BUSH TRIPS YIELD FRUITAGE

Although Belize City and the largest towns in Belize were being worked thoroughly, rural territory was not being covered regularly. Early missionaries had made trips by boat to the southern towns, but later a road was built that connected the southern districts of Stann Creek and Toledo with the rest of the country. Then, early in 1971, the branch organized annual preaching excursions, called bush trips, to take the Kingdom message to the Mopan and Kekchi Maya in remote parts of the Belize rain forest.

Using rented vehicles and dugout canoes, the brothers and sisters were able to reach villages and towns from Dangriga to Punta Gorda and as far south as Barranco, near the border with Guatemala. Some trips were made by a group in a van accompanied by two to four motorcyclists. Each night they stopped at a different village, and during the day, while the larger group worked the village, the motorcyclists went in pairs up trails to isolated farms.

In the Punta Gorda area, the brothers backpacked from village to village. They often had to speak to the alcalde (chief) in the cabildo, the meeting place for the older men of the village, before preaching to the rest of the villagers.

“At one village,” relates missionary Reiner Thompson, “the brothers arrived when the men were in a meeting in the cabildo, discussing the procedure for the corn harvest. After the meeting, the men asked the brothers to sing a Kingdom song for them. The brothers were tired and hungry, and they did not have a songbook.” Brother Thompson adds, “They sang with all their hearts, much to the delight of the men.” In time, congregations were formed in Mango Creek and later in San Antonio, one of the largest Maya villages.

“Sometimes we walked between villages at night to keep up with our schedule,” explains Santiago Sosa. “We learned to walk in single file in the middle of the road, not at the sides, because the bushes along the road were sure to harbor snakes. We also learned to drink from a water vine when we were out of water.”

Sometimes the group was divided into twos or fours to preach in different parts of the village. Then, they all met up again in the evening. Two would stay behind to do the cooking. “That could be a disaster,” recalls Santiago with a chuckle, “because some didn’t really know how to cook. I remember looking at one meal and asking, ‘What is it?’ The cook said, ‘I don’t know, but it’s food.’ If the cook couldn’t identify the food, we thought we had better test it first on a skinny stray dog. But even the hungry dog wouldn’t eat it!”

KEKCHI ACCEPT THE TRUTH

Rodolfo Cocom and his wife, Ofelia, moved from Corozal to a remote Kekchi village in the south called Crique Sarco. Ofelia had grown up in this village, which the Witnesses visited only on the annual bush trips. When she was about 14 years old, Ofelia found the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life under an orange tree and began to read it. She wanted to know more, but it was not until she was married and living in Corozal that she and her husband, Rodolfo, studied the Bible with two special pioneers, Marcial and Manuela Kay.

When the Cocoms moved to Crique Sarco in 1981, they wanted to renew contact with the Witnesses, so Rodolfo went to Punta Gorda to look for them, a trip that took at least six hours on foot and by boat, on both river and sea. In Punta Gorda he met Donald Niebrugge, a pioneer, who arranged to study with the couple by correspondence. However, there was a problem. There was no post office in Crique Sarco.

“At the post office in Punta Gorda, I asked how I could send mail to Crique Sarco,” explains Donald, “and I was told that the priest went there once a week.” So, for about six months, the priest carried the Bible study correspondence back and forth without realizing that he was acting as a courier for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“When the priest found out what he was carrying,” says Donald, “he was quite upset and refused to carry our letters any longer.”

During those months Donald made several trips to Crique Sarco to study with the Cocoms. When the next bush trip was made, Rodolfo started out in field service. “We took him with us for four days,” continues Donald, “preaching in several villages, and the association with the brothers on that trip really helped him make progress.”

“Ofelia and I would go out to preach in our village,” explains Rodolfo, “just the two of us sharing what we had learned. The people I studied with faced more opposition than we did. Some were denied access to the medicine, food supplies, and clothing that were donated to the village. My mother-in-law was also very opposed to what we were doing. Ofelia and I realized that we wouldn’t be able to progress spiritually in Crique Sarco. We needed to attend meetings. Hence, we moved to Punta Gorda to continue studying. There we made spiritual progress, and we were baptized in 1985.” Today the Cocoms associate with the Ladyville Congregation, where Rodolfo serves as a ministerial servant.

