Good afternoon Friends of Guyana.
Rejoice with us!!!! I just heard from Jai and this week, our four staff went to four prisons and there were 10 more salvations. Please pray that these new brothers and sisters in Christ will grow in their faith and knowledge as our team goes back to teach and disciple. We are so grateful.
Blessings,
Beth
Dear Friends of Guyana,
Thank you for remembering us on our recent trip. It was a WONDERFUL trip as we spent quality time with our staff and their families. We were able to go see Kaieteur Falls which is the longest single-drop waterfall in the world, three times higher than Niagara Falls. What a blessing to be able to see God's handiwork and except for Jai, non of our staff had seen it. We had a great time and were able to share the plan of salvation with our three tour guides who were from all over Guyana
We were able to meet our new staff person, Leon, whose first day with us is today, October 1. He and his family joined us for Steve's birthday dinner where all our staff brought their children so we could all enjoy a time together. Leon and Ashley have a four year old son, Michael and Vanessa have a five month old daughter. Markey and Deanna have an eleven year old daughter, nine year old son and a six year old son. (years may not be exactly accurate but close) haha.
Another day we had a wonderful time of planning, suggestions to fine tune our ministry and prayer. After that, a card game broke out so after pray and cards, we feel like we are starting to get to know Leon. haha.
Steve had a few very positive meetings with governmental staffers concerning businesses he is working on so more Guyanese can have jobs God was so good to provide him with those opportunities.
Our travel was smooth and everyone stayed healthy. Tracy and Jai were perfect hostess and host and we had a fantastic trip. We are so blessed and can't wait to continue serving together.
Blessings, Beth
Dear Friends,
Please pray for Steve and me as we leave tomorrow and will come home on
Saturday. This is different from any other trip we have made because it is not a normal mission trip. We are going to have a staff retreat. This week, we just added our fourth staff, Leon, and we will get a chance to meet him. We will have time to do planning together, praying together, and playing together. We will be able to spend time with the children of our staff. It is going to be so much fun and hopefully encouraging for our wonderful team who work so hard and tirelessly to share the good news of Jesus.
Love, Beth
Praise God......We are thrilled about what God did in the four prisons:
New Amsterdam Prison had 2 Salvations.
The Women's Prison was special after our team not being able to go for 2 years. If you remember, two of our staff wives, Kay and I went there recently and had 5 salvations. The team was able to go in the afternoon and 68 of the women were available to come to the service. There were 6 salvations.
Lusignan Prison had 4 salvations.
Mazaruni Prison had 2 salvations and they baptized 6. There were more men who had accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized but they were in court yesterday so they will be baptized later.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for God's ministry in Guyana.
Blessings, Beth
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
As you know we went on a mission trip to the jungle both teams are back from another wonderful trip
We had 125 persons give there life to Jesus christ
This week we will be going to 3 prisons tomorrow Wednesday we go to newanserdam prison
Thursday morning we go to lusignan prison and in the afternoon we go to the women's prison for the first time after 2 years
Friday we go to the mazaruni prison and we will have a baptism there
Please pray for all these ministry this week
Thanks for your prayers and support God is doing great things in Guyana
God bless you Jai
Hey Friends,
When I sent the prayer request from Jai yesterday there was one detail we didn't mention because it didn't seem like it would be an issue. BUT...now it is so I am going to share it with you so you can pray.
Michael has applied for a special license to drive our truck but it hasn't come through yet. You don't have to have that document to drive in the savanna so they made the plan that they would leave at 1:00 AM with Jai driving the loaded truck and Michael would follow in our van. Markey and a pastor who is going with Jai to the river villages were with them. They made it to Lethem and swapped drivers so Michael and Markey could go on to the savanna in the truck. Jai headed back to drive to the river where they had a reservation to put the van on the ferry. As Jai was driving, the vehicle in front of him flipped up a piece of medal and it hit the undercarriage and damaged the oil drum. The oil leaked out and Jai had to call Michael to turn around and come back and help him get the van back to Lethem to get patched. When I talked to Jai at 8:30 this morning, that is where he was and Michael and Markey were about to head back out again. Jai changed the reservation to get on the afternoon ferry.
