Prayer Request for Two Trips

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ 

Both teams are leaving this week for mission trips to the jungle and savanna but different days the team going to the river villages are leaving tomorrow morning and the team going to the savanna will leaving on Wednesday 

Both teams will be going to 3 villages each and do 6 nights of celebration crusade please pray for us as we travel on the road river And trail pray also for a harvest of sols 

God bless you 

Jai 

Results of February/March Pastor Training

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It’s Sunday morning March 3, 2024 and I just arrived back in Charlotte yesterday evening from our trip to the Savannah in Guyana for a pastor training conference. This was the fourth pastor training conference and the first in Region 9 (Savannah). Our staff have been working in this Region for the past year.

We flew from Georgetown (the Capital of Guyana) from Ogle Airport to Lethem the major town in the area. There is a bridge over the Takatu river that serves as the border between Guyana and Brazil and there is a “trail” from Lethem to Georgetown which is a major route for Brazil to access the deepwater port in Georgetown to supply world markets from Northern Brazil. It’s 263 miles from Lethem to Georgetown and depending on conditions and the vehicle on the “trail” it takes between 16-23 hours to traverse.

The airport in Lethem is a paved strip that is surrounded by a chained link fence. You exit the turboprop plane and walk across the street to enter the “terminal” which is smaller than our house. The population of Lethem in 2012 was 1,702 people and this is the largest town in the region.

We grabbed a taxi and went to Pastor James’ house where we park our big truck that serves as our supply depot. There we picked up Pastor James and drove to Wowetta where we held the conference in a Benab which is a traditional Amerindian community center. Think open air circular structure with a thatched roof that is beautiful. It can seat 300 around the circle on wooden benches similar to our high school football bleachers all covered by the massive roof.

The dust from the “trail” is red because of the clay soil used to build the trail so red dust is everywhere.

We had eight pastors and numerous church leaders from Region 9 in attendance including  worship leaders, assistant pastors, Sunday school leaders and childrens leaders. There were several denominations present such as Christian Brotherhood, Pentecostal, Assembly of God, Baptist, etc. Everyone had great fellowship and communication flowed freely. There was excitement about cooperation to reach their people for Christ. The population is majority Amerindian from two major tribes and several smaller tribes in the area.

Dr. Carl Martin led the three days of pastor training. Everyone took copious notes from his lectures. Carl used a whiteboard to outline his talks and after each session, the folks would come up and take photos of his notes as well. They are so hungry for teaching and training it is fantastic.

Because of Carl’s leadership, the people became very transparent about their issues in their churches and themselves which lead to breakthroughs in communication. Carl is talented.

During the three days I interviewed each person attending, took their photograph with a sign with their name, church and town so we can have a directory of pastors. I asked them to name three things they needed for us to pray about, concerning them, their church and their community. From these needs, our team is developing a specific strategy of outreach to Region 9. We will be refining this plan which is unique and tailored for this region and will be communicating this with you as it is finalized by our team. Another example of how we use these interviews is that one of the people wants to be a worship leader so the next day we set up our keyboard, generator and speakers from the truck and let him lead worship. He passed the test with flying colors so now we have a musical resource in Region 9 in addition to Alex and Michael both extremely talented musicians.

We had two pastors that had been captains for their regions. This is like a mayor in the US. They gave me a history lesson for Region 9. In the 1960’s this region housed a 2 million cattle herd and massive cashew groves. I saw maybe 100 cows and the cashew groves are decimated though lack of care.

When Guyana gained independence in 1968 a communist government came into power and the two main families that had the massive cattle heard left Guyana and the herds collapsed due to disease and lack of management with the same story with the cashews. Now there is subsistence farming and poor land management.

They are hungry for help other than from their government. Carl and I are going to meet with the Dean of Agriculture and Dean of Animal Husbandry at Clemson to see if we can get a linkage going between this school and these local leaders. Carl is a big deal at Clemson since he was on the Clemson National Champion Football team in 1981 (defensive back). I requested he wear his ring to the meeting. He agreed! If for some reason Clemson is not interested I will swallow my pride and approach Auburn.

