[Guyana-Mission-Report] Expanding Fronts

This last Sabbath was our first worship service in the new church.  I was a little worried that we would get lost in the building, so I encouraged the members to invite a friend.  One small oversight...  I forgot that we didn't have enough benches!  Many people happily sat on the new concrete floor for the service.  One of our church members is from a neighboring village five miles to the South.  This village (Marurinau) is staunch Catholic and has steadfastly opposed other church groups building a church in their village.  But we'll be starting a bible study group in the home of our member, and eventually this will include weekend services.  Who says we need a church building!  We are the church! As time goes by I hear of other strange groups that are making evangelistic overtures in other villages.  Just recently we heard of a strange new group that has come to Rupinau just an hour away from us.  This group purports to have a prophet who has the OT Shekinah Glory following him around.  They've been handing out CD's of this guy preaching.  I listened to half of one message, which was just enough to determine that this guy was completely out to lunch.  But the sad reality is that many of these dear Amerindians don't have a firm bible base and they have a hard time determining the difference between a true and a false prophet.  This week I plan to fly over to Rupinau to visit with the village toshao, but I also want to meet with the family that is getting all mixed up with these erroneous doctrines. Please pray for our work.  Nothing comes easy. Nothing... James James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Church building Shea Style

Here are some pictures of the new church 1.  Carrying Sand five hundred feet from the sand pit to the church site.  We had 3 tractor loads of sand transported to the church site, but as the contractors continued to work, that sand disappeared in a hurry.  It became clear that we needed to get another 50 wheelborrows of sand.  The church members rose to the occasion.  Some of the members started at midnight, and others at 3am.  By the time I took this picture at 7:30am we were pretty much done with the sand and one of our members was goofing around carrying his wife in the borrow.   2.  We had to dig backfill for the stage area.  After the sand was complete we all started digging and filling in the stage area.  Some didn't have even a bucket, so they used old cement sacks, bucket lids, pots, etc.    3.  This is the backfill compactor.  Fairly primative, but very effective!  After a while of doing this, the arms complain!  I would do this a while and then jump around and give my legs a workout.  Of course everyone thought that was the funniest thing in the world, and they laughed and laughed.   4.  By 9am this last Sunday we were all done and ready for breakfast!  Notice the new cement floor at the bottom of the picture.   5.  When our bible worker made the temporary doors, they were an inch to big.  As you can see in the picture, its no big deal if you have a Stihl 051.   James James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] It happened again

Well it happened again.  I came out with a medevac yesterday only to find out that there's a mini-fuel shortage in Lethem again!  Had to overnight to wait for more trucks to arrive from Georgetown.  I've gotta do something about this, because this is getting crazy! I'm excited to announce that the interior of the Shea Church is done!  Praise God.  In about two weeks, the roof was put on, the interior walls completely plastered, and the floor and rostrum poured.  The professionals that we hired from Aishalton to help with the project, did it for a discount since, the one guy is related to our bible worker.  Most of our members pitched in, working long hours hauling sand and mixing cement.  Some of them worked 12am to 3am so that the contractors would have the sand they needed.  Now that's commitment!  The contractors themselves worked till midnight one night with a small generator and a couple bare light bulbs so that they could do the entire floor in one pour.  The next day the one guy showed up at the health clinic to get his fingers wrapped.  The lime in the cement had made his fingers pretty raw. One day we hired the tractor to come from a neighboring village to get some loads of sand.  I was going to hire some guys in the village to come and help load the trailer, but there wasn't a sober guy in the village.  (Sigh)  That's one of the terrible scourges of our village.  It's become so bad that Shea has built up a reputation for being an alcoholic village.  We need a twelve step program in the worst way, especially for the men.  I'm dead serious when I say, that I don't know if a single day or night goes by that there isn't a party going on somewhere in the village.  Since we couldn't hire any guys we had 4 guys pitching sand from 11am to 4:30pm.  It was brutally hot, but we were able to get the job done, by the grace of God. There's still quite a bit of finishing work to do.  We've got an Out-house to build, the outside walls to plaster, paint, inside & outside, pews to build, chairs for the rostrum, a pulpit, windows to install, etc.  We're hoping to have a church dedication by the early part of this next year. Must run, James James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] SMS from 881631851557@msg.iridium.com

shea update = church walls plaster today. zink roof also goes on today. trying 2 set up sm. engine pump 2 bail our well. out of water & lots of sandfls @

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[Guyana-Mission-Report] Pictures from the Trip

Here's some pictures from our trip across the Caribbean to Guyana. #1 - My cousin Luke and I somewhere over the blue green waters of Nasau #2 - Lifting off into the golden sunrise of our first leg in our trek across the "pond" #3 - The islands of Grenada $4 - Home sweet home - Shea Village. $5 - Reality hits - Time to bail the well. James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Correction...

