Dear Ministry Friends,
How blessed we were to see God work in such a powerful way on this trip. Thank you for your faithful prayers. As you may remember, we were supposed to spend 4 days in Camp Street Prison during our two weeks. Exactly one week before our trip, that prison burned to the ground. There are several miracles surrounding this event. The first it that not one inmate was hurt in the fire. Six guards were injured by prisoners attempting to escape and one of the guards died in the hospital due to a gunshot wound. The fire was started by six inmates who had an escape plan.
The next miracle is that Jai and his team were able to reschedule 4 days of ministry and we were blessed by each place and saw why God had us there. We were also able to bless the prison where most of the men from Camp Street were re-housed. International Celebration donated over 1200 pair of shoes, 1200 toothbrushes and tubes of tooth paste, and a truck load of toilet paper. We love these prisoners and wanted to help them. The inmates lost everything!
You prayed for Yvonne whose mother was at the point of death as she stepped on the plane. Thank you, God, that she didn’t die while Yvonne was in Guyana. Another blessing.
During the two weeks, we washed the feet of 1,260 children.There were 394 SALVATIONS!!!!
These were mostly children that we talked to one on one as we washed their feet. There were 40 adult salvations during two evening Celebration Services. There were also 3 members of the staff at our hotel who accepted Christ as team members shared with them and one hotel guest who received Christ. What a blessing to see people in all different settings ready to hear the Gospel and accept Jesus.
We were encouraged at Friendship Community Church as we found out that the leaders there are already connected to Child Evangelism and the children who received Christ with us will have an opportunity to do follow up Bible study through Child Evangelism.
Now I will tell you about two of the places that we ministered as a result of the prison burning. We had never heard of Mahaica Girls’ Home but God brought it Jai’s attention as he and his team prayed about what we were to do the four days that were now available. This home houses girls that have been taken from their homes because of abuse or abandonment and there were about 80 girls. We had a time of music, fun songs, and a sermon by our new staff member, Dave. There was one girl in particular that had a very downcast face and literally blank eyes. Megan tried to engage her with a fun ukulele song that stops and asks girls their names. She wouldn’t even speak her name. Before we left, we saw this young girl go from what I have just described to a joyful teenager, smiling, singing, dancing and jumping around. What made the difference? She finally opened up a little during the one on one foot washing, asked Jesus to be the Lord of her life and then spent a lot of fun time with the team, talking and singing and joking. We will never forget that glorious transformation!
The second event that happened at Mahaica where we weren’t scheduled to go had to do with a 14 year old named Kelly Ann. She asked one of our Guyanese team members to pray for her because she was having terrible nightmares every night and waking to the idea that she needed to commit suicide. As our team member prayed, Kelly Ann started to shake. While Kelly Ann sat across from a team member to have her feet washed, the story of the nightmares and suicidal thoughts came up again. Two team members were dealing with her and praying when it was evident that something troubling was going on. Jai was summoned and as he talked to her, he was able to identify that she was possessed by a demon. He has had a lot of experience with demon possession as it is prevalent in many places he goes. Jai, Dave and two ladies from our team took Kelly Ann into the first aid room where there was a small bed and for an hour, pled the blood of Jesus over Kelly Ann and did spiritual battle with that demon that finally left. We knew the work was done when Kelly Ann was able to repeat the phrase JESUS IS LORD without having another manifestation start up.
This is the first time we have encountered a demon on one of our summer trips. God had jobs for each team member during this important time. Four dealt with Kelly Ann, several covered them in prayer and the rest of the team played and sang with the girls so they wouldn’t be trying to come look in the window of the room and see what was going on. There was a lot of important bonding that took place there with the team and the girls that solidified our love and care for them.
Please pray for Kelly Ann, for her salvation and for protection for her. Jai and Dave each separately felt like God was calling them to go back to Mahaica Girl’s Home regularly, hopefully every Sunday to do Bible study and mentoring with these girls. Since there will be Sundays that they are on village trips, those weeks, they would go a different day. Jai and Dave would love to make that commitment even though they don’t live near there. The Sophia Children’s Home is near Mahaica and they will go there every Sunday as well. That will be about 180 children that they would impact each week.
Tomorrow, Jai and Dave are going to Georgetown to seek permission to go into these government run homes. Please pray that they will find favor and will be granted permission. Also, it will cost about $300 dollars for them to go four times a month for this ministry opportunity. The gas is expensive and there are bridge fees as well. This is not in our budget so would you please consider whether God is leading you to make a monthly donation to help with this need? If so, please make your check out to International Celebration Assn. and mail to Beth Puckett, 8333 Providence Rd., Charlotte, NC 28277.
The other ministry event we had because of having to cancel the prison ministry was to go back to the juvenile detention center, NOC (New Opportunity Corps) for a second visit. The first week, we had an evangelistic service and decided to go back the second week for follow up and fun through games. It is encouraging for these teens to see that we care enough to come back. Dave preached a challenging sermon about teen issues and then we played games. Megan has worked with youth for years and was a Godsend as a team member. She took charge of this event. She had the most fun games for them to play as three teams competed. The only thing that was more fun than seeing the youth was seeing how much fun the staff of the NOC had. They were cheering and jumping and dancing around like crazy. What a blessed afternoon.
Jai and Dave would also like to go back to the NOC often to continue mentoring and challenging these teens. Some have accepted Christ and others have had seeds planted. We would love to have an ongoing presence there. Jai and Dave would love to go back there twice a month. The cost would be $300 per month. It would have been more but Jai and Dave would be willing to take the ferry rather than the more expensive speedboat. They would leave about 1:00 AM to get in line for the 5AM ferry. They would go to the NOC and minister to the juvenile delinquents and then catch the 4:00PM ferry back and get home about 9:00PM. Please pray that as they go to Georgetown tomorrow, the government will give them permission to do this. If it is approved, we would also need help with this expense. If your heart is touched by these youth needing ongoing teaching and encouragement, please consider giving a monthly check to pay for this part of the ministry. Again, if you feel led, make your check out to International Celebration Assn. and mail to Beth Puckett, 8333 Providence Rd. Charlotte, NC 28277. It would be such a blessing.
Each team members experienced special moments that will be memories forever and people who are impressed on our hearts. We all pray that God will continue to make himself known in Guyana. May this country of less than 800,000 continue to be flooded with the Gospel of Christ and may the Great Commission be reached, that every Guyanese hear the truth of how he or she can have a personal, life changing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Thank you so much for praying for our trip and please continue to pray for our Guyanese team as they monthly take the good news to the remote villages all over this country.