Since he started his trip at 1:00 AM and won't get to the river village until very late, he has decided it is best for them to be able to get some rest and just serve two villages instead of three on this trip. I am so grateful for that decision as I know they need to get some rest after the long hard night and day. Please pray for all the details of this trip. We know God is in control and will direct them each step of the way. Pray for many to come to Christ. I am always amazed how our team is able to trust God and be flexible while having a wonderful attitude. I have learned a lot from them
Both teams are leaving tonight for another trip to the jungle
The team going to the savanna will driving our new (used) truck with supplies to put in the big truck and they will be going to 2 villages and do 4 nights of celebration crusade This truck is a blessing that will allow us to go over the mountain that is south of where we have been ministering, closer to Brazil
The team to the river villages will be going to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade
Please pray for us as we travel on the road river and trails for our safety and for a harvest of sols
Thanks for your prayers and support
God bless you Jai
Dear Ministry Friends,
We are so grateful for having the prayer support of so many of you as we served in Guyana last week. We saw God work in a powerful way even as some of our original plans had to be altered. Our flight left Charlotte 2 1/2 hours late because of bad weather in the Miami area. That caused us to miss our connecting flight to Guyana so we had to spend the night in Miami and were booked on the flight the next evening. That caused us ladies to miss one of our days in the Women’s Prison. Jai was able to pivot and came up with a way for the men to get to the pastor training on time. He hired them a speed boat to make up the time and they were able to reach the village for the Tuesday training as planned. We were so grateful Jai thought of that option. He was going to have them fly but all the planes were full.
There were 20 pastors and a few church workers who attended the three day training. Five of them were new to our training which is a real encouragement and blessing. There were wonderful reports of how much more open and engaging the pastors are now that they have established a relationship with Carl and our team. Carl emphasized how important it is for them to not only make disciples themselves but to shepherd their leaders to do the same. The dominoes will fall so the congregation will catch the vision if the pastor and leaders are very intentional. They seemed excited to strive to put that into practice and continue to work on growing healthy churches, Gene taught a few sessions and had them all laughing with his winsome way of story telling along with making serious points for growth.
There was a lot of one on one conversation to answer individual questions and address any issues the pastors were dealing with. Jai had a chance to speak with each pastor and was very encouraged by how much they have learned and that they are taking the leadership of their churches very seriously. Jai is amazed how Carl can make the lessons so clear and practical.
Markey was not able to go with them as planned because his father had brain surgery a few days before the training so he stayed home to help him. His father was able to go home from the hospital but still needs our prayers. His name is Lloyd.
Now about the ladies….Tracy, Deanna, Kay and Beth…We were thankful to have Michael to drive us back and forth and arrange our meals. He also took care of the sound system for us in the prison. Monday, Michael was driving the men to the boat so we ladies spent time preparing for the lessons and organizing all the art supplies for the lessons. We needed flowers and there were no flower shops so we went for a walk in a neighborhood near the hotel. Two ladies with yards full of flowers graciously let us pick some of their beautiful flowers and along with wild flowers we found on our walk, ended up with a beautiful arrangement to use on Tuesday.
Our lessons on Tuesday were Vulnerability and Forgiveness, When we first arrived, the women were distant and seemed closed off. By the end of our time with them, they were hugging us and wishing we could keep coming back. They enjoyed all the art projects but I will just explain one of them on the topic of Forgiveness. They had a paper and pencil and were told to write a letter that no one else would see. It was to be to someone they needed to forgive or to someone they wished would forgive them, even God. The next step was to tear up the paper however they chose and glue the pieces on another piece of paper making a piece of art that expressed how they felt. They then used acrylic paint to turn it into a work of art. It was amazing how talented they were and how beautiful and varied their creations were.
Wednesday morning we did the lesson on Reconciliation. Wednesday afternoon was to be our praise and worship time and the Bible lesson after which I would explain the plan of salvation. When we arrived, the guard told us someone was in the prison and we had to wait for them to leave so we were 30 minutes late going in. We had the praise music and worship time which was great. One of the inmates has a beautiful voice and she sang for us each day. I began my Bible lesson on God being our Shepherd and why we as sheep desperately need a Shepherd. I was a third of the way through when I received word that we had to leave at 2:30 which meant with our late start, we only had one hours total. I rushed through the bullet points of the lesson because I wanted time to present the plan of salvation. They were very attentive. We didn’t have time to wash feet so left that for the next day, Thursday morning. Since the ladies like to paint, we provided that opportunity while we four ladies washed the inmates feet, thankful that we were not rushed at all while having one on one conversations with them. Many of them poured out their hearts to us. What seemed like a negative situation the day before, having to start late and end early, turning into a blessing with more time for the most important thing we did. FOUR WOMEN ACCEPTED CHRIST and we were able to talk to a lot of the women who were already Christians and encourage them. It was a huge blessing.
