Its been a long time.....

Hello/Hej/Hola to my friends and family!, It's been such a whirlwind the last few months I haven't had an opportunity to see or talk to many of you, but I wanted to stay in touch with all of you and write a little about what's been going on! I'm writing in Spanish too for some of my friends abroad, so don't think I fell asleep on the keyboard! Escribe casi lo mismo in espanol mas abajo para unos de mis amigos en verde. no esta perfecto, pero gracias por tratando! Up until March of this year I was serving in Melbourne (FL) Sign Language Congregation and working hard in small and loving congregation. Then came the letter for BSSB, quite possibly the craziest and most exciting two months ever! It is such a thrill to be so immersed in Bible study and surrounded by not only spiritually focused people but those who show Christ-like love for the brothers and enjoy a good time as well. Two things that stand out the most in my mind are (1) above all, love the friends. Satan is out there beating our dear friends relentlessly, we must do all we can to build them up. I experienced some of the most difficult trials yet during the school, but it was the love and concern that kept me and others going who had also severe tests of faith. And, (2) apply yourself to study and Bible research. There is such an abundance of faith-building information at our fingertips, we just have to look for it! I felt like I could sympathize with Jonah when I received my assignment in Naples, FL in sign language! I did not expect to stay in the same circuit at all, but that just shows how Jehovah knows so much more than we can Imagine! I have been here just about 5 weeks (June 17 I arrived), and it is going great! Its a small congregation, but we are bracing for an influx of brothers willing to learn ASL as should be hosting a language class from the branch in a couple months. We currently have 28 publishers, 4 pioneers, 4 elders (one just moved over this week from English), and 2 ministerial servants and a HUGE territory with many Deaf from the territory that are coming to meetings or accepting Bible studies. They haven't held back at all in putting me to work and keeping me too busy to get distracted. Jehovah has really made things work out with the move and transition. A brother who has a Sign Language interpreting company recently lost 2 or 3 employees who got reassigned after couples school (2 were in the congregation I am now in!) so he called me days after graduation to see if could work for him. Also, a brother who was living in the camper trailer pictured recently got married so I was able to move right in and it's only about 20 mins from the hall! I would love to hear from you, please feel free to call/text/email anytime. Also, check out the blog I update almost occasionally: http://cstellmackgo.blogspot.com/ KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!! Cory Stellmack Cory.stellmack@gmail.com 321-298-4627 ESPANOL: Hola / Hej / Hola a mis amigos y familia!, Ha sido como un torbellino en los últimos meses no he tenido la oportunidad de ver o hablar con muchos de ustedes, pero yo quería estar en contacto con todos ustedes y escribir un poco sobre lo que ha estado pasando! Estoy escribiendo en español también para algunos de mis amigos en el extranjero, por lo que no creo que me quedé dormido en el teclado! Hasta marzo de este año que estaba sirviendo en Melbourne (FL) Sign Language Congregación y trabajando duro en congregación pequeña y amorosa. Luego vino la carta para BSSB, muy posiblemente los más locos y más emocionantes dos meses a la vez! Es una gran emoción estar tan inmersos en el estudio bíblico y rodeado de la gente no sólo enfocadas espiritualmente, pero los que muestran el amor de Cristo a los hermanos y disfrutar de un buen momento también. Hay dos cosas que se destacan más en mi mente son: (1) por encima de todo, el amor a los amigos. Satanás está disponible en vencer a nuestros queridos amigos sin descanso, debemos hacer todo lo posible para hacerlos crecer. He experimentado algunas de las pruebas más difíciles aún en la escuela, pero era el amor y la preocupación de que yo y otros que van quien también tuvo duras pruebas de la fe mantuvo. Y, (2) se aplican a ti mismo para el estudio y la investigación bíblica. Hay tal abundancia de información de la fe de la capacidad en nuestras manos, sólo tenemos que buscarlo! Me sentí como que podía simpatizar con Jonás cuando recibí mi asignación en Naples, FL en lengua de signos! No esperaba estar en el mismo circuito en absoluto, pero eso sólo demuestra que Jehová sabe mucho más de lo que puedas imaginar! He estado aquí casi 5 semanas (17 de junio llegué), y va muy bien! Es una pequeña congregación, pero se están preparando para una afluencia de hermanos dispuestos a aprender ASL como deben ser anfitrión de una clase de lengua de la rama en un par de meses. Actualmente contamos con 28 publicadores, 4 precusores, 4 ancianos (uno acaba de mudarse durante esta semana de Inglés), y 2 serbios ministeriales y un territorio enorme con muchos Sordos del territorio que vienen a las reuniones o aceptar estudios bíblicos. Ellos no han frenado en absoluto en poner mi trabajar y me mantiene muy ocupado para distraerse. Jehová ha hecho realidad las cosas funcionan con el movimiento y la transición. Un hermano que tiene una empresa de interpretar Sign Language recientemente perdió 2 o 3 empleados que quedó reasignado después de la escuela Parejas (2 estaban en la congregación Ahora estoy en!) Así que me llamó días después de la graduación para ver si podía trabajar para él. Además, un hermano que vivía en la caravana remolque representado recientemente se casó, así que era capaz de moverse a la derecha y está a tan solo 20 minutos de la sala! Me encantaría saber de usted, no dude en llamar / texto / correo electrónico en cualquier momento. Además, echa un vistazo al blog actualizo casi ocasionalmente http://cstellmackgo.blogspot.com/ SIGUIEN TRABAJANDO, EL FIN ESTA CERCANDO!!!