UNASSIGNED TERRITORY PRODUCES GOOD FRUIT

Toledo District, in southern Belize, is an area of rolling hills and dense rain forest, peppered with Mopan and Kekchi Maya villages of thatched-roof houses with dirt floors. For the most part, the villagers lead hard lives doing heavy farmwork with simple hoes. During dry spells they have to carry water to the fields by hand to grow corn, beans, and cacao. Many of the women do traditional Kekchi embroidery and make baskets for the souvenir shops throughout the country. Increasing numbers of young people are leaving the villages to study or work in the more populated centers of the country.

In 1995, Frank and Alice Cardoza were invited to serve as temporary special pioneers during April and May to help distribute Kingdom News No. 34, “Why Is Life So Full of Problems?,” in the Toledo District. “I had taken part in one of the annual bush trips in this area,” recalls Frank, “and I saw that the Maya people could be better helped to learn the good news if someone would move into the area. The branch recommended that I rent a place to stay, start a Bible study group, and give the special talk in San Antonio. We were to distribute the Kingdom News there, as well as in eight other villages.”

The Cardozas conducted a weekly group study in their rented one-room basement, and within a few weeks, three to four families started attending. These interested ones also joined the Cardozas for their hour-long drive in a well-worn pickup truck on a rutted dirt road to Punta Gorda for the Theocratic Ministry School and Service Meeting. That first month, Frank delivered the special talk in San Antonio. Jesús Ich, one of those attending for the first time, paid rapt attention. As a member of the Nazarene Church, he was particularly impressed to learn that the teaching of hellfire is rooted in paganism and that the Biblical hell is the common grave. He took Frank aside after the meeting, plying him with more questions on the subject. As a result, he began to study the Bible and was baptized a year later.

At the end of their two-month assignment as temporary special pioneers, the Cardozas had to make an important decision. “We had started many studies,” remembers Frank, “more than we could handle. Our hearts and consciences just wouldn’t let us go back to our comfortable house in Ladyville. If we decided to stay in San Antonio, we could have better living conditions by renting the upstairs of the house we were in rather than the basement. I could install a little sink, a water gutter to pick up rainwater and, in time, maybe a flush toilet and electricity. We prayed to Jehovah about it, confident that with his blessing a congregation could be formed in this area. Then we wrote to the branch, informing them that we were willing to stay in San Antonio as regular pioneers.”

Jehovah’s blessing on the Cardozas’ decision was quickly apparent. Within just six months, in November, they held their first Public Meeting in their rented house. And by April of the following year, they began holding the Theocratic Ministry School and Service Meeting in San Antonio. How relieved the little group was not to have to make the weekly 40-mile round trip to Punta Gorda for the meetings.

“HIS THREATS COULD NOT STOP ME”

The group of sincere Bible students in San Antonio soon began to progress, and their love for the truth was truly moving. “In these villages,” explains Frank, “the women in particular are very shy, and by tradition they are submissive to their fathers and husbands. It is not their custom to talk to strangers. It was very difficult for them, therefore, to participate in the door-to-door ministry.”

Priscilian Sho, who was 20 years old at the time, was an unbaptized publisher who really wanted to preach to her neighbors in the area. On one occasion, Priscilian was making some return visits with a sister-in-law, Amalia Sho, when they suddenly faced a crisis.

Priscilian remembers: “I hadn’t told my father I was going out to preach publicly because he had forbidden me to do it and I was afraid of him. That Sunday morning when we were out preaching, we suddenly saw my father in front of the Baptist church he attended. At first, we crouched in the grass because we didn’t want him to see us. But then I said, ‘You know, Amalia, Jehovah is watching us. It’s not right for us to be afraid of my father. It is Jehovah we must fear.’”

Priscilian’s father was furious, but an even bigger issue lay ahead because he was violently opposed to her becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. After praying about the matter until the day before the assembly where she was to be baptized, Priscilian finally mustered up the courage to tell her father.

“Tomorrow,” she said to her father, “I’m going to Belize City.”

“What are you going to do?” he inquired.

