The Last Day

On Sunday we arrived at the building early to take pictures and to visit before services. Cindy and I taught the children's class, Rick taught the Bible class, and Steve brought the lesson. we had a few children visiting during the Bible school hour but it was mostly the ones that regularly attend. Eloy, Samanta, Sabrina, and Marci were our helpers. the class really looked small after the 60 we had just a couple of days before. Following services we exchanged addresses and waited for the transportation to arrive.

We boarded the taxi and traveled to the stelling

where we would catch the ferry across the Berbice The trip from New Amsterdam to Georgetown is the longest 62 miles we ever felt. Steve and Vickie talk as we wait to get on the ferry. today the trip took about four hours.

Below is a picture of the ferry going to the New Amsterdam port as we travel from New Amsterdam to the other side.

The video is from the deck of the ferry as we travel across the river. It gives you a perspective of the size of the river.

Every year the trip takes on a personality of its own, with its own unique characteristics. This year was no different. From the difficulties at the Miami airport to the lost luggage to the wonderful Christians at Rose Hall who are maturing and growing, the studies and the enthusiasm, the new Christians and the contacts that we pray will become Christians, all of this is what made this year the success it was. Thank you for helping make all this possible. Rick and Kim

The Saturday Feast

At the end of the week we began preparing for the Saturday feast. The church does not have a stove so we asked around about obtaining a couple of burners. Marzina said she had a four burner that we could borrow. Brian said he could arrange to get it to the building. Little did I know that the four burners were Marzina's own stove. Brian arranged for Ann's boys to bring the whole stove to church by way of Jackie Chan, the donkey. If you look at Jackie Chan's head, he has stickers. I guess he was a good boy at Bible class too. In the next picture you can see the apartment size stove in the background. Cindy and I spent Friday afternoon making cookies for the next day. We made peanut butter chews and chocolate no bake cookies. The women of the congregation just had to watch and copy the recipes.

The men cooked 25 chickens on Guyanese charcoal (not like ours). Besides desert and bbq chicken we had American mashed potatoes, fried okra, green beans, fruit salad, and deviled eggs. We even made rice because they almost always eat rice. I think we over did it a little. We served over a hundred people. At least half of them were the children who had attended the Bible class. The chicken was the favorite of all the Guyanese.

Vicki Seniker

When we started the week at Williamsburg-Rose Hall the ladies of the congregation wanted to make sure I new that they had assigned teens to help us in the children's Bible class and that the women of the congregation would all be attending Vicki's ladies class. The women all love Vicki and her teaching. We are very proud of the women of the congregation for they are becoming mature in Christ and are ready for 'meat'.

Steve Yarbery served as the able leader of the mission team and delivered the evening lessons. The theme for the week was on being part of the vine.

Cindy Yarberry and I taught the children's Bible classes during the week. The first day there was about 24 children in Bible class. By Friday we had 60 children aging from 2 years to 14 years in one classroom. She's a pro. The children were so wonderful and so excited about everything they did in class. They were happy just to get a coloring sheet.

Three Baptisms

Thursday and Friday were really busy days. Two of the teens who attend the Rose Hall Williamsburg congregation were baptized on Thursday afternoon. Following the baptism, Brian and Sharon Miranjie, Marzina Mangal, and Rick visited Shanti Outar. Brian and Sharon had Studied with Shanti before moving to Georgetown. During their visit this week they completed the teaching. Shanti had suffered a stroke several years ago and had not been able to go down the stairs of her house and had not been outside in three years. On Friday, Rick and Brian carried her down her stairs and baptized her in a 55 gallon drum. Wow, I wish I had been there! It was amazing.

Thursday, July 24

Children singing Father Abraham

one of the little lost sheep

Our friendly neighborhood Kinko's

Rick leading singing with Josiah David. It reminds me of another Josiah.

Men's class on Thursday.

Tuesday, July 22

We began our four day vacation Bible school today. The ladies of the congregation proposed that the older teens of the congregation would help us, therefore all the ladies would be able to attend Vickie's ladies class. Rick, Cindy Yarberry and I would teach the children's class. We planned at first for 40 children and then at the last minute planned for 60, making some last minute copies at the copy store. We began the morning with 40 children and then lost count. Some of the children wandered in and then some left and came back. According to Rick the count was at 52 at the end of the class. Actually the children were very well behaved, the older girls were a great help, and the children went outside one table at a time and actually came back to class and were ready for the next project. While the children were in the Bible school classroom making prodigal son rings Cindy was outside helping the children make loving hearts. They had a wonderful time. They do not get to experience things like paint and other crafts typically. The church is made of mostly women and that is a concern of all. Following a lunch provided by one of the members the women had many visits planned for the 'missionaries'.