I am so excited about Region 9 and the potential to spread the Gospel of Christ and to help them spiritually and culturally over time. We can have a major impact. Thanks for your prayers it really showed this past week.

Highlights from Jai's Visit

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Hello Ministry Friends,

I wanted to let you know what a great visit we had with Jai on his recent trip here. He was able to connect with many friends and thank them for their prayer support as well as financial support. He was able to speak in several settings where new people could hear about what God is doing in Guyana and be encouraged by hearing about the ripe harvest in Guyana. As usual, God placed someone on the plane next to Jai as he flew here who needed to hear the Gospel. Please pray for the Rastafarian man who heard the clear plan of salvation and said he would think about what Jai had shared with him from the Bible.

Our Tuesday trip to Atlanta to meet with leaders at InTouch Ministries was a Ephesians 3:20 trip where God did exceeding, abundantly more than we could have thought to imagine or ask for. InTouch is the ministry that for 7 years has provided the Messenger to us, the hand-held device that has over 220 of Charles Stanley’s sermons and the Bible on it. It is used in the remote villages to provide content for church services. As we shared the stories of what God is doing in Guyana, we were shown unimaginable grace by being offered 6,000 Messengers to be given to us this year. Even more astounding, they have Messengers made especially for prisons, enclosed in clear plastic so it is evident that there is no contraband. The timing was astounding because just the week before, Jai was in a meeting with prison officials and was told that because of two fires that have been set in prisons this year, they have to limit the amount of paper that we can take in. They will now prohibit us from distributing the large study Bibles that Prison Fellowship had provided. Now, because of InTouch prison messengers, those inmates that accept Christ will be able to have their own personal Messenger with the Bible and Charles Stanley’s sermons.

InTouch also now has a small sound system about 9 inches tall and 4inches in diameter with a very bright LED light on one end. Two or four of them can be hung in a village church to provide light and sound for the services. It can project the pastor’s voice through a wireless lavaliere microphone and also has a place music and other content can be added. It is also loaded the the Stanley sermons.

InTouch also now has an tablet with so much content in it that it is like a little seminary. It is perfect for our pastor training efforts. We are SO VERY GRATEFUL to God for all this new technology and that InTouch wants to partner with International Celebration Association.

I know this is long and I have more stories that I don’t have room to fully tell so I will just summarize:

1- Jai is so very grateful for your prayers for safety because, he and a pastor coming out of the river trip could easily have been killed in an accident as a van full of people going twice the speed limit was coming directly toward him in the wrong lane and he had to swerve to miss it. It resulted in a large truck and our little truck being run off the road into the bush to avoid hitting each other as they swerved to miss the van. Thank you for praying for safety.

2- The HIndu man who sold us our new USED van, after being with Jai  and listening to his story and the plan of salvation, is close to accepting Jesus and after being paid for the vehicle, turned around and wrote a $500 check back to our ministry as a donation. His family and Jai and Tracy have plans to visit in each other’s homes for weekend visits.

3- On the ferry coming home from a long tiring river trip, Jai was going to take a nap and put his seat back in the truck. A teenage girl approached him and spoke through his open window asking what the display on the from of the truck that said, JESUS…LIGHT OF THE WORLD meant. She said she was HIndu and didn’t understand. He had his Bible on the passenger seat and began to share with her. In a few minutes, her parents and two siblings joined her at the window and heard the good new of the Gospel and how it compared to Hinduism. It was a two hour ride on the ferry and when they reached their destination, all five of them had accepted Jesus and left with Jai’s Bible in hand. Jai has already had more conversations with them after getting home.

Those are just a few stories of what God continues to do.

