Guyana International Bible Institute

Jerry Cantrell, Director

More than 500 people attended the 2000 graduation of GIBI. This was the 14th graduating class. Four men graduated: Mark Joseph, Terry Ghaine, Kawme Elias and Schardon Peters (pictured at right).

Darrell Davis from Florence, Alabama was the commencement speaker. Mr. Davis challenged the graduates by his presentation.

The Central Church of Christ in Cocoa, Florida, the school's sponsoring church, was represented by one elder, Louis Dennis, and Hiram Reed who has made four trips to Guyana. Next year's class is composed of 8 men and 1 woman.

Welcome to GIBI

Guyana International Bible Institute would like to welcome Kyle and Tiffany Cantrell. They worked with the Mt. Dora Church of Christ in Mt. Dora, Florida as Youth & Family Life Minister for 3 years. Kyle has a BA from David Lipscomb University, Master's and Doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Theological University of America, and is a graduate of Sunset International Bible Institute. Tiffany has a BS degree from Howard Payne University and has completed her coursework for a Master's in Political Science. They have been married for 3 years and are expecting their first child in March. They plan to work with GIBI for at least 5 years.

Traveling with Jerry & Mac

We arrived back in the USA on October 12. We met with the elders in Cocoa Florida on the 15th following morning worship. We drove to Mt. Dora, Florida, to meet with the elders there following their evening worship. From there we drove to Pensacola, Florida, to meet with elders there on Monday the 16th. After that meeting we went to our Prattville, Alabama, for a couple of days before heading to Hot Springs Village, AR, for worship on October 22nd. As I am writing this we are in Branson, MO. We are staying here until our next meeting in Decatur, Alabama, on October 29th.

Our schedule doesn't get any easier in the next couple of months. We are going to Ellijay, GA; Mt. Juliet, TN; Milton, FL; and back to Cocoa, Florida. We plan to be back in Prattville, AL, around the 26th of November when our daughter is due to deliver her second child. We are still attempting to set up additional appointments. We plan to return to Guyana on January 3.

Barbados Students

This is an exciting year at GIBI and a first because we have two students from the Island of Barbados. Brothers Cassilo Lynch and Wilfred Hunte have moved to Guyana to study at GIBI for the next two years. They tell us the church in Barbados needs a lot of help; we are happy to be helping fill this great need by providing training for these men. Both of these men are single and in their mid-forties. In years past, we have trained men from neighboring Suriname but these are our first students from Barbados.

GIBI Launches Extension Schools

On 11 September 2000 GIBI launched its first Extension School. The school was in the planning stages for the past 2 years. Now it is a reality. This school is at Cotton Tree Village, in Berbice, about 70 miles (2 hours) from Georgetown. Nine students are in this school. They are meeting Monday-Thursday from 8:30AM to 4:00PM. One of our Georgetown instructors makes the journey daily to teach.

Our second Extension School will begin in January 2001 at Charity in Essequibo. Charity is a major journey from Georgetown. In fact, our instructors will have to fly to the area each day. Ten men have already made application for classes. This school will probably meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday because we will be leaning heavily on local preachers in the area to teach classes.

Including the Georgetown campus, Cotton Tree and Charity, our students number 37.

New Schools Are Major Challenge

The Extension Schools at Charity and Cotton Tree are major challenges for GIBI. We have launched the first school at Cotton Tree on faith and we will do the same with the school at Charity. The Cotton Tree School is costing about $1100 a month to operate while the Charity school will cost almost $1250 a month. This is because of the flying that will be necessary by our teachers.

We are going to need financial help to be able to continue these schools. We are needing to raise an additional $3000 a month so we can meet these challenges.

GIBI didn't solicit these opportunities; they just happened! These people came to us! If there is anyway you can help us, we need it! We will be happy to come to you and to explain these opportunities and how you can help. Please contact us at your earliest convenience and we will make arrangements to come. You can email jcantrell@guyana-mission.org. Or you can reach us at (321) 632-0124 or on our cell phone at (321) 917-3025.

Note From Kyle & Tiffany

Tiffany & I are excited to be a part of GIBI. I will be traveling to Guyana in January to teach Old Testament Survey and Philippians. Tiffany will not be making this trip because our baby is due March 10th.

We would like to thank Mt. Dora Church of Christ in Mt. Dora, FL, for being our sponsoring congregation. It is great to be working with them again. We also want to say thank you to Bridgewood Church of Christ in Ft. Worth, TX, for their contribution to the Guyana work.

Tiffany & I are still in need of financial support for our mission efforts. We are available to come visit and explain more about the Guyana mission work. We can be reached at (334) 365-4394 during the day or (334) 491-4394 in the evening to schedule an appointment.

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