The afternoon session, we just played games and enjoyed a warm relationship with them. Their favorite games ended up being Simon Says and one activity we never dreamed they would like. We blew up 6 balloons and told them to work together and keep them in the air as long as they could. Then hilarity began, slowly then built….Before we knew it, inmates of all ages, even those in their 50’s were running around, laughing and squealing and bopping the balloons all around the room and very high in the air. We couldn’t have our phones in the prison so couldn’t take pictures or videos but that scene will forever be a movie in my mind. The women were having fun and acting like they were young children. What a great way to end a great week.
The prison authorities sent us word in the middle of the week that something had come up and we couldn’t come on Friday. SO..we went to the Hararuni Girls Home where we have been often. We took them lunch and did the forgiveness art project. We left the paints so they can enjoy them later.
We had no travel problems coming home so were very grateful for that, Thank you again for praying for us. You are so much a part of this ministry as you approach the Throne on our behalf.
Blessing,
Beth
Hello Friends of Guyana,
I wanted to let you know what happened this week as our team did their ministry in the three men's prisons.
New Amsterdam Prison----5 Salvations
Lusignan Prison--4 Salvations
Mazaruni Prison--8 Salvations
What a wonderful week of ministry. We are praising God for the powerful work the Holy Spirit did, drawing men to Jesus.
Please remember that tomorrow is when we Americans leave for the trip to join our Guyanese friends serving in the Women's Prison and at Pastor Training.
We appreciate your prayers.
Beth
Dear Friends of Guyana,
Please pray for this upcoming trip. We have two simultaneous trips leaving August 9. One is the pastor training trip that Carl Martin does every six months and the other is a new outreach to the Women’s Prison. We are so grateful for Carl’s commitment to go every six months to train pastors in the remote villages of Guyana. Besides being a wonderful teacher, he is so relational with them that they feel they can open up about any issues they are facing. This trip, he will be accompanied by Gene Flack, our church’s retired pastor and he has the same passion that Carl has to see these pastors encouraged and equipped. Jai and Markey will be with them. They will go to Region 1 near Venezuela.
A little background concerning the Women’s Prison….About 18 months ago, our staff was told that they would have to discontinue their weekly visits to the Women’s Prison because a man from some other church group had done something inappropriate and no more men were allowed. It was heartbreaking. When Jai was visiting us in June, we took him to Bluffton, SC to visit the Jones’ and the Martins’. While there, we discussed the issue of the lack of ministry for the women. In a brainstorming session, Kay volunteered to go with me and spend a week working with our staff wives, Tracy and Deanna, to teach the women. We prayed that we could get permission. Kay is an artist and has been trained by Prison Fellowship to lead an art-based ministry for women in prison. Martha Ackerman, the wife of the former President of Prison Fellowship wrote the curriculum.There are 10 sessions in the curriculum. The topics are as follows.
VULNERABILITY, FORGIVENESS, RECONCILIATION, EMOTIONS, EMPATHY, SHAME, SELF DOUBT, PRIDE, ACCOUNTABILITY, and COURAGE
Each lesson is taught by using different types of art. We will also bring in fresh flowers. In some prisons, it has been years since women have seen a flower and it is very meaningful.
Jai went to the Women’s Prison to get permission and the female warden asked him where they had been. She was desperate for our staff to come back. He told her the government had banned them and she said that she would fix that by writing a letter and calling the authorities. Some inmates saw Jai at a distance and started yelling, “PLEASE COME BACK!!!”
Long story short, not only did we ladies get permission to do a week long ministry but now our male staff can go back weekly to teach and encourage them.
Following are the prayer requests for both arms of ministry.
