Guyana Report
by Aubry Tyler SOC Director
The first shut-in school has been run in the nation of Guyana for the month of March. We had 23 graduates. We faced many difficulties while acquiring supplies. We also had problems finding transportation for the goods to the remote area in which the school was housed. The school was held at camp Madawene in the bush country of Region Three. The camp was a government facility with electricity (most of the time) and rain water in tanks as a water supply. In our first meeting, we were informed we would have a new pump for the water tanks. This was not the case; water was rationed and toilets were a rarity. In spite of the difficulty, Diane and I were especially blessed to be a part of this school. The students were from different backgrounds and from churches across a diverse environment.
There were students from the city of Georgetown, as well as the rural area of the west bank of the Demarara River. There were pastors and Bible school teachers from some of the most predominant schools in Guyana. They were stirred by the teaching and the discipline of the school. They would moan and shake their heads as the Word dealt with them.
The students that stood out the most were eleven Amerindians that came from what is known as Region One in Guyana. It is a more remote and primitive area. Traveling by river is the onlyway to access them. After rowing for a day in dugout boats, and then another day in a larger boat, the students finally arrived at the camp. These people have no electricity or running water in the villages in which they live, and there are no toilets of any kind. Even instant coffee was a strange thing to them, and we had to show them how to make a cup of coffee.
They were so humble and hungry for the Word of God. They could not believe that someone would go through all this trouble to bring them out and teach them the Word of God. The need is so great, and plans are underway for the school to be brought further into the interior. All the supplies we purchased for the school are in storage, and ready for the next mobile shut-in school to start. Please continue to pray for this great door of opportunity as well as the ability to walk through it.
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