Guyana April/May

Thank you for all your prayers while we were gone! We experienced God’s leading and His protection, directly answered prayer and He provided for our every need.
Guyana was beautiful and our family had an experience of a lifetime! Flying out to the small village of Paruima in two bush planes, (we had to split up family and all our luggage) landing on the bumpy grass air strip, riding in a huge dug out log boat up the Kamarang River the rest of the way to our destination, the girls kept saying “it’s like were in a movie!” and they ooh’d and ah’d about how beautiful everything was.
For the next three weeks we would be staying in a house at DIIC that James and Joy had recently moved out of. We were initiated right away to jungle life, there are lots of bugs out there! (thanks for warning me Joy) Ants had moved in and made a big nest on the kitchen counter, and there were cockroaches running everywhere at dusk. We had some interesting pets, frogs in the shower and toilets, a few lizards and a fruit bat living above the door in our house!
When we arrived in the interior the girls and I continued on to the house and Brandtley went on a few flights with our friend James to some of the surrounding villages. We got settled in with the help of some of the local village children. You should have seen them packing our heavy bags up the steep bank of the river and up the long trail to our house. It was so thoughtful of them to help! Of course there was no power out there and only a few candles in the house so we had to pretty much go to bed when the sun went down, and couldn’t get up till it got light.
Brandtley, Eden, Teagan, Kailah and I all slept in the king bed the first few nights until we could find the other mosquito nets. It was nice, we all slept well since we were ever so tired and being close together made us all feel cozy in the new place. We heard so many strange noises, especially at night, the big orange-ish howler monkeys growling and huffing, enormous acacia bugs strumming on their tummies (rum, rum, rum) among many others. We enjoyed the candle flies twinkling at dusk along the edge of the jungle, along the trails and sometimes here and there about our house at night. That was Romantic!
While we were there we lived off the land, meaning we harvested our own food from the garden and jungle. Brandtley learned how to harvest banana’s, we ate at least five different varieties while we were there. Cyan, Figgie, two really yummy others that no one knew names of, Red banana’s and our favorite Apple banana’s! I know it sounds funny but they did remind me slightly of dried apples. We had a few pears too, that’s what they call avocados! And they were just starting to come into season when we arrived. We mostly fed them to Kailah since there wasn’t as much she could eat. We didn’t have a lot of variety and ate lots and lots of Bokchoy and green onions. The fresh coconuts were so yummy!
Working in the garden was one of the most enjoyable things we did while in the jungle, it was just so beautiful a 20 minute walk uphill from our front door. There were yummy wild sweet potatoes (a little time consuming to dig for) and Eggplant (James said fried with garlic it was quite good) and He was right! I didn’t think we would like Eggplant but it was delicious!
One day the girls and I finally ate an unripe watermelon out of our desperateness for more variety. One of our favorites was a few of Rosa’s lovely cabbages with green oranges (almost like a lime with and essence of orange) squeezed over the top, a bit of oil, salt and basil and viola we had a delicious salad!
Someone I know that had already gone to Paruima encouraged me to take some food along especially since we have small children. So I brought quite a lot of dried fruit and nuts, some salt and onion powder. But I wished I had brought a bag of beans and rice! Some how we always had something to eat! God definitely provided for us just as He has promised.
We were warmly greeted by the local Amerindians who quickly became our friends. Marcella was almost totally blind, and she was our first visitor, bright and early the morning after we arrived, she stayed and visited quite awhile and joined us for family worship. We gave her a handful of cashew nuts to try while we ate our breakfast. The next week we were able to help her with a terrible headache she had, by applying essential oils for migraines to her head and giving her a light massage. And of course we prayed with her, and there is awesome power in prayer!
After that several other villagers came to us hoping for cures to their ailments and we were happy we had brought some natural remedies to give them a little something to help. I wish we knew more!
When we first arrived at Davis Indian Industrial College it was very quiet, the students were all gone on a mission trip to Arou and were attending a church dedication in Kikan. A few days later, they arrived back safely. What a happy day it was!!! It was fun to meet all the students and the Teachers. There was Maria from Austria, Byron from Canada, and Steve and Karla both from the US. By the way, the staff changes every year. Some years they may have more and some they may have less. But somehow, just in time, God provides!
