Dear Ministry Friends,
It thrills me to be able to write this report of what God did on our recent trip. To those of you who prayed, thank you so very much.
Our team verse was Psalm 16:11. “You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” It was our pleasure to be able to tell many people how they could get on the path of life and be filled with joy and have eternal pleasure.
First I will give you the amazing statistics of what God did and then give you a few stories that thrilled our souls.
NOC (juvenile detention center)-32 SALVATIONS
MEN’S PRISON- 40 SALVATIONS and 32 BAPTISMS
WOMEN’S PRISON-32 SALVATIONS and 21 BAPTISMS
CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES---266 SALVATIONS
ADULTS who we met along the way—3 SALVATIONS
TOTAL---373 new brothers and sisters in Christ
Each year, there are many stories that are highlights. There is no way to tell them all but here are a few I want to share.
1---We were doing a two-day event at Liverpool Community Center. The first day we had children from one area and they were given colored wristbands ahead of time to identify the day they were supposed to come. The next day, children from another area came with another colored band. A very encouraging and amazing thing happened the second day. Bonnie Cleveland washed the feet of two children, a young girl and a teenage boy, who told the same story. If you remember from the daily prayer sheet, we shared the plan of salvation using the salvation bracelets with the colored beads explaining sin, Jesus’ blood, purity, heaven and Christian growth. She asked them about their understanding of accepting Jesus and having their sins forgiven using their bracelets. Both of them said that they had already done that. She expected them to say that they did it at church or with a Christian parent but each said that they prayed the night before in their bed and asked Jesus to forgive them and be their Savior. She never really got where the young girl got the information to do that but the teenage boy told us that his friend had come the day before to our event. His friend had shared the message on his bracelet with this friend and told him that he had accepted Jesus. The teenage boy from the first day had shared Christ with his friend and the Holy Spirit had done HIS work. That was such a huge encouragement to our team as we know that children comprehend the Gospel message and lives are being changed.
2---At the New Amsterdam prison, we had a first. Usually different men come each day but this time, we had some new men each day but many men kept coming back to our service. The worship services were electric with the power of the Holy Spirit. There was no question that HE was present. The songs and testimonies were so worshipful, encouraging and convicting. Jai’s message was very clear each day and many prisoners fell under conviction, realizing that they needed forgiveness. They realized that they could be free even though they were behind bars.
The second day, an amazing thing happened after the baptism. About 7-8 men stood around and began to ask us questions about the Christian life, seeking to be taught deeper things. Now we know for sure why God prompted Kristi to finish her Bible study and have it published before we left. The first day, we had given a copy to the few Christian prisoner leaders. They had already started looking at it and asking when she planned on writing a second one. They had talked to many of the prisoners and estimated that about 25 would like to do the 6-week Bible study. They know it would be a serious commitment. It only got better when we went back to the men’s prison a third day. There were 25 more men who had come forward with interest so now, 50 prisoners will do Kristi’s Bible study. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!
In the Women’s prison, we had 19 of the 90 ladies sign up for Kristi’s Bible study but we weren’t sure who would lead it because there didn’t seem to be a real leader among the ladies. God blessed us with a solution. The schoolteacher who was there the day we did our service is a Christian and said that she would lead the study if she could get permission. The officer who could grant that permission was sitting at a desk a few yards away and readily gave the permission, (she was also a Christian). PRAISE GOD AGAIN!!!!!!
These are just a few of the highlight stories. We all came away with our hearts full and stories of our own. God blessed us with good weather and a wonderful team. Jai had his 44th birthday while we were there and we were able to celebrate with him.
Thank you all for your prayers for this ministry. May God continue to draw Guyana to Himself?
