| Then
God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will
be yours for food..."
Genesis 1:29
|
Up
at 6 AM, but sleep was very little last night. Breakfast was
scrambled eggs with peppers, bread and peanut butter. Last night and
this morning we have been served cherry and 5-finger juice. Good
stuff. We've gathered together for orientation before our work
begins...
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Our
welcome party will be tonight at Susamachar (meaning "Good News"
in Hindu) a little Methodist Church in town. Shannonme and Kurt will
arrange our xtra special activities. This morning Waveney is
discussing the waterfall and how special it is. The water falls 741
feet. Kaieteur. Her face is all lit up. Her smile is
Wide and her eyes are twinkling when she calls the fall special!
We will be divided into 3 teams:
- Paint ceiling (All purpose
facility)
- Finish ceiling (Communication
Center)
- Extend tent structure &
height
The team then rallied together and
got right to work. Well, not exactly. We all had to wait for
the treasurer (Jake), the leader (Steve)<--did he go? & Bill
Upchurch to get back with supplies for the hard core jobs to get
started. Meanwhile some of us started painting the ceiling with
white enamel paint using 4" brushes. This was truly a feat of
engineering to rig up scaffolding for average height women to reach an
extraordinarily high roof. No problem though! We did it, using
work tables and stages...
We performed synchronized brushing
to N'sync music, sung a cappella of course.
We painted and painted! We
painted the ceiling, the floor (by accident), the stages (by accident),
the tables (by accident), ourselves (by accident), and each other (maybe
by accident and maybe not!).
Some fun things that happened...
While Jodi was trying to paint the trim around the far side of the
room. All of a sudden a village of spiders decided to join us.
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| All
flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you.
Leviticus 11:20 |
Well,
Jodi especially. 
She screamed. Mosquitoes
were expected, spiders weren't. Fortunately Jodi worked through her
fears and finished that area (I would have taken princess points and gone
to get a guy J)
Later in the afternoon, school children from the neighborhood found the
guys outside working on the tent "Super" structure. David,
Jake, Todd & Brett were out working on this particular project and at
this point was putting the finishing touches on their paintjob. Todd
got the kids to play Beavis and Butthead (we're gonna corrupt these poor
kids <but it was funny>). Then Jake tried to get the kids to
let him paint a black polka-dot on their noses. He decided to lead by
example.
|
|
| ...and
at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching
entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
Titus 1:3 |
Unfortunately
in our fervor to paint Everything... I got a drop (nickel-size) of paint on
my cheek below my left eye and it has eaten through the skin and has
left my face raw right there. L
After a rough day, we adjourn to
the YWCA for showers and freshening up because later that evening we were
to have a welcome service at the Susamachar Methodist Church. Sus-a-ma-char
means Good News in Hindu. The church itself used to be a Hindu
spoken outreach mission. Now everything is spoken in English and it
is a church in the Georgetown circuit of churches.
Rev. Barbara Lake presided and did a marvelous job. Her sermon was
about Matthew 20, The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. She
did a good job making us feel welcome and inspiring her congregation to
come and "join" us in the ninth or eleventh hour. The next
day 4 plus herself came to help! I pray each of these young adults'
lives we touch here are blessed! Rev. Lake introduced several
individuals/groups to perform or welcome us. Coffee said a nice
prayer. In it he said,"...have your own sweet way among
us..." A portion of his prayer I think I will take away with me
to use to help me remember to surrender my life, soul, worries, love,
hate, passion, doubt, stress, & desires to the Lord. He will lead me
in the right direction.
Waveney expressed something really beautiful. She said... |
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| The
LORD will guide you always, He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched
land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered
garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58:11 |
God
has touched AHUMC young adults to devote their time and energy working
with Guyana. By us being here we are inspiring the Guyanese
congregation & young people with our Spirit and Faith to renew and
continue their faith in the LORD. Rev. Lake went on to say that if we
fail to go when God calls we will miss the beauty, love, and bounty of
God's Love he has in store for us. So true but so hard to
always follow. |
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| During
the passing of the peace I met two Margeries. Both very fun and
kind. One Margery was wearing this bright green hat. |
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| Dear
friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even
though they are strangers to you.
3 John 1:5 |
She
was telling me about her sisters in the United States. How she lives
just a couple of blocks away. She told me I was a jolly young girl
and that she liked me. How nice and comforting to feel accepted by
the people we've come to share our love and skills with. |
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The
second Margery was sitting next to me at the keyboard. She had
curly, curly black hair and a bony face. She was very inspired with
music to share at every turn. She told me of her son who works with
the peace corps and the work he does.
There was a 10-yr girl who danced for us, Shanig. She was very
graceful and inspiring. |
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|
Every
movement matched the music exactly. Every beat was perfect.
After the service we went to the
Kingston Church recreational area to enjoy fun, song, dance, and
food. Kurt, Shannamea, Floyd, Nijel, Coffee & Tontea (Tante) and
two more girls.
Kurt gave a very dramatic presentation of a Trinidadian poem 'This
Hand.' We danced, the drum was played, we sang (hummed) the chicken
dance!
Of all the culture things we could
have passed on. Go figure!
One special highlight was the juice. It was Sar elle. |
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|
The
red juice was made from the Hibiscus (good) flower and the yellow punch
was made from the bark of a tree (and was very bitter).
Granny J
prepared our food and made sure we were comfortable. Bless her. |
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