From My First Visit to Dominican Republic

As I make plans to go back to Dominican republic in Oct, I'm getting a little nostalgic about the first time I was there way back in 2009.  Here are the pics from the first week or so...

Republica Dominicana Oct 2009

Special Convention in Sweden

     I started my trip by going to NYC for four days to squeeze in another visit to Bethel, also, my traveling buddies Joel and Jeremy are there at Bethel and we wanted to make the trans-Atlantic flight together.  I was thrilled to be approved to stay at the Bossert for 3 nights, it was super amazing.  In the lobby, I ran into a family from my circuit that was also going to be going to the special convention.  The room was quaint and small, but had a bigger refrigerator than Joel has in his Bethel room, so I was satisfied (heh heh).  For the last night, Joel invited me as an overnight guest at Bethel, so I was privileged to be a part of the Bethel Monday Watchtower study and to be included in morning worship twice.  It was an overwhelming experience. Myself, and a couple of other friends did the “Integrity” Bible tour at the Metropolitan Museum.  It’s incredible to see so many artifacts that relate directly to Bible history and to see a broader view of the cultural events that had an impact on our history.

     Enough farting around, time to get to Sweden:  It seemed like the airport in Gothenburg, the convention city, was teeming with Witnesses with beaming smiles and convention badges.  We knew we were staying with a brother named Jami Sillanpää, but we had never met and didn’t think to email pictures of ourselves.  Somehow we found each other quickly in the crowd.  Upon leaving the airport, there was a group of about seven brothers and sisters singing kingdom melodies in English and Swedish with live instruments right when we walked outside.  It was so touching, I was overwhelmed.  It impressed us further when, on the drive to his home, Jami explained that 99% of Swedes don’t believe in a creator, so what courage it took for those dear brothers to stand outside and publicly declare their faith in song for hours on end.  We arrive at their home and meet the cooking machine wife Åsa and their great kids.

     On, Thursday, the day before the convention starts, Jami takes us to his preaching territory he has yet to finish giving convention invitations.  He has us stick the invitations in the mailboxes, it felt weird, but it’s legal there, so go with the flow. After finishing the territory, we head to downtown to check out the shops and do some street witnessing.  The area is swarming with witnesses; it was so funny to see so many people wearing badges.  Stranger still was to be walking down a street in a crowded city half way around the world and hear my name being called out!  It was a sister from my circuit who had spotted me.  There is a statue in the city with the words “Jehovah is My Solace” and under this large statue sat a man using his cell phone.  Jeremy took this opportunity to practice his Swedish presentation and invite the man to the convention.  A little later we meet a brother from New York that we had never met before.  We converse on the street corner for perhaps a minute or two and a man nearby asks about the convention badges he has been seeing all week.  The two brothers, without a glitch, took turns explaining our beliefs from the Bible and a half hour conversation ensued and an excellent witness was given.