Thank you for being a Friend of Guyana and for your prayers and support. Please continue to think of Guyana and what God is doing there,

Blessings, Beth

internationalcelebration.org

REJOICE WITH US AT WHAT GOD DID IN 2023

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2023 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Your prayers and support have made this possible. Thank you and may God bless you, dear friends. We pray 2024 will be even greater for the Kingdom!

Beth

Salvations—-2,854

34 new villages served 

2 Girls’ Homes served

1,800 Bibles distributed

175 Bibles studies distributed

80 Messengers distributed

5,000 pair of footwear distributed

2,000 pair of reading glasses distributed

Thousands of pounds of used clothing distributed 

500 toothbrushes distributed to prisoners

500 tubes of toothpaste distributed to prisoners

4,500 gospel tracts distributed

Bought a used van to replace our old one 


Prayer Request for January Trips

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ and happy new year 

We are leaving tomorrow morning for our first trip for this new year 2024 both teams will leave early in the morning one team will going to the river And the other team going to the savanna both teams will be going to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade 

Please pray for us as we travel for our safety and for a harvest of souls 

God bless you 

Jai 

December Praise Report

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Hay ministry friends season greetings to you and your family I want to wish you a merry Christmas and Happy New year 

As you know we were doing ministry in all the prisons and girls home this month we just finished yesterday and it was a wonderful week of ministry 97 men women and teenagers give there life to Jesus 

2023 have been a great year so far doing ministry all across guyana  we had some ruff time lots of great times travelling all across guyana and preaching the gospel 

As we are approaching a new year we will continue to travel all over guyana and preach the gospel and we look forward for a greater year 2024

I want to thank you for your prayers and support over the years because of your prayers and support thousands of people give there life to Jesus christ 

I would like to ask you to please continue to pray and support this ministry so we can reach the end of guyana  with the gospel of Jesus christ 

God bless you 

Jai 

Prayer Request for December Ministries

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ 

I just want to share with you our December activities this afternoon 5pm guyana time we are having our Christmas tree lighting in front of our house we invite the entire community to come and we will distribute toy's to children also we will be live on Facebook 

Starting from Monday we will be going to all the prison and girls home to do Christmas concert and distribute goodies 

Monday we will be going to holding Bay prison and the mahaica girls home 

Tuesday we will go to the women's prison 

Wednesday we will going to the newamsterdam male prison 

Tuesday we will go to timheri prison and hararuni girls home and camp street prison 

Friday we will go to mazaruni two prison 

Please pray for all these ministries that many souls will come to know Jesus christ as Lord and savior 

God bless you 

Jai 


Praise Report from the November Village Trips

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ 

Both teams are back from another wonderful trip from the jungle as you know we went to 3 villages each and do 6 nights of celebration crusade each and 255 persons give there life to Jesus christ 

This was our final trip for this year 2023 it have been a wonderful year so far and that could only be possible with your prayers and support In December we go to all the prisons and girls homes to do ministry and give gifts

So I want to thank you for your prayers and support true out this year 2023 and we look forward for a greater 2024

In the savanna Alex and Michael had to sleep in and on top of the truck because of the dry weather there are scorpions  all over 

God bless you 

Jai 

November Prayer Request for River and Savanna Trips

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ 

Our team that is going to the river will be leaving tomorrow morning for another trip to the river 

And the other team will be leaving on Monday morning for the savanna 

Both teams will be going to 3 villages each and do will do a total of 6 nights of celebration crusade please pray for us as we travel on the roads rivers and trails 

Thanks for your prayers and support 

God bless you 

Jai 

October Prayer Request for Savanna and River Trips

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Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus christ 

Our two teams are leaving early tomorrow morning for another trip to the savanna and the river boat teams will be going to 3 villagers and do 6 nights of celebration crusade 

Please pray for us as we travel for our safety and for a harvest of souls 

Thanks for your prayer and support 

God bless you 

Jai 

September River Trip Report and New Venture

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Dear Friends,


God is on the move in Guyana and we trust His timing and sovereignty. Hayley joined our team for this trip and was looking forward to experiencing new villages. For some reason, God had other plans. There is a terrible drought right now in Guyana and the river branches they were supposed to travel on were way too low to allow the boat to travel there so they shifted gears and went back into Region One where the rivers are deeper and where the churches are with the pastors that are doing our training. They decided to go back to two of those villages to fellowship and encourage them and do more work there. There were two Celebrations at each and in total, 48 more people indicated that they understood for the first time that they wanted to accept Jesus. Praise God!