SATURDAY, August 9—Please pray for our travel day. Carl will start in Savannah while Gene Flack, Kay Jones and Beth Puckett will meet Carl in Charlotte and we will all travel to Miami and then to Georgetown. Pray for flights to be on time and for opportunities to engage people we encounter if God opens the door. Pray that our 130 pounds of art supplies will get there safely. We will arrive in Guyana at 11:15 PM. Pray for an easy time getting through customs. The hotel is about an hour’s drive from the airport so we will be very late getting to bed.
SUNDAY—August 10—We will sleep in a little that morning then have our own church service. Michael and Deanna will lead our music and Gene will bring us a sermon as we all prepare to start our Gospel work. After some prayer time together, Carl, Gene, Jai and Markey will drive to Parika and take the 3:00 pm ferry. It is a 2 hour ferry ride to get to the other side of the river. Then they will drive for one more hour to get to Charity where they will spend the night in a hotel. Pray for a good travel day for them.
The ladies will spend time in the afternoon having Kay train us in the assignments we will need to do to assist her teaching and we will get the art materials ready for each day’s different sessions. I am taking 130 pounds of art supplies. Michael is staying with us to be our driver and help any way we need him to. We may have time for some card games for a little relaxation.
MONDAY, August 11-Pray for the men as they leave their vehicle and take a speed boat up the river. They will stop and pick up 14 of the 20 pastors along the way. Three of the 20 pastors who will be there are new to our training. Please pray that they will catch the vision that the other pastors have come to treasure. The boat ride will be 5-6 hours long. Please pray it won’t rain on that stretch of the trip. When they arrive, they will set up in the open air church where they will sleep on blow up mattresses or hammocks. They will set up their kitchen there where Jai will cook for them during their stay.
Pray for the first day of ministry at the prison. There are 55 inmates and they can choose whether they want to attend. We pray most will want to. Some are Hindu and Muslim and may not want to participate. May God draw just the right ladies to the sessions. We will have a morning session, leave for lunch and then go back for an afternoon session. Please also pray for the guards to hear the teaching and also be influenced.
TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, August 12, 13, 14 —Pray that the twenty pastors will be teachable and will retain what they are taught. There will be several sessions each day as well as one on one time for questions and answers with our four team members. They will discuss how to apply what they are learning and listen to concerns the pastors have about their lives and churches. Carl will be using Acts 16 as his launching pad to teach and encourage these pastors. He wants them to be aware of HOW GOD WORKS IN ME, AROUND ME, WITH ME, FOR AND THROUGH ME AS I MINISTER TO HIS PEOPLE. Every time Carl has gone and tells the pastors it is time to end a session, they say they don’t want to stop. Carl is a gifted teacher who knows how to make the Word applicable. The churches these pastors go back to will be blessed to have a pastor who has sat under Carl’s teaching.
At the Women’s Prison we will have morning and afternoon sessions. On Wednesday afternoon, we will forgo the art session and have an evangelism service. Michael and Deanna will do the music and we will have some Christian inmates give their testimonies or sing a song. Then Beth will share a Bible lesson with a Gospel presentation at the end. An explanation of how they can accept Christ as their Savior will be shared. Since our staff hasn’t been there in a year and a half, there are most likely lots of inmates who haven’t heard a clear presentation of the way to have their sins forgiven and how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Please pray for open hearts and decisions.
FRIDAY, August 15—Pray for the Pastor Training Team as they travel back out by boat and ferry and truck to get back to Georgetown.
Pray for the last day of ministry at the Women’s Prison. Kay will teach the 8th lesson from the 10 part series. Our Guyanese team wives will go back and finish the last two Hopefully, by that time, Vanessa will be back with them. She can’t be with us on this trip because she has a newborn at home. For the afternoon session, we are just going to play games with the women. I bet they haven’t had fun playing games in a very long time. We are taking in jump ropes, hula hoops, and will play Simon Says and Charades. We want them to feel our love and encourage them to live for Jesus while they are incarcerated. We want to make sure they know that even though they are behind bars, they can be FREE……
Friday night, we will have a team dinner and share with each other some favorite stories from our week. That is always a highlight.
SATURDAY, August 16— We have a 7:00 AM flight from Georgetown so will have to leave our hotel about 3:30 in the morning. Pray for a good travel day. Thank you for praying for God to supply these pastors with renewed zeal as they serve their congregations and for the inmates. Pray for the women who have made decisions to follow Jesus and for those who need to grow in their Christian maturity. We appreciate all of you who pray for us.
