Sunday, January 20, 2013

A New Day for G.A.M.E.

Taking the gospel the furthest corners of Guyana through the use of a small airplane
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Taking a Little Time Off

Our family will be traveling to the United States for a little time off. . .  We've been here in Guyana for almost 18 months, and we're ready for a little break.  We'll be flying out of Timehri International Airport on February 7 and returning back on April 10.  We'll be staying in the Northwest along the coast, but if you would like to schedule a mission emphasis Sabbath at your church we would be willing to try and come to your location.  Our message this year will focus on the topic of living by faith and how each of us are called to be God's end time missionary people.  Please let us know early if you're interested in having us speak at your church, so we can try work out a schedule to accommodate everyone.  We'll only be in the States for only eight weeks.  Thank you.

Upper Mazaruni Youth Congress

I have a special place in my heart for youth rally's because 22 years ago I gave my heart to Christ at a youth rally in Spokane Washington...    This year the Guyana Conference hosted a huge rally in Waramadong village in Region 7.  What we usually do to support these sorts of events is fly the featured speakers to the closest airstrip, so they catch a boat up to the village.  But we're also called upon to carry sound equipment, baggage, food, gasoline, and people who aren't able to walk long distances.  After the event, we have to do it all over again going the other way!  In the picture above, the gentleman on the far left is the youth minister for the Guyana Conference.  The other two were guest speakers.  At the conclusion of the youth congress 45 young people were baptized.

Branch Sabbath School

If you were to go to the Sophia neighbourhood you would find lots of poor kids playing in the streets...   They have nothing better to do with themselves, so we've started doing a branch sabbath school outreach to help them learn about Jesus.  We've been averaging about 25-30 kids every week.  Since we've started this outreach, we're starting to see a change in these kids.  Some will come up after the program and give us a huge hug.  Even the most mischievous kids are listening carefully to the stories, and singing.

Saying Goodbye 

Four days ago we said goodbye to two volunteer mechanics who did a tremendous job with our aircraft annual inspection...   Terry and Geoff are both from Coshocton Ohio, and they came down to Guyana for two weeks to work on our Cessna 182 to get it ready for another year of ministry.  Terry (right) is an FAA licensed authorized inspector (I.A.) who works with Missionary Maintenance Service Aviation (MMS Aviaton).  Geoff (left) is from the U.K. but is staying in Coshocton as part of the MMS apprenticeship program.   Both men are very dedicated, godly men, whose goal is to prepare people and planes for mission service.  You can learn more about MMS at their website.

Prayer Requests

  • Pray for the successful checkout of Clif Brooks our newest GAMAS pilot.
  • Pray that our print equipment comes out of customs this week.
  • Pray that we can quickly get a muffler and other parts to complete the annual inspection on the airplane.
  • Pray for D.J and Jodi Knott as they finish up an annual inspection on another Cessna 182 and fly it to Guyana.
  • Pray for God's blessing and wisdom as we try and wrap up everything in preparation for our trip back to the States.

A New Day for G.A.M.E.

Happy New Year everyone!   We've been very busy during this holiday season fixing up a new apartment for our new media ministry.  In fact,  on Christmas day no less, Mike Manuel and a team of volunteer staff from Siparuta Mission Academy, began prepping the interior of the apartment for a fresh coat of paint.  They also patched up leaky zinc roof with tar, and replaced some rotten ceiling panels.  

For those who haven't heard the whole story, Guyana Adventist Media Evangelism (G.A.M.E.) started almost by accident a year ago when (on a divine impulse) I decided to share some free dramatized bible stories at a local Guyanese Youth Congress.  No sooner did I publicly announce that I had some thrilling bible stories to give away, then I was mobbed by young and old alike, each asking for a copy.  After eight hours of non-stop copying of files, a bigger vision for the need of a media ministry began to gel in my mind.

On my next missionary flight to the deep South, I retrieved a DVD replicator that we had stored in Lethem.  Soon we were copying and freely distributing thousands of DVD's containing sermons and training seminars.  So far, we've copied and handed out videos by David Asscherick, Mark Finley, Doug Batchlor, Walter Veithe, and we've even replicated some sermons in a local Amerindian dialect!  God has richly blessed our small efforts and as of this moment we've burned and distributed about 10,000 DVD's and CD's!