     The convention was really marvelous.  The peak attendance was 11,052 and 151 were baptized.  The whole program was delivered in Swedish with English interpretation transmitted on FM.  The exception was Brother Guy Pierce, and another Bethel speaker gave their discourses in English and they were interpreted into Swedish by a brother on stage.  For these special talks, the two other conventions in Stockholm and Sundsvall were tied in via live video feed for a total attendance of over 24,000 between the three convention sites.  Many of the younger crowd had some very interesting styles, including brightly colored slim fit pants for the brothers and hair styles that looked like something from Star Trek with closely cut on the sides but long on the top.  Very different.

     After one of the convention days, our hosts had a small gathering, a mix of local brothers and delegates from the US.  Some we knew, others we had just met, but we had such a wonderful time exchanging stories and experiences.  Jami even went and picked up some of our friends from their hotel!

      Monday, after the convention, we board the train at five something in the morning for Copenhagen, where we will meet up with our next host, and the brother that made all our arrangements possible, Carl Åberg.  He takes us around the city, unfortunately all the museums are closed on Mondays but we enjoyed walking around and we went to Tivoli gardens, an amusement park that has been open since the 1840’s, it was very beautiful.  There were bikes everywhere in Copenhagen, and they start drinking beer at like ten in the morning, it was really cool. 

     We take the train that night from Copenhagen to Stockholm and arrive at Carl’s house after midnight and in the morning we take a leisurely stroll through the historic downtown areas of Stockholm with Carl, his wife, and their two little girls.  Carl told us he has made arrangements for a ferry to take us overnight to Finland for a day, but when we arrive at the port, it is indeed a cruise ship that is to take us there.  So, we spend the night, the three of us, on the “ferry” and catch up on some sleep.

    When we arrive at the port in Helsinki, Finland, there is a well dressed man with our names on a placard…. A brother from the Bethel branch has come to pick us up and drive us to the branch office!  The branch was so warm in welcoming us and even had us for lunch.  We also got to meet one of the branch coordinators and the Finnish Sign Language department, which recorded me signing and showed me what it would look like if it were published, but thankfully, they deleted it, I think.  We finished our tour of Bethel and then looked around in downtown Helsinki where they have a large open market with all sorts of vendors.

     We spend the next couple of days in Stockholm, touring the mall, and a couple of museums.  One of them features a Swedish warship from 1628 that was recovered from the port in the late 1960’s nearly intact, it is gorgeous!  The other is more like the Swedish version of Colonial Williamsburg, showing what life looked like in pre-industrial Sweden, the houses, farms, and shops, nearly everything.  Later in the evening we go to a congregation gathering where we get to try local delicacies like pickled herring and moose (not to be confused with chocolate mousse) and take a dip in a freezing cold lake followed by a sauna.  It was super!

     The day before we head home, we fly from Stockholm to Gothenburg to stay the night with Jami and his family.  We stayed up into the wee hours talking, a genuine interchange of encouragement.

     Our whole trip, Jehovah’s spirit was felt, from staying at the Bossert a month before it would no longer be possible to hitting it off so well with our hosts. It was so heartwarming to feel His attention on us.

     So, how we got our accommodations is really interesting and backs up my previous statement.  Last year, Carl Åberg visited New York Bethel with his family, where he met Joel and Jeremy at the same lunch table.  They exchanged information and Carl said “Be sure to contact me if you come to Sweden.”  Well, where did we get accepted to?  Jeremy had tried through Bethel arrangements to secure lodging with a family, a provision for special full time servants, but Bethel declined.  So, before booking a hotel, Joel emailed Carl and informed him we were in fact going to be in Sweden and that we would like to make arrangements to associate with his family.  Well, Carl found out we did not yet have lodging and said “Don’t worry my brother we will take care of you.”  He then got in contact with the Sillanpää family in Gothenburg.

     Meanwhile, in Gothenburg, the Sillanpää family had just suffered a crushing blow.  They had graciously opened their home to a pioneer sister for her to stay during her attendance at the pioneer school nearby.  Unfortunately this sister was very unappreciative and made several complaints to the friends at the school and requested different accommodations for the second week (she was not happy there either and apparently has some sort of reputation).  Jami and Åsa value hospitality so highly that this trampled their spirit, and when the brothers asked if they would be willing to host international delegates, they declined, fearing a similar situation may happen.  Then Carl called on our behalf, and they reluctantly agreed to host the three Americans.  We bonded so well, we all felt it was Jehovah’s blessing the way things happened.