On another front, Alex, one of our staff,  told me yesterday that he has started having street evangelistic meetings in Berbice which is close to home, targeting areas that are further away from existing churches. He was thrilled to know that you would be asked to pray for him. His heart is longing for the Great Commission to be reached in Guyana.

Thank you for praying for God's ministry in Guyana.

Beth

September River Trip Prayer Request

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Good Morning Friends,


There is something special about this trip that leaves on Sunday. Hayley, one of our summer team members is going into the river villages with Jai and Tracy. Guyana captured her heart and she couldn't wait to go back and see this part of the ministry; working with  the Amerindian villages. She will assist Jai and Tracy as they go to two villages and do two nights of Celebration Services at each. During the day they will do clothing distribution, distribute flip flops and reading glasses for those in need. They will give Bibles to those who need them and share Christ all along the way. Please pray for a wonderful harvest of souls and for safety traveling and good health. They will also leave behind a Messenger from InTouch ministries that has 200 of Charles Stanley's sermons on it so the villages can have ongoing teaching as they grow deeper in their faith.

Thank you for being our prayer partners for God's ministry. We want to reach Guyana for Christ.

Beth

Report from August 2023 Pastor Training Trip

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Dear Friends of Guyana,

I have a wonderful report from the Pastor Training Trip. Thank you so much for praying. The theme from the July trip has continued….WONDERFUL RESULTS FOR THE KINGDOM but SPIRITUAL ATTACKS CONTINUED. We will not let the evil one discourage us or stop the critical work all over Guyana. This harvest field is so ripe for Kingdom work that we are a target for sure.

You were praying for 16 pastors who were to meet at Santa Cruz for training, some coming as far as 11 hours by boat. The last communication you got from me asked you to pray because four of the pastors from one area were sick and could’t come. They are doing fine now but hated to miss the fellowship and training. Those pastors were James, Kingsley, Philip and Vernon.

The next attack came as five others were in the boat on their way when their boat captain got word from his home that there had been a death in the family and he had to turn back so Clifford, Philbert, Basil, Leo and Karl had the disappointment of having to return home rather than coming to the training. Of course they understood. Alex who is our staff member who is very tech savvy has prepared a summary of each session so he can later fill these 9 pastors in on the materials they missed. So grateful for that.

The next attack came for three of the other pastors who were there. Rita, Carmen and Paul are siblings who are serving at three of our churches. Their brother died about three weeks before the training. Paul and his wife who came with him got word that their granddaughter drowned in a river near her home. With heavy hearts, they stayed at the training and learned as much as possible and had a huge amount of prayer support from all who were there. These places are so remote that there is no way to leave until the time planned. Please pray for Pastor Paul and his family.

Now on a more positive note, during the two nights of Celebration Services in Santa Cruz, TEN PEOPLE ACCEPTED CHRIST. A year and a half ago when our team first went to this village, about 120 people trusted Christ and that helped Pastor Mike grow his congregation.  We are so grateful that others are being added to the fellowship.

We had told you there would be 16 pastors and since 9 couldn’t come, you would think that left only 7 but God had a different plan. Three more pastors from other villages requested to join in and come under our ministry’s training and accountability. They came for the training.  They are:

Pastor Dwayne——Waini

Pastor Peter——Kanuballi

Pastor Marvin——Santa Cruz Waini—Cherie (Worship Leader from this church)

Each day, Carl led three sessions teaching from Ephesians. He is a very interactive teacher and there is a lot of discussion, interaction and a chance to ask any question that comes up. The pastors and leaders always want more and more…..

