Why so much suffering? Part II

So it took me a little while to meet back up with Yanilda, the woman from the school. The next day I went back at the time we had set up and she was in a business meeting. Interesting considering how we had just set up the return visit the day before right? Anyhow, I left a note and during the next week tried to catch her but was unsuccessful. So I called her one day and she told me that it she couldn't talk to me at the school anymore but that it would be better for me to go to her house. So I sent her an email and got the address, and when she sent them I knew right away where she lived! A miracle in itself considering our territory in this country where every alley way leads to an entire neighborhood. Anyhow, I went back Saturday to discuss the answer to the question brought up on our original conversation. I started by reading James 1:13 and 1 John 4:8 talking about the type of God Jehovah is. We discussed how sometimes as imperfect humans our own tendencies can harm us.  For example if I walked in front of a moto without looking and got hit what happens? Easy enough. Than we read Revelation 12 starting in verse 7 to 12 about how Satan has been hurled down to the earth, tying it in with the Lords' Prayer. It always gets me how people can recite that prayer so easily and yet miss all of its meaning. I asked her why do you pray for God's will to be done on earth as it has been done in heaven. The verse in Revelation explains why. Satan has been kicked out of heaven! Verse 12 says "Woe for the the earth" So at the end of it she says so you're saying that God is not the cause of our problems? I was so excited I almost shouted YES YOU GOT IT but instead I said What did the Bible say? So she asked why has God permitted it all this time? ALL the right questions. So I pulled out the Bible Teach book told her that this question was answered in the very first chapter. I had her read the paragraph where it says that religion leaders blame these things on God, than the paragraph about how Jehovah doesn't have to explain these things to us but he does. We made arrangements to talk about that question next week. She also asked me why it was important to go church, telling me basically sometimes she didn't feel like it but was going really important? So I showed her the article in the Young People Ask in the April magazines and told her that in order to make it a priority she really first had to understand the benefits. It was the perfect article for her! She is the sweetest thing and really had patience with me and my imperfect Spanish. This visit I learned much about her personality as well. While I was there, she introduced me to her family, three girls, one of whom was clearly Haitian. Now if you don't know much about the Dominican Republic, I might have to explain this. Dominicans do NOT like Haitians. Even though they share the same island Dominicans feel they are superior and treat Haitians really badly. Of course, there are exceptions to this but that is a general consensus. Anyhow, Yanilda tells me that the third little girl is her adopted daughter. She was a neighbor and friend of Yanilda's two daughters. About two months ago, her mom died. This little girl, doesn't know her father, and had no other family. At the funeral she asked Yanilda what she was going to do without a home, without family, without anything to her name. Yanilda told her you have a family and took her into her home. She told me what could else could I have done? She is my daughter now. She said this example too makes me wonder. If something bad happens to me, I'm an adult but how could this little girl be punished for something she did has done wrong? It's times like this I am so happy and thankful to know Jehovah, who has led us out of spiritual darkness! I can't wait to continue sharing the Bible's satisfying answers with her!  

Why so much suffering? Part I

So about two weeks ago my friends wanted to play basketball after service so I met up with them at a school near far from my house. So we went into the school and I asked permission from the front desk. The lady actuallly walked us out to the basketball court and after she found out we were Jehovah's Witnesses, started asking a bunch of questions. Like what we were doing in the country, did we work, do we travel home, what about our families and a few others. So at one point she says it seems like most are born into your religion. So I told her that wasn't true of everyone. I said for me, I was, but I used the example of a sister who lost her four month old son in death and was a Catholic at the time. When she talked to the priest,  he told her that God took her son to be an angel. That made her so angry she walked out that church and never went back. How could a God of love take away her precious baby boy when He already had myriads and myriads of angels? Many many people in this country when something happens will say it was the will of God and as I was talking she was looking more and more intrigued. So she tells me that she has wondered the same thing. At the beginning of the conversation she had told me that she studied in the past but when she was pregnant things got to be too much and she gave up the study. Later she explained that she was in an abusive relationship and that when she got pregnant the same time she decided to leave him. Around that same time her mom got sick and died. So she tells me my mom was a good woman, she fed the hungry she always went to church, why did she die? So unfortunately at the time, I had neither my spanish Bible or my spanish literature but I assured her that the Bible did have satisfying answers to these questions, so I arranged to return and answer that question for her the next day. All in all we had talked for like thirty minutes and when I asked for her contact information she gave me her telephone number and her email address. It was so exciting!

Part II coming up . . .