Getting to Church

Cars are not plentiful in the West Indies, so getting to church can be a challenge. Of course, this varies by country. I would say that a majority of members have cars in Guadeloupe and Martinique and very few have them in Guyana. The rest of the mission falls somewhere in between.

I have noticed one interesting phenomenon - even during our short three years here - as a branch grows and members commit to pay tithing, the parking lot fills up. Last Sunday we went to the Chaguanas branch and there was nowhere left for us to park in their little lot - and that's a good thing!

Here are a few pictures captured around the mission of members and missionaries on the road to church

Feet work just fine and many members walk a long ways to get to church





Bicycle power speeds up the journey



This sweet great-aunt in Suriname carries her niece to church on her bike every Sunday for many miles.




Missionaries have bikes only in Suriname. In the rest of the mission it's impossible to transport them from country to country.




Add a little motor power - and you can carry a whole family




Many members use taxis - they call them 'maxis' here in Trinidad







You can pack a lot of people into a maxi - or in this case the mission van




And for big events - like district conferences in Guyana - there's always a cane cutter's truck that can hold a whole branch.






Transportation is one of the biggest challenges in this mission.

Sometimes large families just just can't afford taxi fare every week and have to take turns going to church

Sometimes taxis don't run on Sundays

Sometimes it rains (often it rains)

However, that which appears impossible at first, seems to work out as the saints of the West Indies sacrifice and put their faith in the Lord.