The new pastors were taught about the salvation bracelets that the others had seen six months ago. Each pastor took home enough leather strapping and beads to make salvation bracelets for everyone in their congregations so they can evangelize their villages.

Alex showed the pastors how to use the projector we got from International Cooperating Ministries. Each pastor will get one to use in his/her church. They can show 90 Old Testament lessons, 90 New Testament lessons, teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and lessons on Family Life. The pastors saw how to use the equipment so when they get their own projector, they will be familiar. Our team will deliver these hopefully soon and make sure each pastor knows how to use them. What a blessing to have all of this teaching available as well as the Messengers from InTouch ministry with 200 of Charles Stanley’s sermons on them.

Carl spent time with some of the village children and 4 of them ACCEPTED CHRIST.

One afternoon, a family stopped by to see what was going on. Steve was talking to the dad, Mark and started sharing Christ with him, using the bracelet with the beads, explaining how he could have his sins forgiven. Mark prayed and accepted Christ. His wife was already a Christian but wasn’t in church and she recommitted her life to a closer walk with Jesus. Steve encouraged them to raise their daughter in the church and teach her the things of God. He encouraged them to read the Bible together each day and to come to this church. That afternoon, Pastor Mike went to their house to follow up with them. They next day Mark came and sat in on the pastor training sessions.

Other things I will mention: Monkeys are jumping tree to tree….what fun!

Chiggers were a problem….as you walk from the church to the outhouse, you are in grass that is FULL of chiggers. Suffering for Jesus…..Hahaha!

Bathing took place in the river….

Chase ended up with Covid on the night before the flight out. Didn’t know what it was until several days after arriving home…just thought it was that flu.

Despite the challenges, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

Here are the needs that I want to mention so if God puts it on any of your hearts, you can help. 1.  Prayer is number one need

2.  Three of the churches need keyboards to help them in their worship time. They cost about     $300 in Guyana. If you would like to donate, please send a tax deductible check to..

International Celebration

62777 Carolina Commons Dr.

Ste 600, #135

Indian Land, SC 29707

3.  They need carpentry tools to help in constructing church buildings. They can use power tools as well as hand tools. EX. circular saws, planers, hammers. If you have something to donate, please call Beth Puckett 561-301-4111.

Thank all of you for your continued love and support for God’s ministry in Guyana.

Love,

Beth

August Pastor Training Prayer Guide

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                                       PRAYER GUIDE FOR PASTOR TRAINING TRIP

                                                          AUGUST 5, 2023

TEAM MEMBERS

…..Carl Martin

…..Chase Barbe

…..Steve Puckett

GUYANESE STAFF

…..Jai Ramnauth

…..Alex Seunarine

…..Michael Ramsaywack

PASTORS AND LEADERS IN TRAINING

Brother Karl  _  Arakata Village 

Brother Basil _ 4 Miles Village 

Brother Leo _ Quarry Village 

Brother James _ Oriuck Village 

Brother Philbert _ Grandfather Creek

Brother Clifford _ Canal Bank

Brother Philip _ Seibi Creek

Brother Festus _ Bush Mouth

Sister Carmen _ Unity Grant

Brother Kingsley  _ St John Wani

Brother Tyrone  _ First Lagoon Wani

Sister Rita _ Katcha kama Wini

Brother Vernon- Aruka Mouth

Brother Mike—Santa Cruz

Brother Paul—Huvu

Brother Orlando—Cashew Island

The purpose of this trip is the third pastor training event. Carl has done a masterful job of encouraging and equipping these village leaders who have committed to leading their churches. Some have been pastors however most are not trained. Others saw the need to volunteer as a lay leader to make it possible for their village to have a church and they want to learn all they can to lead and serve. Each of these congregations have asked to come under the umbrella of our ministry, International Celebration Assn. for training and accountability. To learn more, see internatinalceleoration.org. At the last training, the number grew from 13 churches to 14. This training session, we have two new churches who have asked to join so now our total is16 churches having leaders in training. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

These churches are along two different rivers which both spill out into the Atlantic. This session, four pastors and two spouses will get on a boat will a small motor and travel up their river, into the Atlantic for a short way and back down the other river to reach the training. It will take them about 11 hours to travel there. That shows true dedication and a real desire to learn and grow. Please pray for them as they travel, especially as they go into the Atlantic in their small boat.