“I’m going to be baptized,” replied Priscilian. “I’m going to do what Jehovah wants me to do. I love you, but I have to love Jehovah too.”

“Are you really going to do that?” he responded angrily.

“Yes,” said Priscilian. “Acts 5:29 says I must obey God rather than man.”

Priscilian’s father stormed off in a rage. “I didn’t feel safe until I was in the truck, ready to leave for the assembly,” she recalls. “I didn’t know what he would do when I came home after the assembly. But I knew that by then I would be baptized, so even if he killed me, I would have done what was right.”

Although Priscilian’s father did not harm her when she got home, he later threatened to kill her. “But he saw that his threats could not stop me,” she says, “and since then he has softened toward me.”

AN OPPOSER TAKES SIDES WITH JEHOVAH

The newly formed group of zealous publishers in San Antonio was prospering spiritually when the Cardozas were suddenly informed in a letter from the local village council that they should leave San Antonio. Earlier, when he paid an application fee, Frank had obtained permission from the council to stay in the village. Now, a prominent member of the village was intent on having the Cardozas chased out. At one of the council meetings, three of Frank’s Bible students spoke in his behalf. Then Frank’s landlord spoke up, warning the council that if they evicted the Cardozas, they would have to pay the rent the Cardozas had been paying him. Frank himself then presented a letter from the Lands Department stating that a person renting privately owned property could not be asked to leave. In the end, the council granted the Cardozas permission to stay.

The man who had wanted the Cardozas evicted was Basilio Ah, a former alcalde (chief) who was still prominent in politics. Basilio used his influence to oppose Jehovah’s Witnesses in San Antonio in every way he could. When the little group wanted property to build a Kingdom Hall, he warned, “You’ll never build a Kingdom Hall in this village!” In spite of that, the brothers obtained property and built a modest and attractive Kingdom Hall. Amazingly, one of those at the dedication of the Kingdom Hall in December 1998 was Basilio. What had happened?

Two of Basilio’s married sons had been having family problems. Twice Basilio had asked his church to help his sons, and both times he had received no response. Then his sons started studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Basilio’s wife, María, began to notice that her sons were making changes for the better and that their family life was improving. So María herself asked to study the Bible with the Witnesses.

“I really wanted to get to know Jehovah God,” María says, “and I told my husband we should go to the Kingdom Hall to learn more about God.” Although Basilio did not easily let go of his strongly held feelings against Jehovah’s Witnesses and Frank Cardoza, whom he called “that foreigner,” he was impressed with the positive changes his sons were making as they applied Bible truths in their lives. Basilio decided to examine Jehovah’s Witnesses for himself, and after a few discussions, whom did he agree to have as his Bible study conductor? None other than “that foreigner,” Frank Cardoza!

“What I read in the Bible changed my mind,” explains Basilio. “I had been a Catholic for 60 years, lighting incense before the idols in the church. Now what I was learning about Jehovah was in his own book, the Bible. I am ashamed of the way I acted with Frank Cardoza, who is now my brother. I’m not afraid to say that I was wrong. I was zealous for the things I believed were right for my village and my religion. But I stopped practicing the Maya traditions that have to do with spiritistic healing, common in our villages. I also ended my involvement in the Maya political movements.” Today Basilio and María Ah happily serve Jehovah as baptized publishers.

Jehovah’s servants are known for their loving, joyful, and zealous spirit. In remote regions of Belize, many publishers walk three hours or more up and down steep hills to reach householders, and they do not like to miss meetings. For example, one evening Andrea Ich was assigned to be a householder on the Theocratic Ministry School. That day she had walked two or three miles [3 to 5 km] through the jungle to pick avocados with her sons. In the process she received 23 wasp stings. Nevertheless, she went home, prepared a meal for her family, went to the meeting, and handled her part on the program. Her face was swollen from the insect bites, but it was a happy face. It is always encouraging to see that although the dear Maya brothers and sisters may have traveled a whole day in a truck or bus to attend assemblies and conventions, they are delighted to be united in worshipping the true God, Jehovah.