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 in the savanna and the river villages we we had bad weather with heavy rain and thunder storms however God has keep us safe true our the week we had 225 persons give there life to Jesus christ
Thanks for your prayers and support God bless you Jai
Dear Friends of Guyana,
Before I send Jai's prayer request for the two July village trips, I wanted to give you a wonderful answer to prayer. God has been working through His people. Thank you for those who have donated to the needs I mentioned last time. The truck has been funded. The two sound systems have been funded and most of the trips to the Mazaruni prison have been funded. We are so very grateful for the ongoing support, financial and prayer. Now hear from Jai....
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
Both teams are back this week for another mission trip to the jungle the team to the savanna will be leaving tomorrow morning
And the team to the river villages will be leaving Thursday night
Both teams will be going to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade each
Please pray for us as we travel on the road river trail and on the plane for our safety and for a harvest of sols
Thanks for your prayers and support God bless you Jai
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
As you know we went to another mission trip to the jungle both teams are back safely we had some ruff time in the jungle with heavy rain but both teams had a great time
As you know we went to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade each
We had 278 persons give there life to Jesus christ one of the river village we went to there had a jehovah witness church ️ there with 26 members and no pastor all of them come to our celebration crusade And give there life to Jesus christ yesterday witch was Sunday the church door was closed no body went back to that church
We started a church in that village and yesterday they had an attendance of 42
Thanks for your prayers and support God is doing great things in Guyana
God bless you Jai
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
Both teams are leaving for another mission trip to the jungle the team that going to the savanna will be leaving tomorrow morning and the team that going to the river are leaving today Both teams will be going to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade
Please pray for us as we travel on the road river trail and in the air for our safety and for a harvest of sols
God bless you Jai
Greetings Friends of Guyana,
I have some very exciting updates to tell you a about. Jai came to the US for a visit and told us about the wonderful blessings that are happening in our ministry and of some needs that if met, will allow even more Kingdom work to take place.
Here are the needs followed by an explanation of why they are critical so we can be more effective in our work in Guyana.
***Used*** clothing donations if you live in the Charlotte area
***Money to buy reading glasses
***$600 to pay for a monthly trip to a distant prison
***$15,000 to pay for tariffs and shipping to Guyana for a Tacoma that was donated
Checks to:
International Celebration Assn.
62777 Carolina Commons Dr.
Indian Land, SC 29707
or
Zelle to:
bethwpuckett@gmail.com
The work in the two areas of the country where our teams are doing work in the villages continues to reap huge harvests. Jai updated our map with red dots showing all the places we have done ministry throughout the country. There are about 500 places now and we will keep going until Jesus comes. We want every Guyanese to have a chance to hear the Gospel and be discipled. We continue to need used clothing to take into these villages. If you live in the Charlotte / Indian Land / Fort Mill area, please text me to set up a time I can pick up or meet you. I will be out of town until June 26 so text me after that at 561-301-4111. We also need to buy more reading glasses to take to these villages. We pay $1 per pair so if you would like to help buy glasses, we would love for you to donate.
Jai reported that our prison ministry is having amazing results. You have seen some numbers in my reports but to recap, in May, there were 44 inmates who accepted Christ from 3 different prisons. Every week, our team goes to New Amsterdam Prison which is located near Jai’s home and to Lusignan which is 2 1/2 hours away. The third prison, Mazaruni, is a very long distance away and over the years, we have only gone about 4 times a year. We decided we want to go more often so started going every other month. It requires a long journey with overnight in a hotel and renting a boat that has to wait on the team and then bring them back. It costs about $600 for each of these trips. The high profile inmates are housed there so instead of having a group of about 100 like the other prisons, they can only have about 25-30 at a time. The warden at Mazaruni is a Christian and is thrilled we are coming more often. He has asked if we can come every month. We have decided we want to do that but need help with the extra trips which are $600 each.
Last month Jai had planned a sermon to preach in the prisons. Michael, our musician, sang before he preached. The song was “Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me”. The Holy Spirit spoke to Jai’s heart and clearly told him to preach a sermon about the message of that song rather than the one he had planned. He used John 3:16 as his text and told about God loving each of us, no matter what we have done or crimes that have been committed. The response was overwhelming and there were many decisions to accept Christ.
