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| Field Service in typical Las Vegas territory |
The boring answer is that the ministry in Sin City is
probably not dramatically different than where you live. I’ve yet to have a
feather-coiffed, six-foot showgirl answer the door in full regalia, and no-one
has ever offered me a $5 casino chip as a donation to the worldwide work.
One noticeable difference though
is that there is more diversity amongst the population in Las Vegas than in other
places I’ve lived (Dallas, Alabama, Florida panhandle). Las Vegas is truly an
international city, and few of the 2,000,000 residents of the greater Las Vegas
area are natives. So on any given morning in service, you’re apt to meet
someone from any of the 50 states or the 192 members of the United Nations.
I always thought there seemed to
be an awful of churches here, so it was no surprise that according to Wikipedia,
Las Vegas has the most churches per capita in the nation. I don’t know if
people feel guilty or just want an alternative to the rampant materialism, but
all religions are represented. Of course, the big question is, do we find a
hearing ear- and the answer is that many times we do. The main problem is that because
people work so many different schedules, we tend to not find many at home, and sometimes
wake up day sleepers. But out of the ones who are home, we’re often able to
have good conversations. There can be exceptions- it was a little jarring the
first time I went out in service here and I found two householders who proudly
announced they were atheists! I said to myself, “Jesse, you’re not in the Bible
Belt anymore.”
The weather is one issue that you
have to learn to cope with. We live in the Mojave Desert and the heat can be
brutal from May to September. Yes, people like to say it’s a “dry heat”. So if
you’d like to simulate it, just crank your oven up to about 400 degrees and
stick your head in. Dry enough for you?
One redeeming factor is that when
we’re at 115, the humidity is generally in single digits. But even so, you’re
not likely to feel inclined to take an afternoon stroll. So the pioneers often
go in early morning witnessing, starting at 6 am, working businesses, bus
stops, and gas station- wherever people can be found.
And on the bright side- from
October to May, temperatures are very moderate and you can be out all you want.
Just be sure to wear sunscreen. The sun shines brightly here in the desert more
than 300 days a year, and it will burn you no matter what the temperature is.
The Kingdom Halls are full- in
fact most are maxed out with four to five congregations meeting there, and
there is a constant search for land for new building sites. In my Hall, we have
four English and one Korean. In the Las Vegas valley are two circuits of
English and two of Spanish. There are multiple foreign language congregations
and groups as well, so matter what language a person speaks, he is likely to be
able to find a meeting in his mother tongue.
The physical layout of the territory
is similar to any other large Southwestern city such as Phoenix or Tucson. Lots
of subdivisions with stucco clad homes painted in various shades of beige and
roofs of clay tile. A “yard” as many Americans envision it, doesn’t exist here,
at least one that contains grass. It would be safe to assume that we have the
lowest lawn mower ownership per capita in the nation. Due to the permanent
drought situation, planting of grass has been outlawed for some time. Homes
have “desert landscaping”- rock mulch with drought resistant plants serviced by
low-water usage drip emitters. It’s amazing that Jehovah’s creation contains so
many colorful plants and trees that are well adapted to the desert extremes and
actually thrive on very little water. It also means that there’s not much shade
in the territory when you go walking from door-to-door so take an umbrella or
wear a hat. Sadly, the brothers still have to wear ties.
One of these days though…..
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| Inside Pebble Road Kingdom Hall (click to enlarge) |
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