The training will be at Pastor Mike’s church in Santa Cruz.

Saturday—August 5…Pray for travel mercies as our 3 travel to Miami and then on to Georgetown, Guyana. There have been a lot of cancellations or delays of flights in general over the last month so please pray for good travel. Arrival is late and then there is customs which can be long. The hotel is an hour away. Pray for good sleep.

Sunday—August 6…Hopefully after a nice sleep, the team will enjoy a nice breakfast  and have a 9:00 am departure.  The first leg is a drive to Parika in our van. There they will drive onto the big ferry and cross to Charity. They will spend the night there.

Monday—August 7…Today they will travel by boat for about 6 hours. They will use a cut through between two big rivers called The Ninety-Nine because there are 99 switchbacks. This is a shortcut. Pray for the four pastors and two spouses who will be traveling today as well. As I mentioned, they will have a trip that will be about 11 hours.

Monday night, there will be a Celebration Service for the community with music and preaching under the stars. Carl will preach. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will go before and have hearts ready for whatever decisions the people need to make, either for salvation or for a commitment to grow in Christ.

Tuesday—August 8…Today Carl will begin his intensive teaching. There will be three sessions a day with lots of discussion and conversation. Please pray that Carl will have the energy he needs because that is a lot of teaching. He always does such a great job of making the church leaders feel comfortable. He makes the material very clear and applicable, ready to discuss any questions. After the last two training trips, we heard nothing but praises from those being trained about how simple Carl made even complex subjects. HE HAS A GIFT!!!

Tonight there will be a second Celebration Service for the community and Jai will preach. Please pray for a great harvest.

Wednesday—August 9…Pray for health and stamina for all involved as there are 3 more sessions. The past two training weeks, Carl heard that when it was time for a break, the pastors/leaders didn’t want to stop. Chase and Steve will have a lot of discussions with the pastors who want one on one conversations.

Six months ago at the last training, Steve showed the pastors the salvation bracelets that we use with the 5 colors of beads explaining the Gospel. The pastors loved it’s simplicity and wanted to have one for each member of their churches so they could all tell the people of their communities how to receive forgiveness by accepting Jesus. Each pastor will be given beads and spools of leather strapping to take home to make the bracelets. Here is what the beads mean.

Black Bead- Represents the sin in our lives which we can’t get rid of on our own no matter how good we are. 

Red Bead- Represents Jesus’ blood that He shed on the cross to pay the price for the sins of the world. Those who accept Him as Savior and receive the free gift of forgiveness are born into God’s family.

White Bead- Represents being clean in God’s sight. If we accept Jesus’ free gift and are forgiven, our sins are gone and God sees us as clean.

Yellow Bead- Represents the streets of gold in Heaven. That is where we will spend eternity if we have had our sins forgiven and are deemed clean by God.

Green Bead- Represents growth as a new believer. Just as grass and leaves are green and grow, we must grow as Christians so we can serve and tell others. We do that by studying the Bible, praying, hearing the Scriptures taught, encouraging other believers and sharing what happened to you with others who need to ask Jesus to be their Savior.

Thursday—August 10…Three more sessions today as the teaching finishes. Please give the team discernment to encourage whatever questions need to be answered today. International Celebration has been blessed to team up with a ministry, International Cooperating Ministries. They provide remote churches little projectors that are the size of a big cell phone and hot spots to be able to be used in these remote places. The contents include the Bible, 90 Old Testament video lessons and 90 New Testament lessons plus teachings on the Sermon on the Mount and Family Relationships. Alex will train these 16 leaders how to use this equipment so they can have this wonderful teaching to share with their churches. We expect to see a lot of growth when each village is equipped with these devices in the near future.

