Islands

Three years ago, I went to Corn Island. That was just a vacation, but it was a time I could never forget. It stayed with me over these last few years and now with my wife we are happily relocated and serving on the very same Island that captured me years ago.

this is the post I made three years ago
http://pioneerabroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/corn-islands.html


A highlight of that trip for me, was seeing one of the first meetings of a new group starting out on the smaller of the two Corn Islands. At that time most of Little Corn's inhabitants had never received a witness before. Unfortunately the brother who was boldly taking the lead with the pre-group and living on the island had to leave and the meetings ceased for a time.

That is changing now. The Spanish congregation here on the Big Island has been making visits to the little island for the sake of the preaching work, and also holding meetings at one of the homes. Only a few have taken place and it was my privilege once again to take part in extending the good news to this little jewel in the Caribbean. I was asked to conduct the watchtower study in Spanish (which i still barely speak). I can't express how exciting it was to come back and pick up where we left off years ago.

Preparing for the meeting

Our group left from Big Corn in the morning by panga, with plans to return on a cargo ship in the night. The sea was calm that day which meant a smooth ride where everyone stayed dry. After we arrived we went and dropped out bags off at a house where one of our sisters is living. She is the only witness on the little Island and is unable to travel to the Big Island for the meetings, so she is very appreciative when the congregation can come and hold the meeting at her house.

There isn't a lot of territory to cover on Little Island, but that really isn't a problem, because you can spend a whole day doing one block. Everyone wants to have a bible study right on the spot, even if they're working. In most cases that is just what we do. Though it is small in relation to Big Corn its actually a sizable community, possibly even larger than Pearl Lagoon itself (not including haulover, raitipura etc).

The interior of Little Corn is reminiscent of Orinoco in the way its laid out. There are no cars or motorized vehicles, so instead of streets there are only foot paths, with modest but colorful homes tightly packed around them. Thought the houses are very close to the street, there is no shortage of land space, behind the houses there are open fields, hills covered with fruit trees, and even a few farms. Its a very, very relaxing environment. Little Corn only has electricity during the night and afternoon, so in the morning your ears "ring" from the silence. No blasting music, no traffic noise, no planes landing or taking off, only the occasional creole mother shouting at her child "NO PLAY WIT DAT KOM MAKE I TOMP YOU"

We had some good experiences before the meeting while working one path in the territory. I spoke to a woman who had been studying the bible with the witnesses in Bluefields that relocated to Little Corn a year ago, she was quite excited to see us there. I also had a long conversation with a police man about world conditions, and the cause of today's problems.

The cargo ships came in at 2:00 PM, which admittedly drew a lot of people away from the meeting, as when the ship comes everyone has either something to receive or something to ship out. We had to make the meeting this day though, because we were depending on that same ship to get back to Big Corn. They spent the afternoon unloading and after the meeting we had time for a quick swim and some pizza.

The wharf

Tranquilo

We also ate at Tranquilo Cafe earlier in the day. I went very reluctantly, as I don't like to support businesses that charge excessive prices just because they can. I'll admit though it was nice, the food was good. What bothers me is that they sell it to tourists by advertising their "locally baked coconut bread" that for some reason makes a sandwich worth $8. I guess the tourists don't know you can buy a loaf of coconut bread for about 17 cents anywhere you go. Everything included, the plate of food I ordered would cost them less than a dollar to make, and they sell it for 8. Most restaurants make about 50% profit on food items, they're probably getting about 800%... I think I need to get into the restaurant business.

There was also an unexpected surprise at the end of the day. We didn't just see the stars in the sky, but in the water as well! As we walked into the water in the evening, just after sunset we could see tiny lights like fireflies in the water swirling around our feet. Bio-luminescent plankton was shining as it was stirred up. We could even see it from the boat on our trip back, as the water splashed away from the bow it sparkled in the night.

Only Jehovah knows what future there is for the meetings and the preaching work on Little Corn, but I wait eagerly to see what happens.

