Our working day at Betesda begins at eight o’clock, Monday to Friday. Not long after we open the shop, the first visitors arrive; some ask specifically for particular items, whilst others spend a little longer looking round. If they have any questions, we try to help as best we can; for example, if certain books are not (or no longer) in stock, we reorder them. When we then receive new deliveries of books – mostly from Germany, but also from Canada, Mexico and Paraguay – we label the items, put them on the shelves and fulfil the orders.
Customers, including many from the Old Colony, often spend quite a long time in Betesda. Some women wait until their husbands have finished all their appointments and errands, which gives us a good opportunity to strike up a conversation. Many from the Old Colony are open-minded, and it is important to us that we bear good witness to them and that they come to a living faith in Jesus Christ.
Some children from the colonies take part in our children’s Bible competition. They bring the completed answer sheets to us; we mark them and give them the next one to complete. After certain lessons, they receive a small gift. When children are in our shop, they like to sit on our benches and chairs and look at books together. Quite often, we join them. We have also been selling second-hand clothes since May 2022. Women from the old colonies, in particular, often come by to look for affordable dresses, shirts and baby clothes. The proceeds from the second-hand sales go towards the ‘Arche’ project.
At 5 pm, we close the shop door and soon set off for home.
Every working day at Betesda is full of surprises. You get to know new people every day; with some, you have longer chats and learn a bit about their lives. Connections are made and friendships blossom. We hope and pray that the people will read the tracts we’ve given them and come back soon.
We’re also challenged linguistically – German, Low German, Spanish, English… it’s easy to get confused!
We are glad and grateful that we are able to carry out this ministry in Betesda. Please do pray for our work!