Friday—August 11…Our team will leave at 4:00 am to travel back out, first by boat, then get our van and then onto the ferry and drive home. It will take about 12 hours of travel.

Saturday—August 12…7:00 am flight. It is an hour to the airport so the team will have to leave the hotel at about 3:30 or 4:00 am. Please pray for good connections and that they will be able to rest on the plane.

Thank you for praying…..

2023 July Trip Report

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                                               2023 July Trip Report

Dearest Ministry Friends of Guyana,

This is unlike any update I have ever written. Your prayers were needed more than any other year and this is our 15th summer trip. I will explain later why we needed your intercession. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for lifting us up while we served. I will start with II Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

There was spiritual warfare going on before, during and after the trip and GOD REIGNED AND CONTINUES TO REIGN!!!!! HE had a great harvest that HE wanted us to bring in and here are the wonderful results that the evil one was trying to thwart. Our guess is that among these numbers, there must be some great Christian leader or leaders who will grow and serve and help the Gospel go out to Guyana and beyond.

114 Inmates accepted Christ

91 Inmates were baptized

2 children accepted Christ

                         AMAZING STORIES OF GOD’S VICTORIES

I will start with the airplane ride where one of our members had a divine appointment that lasted from wheels up in Charlotte until wheels down in Miami. It was amazing to hear of the open and easy conversation that resulted in motherly advise concerning marriage, spiritual conversation and much more. It was evident that God assigned the seats.

Our four days in the prison were amazing. We rented chairs to put in a caged courtyard and rented huge tarps to cover them to keep out rain and sun. It worked great and we even had a breeze some of the time. The prison has gotten stricter about the amount of time visitors can be there so we tried to make every minute count. We had wonderful music by Megan that moved their hearts. Chad did a wonderful job of being very “real” with them about the dark things he had walked through and how God had brought him out of that very hard place and made him free to live his life to the fullest again, being able to serve. Kristi shared some encouragement God had put on her heart, encouraging them that they didn’t have to live in loneliness but could look to God to direct them into a fulfilling life even though they are behind bars. Jai did a fantastic short sermon around the colors of the beads on their bracelets we gave them. Jai made their need for a Savior very clear because of the separation because of sin. He explained how they can accept Jesus and know they have a new life, forgiven and clean. Jai is powerful in the Scripture he uses and the way he delivers his message simply. He gave them a change to pray as ask Jesus to become their Savior.

Our time of foot washing and conversation with them is always so special as they want to have someone who will listen and encourage and pray for them. We discussed Jai’s message with them and asked if they had questions. Many said they prayed with Jai and we rejoiced with their decision and then went over the beads one more time so they can know them well enough to share with others. If they had questions, we had that conversation and many were then ready to pray with us right there after we washed their feet.

The baptisms are always a highlight as the kiddie pool sloshes water and the team cheers, celebrating their decision and new life in Christ.

Two team members had their feet washed by prisoners and one even had a blessing prayed over them by a prisoner.

One of the memories locked in my memory bank is when I looked over and a group of inmates had gathered chairs around Chad, gleaning all they could from his wisdom concerning their addictions and how to handle life when they get out, making sure they don’t go back to their old ways.

We are thankful to have a close relationship with the head of this largest prison in Guyana, Sr. Superintendent Deoraj Gyandat. He is so supportive of our coming and thankful for the message we bring and the encouragement we share. He sat for an interview with two of our team members who have podcasts. You will be able to find this conversation on Chad’s THE RABBIT HOLE SHOW and Kristi’s REAL DEEP STUFF.