In the Savanna, region 9 toward Brazil, we have reach as far as we can in our large truck that we keep there. The next frontier is over a mountain and we need a 4 wheel truck. Jai let that need be known while here and we expressed that we would start raising money to buy a Tacoma in Guyana. It would be about $30,000 for a used truck with 100,000 miles on it. The vehicles are more expensive there because of the tariffs to bring them in. ***God did a very special thing**** A generous couple decided they wanted to donate their 2016 Tacoma with 67,000 miles. WHAT A HUGE BLESSING. The tariffs and shipping will be about $15,000 so we will have a wonderful truck for half the price. We are so amazed at how God continues to bless His work in Guyana.
Our other need is for two sound systems each costing $500 so total of $1000. One will be used in the prisons they visit weekly because they gave the one they used to be kept in the work in the Region 1 village ministry. The other will be kept at Mazaruni prison. The Christian warden asked if we could provide one so they could have Sunday services there. Some of the inmates can play music and the sound system will be used to play the sermons from our Messengers that were provided by InTouch. It has 220 of Charles Stanley’s sermons on it. This is a wonderful chance for these inmates to grow in their newfound faith and for others to find out more about how to accept Christ.
I know this is a lot but I want you to be informed so you know the amazing things God keeps doing in Guyana.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
Blessings,
Beth
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
Both teams are back from another wonderful trip because of bad weather we could a only go to 2 villages each and do 4 nights of celebration crusade
Both teams reach some difficult times with the heavy flow in the river And on the trail we know you was praying for us thank God we are back home safe
We had 213 persons give there life to Jesus christ
Thanks for your prayers and support
God bless you Jai
Before I send you Jai's prayer request for the two May trips, I wanted to encourage you by sending you the results of the prison visits the last two weeks. Last week, there were 13 inmates who accepted Christ and this week, there were 18 salvations. We are praising God for drawing these to Himself.
Now here is Jai's email I just received.
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
Both teams are leaving for another trip to the jungle
The team that going to the river villages will be leaving tomorrow morning and the team that going to the savanna will leaving Monday morning
Both teams will be going to 3 villages and do 6 nights of celebration crusade each
Please pray for us as we travel on the road river trail and on the plane for our safety and for a harvest of sols
Thanks for your prayers and support
God bless you Jai
ANSWERED PRAYERS FOR THE APRIL TRIP
Thank all of you who supported us in prayer as we served the children of the Region 9 in the Savannah close to Brazil. It was so evident that we had an enormous amount of prayer cover. We are still basking in the amazing work the Lord did.
Our team verse was so special as we were able to pour into the next generation and exalt our Father.
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders He has done.”
Psalm 78:4b
I will give the wonderful results and then tell you some of the specifics:
We interacted with approximately 260 children. We are not exactly sure because there are a lot of moving parts on crowded pews and young children moving around. We had the absolute blessing of washing each child’s feet and while talking to them, 80 children prayed to receive Christ. We gave all their names to the pastors or Sunday School teachers so they can continue teaching them to grow in their faith. We also had 7 adults accept Christ. Five of them responded when Jai preached at their Sunday morning service and a set of parents who brought their children to the event stayed after and talked with Jai and accepted Jesus.
The children were exceptionally well behaved and attentive!!!! We got lots of hugs and the biggest smiles we have ever seen.
Blair did a wonderful job of serving on her first mission trip. She led the fun games. There were jump ropes, hula hoops and “Sharks and minnows”. She also showed some who were interested how to do some gymnastics tricks. She also helped with measuring feet and handing out flip flops to the children who then got in line to come have their feet washed. During the washing is when we had a chance to talk to each child individually and offer answers to their questions. That is when the 80 children individually prayed with our team to receive Jesus.
