From 840 to 0.

The service year has come that's gonna take us past the 100 year anniversary day itself.

Let's everybody make the very best out of it, no matter what title we carry, if publisher, auxiliary, regular, special, missionary and so on.
Personally, this has been a fantastic year! I have had the privilege of serving in 3 countries this year (home country included), with amazing experiences both in service and in life, saying goodbye to really good friends, but also making a lot of really good new friends.

What makes a good service year?
For me, I would say some good well thought out personal goals.
My 3 favorite ingredients to a exiting service year is:
1. Make the truth YOUR own.
This is something we are always taught, and I'm pretty sure I ca say, many of us will say we already did, but can't really put words in exactly how. Leads me to next point.
2: Find something very specific that you LOVE about the ministry, your personal study ect.
3: Make those PERSONAL goals! Something you can complete within this service year. Maybe goals that make you enjoy your day, week or month to the full.

For me this is my 3'rd service year of being out as a need greater, and I must say the most important thing I have learned so far, is to make the truth your own!
Find that one very special thing that you absolutely LOVE!!
And this will keep you string even when times get rough.

It is truly a privilege to be serving in this time, and especially this year!
Plan your events well so you won't tire out, and make it exiting!
If Jehovah made last service year for you amazing, there's no doubt he will make he next one even better, if you just ride along his guidance.
Who knows where you will end up.

Here's a little something i wrote after a dream i had. 

It's based on the last hours of the Great Tribulation, and first few moments of the 1000 year reign. 

basically what happened, meanwhile i've been reading a novel taking place in the first years of the 1000 year reign, my subconscious have been working. 

I must say that after a while, i disagree with several features of my own dream, but i choose to be true to my own subconscious, and give it to you, as it came to me. 

Btw, i can strongly recommand the novel I now finished. It's written by a brother, and available on his blog. www.allthingsnewnovel.blogspot.com

Do your self a favor, and give it a chance.

anyways..

heres my dream..

Usually I'm kind of confused when I wake up, but this morning was different—very different.
It was a feeling very hard to describe—only by experience could you fully understand this.
But I guess, since you are reading this, you went through the same morning, the same feeling.

Anyways. I knew that this was the last day. I got up, walked around in my room a bit, trying to collect my thoughts, as if I just woken up from another strange dream.
I went down to my mom who was just as confused as I was.
Since both the TV and radio didn't show anything, we got ready and headed out to see what was going on. On our way out, I had the feeling of being in one of the many so called "doomsday" movies that I've watched.
I find it fascinating, how humans started making more and more movies, depicting the world getting destroyed in multiple ways—of course always barely surviving.

As we walked down the street, talking to the people we met, we soon realized that everyone else had either one of two feelings inside.

I guess this could be compared to knowing whether you were part of the 144,000 or not— you can only truly relate to one, and not fully understand what the other would feel like. Everyone knew whether they were going to be erased or survive Armageddon.

To head further into the city, we decided to take the subway. We started talking to a family. They all seemed to be witnesses as well, but something different about this family soon showed. For some reason the Dad wasn't going to make it past Armageddon.
I guess that it wasn't that strange, since every single person has responsibility for themselves— but what caught my attention was that everybody in the family was somehow ok with it—like this strange calmness. I would never have imagined the beginning of Armageddon in this kind of detail. I guess that it actually is kind of obvious that a loving God would allow for family members to say a last goodbye before never seeing each other again, and not just rip them apart for eternity!
How loving!

The family said goodbye and I got a last glimpse of them waving before the subway ran into the tunnel, and everything turned dark once again.

The actual “passing”—the time when the people were actually erased—happened in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly they were just all gone, followed by this strange loud sounding thunder-­like noise!
That very moment had to be the most astonishing moment of my entire life!

My mom and I went for a little drive around the city to see how everything looked. The houses were still there, all bright and colorful. Everything looked pretty much the same. I always thought there was gonna be a lot more damage done to all the buildings, but then again—why waste good material?

Now as we were running quietly down the streets, I slowly started to realize what had actually just happened. Those busy streets, every day in and out, full of people—each their own goal in mind, —whether a business appointment, coffee break, a small errand, or just hanging around—even the struggling musicians that used to fill the streets with a nice tune and atmosphere—they were all gone. Only a few lone confused looking people were wandering around a bit—looking kind of lost.
I guess these were some of the non­-witnesses, that survived.

I suddenly felt a very strong urge to preach!
To help the poor people, who didn't seem to have much of a clue weather as what to do next. Of course we always read about how everyone would have no doubt that this was going to be Jehovah's war, but that was mostly for the people who were somehow opposing him—but these people just needed to know what exactly just happened. Maybe it could be compared to the survivors of an earthquake or a hurricane. I mean, if I, who fully (as much as possible) knew what was going on and had a hard time grasping everything, how much more would these people just have a bit of a “lost” feeling.

As we kept driving around, I told my mom, “Man, there are way too many houses now! We are gonna have to rebuild the whole city. There aren't people enough for all of these.”

And I always had trouble finding an available apartment. Guess that wasn't gonna be the problem anymore.

A thing I never thought about, was the cellphones. they still worked. I don't know why I always thought that we would, all of the sudden, have to go back to pigeons and letter-writing.
I guess ‘cause they never showed people with phones in the paradise illustrations in the publications. But this turned out to be very useful, since I now could call my friends and relatives, to hear if they were ok. This is when you really hope that they pick up the phone! Also, don't worry about calls to foreign countries, since there probably won't be a phone bill coming for you anymore—not having a worldly system anymore rules!

The best moment of my life, was my baptism—like every one else—or—I don't know if I would call it the best moment, but the most important moment! That’s not to say that it wasn't great. It definitely was! But speaking of moments in your life that can have an adjective, this would be the most real moment in my life. I thought of “surreal,” but then again—this is as real as it gets.
In a way I guess that our whole life as we knew it before, was the surreal life, since it was never meant to happen.

The most real moment in my life, was a dream! Or was it?

Thanks to friends and acquaintances, I've been reading a bit about what the new world could be like. The people we talk to, survivors, so called "heroes" from the Bible, along with conversations about the last days, and how close they really are, must have made my mind wonder subconsciously. This is usually not something I would come up with all on my own. It's impossible to say what it will really be like at this time—the great tribulation ends and Armageddon comes.

What it will be like at those first hours right after? Quiet? Empty? We will see!

This was all just a dream, a product of imagination, based on a reality soon to come.

So i started a blog with the best intentions to fill it up with all kinds of cool stuff.
Apparently it took a lot longer to get around to it than i thought.

what's been going on lately:

on May 14'th my Brother and his wife finally got here.
A busy first week for them, since we a few days later had the DC in Santo Domingo 'Keep seeking first Gods Kingdom'.
Some absolute amazing 3 days, never to be forgot!
For those of you who haven't had it yet, there is definately something to look forward to, as there is for every year. But this is still one of my favorites!

So now my brother and sis in law is living with me here in Santiago, in my appartment.
Such a privilege to have them here!

They lately joined my chinese congreation trip to La Vega, where we met up with the Chinese congregation from the capital, to spend a day in nature with good friends.

So I finally got around to make a blog about my life here, so that everyone I know, and asked me if they can be on my mail-list (which i don't have) (sorry everyone) can see and read about how everything's going over here in the Dominican Republic.

This blog will probably end up containing much more than "just" how life is here, and experiences from the ministry, which is the original (and promised) idea.

Also this is my first blog ever, so please bear with me in the beginning.
have fun, and enjoy life!

from our last English assembly

Meet up with my good friend Priscilla