SUBJECT: Allergies, construction, AY, Pathfinders

AUTHOR: Betsy Burgdorff, her husband Ted, and three girls - Heidi, Kristen, and Kara, work with her sister Becky Gates and family in the village of Kaikan, Guyana.

DATE: January 22, 1997

Another week has gone by, and it's time to write again before the plane comes. One of the baffling things this week was Heidi's hives. She broke out on Monday the 13th and had hives every day (except one) till yesterday. She would be fine in the morning, and then every afternoon she'd break out in hives. It was very baffling. We have no idea what caused the hives, but were all very thankful yesterday when she had none. I hope she doesn't get them anymore. We've got Kristen's wrist wrapped in an ace wrap, but need to make a splint to keep it immobile. Yesterday Becky and I spent almost 3 hours digging jiggers out of Kris's feet. He and Carlos seem to get them the worst! Other than that, we're doing pretty well!

On February 4, important people are coming to Kaikan. The Conference President, Union President, and Division President are coming for a visit. This is the first time in Kaikan's history that the Union and Division Presidents are coming, so everyone is very excited and making plans. Their visit will be very short, only a couple hours, since they are also planning to visit a few of the other little villages that have Adventist churches. They've been busy painting the church this week, and it looks nice. Ted and the girls (Lina, Heidi, Kristen, and Katrina) helped paint.

Ted and I and our girls moved into the little house on Monday. Becky and the boys had been sleeping over here, and Ted and I and our girls and Lina and Katrina had been sleeping in the big house. We did it this way because of Becky's arthritis. There are 12 steps to climb at the big house, and only 3 here, so it was easier on her knees. However, we decided we each needed time to be together just as a family, and since our family is smaller, we all moved into the little house. We still eat together, since there is only one kitchen (down stairs in the big house).

These rooms are very tiny! With our double bed in the room, pushed up against the wall, that leaves about 1 foot at the end of the bed, and 3 feet on one side. The windows in this house were not made to open. The shutters were nailed in place, and some have little slats that you can barely see out of. It was very claustrophobic! So my first request to Ted was to knock out some of the windows. He has knocked out one in the living room and one in the bedroom. Now we have a nice view and it is much less claustrophobic, but now we have no privacy and no way to lock up the house. So now he'll try to make some shutters that will open and close. Ah me! Fortunately stealing doesn't seem to be a problem here, since we have no way to lock up the big house. We leave things out all the time, and so far nothing has been stolen. If this was Peru, we would have been stripped clean by now!

Ted had the sermon Sabbath. We thought they might kick us out of Kaikan after that sermon, but we're still here! They tend to be kind of legalistic here, so he preached about that, and mentioned how the Jews killed Jesus and then rushed home to keep the Sabbath. One lady we talked to said many of the church members were upset, because some of the young people were coming to church with short skirts and some jewelry. They were wondering if they should post someone at the door of the church and only let those in who were dressed appropriately. We tried to discourage that idea and told her to be glad they were coming to church at all!

Every Sabbath afternoon is the AY program. The girls have done lots of special musics with their cousins. I'm very glad we brought the keyboard. I

Betsy's story: Nila and the White Crocodile

play the piano every week for church and AY. Becky and I have been telling the story of Nyla and the White Crocodile at AY every week. We take turns every other week. The people are riveted in their seats! Several times during AY it has started to rain. When that happens, the program comes to a halt because no one can hear with the rain pounding on the roof! The only thing to do is to start singing and try to sing louder than the rain. Usually the rain stops or slows down in about 10 minutes and the program then continues.

We have learned lots of new songs since we've been here. One song really perplexed me, though. It was, "Jesus is a weiner man, (pronounced MON as in "Hey, hey, mon") a weiner man, a weiner man ..." This song made no sense to me until I heard the 2nd verse: "Satan is a loser man ..." Ah! Jesus is a winner man! English here is not quite like the U.S.!

Pathfinders began last Sunday, the 19th. Everyone is very enthusiastic. We have 58 kids and 13 staff. Most of the first meeting was spent just getting organized, teaching them to fall in and line up, picking unit names, scribes, and captains, etc. We also started learning "We Are His Hands." We want to try and have a drill team by the time the important guests arrive. We have a friend who is a former police officer, former SDA, and we asked him to be in charge of the drill team. Wow! Drill is done very differently here than in the U.S. Almost every command and movement is done a little differently. Heidi and Kristen

Lina directing Kaikan's Pathfinder Drill Team

were a little discouraged since they will have to relearn everything they learned in the States. Lina and Katrina learned to drill this way in Trinidad. I guess this is the British system of drill. Seems like every movement is accompanied by loud stamps of the feet. Very interesting. But I am totally lost!

We enjoyed the letters and e-mail from everyone. When we get e-mail depends on where David is at the time it is sent, and how soon he can copy it and send it to Kaikan. Or if he is here, then we can't get e-mail till he leaves. Letters mailed to Anita Devonish we have received in 2 weeks or less; not bad! We enjoyed Lisa's letter also (e-mail).

I wrote a letter on the computer this morning to the church. Then the computer froze up, and I lost the letter. Now there is probably no time to rewrite it by hand, so it will probably have to wait till next year.

David tells us some news from e-mail over the radio, since he can't send it right away. I heard Bonnie and girls are at Andrews now. Also that Mom and Dad (Burgdorff) might come end of Feb. How exciting! Mama and Daddy (Duerksen), wish you guys could come too!

Love and miss you all,

Betsy

You may write to Betsy at: gates@andrews.edu

[Home Page] [Children's Corner] [Life on the Frontlines] [How to become an adventurer]
[Others who did it] [About Us] [Caribbean Links]

---

Last Updated: March 10, 1997

---