But while this was all happening, God also planted in my heart another vision to expand into the realm of print.  I even went so far as to research online what the best high-volume digital laser printers were.  But when I saw the high cost of these printers, my faith faltered, and I quickly decided to put the plan on hold.  Somewhere along the way, the Lord must have decided to that we had waited long enough, because nine months ago I received a surprise phone call, out of the blue, from someone in the States.  After identifying himself, the gentleman stated that God had put on his heart a burning desire to see a printing ministry set up in Guyana.  After my shock wore off we talked for over an hour about how this could become a reality.

Within two weeks of that first conversation, two laser printers, a paper cutter, a folding machine, and a stapler were all purchased by a generous donor and shipped, completely free of charge, to our ministry here in Guyana!  

A month ago I got a phone call from a local shipping company, confirming that the crate containing all the equipment has safely arrived in Georgetown.  We hope to have it out of customs by this next week.  Praise the Lord!

When the crate was enroute from Florida to Georgetown, I knew in the back of my mind that I had another problem on my hand.  We desperately needed to find a place to set up all the equipment.  Our little apartment was simply too small to even think of setting up print shop.  But the Lord had already anticipated this.  Five weeks ago as I was driving around town doing some errands, I received a cell phone call from an elderly lady asking if I wanted to take over a rental agreement that she had.  She had been renting an apartment, but decided that she didn't want to renew her yearly lease agreement, and just happened to call me to ask if I wanted to take it over.  By that very afternoon I had met the owner, and we had signed a new contract.  

While the the rent is really low, the apartment has needed some help to get it into a good working condition.  But thanks to Mike Manuel and the team from Siparuta, we're most of the way to where we need to be.

Two weeks ago, the Lord moved mightily again.

As I was contemplating the long range future of this ministry, it has became increasingly apparent to me that we need a full time stipend worker to operate all this new equipment.  Basically we need someone responsible who can work 8am - 5pm, five days a week, keeping the equipment humming nicely.  

Finding such a person isn't an easy task.  They have to be totally reliable, and utterly trust worthy since they will essentially working alone, and will be handling thousands of dollars worth of equipment and supplies. 

The Lord has once again moved before us and has already impressed someone to help with this ministry! 

First, you must understand that my wife and I have been very careful not to spread around the news that we were looking to hire someone.  In a poor country like Guyana, the moment you mention something about a stipend job, you will have people lining up to ask for the job!  We really wanted the Lord to be the one who selected the person, since it is so crucial to the success of the ministry

So two weeks ago, we were casually talking with a young Guyanese couple and asking what their long term plans were, the young gentleman shot a nervous glance at his wife, and said, "I'd like to help you with your new media ministry."  I was completely shocked, since we hadn't breathed a word about hiring anyone.  As I tried to give an appropriate response, it slowly began to dawn on me.  This is the perfect person!  This young man is already the manager of a store, so he's used to very hard work.   The owner trusts him implicitly with thousands of U.S. dollars worth of goods, because he has a moral character like Joseph.  But best of all he has an incredible missionary spirit, always wanting to go out on Sabbath afternoons to do branch sabbath school.  Incidentally, he is making good money right now, much more than he would if he were working for our ministry.  So the stipend we would pay him would not be a "strong motivator" for taking this position.  He's really in it for the ministry aspect.

It's clear that the Lord isn't just leading us forward.  He's almost pushing us forward!  This reminds me of what it says in Isa 65:24

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."



New Aviation Video

Three months ago a volunteer videographer filmed a new documentary video...  You can watch the GAMAS Aviation 2012 video online at Youtube.   If you would like a hard copy of this video and four other GAMAS projects, please email me personally and we can send you some DVD's to share out.  

Join the Team

If you would like to help the missionary work go forward, you can send a tax deductible donation to:  Gospel Ministry International, PO Box 506, Collegedale Tennessee 37315.  Kindly write on a separate note that it is for Guyana Aviation Evangelism project (GAVE)
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