Luxury is relative:
My house here has been described as “permanent camping”, or, according to Mum, “living in the garden” due to the lack of glass windows and walls. I now realise that I am actually living in the lap of luxury and have nothing to complain about, ever since I paid a visit to some friends who have recently been re-assigned to a huge territory up in the mountains.

Village is too grand a word to describe where they live, hamlet is more like it and it lies 2 hours away from the nearest large town over a dreadful dirt track.

slight obstacle in the road...

Our friends are sharing a place with a special pioneer couple who have been serving for almost a year in this territory. There is no congregation, or even any publishers apart from the 4 of them. They hold the meetings in their house, and both brothers take it in turns to do all the talks, while their wives do a talk each week on the school with each other.

Shane and Vanessa have done wonders with their room, which is in the style of a grey, concrete bunker – Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen would not be impressed - but they have managed to make it comfortable and even cosy, in spite of no fixtures or fittings, or even running water. The big downside of no running water is.... a latrine!!!

I loathe latrines...3 tin walls and a curtain around a hole in the ground. Usually the stench is indescribable and they are generally crawling with cockroaches and smothered with flies, but... it is amazing what can be done with a bit of imagination. I have never seen such a stylish and spotless latrine – it even has a toilet seat and a special sliding piece of wood to stop the bugs crawling out – Shane's carpentry genius. In spite of these improvements I think the qualities of long-suffering and endurance are definitely required. Mum, Dad and I endured for 2 days, but they are there for the long haul.

the lock on the bathroom door didn't really work...

They do have the compensation of a truly fantastic ministry. I thought my territory was good, but theirs is unbelievable. In the morning we went out for 2 hours, but only managed to call at 4 houses as every householder immediately asked us in to sit down. Traditional first call presentations don't really exist, you can go straight into a study of a brochure or the BT book at every door.

The local people are very poor, one of the places where we were invited in was made of bamboo sticks tied together with string, the gaps between filled with dried mud. The parents had 8 children and they all live there together, growing and selling beans to (only just) make a living. One of the sons I spoke to described how hard the local evangelical churches made their life, as they all insist on a tithe, which isn't necessarily the usual 10%, but can be up to 50% under some of the more rapacious pastors. In spite of this lots of the local people still attend the church as it is the only source of entertainment. Happy-clappy singing and dancing 4 nights a week make it into a kind of nightly variety show with karaoke! Our meetings can't quite match up to that!

So far around 15 studies make it to the meetings there regularly, including one old man who walks about 4 km there and back despite opposition from his wife.
Perhaps by the time Shane and Vanessa leave, there may be a little group or congregation started.