Next I will report on the two girls’ homes. When we first got to Hauriruni, the girls were distant and stand-offish. But after a pizza lunch, a few action songs, and a short encouraging word, they opened up and we had a blast with them playing games outside. We had potato sack races, three legged races, hula hoop games and competition and painted a lot of fingernails. It was a wonderful day and we will continue work there because of some specific needs we saw.

Mahaica Girls’ Home is where our team went weekly before Covid and then were not allowed back until now. Thankfully, we now have permission to start the weekly ministry again. There are 40 girls 8-17. Like Hauraruni, it took them time to warm up to us but at the end, they didn’t want us to leave. One team member felt that one girl needed a very personal touch and asked her to dance with her. It thrilled my heart to see them ballroom dancing and doing spins. The girl was grinning from ear to ear and so was our team member.

Five of the girls have babies there with them. The mothers range in age from eleven to seventeen. Can you imagine what kind of life these girls have experienced? Please pray for them. Three of them had nursing babies and two had toddlers. Our Bible story was about how Jesus calmed the storm when the disciples were so scared on the violent sea. Our lesson was that we will have storms in our lives but Jesus is always able to get us through. We had each girl write on a slip of paper their trouble or fear and come put it at the foot of a cross, symbolizing giving Jesus their troubles, casting their cares on Him. They seemed to take that activity very seriously. We even did that as a team because we too have cares to cast at His feet. Then the papers were destroyed as they were needs they only wanted Jesus to know.

The last day, we got to do ministry at a church where about 250 children came and felt God’s love as we had songs, story, foot washing (new footwear) and conversations. Many of the children were very young and many of the older children were helpers from the church. We had two children accept Christ as Savior. So grateful for new, young believers. One was a 13 year old girl from Trinidad visiting her cousins. God planned that visit to correspond to our ministry at the church. GOD KNEW!!!

Going over all that happened last week, no wonder the evil one was trying so hard to keep the work from happening. Here are some of the ways he tried. There were more.

BEFORE

-Shortly before the trip, we had 5 team members who had to drop out for medical reasons, one being a broken shoulder.

-One member had flu then 12 days of hiccups then Covid. Got totally well in plenty of time to go.

-One member had to have a heart catheterization that showed it was fine to travel, no stent needed.

-One team member had 2 family deaths shortly before the trip.

-Several members had very stressful issues they had to leave behind and trust God to take care of them as they focused on the work at hand.

DURING

-Our ministry van that we usually use to transport our team had mechanical problems and we would not have been able to travel in it. It carried our luggage from the airport to the hotel but wouldn’t go in reverse. It sat at the hotel for the week and will now be repaired. Praise God, Jai had decided ahead of time to rent a larger van with good air-conditioning so we weren’t left with finding transportation each day.

-After two days of ministering, one team member came down with the flu and had to miss three days of serving

-Another team member missed Tuesday and was able to go back for the rest but not at 100%

-Another team member missed 2 days

-Another team member missed 1 day

-On Monday night, one team member found out that there was a family issue that needed attention and tried to get a flight to go home. There was no flight on Tuesday so scheduled a Wednesday 7:00 am leaving the hotel at 4:00 am. Found out during the night the flight had been postponed until Wednesday afternoon. Long story short, when the member got to the airport that is 1 1/2 hour away, the flight was postponed until the next day and decided to return to our team and give up trying to go home.

AFTER

-When we got home,

5 team members tested positive for Covid—I, Beth, am among that number thus why the report is delayed

4 had the flu

1 had congestion

1 was well

5 Guyanese team members all had some level of illness

This has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE…… Without your prayer covering, we wonder how much worse things would have been.

The team unity was fantastic and our sharing of testimonies at team time were such an encouragement. The deep conversations drew us so very close. Each of our Guyanese and US team members feel like family forever.

I want to close with two verses that sum up the way we feel about this trip. I have heard from a number of team members who got sick that it is totally worth getting sick to have been able to be a part of this movement of God. I am blessed to lead such a selfless team.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I Thessalonians 5:18

Again, thank you so much for being willing to pray. You are a vital part of this ministry.

Beth