   Åsa had found two single beds at quite a good deal shortly before we arrived.  She set them up in the room and was getting everything ready when the thought struck her “These are Americans coming! What if they are too big to fit in the single beds I just bought?!” She was so relieved (albeit silently) when she first met us.  Apparently we have some sort of reputation here….

Well, that’s all that I can think of at the moment….

Jehová Jiré

That's a sign you'll see on many business here and it literally means "Jehovah provides". This statement is fact, maybe not for the businesses, but for his servants, with out a doubt. Today, Kurt, Corbin, and I finally get a break from struggling with trying to conjugate verbs and figure out subjunctive conditional pronouns or whatever ya wanna call 'em and do some ASL. We take the guagua(bus) from our accommodations in Sajoma to Santiago.  The public transportation system is really effective and you can use it to go pretty far, as long as you don't mind gettin close with strangers.  We get off the bus and take a series of public cars i guess you'd call ém.  Most of these cars are early 1990's Toyota Carollas that normally carry 6 passengers and the driver. And no, they aren't any bigger than the Carollas we have in the States.  We all got to know each other very well here. 

  Service with the Santiago ASL congregation was spectacular! It was Thurs, a meeting day so the group wasnt overwhelmingly large, but still more people than I am accustomed to.  Kurt and I got put in a group with Ricardo and his wife, who have been in ASL for over 8 years and are special pioneers here.  The first deaf brother to be appointed an elder serves in this cong, but he thoughtlessly ate about 10 mangos the day before so he wasnt feeling so good so we visited him and then went on some studies.  One student Ricardo has is a 12 year old boy that in addition to his deafness, has some physical disability, but wow! he is super smart.  We went over a few points and then reviewed and he passed with flying colors!

  Unfornately, many deaf are left uneducated making communication and Bible education difficult, but nothing Jehovah can't overcome.

   The meeting in ASL was so refreshing, being able to understand the meeting felt like a breath of fresh air for Kurt, Corbin, and I, who are still trying ti figure out spanish basics.

  After the meeting a brother drops us off at the home we are staying at, which is in close proximity to another Kingdom hall.  Outside this Hall we run into a couple who moved to DR to help out from the US.  Their story was encouraging and they had a lot of good advice and, yeah, they were cool, they even gave us the hookup with a tour of the Santiago assembly hall and we got to eat lunch having and interchange of encouragement with the current class of  Bible School for Single Brothers in Criole.  super awesome.

   In addition, friday in service I got to work Theresa Smith, a missionary here for over 29 years.  One of her students is a deaf-blind girl maybe 10 years old or so with no education at all.  We spent about an hour going over concepts of heaven, earth, rock, angel, Jehovah, and tree using props and samples.  It was soooo cool.  I hope she makes lots of progress.

Jehovah indeed provides.

"Yeah, we eat here almost every week and we get sick almost every week too"

This statement was uttered by Daniel, a need greater in the San Jose de las Matas(aka Sajoma), moments after we place our order at the only restaurant in the small town of El Rubio. I don't remember exactly what I was thinking but I'm pretty sure my face went slightly pale and my eyes widened.
Anywho... Our existence has been much more nomadic than I had anticipated. This small town of El Rubio is in the Sajoma congregations territory and is about 45 min drive on a dirt road. The growth and receptiveness of the people is fantastic. With over 80 in attendance for the memorial but no publisher that live in the area, it is exciting to see what will happen. In the 3 hours we preached in the morning I think I only made it to maybe 4 houses. Everyone invites you in, everyone wants to talk, and you can teach something to everyone.
We met a deaf woman in her mid 30s purely by incident, but she was extremely shy and didn't know any sign language and we couldnt really exchange conversation too much.
A while later, we stopped to ask a young boy for directions and he kind just smiled and waved, another deaf! Right in the middle of the street! Why doesnt this happen at home?
Working with the brothers in service here I realize I have a lot of work to do to improve my ministry. It feels like I just don't get much practice talking to people, but I really want to improve on teaching something at every door, give them something to think about. I guess when you can easily spend 45 min at every door, you better have got something to say lol.
Theres some spots here in El Rubio that they can't get to for months for lack of time and man power, even though they have a watchtower study every other Saturday At the Hall shown below.
The harvest is enormous and the workers all live almost an hour away by car and 90% don't have a car... Que se puede hacer?

Joel just gotta ride anotha man's horse

Mucho rain

With mucho rain, roads go under water