Circuit assembly, January 2016

We've just recently made it back from our Circuit assembly in Bluefields. It was very exciting, particularly because its the first one we've had completely in Creole. Our circuit is made up of mostly people from abroad who have come to serve in Nicaragua, as yet there are very few creole people in the truth on Corn Island, so we are all doing our best to speak the dialect with varying success.

Fala Jehoava Egzampl!

A big help is when bible students help us to speak it properly. The situation is improving though, as many creole people are getting baptized. The most exciting part of the assembly for those of us from the Island was to see a bible student who is a native of Corn Island be baptized, the first one from the new Creole group. Some of his family are studying as well and are likely soon to follow.

This is a big accomplishment for the newly baptized brother, because its very difficult for someone on the Island to make such changes and big decisions on their own. Family ties are very tight and many are very interested in the good news, but out of fear of upsetting their relatives or pressure from their former church they cannot make a stand and come to the meetings. Because of this it takes a long time for students to make progress, although many people show interest and will start studying immediately.

Arriving for this assembly was not easy though, as recent events have created complications. A chartered panga capsized on its way to little corn killing several tourists a few weeks ago. Normally no one ever hears about something like that, but because they were from Costa Rica it became an international incident, even being mentioned on CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/24/americas/nicaragua-boat-capsizes/index.html

It was a tragedy, but really should have been avoided by common sense. It was in the middle of one of the worst storms of the year, and the Navy was refusing to let any boats leave due to high winds and waves. Evidently, the passengers pressured the diver into going anyway, since it was a charter and they had places to be.

Because it was an international incident, the government promised to tighten restrictions and safety regulations for all water transport in the country, and because there was another storm brewing no boats were leaving the Island for the week of the assembly, so we got a one way flight to Bluefields.

Our plan after the assembly was to go to Pearl Lagoon to get our bicycles and bring them with us by boat back to Corn Island. During the assembly however, things changed. It was then that the government put its new safety regulations into effect, all transport companies were required to meet these requirements or they would not be allowed to leave. From what I've heard the requirements included life jackets with whistles and signal lights, flare guns, GPS, and some other safety equipment. The problem is, one cannot buy these items on the Atlantic coast, and evidently someone didn't realize that the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua does not have roads and that all transport is by water.

So what this all means, basically, is that there was a military blockade of ALL transportation. Bluefields and the Corn Islands were effectively cut off from all outside access. Tourists and other travelers who had made it as far as Rama were forced to turn back, and some who were still in Pearl Lagoon did not make it to the assembly. This was more than a mere inconvenience as well, because it was not only passenger boats that were affected. Shipping came to a halt as well, and after a few days with no concessions food, gas, drinking water and other necessities started running low. Worse yet people in neighboring communities could not make it to the hospital in Bluefields. By Monday the ban on travel had lasted several days, and we heard that riots had broken out in Rama. We went down to the wharf to see if we might be allowed to travel to pearl lagoon, or back home to Corn Island.

We decided to turn back when we saw the wharf. A riot had started in Bluefields as well, and an angry mob was burning tires and firing off fireworks trying to smo
ke the navy out of the capitania. The riot gained momentum through the day and we heard more and more fireworks, black smoke filling the air. Ambulances kept going by heading to the wharf and we decided it best just to stay inside.

We started  to think about just flying home to Corn Island, but then heard that rioters had taken over the airport on Corn Island, and were burning tires on the runway. This may seem extreme, but one has to remember that without sea travel, Corn Island has no food, no drinking water, and no electricity. Everything is shipped in, even the gas for the power plant. In a few more days people would be starving.

Thankfully, by Tuesday the regulations were lifted and boats were able to travel again. The authorities conceded to allow 6 months time to find the new life jackets and other equipment. We made a call to see when the next boat would leave for Corn Island and it was the same night, so despite our experience the last time, we decided to go back on the Captain D that same evening.