunt was on for our own spot in Hopkins... a place of worship for the new students to call their own...

This is the set-up in the Help Age Center... good... but not great... and each meeting brothers would have to arrive SUPER early and stay late to set up/put away the chairs, and set up/breakdown the sound system for every meeting... not to mention if it was a holiday, we would have to try to mask the Christmas decor, etc. it's the little things you take for granted when you've always had a proper place of worship.
 

We finished the hall just in time to write 2011 in the concrete! The first meeting was on Sunday, January 1st, 2012. What a wonderful way to start the new year! And pretty ironic seeing that there are many Mayan villages here, which Mayans thought the world would end in 2012... but Jehovah says there is more work to do! ha ha ha

April did the finishing touches to the stage. She drove out to Sittee River to cut some exotic foliage... but it's the official Year Text from the branch that really made it feel like "home".

Just a few of the brothers in Hopkins... the black brother in the middle (Ken, the first baptized Garifuna male in Hopkins at 19 yrs old) recently had a chance to join a popular musical group here in Belize (last week the group performed with Omarion at the Belize music awards)... he turned down the offer... and when he saw this picture he said, "This is my group now!"

This is Ebony... she is wonderful. And we're sure you will read about her in the yearbook one day. For an 11 year old girl her zeal is amazing! She studies every week, walks to the meeting; which she is never missing, comments at the meetings, has joined the Theocratic Ministry School, and is working towards becoming a publisher so she can preach during summer break from school... all of this with with no support from her family. She is an encouragement to us all... and she is the loudest singer in the Hopkins Congregation!

I'm having a hard time moving this picture up under the one of Eric giving a talk in the Help Age Center so that you can really see the difference... no comparison!

The Hopkins Brothers...

But the WOMEN... are a large army!

The DuShey's are so encouraging! Their zeal for the truth, and love for Jehovah and his sheep is contagious! They have seen Hopkins grow from when they were the only ones representing Jehovah in the village... to now a congregation with 30 publishers, and average 60 - 100 attending meetings! Today must have been surreal for them! 

 

 

The first song we sung was "Labor of Love"... man, the group of people who wrote that new song definitely captured all of the feelings of the day! There was not a dry eye in the house!

Aaron, Eric & TJ

One of Hopkins' favorite Englishman.... Harry Ashton. The first Ministerial Servant produced by the Hopkins Congregation! He was appointed just after we arrived the first time in November 2011, and he gave his first public talk at the end of May! He is such an asset to the congregation, his mild, laid back spirit suits this place :)

Lacy, April, Sue, Reg... although the foursome didn't last long... we have some great memories together!

 

 

Some sisters traveled in from Dangriga (45 minute drive north) for the special day. The sister second in from the left is Beverly. She is a Special Pioneer focusing on the Garifuna field. She comes to Hopkins every Wednesday to conduct back-to-back studies in the Garifuna language... she is amazing in the ministry!

So I'm realizing in all of my pictures I don't have one picture of the Kingdom Hall completely finished! ha ha ha BUMMER! So I will take one on Sunday, and add it to the post so you can see how beautiful it is! What a blessing from Jehovah that it's one of the first things you see on your way in to the village!