I would like to correct a slight error in the previous GMR that I sent out.  Simple Church ministries website is located at...  www.SimpleChurchAtHome.com  Please contact them if you are interested in the idea of church at home. James James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flying to Guyana #3

After a week of hard travel we're finally back in Georgetown.  It's hard to describe the feelings of gratitude to God for bringing us safely over the 4830 miles that we flew in the last seven days. Thursday (Sept. 23) - I had a lot of little errands to run, and things to wrap up before the trip.  Details, details details- so many details to look after.  I managed to get a test flight in with Gary Roberts to get a better feel for the plane.  And later that afternoon we ended up flying the airplane down to Laurel Brook Academy to check out the new airstrip that they have.   Friday (Sept. 24) - The plan was to leave mid morning some time to get down to Florida before night.  But...  as normal, we severely underestimated what it would take to wrap everything up.  At about 5pm we lifted off and turned toward Leesburg Florida.   The flight down was pretty much standard until the last 60 miles or so, and then we had to dodge thunder storms the last little bit.  It was sure nice to have Jacksonville Center on the radio, and they safely guided us around the worst cells. A very good pastor friend of mine (Milton Adams) picked us up at the airport.  He had planned to come pick us up at the airport at 3:30pm, but just as he was about to walk out the door, his computer happily announced that there was an email.  It was from me, informing him that I was delayed and would get in at 7:30pm. Saturday (Sept. 25.) My cousin Luke and I had church with the house church that meets in his home.  I have to say that it's a very unique experience, quite unlike anything else I've experienced.  Milton is developing this house church movement presently they've seen an explosion of growth with over 11 churches started.  His website is www.simplechurch.com Saturday night there was a flurry of activity.  We at much to do and very little time to do it. One of my big dilemmas was that I needed a Low Altitude Enroute Chart for the Caribbean. I had originally banked on being in Forida on during the day and on a week day.   So I started calling around to see if any 24 hour Fixed Base Operators located near Opalaka Florida had any Charts to sell.  After quite a while of calling I was fortunate enough to find one who had a Caribbean Instrument Chart.   After filling out our international flight plan and online customs departure, we headed for the airport at midnight.  The night was calm and the flight was smooth as glass. Sunday (Sept. 26) - The flight to Ft. Lauderdale Exec. was breathtaking as we watched the lights of Southern Florida glide beneath us.  We picked up the Instrument Chart and 10 gallons of gas before we pushed on to Opalaka to finish our preparations. I had forgotten what a huge airport Opalaka International Airport was, and trying to find our way around around the taxiways at night didn't help.  We managed to go down a couple dead ends until finally we found a 24 Hour Fixed Base Operator (FBO) and looked at a map.   By 6am we had the airplane completely fueled and tested the auxillary fuel pumps to make sure they would work inflight.  Time to fire up and taxi to our departure runway.  One little snag.  We couldn't raise Miami Center on the ground.  Hmmm.  Ok - Try it in the air.   Several minutes later we were airborne and contacting Miami Center.  Soon they gave us a heading and we were climbing up to 9000 feet on our way to Providentialles Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Second problem - I can't activate my flight plan.  It was a friend's GPS and I was so tired after spending all night awake that I was having trouble activating the flight plan that I had programmed the night before.  After a few minutes and prayers, the Lord helped us activate the appropriate plan in the GPS and we were headed toward the intersection we had been cleared to.   Luke slept the first 45 minutes, and then we traded off.   It was sure nice to have another guy along to fly the airplane.  The airplane worked like a charm and the flight was absolutely incredible. From Provo we flew on to Beef Island, stopping for the night and visiting a friend we had there.  Since the customs didn't open until 7:00am the next morning we decided to file our flight plan and fuel the airplane before going to the hotel.  It's a good thing we did that because the next morning we didn't get off immediately.   To my knowledge I have never experienced mosquitos like at Beef Island that night.  They were absolutely horrible.  We didn't have much of a choice, and kept slapping as we moved. Monday (Sept. 27) - 4:45 am the alarm goes off and the day begins.  We felt better than the day before, but both of us were thankful that we didn't have to do a one man marathon.  As I processed our outgoing papers, Luke finalized his tickets for his return to the States. By 8am we were lifting off for Grenada.  Once again the flight went really smoothly and we arrived in Grenada with plenty of time.  I was very glad to have a faster airplane because if I didn't, I wouldn't have made sunset in Guyana. On the route from Grenada to Guyana, we weren't able to contact contact the air traffic controller at Trinidad.  I tried probably a dozen times without success, wondering what to do.  Other people appeared to be having the same problems as well, and since we could all communicate with each other we figured it was their problem, not ours.  We continued on our flight and soon they sorted out the problem. We arrived back in Timehri Airport in Guyana 15 minutes before sunset.  All I can say is that the God we serve is an awesome God, and we are very thankful for his rich mercies to us during this long journey. I'm thankful to be back in the village with my wife and kids.  They've been pretty sick, but God has been blessing them, and giving them just enough energy to keep going while I've been gone. Thank you for all your prayers and moral support. God bless, James,  James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842