[Box/​Picture on page 227, 228]

Bush Trips​—Preaching in the Rain Forest

“In March 1991, a group of 23 brothers and sisters from all over the country gathered at Punta Gorda for a ten-day preaching adventure in the depths of the rain forest,” relates Martha Simons. “Included in our load of clothing, blankets, and hammocks was literature in English, Spanish, and Kekchi. We also carried food, which included 200 journey cakes, or biscuits.

“The following morning we set out into a choppy sea in a wooden dugout, made by hollowing out a large ceiba (cotton) tree. At the village of Crique Sarco, we off-loaded and set up camp. As the brothers put up the hammocks, the sisters cooked one of our favorite dishes​—pigtail boilup—​a stew made from cassava, yams, green plantain, coconut, boiled eggs and, of course, a pig’s tail. Word got around that we had arrived, and soon a steady stream of Kekchi villagers stopped by to greet us. In this way we were able to witness to the entire village within two hours. That night, the brothers slept in hammocks underneath the police station, which was raised on stilts, while the sisters slept inside a thatched cabildo, the meeting place for the older men of the village.

“The next day we loaded up the boat again and went farther up the creek, which in some places was overgrown with mangrove roots that made it dark and eerie. After about half an hour, we disembarked and hiked another hour and a half through the bush to the village of Sundaywood. The people there were small with dark olive skin and straight black hair. Most of them were barefoot, and the women were dressed in native skirts and wore bead jewelry. The thatched-roof houses had dirt floors, no inner partitions, and no furniture, other than hammocks. To one side of the houses was a communal cooking hearth.

“The people were very friendly, and we found much interest. They were especially impressed with the fact that we had literature in Kekchi and could show them scriptures in our Kekchi Bibles.

“The next morning we were awakened by the roosters, forest birds, and howler monkeys. After a hearty breakfast, we made return visits on all those who had shown interest the day before. We started several Bible studies and encouraged all of them to continue studying on their own until we returned to study with them next year. Subsequent days followed a similar pattern as we penetrated deep into the rain forest to reach remote villages.

“After ten happy days in the forest, our minds went over the long distances we had traveled, the many villages we had reached, and all the people we had met. We prayed that Jehovah would protect the seeds of truth we had planted until we returned the following year. Our feet were sore, and our bodies were tired; but our hearts were overflowing with thankfulness to Jehovah for the joy of sharing in this year’s bush trip.”

[Box/​Pictures on page 235, 236]

Maya Who Love Jehovah

JORGE AND NICOLAS SHO (WITH THEIR SISTER, PRISCILIAN)

BORN 1969 and 1971

BAPTIZED 1997

BACKGROUND Maya tradition stresses respect and complete obedience to parents, even from married adults.

◼ WHEN Nicolas and Jorge came to know and love Jehovah, their father adamantly opposed their Christian activities.

“I explained to my father that I was learning beneficial things,” says Nicolas, “but he was a member of the Baptist Church, and he didn’t share my enthusiasm. I quit my Bible study a few times because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. But I also knew that by getting drunk with my father, I was not setting a good example for my children. My wife and children were so unhappy that they never smiled.

“Once I began studying the Bible and attending Christian meetings regularly, the truth helped me to break free from bad conduct. I worked hard for my family, and they got the full benefit of my income. Now, as a family, we are busy in Jehovah’s service, and there is happiness and laughter in our house.”

Jorge’s situation was much the same. His drunkenness and bad language caused problems for his family, and he was never at home on the weekends. But his study of the Bible resulted in a marked improvement in his conduct.

“As I progressed,” Jorge relates, “my father became more opposed. He called us false prophets. More than once he threatened us with his machete. Brother Cardoza, with whom I was studying the Bible, had tried to prepare us much earlier. ‘Suppose your father tells you to leave the family property?’ he asked us. ‘My father loves me,’ I explained, ‘and he won’t do that.’ But, sadly, that is exactly what he did.

“Nevertheless,” continues Jorge, “I loved what I was learning, and my life was improving. My family was benefiting from my new Christian personality. We respected one another and were happy together. Today, the preaching work brings me much joy, and thanks to Jehovah, I am a regular pioneer.”

[Picture]

Frank Cardoza witnessed to Jorge