We divided into two groups and made quite a few visits. During the evening service many we had visited were in attendance.

Sunday, June 20

We finally made it to New Amsterdam and to the hotel on Saturday night after getting our luggage at the airport two days after arriving in Guyana, well, almost all of us got our luggage. Vickie luggage went to Trinidad and stayed. The
The ninety mile trip from Georgetown to New Amsterdam took us seven and a half hours. We had to wait on the ferry for four hours in the sun. We were really relieved to arrive. We settled into the room and opened our suitcases to find our clothes wet from the rain at one of the airports. Luckily only a few things were ruined. Who knows what Vickie's clothes will be like two days later. We enjoyed meeting with the Christians for Sunday morning services. Rick led singing and we talked with the members about the events of the following week. Cindy Yarberry and I went into the children's Bible class to observe and assist while Ann, the regular teacher taught the children. We wanted to watch so we would best know how to help her in the future. The children were very polite and seemed to enjoy the class.

One of the visitors at church was a man named Anthony who preached at a church of Christ in Georgetown. He just happened to be at the hotel where we were staying when we returned for the afternoon. We shared our lunch that had been provided by one of the members and talked about his work and his hopes for his congregation.

For the rest of the afternoon we planned for the rest of the week, Vickie read and studied for her ladies class, Cindy and I planned the children's classes, found the materials that we would use for the lessons, and made a shopping list for the Bible school materials, Rick and Steve worked on financial matters. Steve planned a fast trip back to the airport to retrieve Vickie's luggage. Little things seem to take so long here.

Tomorrow while Steve is gone to Georgetown to get the luggage, Rick,Vickie, Cindy, and I will go to our local Kinkos (not) and make copies for the week and scour the town looking for school supplies, various and sundry items for the Bible school, and a five gallon jug of water for drinking. We have plans to meet back with the Christians in the afternoon. I will meet with the main Bible school teacher at 2:00 to review what type of materials they would like for us to send from the states and continue to make plans for the remainder of the week. At 4:30 we will have an afternoon session for the members.

Thursday, July 17

Wow, we finally made it and what an adventure we have experienced. As many of you know when traveling in Guyana one makes a plan and then plans to make a change. We made our flight and flew out of Memphis without any difficuty, avoiding the storm in the gulf and arriving on time at 1:10 pm in Miami for a layover and then departure around 5:00 pm. During the layover in Miami we were offered a $500. 00 travel voucher, lodging and meals if we would give up our seats. We declined considering luggage transfer and connecting flights might present a problem. Even as the travel voucher increased to $800. , lodging and first class accomodations on the next day, we held firm and did not give up our seats. As we were sitting in our assigned seats waiting for the plane to depart, we were told that we would have to change planes, transfer our luggage, and would have to find us another flight because there was a problem with one of the motors. Some time later sitting on the plane hungry and tired, waiting for the luggage to be transferred, it was announced that our flight attendents had logged in too many hours and it was against the law for them to fly to Trinidad with us. They were in the process of flying attendents in from Porto Rico and that they should be there in an hour. It was then at least three hours past the departure time and about the time we were supposed to be landing in Trinidad. The plane finally departed the Miami airport at 11:15, landing in Trinidad at about 3:15 am. Since we would have to be back at the airport in a couple of hours we decided to try to get some rest in the chairs at the airport and then be ready to check in at 5:30am for the connecting flight.

At 5:30 we began lookin for customs and to pick up our baggage. Amazingly, NONE of our checked baggage arrived in Guyana. We should have taken the voucher! All will be better when we get to Rose Hall with the Christians there. We will spend the rest of the day arranging to pick up the luggage (when it is found), arranging transportation to Rose Hall ( four hours by van), and resting. Please pray that God will be glorified in all that we do.