There were mostly girls at the college and only a few boys. The students had to take turns preparing breakfast lunch and dinner because they don’t have a cook. Many of the students that come to DIIC are from abusive homes and many are learning of Jesus and his love (in Bible Class) for the very first time. Most leave the school with a strong & lasting relationship with Jesus. Instead of wondering what to do with their lives, they want Gods will to be done. Many desire to be Bible workers, Nurses and Teachers in their surrounding villages! God makes a huge difference in their lives!!!
The students work in the garden almost everyday; have class time, cooking and clean up times, as well as home work and washing their laundry in the river.
Two of the girls helped us with some of our laundry, it was a huge relief! Washing by hand can be a lot of work. They did a very good job, and were happy to earn some money to help pay for their tuition.
We also hiked Rain Mountain just after a bit of rain so it was super slippery and steep! We wished we would have brought a rope; it would have made the going easier because if you grabbed a hold of something it would just fall out and you would go sliding down the trail! Eden and Teagan did amazingly well with a little help from their daddy, while Kailah was strapped in her sling to her hot sweaty mommy.
Treacherous is all I can say although it was well worth the effort once you got to the top. The views were spectacular! Thanks to Steve for taking us. I slid most the way down the mountain on my bum, and my legs were so tired I could hardly walk back home. When we talk about it I still can’t believe we took our three girls up there!
We enjoyed walking to church every Sabbath morning! They only have a few Hymnals in the entire church, so they have to share them around. Brandtley was asked to give the sermon one week. He also taught the lesson study at Sabbath School and was able to lead worship at DIIC a time or two as well.
One evening walking up to the chapel with Eden on one side and Teagan on the other they walked right over a snake! Eden told daddy that there was a snake in the trail all coiled up and Daddy said he didn’t think so...to him it just looked like a pile of dog poop, after all there were a few stray dogs around. So he stepped right over it. Eden insisted that it was a snake and that she saw it move so daddy investigated more closely waving his foot over it. (he had boots on) and sure enough it was a snake! A Labaria to be exact, Brandtley had the girls watch it to see where it went and he came back to the house for the cutlass (aka a machete) and killed our second snake!
The first one was a yellow tail Labaria basking on the rocks right outside the door of the house, Teagan spotted it while playing on the steps waiting for daddy to get back from his day working in the jungle. It was getting towards dusk and that is when they come out since they are mostly nocturnal, these snakes are small and harder to see, they are one of the most poisonous snakes in South America and if your bitten it’s usually fatal. Teagan’s hand was little more than a foot away from the snake trying to point it out. It was blending in with the rock so well I was having a hard time finding it. I am so thankful that God protected her and helped her to see it so she could show me. We knelt down and praised Jesus right then and there!
It was most wonderful getting to spend time with James and Joy! They related many stories and shared testimonies of how God has answered prayers and lead in their marriage, life and missionary work. Because of their faith and sacrifice many have been blessed.
We also enjoyed getting to know Gary and Toni. They are very hard working and thoughtful and dedicated to Gods work. They live by faith, and God does supply all their needs according to His riches in Glory!
Even David and Becky Gates made time in their very busy schedule to meet with us while they were in Guyana. It was nice finally getting to meet them in person after hearing many inspiring sermons by David to get involved in mission work! He is every bit like I imagined, and Becky too, both loving, sweet down to earth.
We were amazed at the faith these missionaries have, and the sacrifices that they make and the hard work that they do. All for the kingdom!!!
There really is so much we could write about especially after being there for four weeks.
But what is the most important? There is a HUGE need for workers in Guyana! The harvest is truly great and the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Luke 10:2. In the great harvest field there is abundance of work for all. Let us work for time and for eternity. Let us work with all the powers that God has bestowed upon us, and He will bless our well-directed efforts. {CT 48.2} There is a need for people who are willing to sacrifice, to live a simple life and to tell others of the wonderful love Jesus has for them. We must lay up our treasures in heaven. Are you willing? Let us know if you want to be part of this great work.
God Bless,

Carrie