Here is the way the events unfolded. First we tied a salvation bracelet on each child and adult who came. Then we were introduced and greeted warmly. We sang three fun songs that have lots of motions. Next I taught the Bible story. We tied beards on “Jesus and his disciples”. Next Louie had Jesus heal a child who pretended to be blind and one who pretended to be lame. Then Jesus and the disciples got into the pretend boat and Jesus went to sleep. The violent storm came and the disciples rocked and swayed to the waves and some children behind the boat threw popper packing material that had been shredded to be rain. Then came the pie tins that sounded like thunder when the cue was given for children to beat them to make the noise. It was very effective when Jesus stood and held up His had and calmed the storm and the thunder and let the disciples know they didn’t have to be afraid. Our application was that even though Jesus was with them in the boat, they still had a huge storm. They could still trust Jesus to take care of them. In our lives, even though we have Jesus, we will have storms and problems but we can trust Jesus to be there with us and get us through whatever comes along.
Next I explained the plan of Salvation in a simple way using the colors of the beads on the bracelets. Then we washed each child’s feet and had our conversations. We never try to push a child to make a decision. Only the Holy Spirit can draw them. When we finished the foot washing, we went out for games. Each of the events were so wonderful.
It was an adventure for all of us to use outdoor bath facilities under the stars and sleep on the blow up mattresses on the floor of the open air church and community center.
Now….two highlight stories.
1- When I told the children where our Bible story was found in the Scripture, one little boy about 10 years old grabbed the Bible off the pew and said he wanted to look it up and follow along. I found that so very encouraging!!!
2-At one village, the water for the washing bowls had to be hauled from a distance. There was not enough water for the last bowl so I decided to hang back and not wash that time. The singing and Bible story were finished and in walked a 7 year old boy brought by his older brother and sister. I spoke to him briefly about what we had learned and then he got in line to be measured for his flip flops and foot washing. I went over to his older siblings who had settled on a bench to wait for him. As I talked to them about the Gospel, his brother said he had made a decision for Christ. His sister listened carefully and decided she wanted to pray and accept Jesus into her life and be forgiven of her sins. As the brother listened to the conversation and prayer, he looked at me and said he actually had not understood before and that he would like to pray too. SO, both older siblings accepted Christ and will be at that church to continue to learn and grow. I am praising God that we didn’t have enough water for the last bowl so I was available to spend time with the older siblings. Watching God take care of every detail is so very humbling.
Our American team and Guyanese team had a wonderful time working together, each person doing what needed to be done. Lots of love and memories were generated.
Our air travel was great and no germs caused any illness. We were blessed beyond our expectations. Again, thank you for praying. We are grateful to you, our ministry friends.
2025 PRAYER GUIDE FOR APRIL TRIP TO GUYANA
Dear Ministry Friends,
We are heading out to Region 9 which is near the Brazil border. It is grassland, cattle and farms. During the last pastor training, Steve asked the 10 pastors what their prayer requests were and all 10 separately told him they would like to do something special for the children at their churches. Our granddaughter, Blair Puckett, has always had a heart for Guyana and longed to go but on our regular trips, 14 is the youngest allowed because of the restrictions in the prisons. We decided to do a different trip so Blair could go and also so we could fulfill the prayer requests of the 10 pastors.
Our team verse is:
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders He has done.”
Psalm 78:4b
Here is our team so you can pray by name:
Blair Puckett Jai Ramnauth
Allen Cleveland Tracy Ramnauth
Louie Matthews Alex Seunarine
Steve Puckett Markie Dyal
Beth Puckett Deanna Dyal
Our other staff member, Michael Ramsaywack and his wife Vanessa can’t go with us because they have a baby girl due at the same time as the trip. Please pray for them as they have their first child.
These 10 villages were visited by Alex and Michael in the past with 2 day and night events, music, gospel preaching and distribution of used clothing, reading glasses, Bibles and flip flops. These villages have also had two pastor training sessions, one with Carl Martin and the other with the InTouch staff.
Here is our trip plan so you can pray each day for us.
SATURDAY, April 12—Tracy, Jai, Deanna and Markie will fly from Georgetown to Lethem to get things set us for us at the church where we will be staying for the first portion of our trip. They will set up a kitchen and our blow up mattresses and hang their hammocks. It will be in the village of Arinaputa, about two hours drive from Lethem. These are open air churches.
The US team will fly from Charlotte to Miami and then on to Georgetown, Guyana, arriving at 11:05 PM. Pray customs lines aren’t long. Alex will meet us. Our hotel in Georgetown is an hour away so it will definitely be early morning before we get to bed.