We did meet a wonderful young lady on the plane named Cindy. She is a 28 year old business owner who suffers with rheumetoid arthritis. We were able to help her and tell her about our work and plant some seeds. After exchanging addresses we left her in Trinidad promising to call her on the return trip. You never know where the planted seed will grow.

Monday, July 14

Thank you so much for your generous assistance in making the mission trip to Guyana possible. The members of the church have generously given $1400.00. This will help with 13 days of food, lodging, transportation, and Bible school materials.

You will see on the map that most of the population lives on the public road near the coast. The airport is straight south of Georgetown, the capital. We travel three hours from Georgetown to the Berbice River and then cross the ferry to New Amsterdam. You can see Rose Hall on the map just south east of New Amsterdam where we do most of our work.

Sunday, July 13

We were very humbled by the generous outpouring of you love in assisting our work in Guyana. We especially appreciate your prayers. The five mission members will meet in at the airport in Memphis on Wednesday around 11:00 am and then leave for the 13 day trip. We will arrive in Miami at 4:30 p.m. and then arrive in Trinidad at 10:40 pm. We will spend the night in Trinadad on the 16th and then depart the next morning at 7:10 am. It really seems a shame that we cannot enjoy a little daytime in Trinidad, oh well, it beats a taxi on the river bank, if you recall the year we missed the plane and then we missed the last ferry of the night. We will arrive in Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana at 8:20 am and then will work our way down to New Amsterdam, by way of Kaieteur Falls. We will get settled into the hotel in New Amsterdam on Thursday evening and then be ready to meet with the members of the congregation on Friday. There is no where for us to stay in Rose Hall - Williamsburg, therfore, we stay 20 minutes away in a larger town.

July 11, 2008

The church in Rose Hall-Williamsburg was established during a mission effort in 1991 when a tent revival was held in that town. Since then a group of Christians, committed to seeing the congregation grow into maturity, has participated in a mission effort every summer for that purpose. Brad Brumley, (dean of students at Freed-Hardeman University during the seventies), who was part of that first mission, saw that many of the churches in Guyana flourished and then died because of lack of maturity. He did not want to see that happen and committed himself to that work and looked for others who would carry on the work after he was gone until the church was able to stand on their own. Rick and I cannot remember how many years we have gone on the mission but we believe it is either six of seven years. When we first started going to Rose Hall the church was full of jealousy and bickering. Much of the time that we spent there was trying to sooth feelings. Now the mission is focused on Christian maturity and leadership.
Every year before we go we make a plan as how we are to conduct the mission full knowing that everything will change when we get there. We will conduct adult Bible classes with classes for the children during the day. In the late afternoon we will have an assembly for the larger group. The afternoons will be spent encouraging members, Bible study with non Christians, and Bible class preparation for the following day. The last Saturday afternoon will be spent with the Americans preparing a meal for the Guyanese (not nearly as simple as it may seem).
We have a smaller mission team this year than we have had in the past. There are five of us but all seasoned and mature in Christ. Although the group is small and we would like to have a larger group God always seems to have a plan and know what is needed. This year's group consists of Steve and Cindy Yarberry from Forrest City. Vicki Seniker from outside of St Louis, and Rick and me. Steve is also the preacher in Marianna, AR. We ask you to pray that God's will be done and that the church will be strengthened and will grow.

Guyana 2008

Thursday, July 9, 2008
The time is drawing near for the 2008 mission trip to Rose Hall-Williamsburg, Guyana (20 minutes south east of New Amsterdam on the map). I had truly forgotten about the blog John Warmath set up for us until he asked me if we would be using it this year. I thank John for reminding me. I am still on the learning curve so bear with me.
We are about to enter the preparation frenzy. With the airlines changing the regulations we have found it necessary to change our ways. American Airlines will allow two 50 pound bags with a carry on and a $25 or $50 fee for extra checked bags. We could make plans and deal with those changes but it is a different story when it comes to Caribbean Air. They are very vague about whether one or two checked bags are allowed and we cannot tell how much they will charge for the extra weight. Arguing with a person from another country and culture just make us look like ugly, rude Americans and it does not really work. Rick and I have decided that the best was to represent Christ is to be polite and just take one carry on and one checked bag. Believe me I will pack as much as possible into the space. That is why this year we have not asked for you all to provide materials. We will take some things in our suitcases but will have to make purchases and copies there. Hopefully there will be minimal black outs when we go to make copies and costs will not have risen very much.