Jim & Leslie's Adventures

Mar 2nd, 2009 A less Manic Monday

Today we did some shopping in the morning and service in the afternoon.

It was mostly the grocery run this morning, like last week, but we also made a trip to the Cocody market. This is where we were trying to pick up a few things for souvenirs etc. Wow! Its a scary event.

The second they see white people coming everyone is calling out to you “come here, come see my things” “lower prices, best prices” “why aren’t you coming here” “what are you looking for? We have it?” And a thousand other things that I probably missed.

There are no prices, of course. They will give you an extreme price and hope that you just pay it. As tourists we would think it wasn’t that expensive, but Penny knows better. We were very glad for her protection. She can haggle with the best of them!

There is a huge disparity here between the rich and poor. Marvin & Penny’s territory seems to include a little of both (perhaps not extreme in either direction). The picture here is not in their territory but it shows the contrast. A beautiful building in the background and squatters huts in the foreground.

Today we worked in the poorer area of town. So far we had been on the high end, so to speak. Today we got to see the other side. (actually, Leslie had been there before, but I had not) Still, the same basic attitude. People have a sense of spiritual need and they are not ashamed to talk about the Bible.

We went to do one of Marvin’s calls (a new study). He was not at home, but his son was – actually, we woke him up from siesta. He is about 14. Marvin started a discussion from the tract “Would you like to know the truth?” When asked which question he found most touched him, he said “How to pray and be answered by God”. We went through this subject with this 14 year old. He read the paragraphs and commented intelligently. When he read the verse he said “Matthew chapter 6, verse 7” …. now, how many 14 year olds in Canada could do that?

People here are quite “Bible familiar”. Taxis often have Bible verses on them and it is not uncommon to see “Jehovah-Jireh” as a name of a shop. They expect you to pray with them when you have a Bible discussion and they are not the least ashamed to be seen studying. What a refreshing change!

I will let Leslie add some details about her day and our “seamstress”.

Penny and I spent some extra time at Helene’s little shop. She was hurrying to finish Jim’s shirt and then we were going to have a study which she had all prepared. It rained for about an hour so we were be glad to be “under cover”. It gave me a chance to do some people watching! It was amazing to see the way these women work. They do such fine work with Singer treddle machines as they have no electricity and they also use a charcoal iron! The woman you see in the photograph, fanning the iron is Marie, she works with Helene.

I also learned a few interesting expressions. Helene had traveled to her brother’s wife’s funeral the week before. When Penny asked how it all went. Helene responded that it went well. Penny then said “merci”. It is common that one will thank you for taking care of their family.

During the study Penny asked what sentiment she understands when she reads the Jehovah “cares for you”. She replied, “he keeps you in his heart”. She is such a sweet and humble woman. How nice to hear her heartfelt expressions.

We finished our day with the home family Watchtower study. Five Anglos sitting around studying in French! With a multitude of accents! Another wonderful day!

Posted in The Really Big Trip by jimt with 3 comments.