SUNDAY, April 13—Luckily our Sunday morning flight from Georgetown to Lethem isn’t until mid morning so we can sleep in a little and have a nice breakfast. Our hotel has a GREAT breakfast buffet. While we travel on the small plane from Georgetown to Lethem, our 4 team members who are already there will lead the Sunday morning church service. When we arrive, it is a two hour ride on the trail to Arinaputa where we will stay for three nights.
Sunday afternoon at 3:30 we will have our first children’s outreach at ARINAPUTA. I will tell you about it so you can picture what we will do at each of the ten events. We will spend about 2 hours at each event.
First we will have some fun songs with motions and they will point to Jesus. Next we will have a Bible story from Mathew 8:23-27 where the disciples were so scared in the terrible storm while they were in the boat with a sleeping Jesus. We will act out the story with a fitted sheet being the boat and disciples with beards. The thunder will be provided by pie tins and the rain will be plastic popper packing. We will talk a lot about even though Jesus was with them there was still a storm but they didn’t have to be scared because Jesus could take care of them. In our lives, we WILL have storms but but we can always trust Jesus to get us through them.
Next we will go over the plan of salvation using the colors of the the beads on the bracelets they will each be given. Here are the meaning of the colors.
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 repent and 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.
We do not try to force any child to make a decision but want them to know what the Bible teaches. Next we will wash their feet and give them new flip flops. While we wash, we will talk to them and see if they have questions and see if any of them want to pray to receive Jesus. Those who do will be followed up with by their pastor.
Next, we will play games….We have jump ropes, hula hoops and relay races planned. Each child will get a big balloon with a string tied to it. We have found that they treasure having a balloon to carry home.
That will be our plan for each event.
Each evening, we will have dinner at the church and spend time with our team. Jai is a GREAT COOK!!! We will have team time which is a favorite of our Guyana teams. We will each take time to share our testimony and/or tell what God is doing in our lives.
MONDAY, April 14—We will be at two churches and can’t wait to meet the children there. We will drive from Arinaputa to these locations.
8:30—WOWETTA village
1:00—KWATAMANG village
TUESDAY, April 15—Drive from our home base to these villages:
8:30—RUPERTEE village
1:00—ANNAI village
WEDNESDAY, April 16—We will pack up before we drive to our next event because after it, we will drive to a different area and set up at a second church to stay the rest of the time.
8:30—MASSARA village
3:00—MOCHA MOCHA village
THURSDAY, April 17—We are doing these two villages earlier because we have an afternoon excursion.
8:00—SAN IGNATIUS #1 village
10:30—SAN IGNATIUS #2 village
After lunch, we will have the wonderful opportunity of going to a beautiful stream with a waterfall to enjoy some rest and relaxation before going back to the church for our last night there.
FRIDAY, April 18— This is our last of the ten churches that we will be serving.
8:30—TABATINGA village
When we finish the outreach, we will have lunch, pack up and head back to Lethem to the airport to fly back to Georgetown where we will be back in the hotel with a bed and shower!!!! In the villages we will have been using the outhouse and taking bucket showers.
SATURDAY, April 19—We will sleep as late as we like and have the great breakfast. We will walk over to the sea wall that is across the street from the hotel and go visit the largest wooden church in the world that is in downtown Georgetown. We will do a little souvenir shopping and then have a special team lunch at a nice restaurant. At this lunch, we will each take time to share with the group the favorite memory of the week. On our trips, this is always a very memorable time. After that, we will go back to the hotel and probably play some games. It will be early to bed because we will need to wake up at about…
SUNDAY, April 20–…2:30 am to get ready and drive the hour back to the airport for a 6:00 am flight. Please pray for an easy travel day. We will get back to Charlotte at 3:50 pm.
Thank you for praying for these specifics. Pray for good health, safety and that many children and even parents who are standing around listening will come to accept Christ or desire to serve Him passionately.
Hay ministry friends greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus christ
We are back from another wonderful trip from the jungle as you know both teams went to 3 villages each and do 6 nights of celebration crusade each
The team to the savanna had 305 persons give there life to Jesus christ it was very big villages and the turnout was great
Also the team to the river had 188 persons give there life to Jesus christ this was smaller villages but the turnout was great also
Thanks for your prayers and support the harvest in Guyana is still ripe and ready
God bless you Jai
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
