Jerry Cantrell, Director
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Jerry Cantrell, Director |
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Mac and I had to leave Guyana hurriedly on Tuesday, March 23, after
our daughter Kristy called us from Prattville, AL, saying, “if you want to be
here for the birth of your seventh grandchild you better get here now!” We
made it in plenty of time for Parker Kyle Marsh’s entry into this world on
March 25. Mother, son, father, and grandmother are doing fine! Mary Alice
will be staying with Kristy for a couple of more weeks to help her before
returning to Cocoa. I will be going to Cocoa soon.
March 26-28 I attended a Guyana Forum in Dallas, Texas, hosted by the Webb Chapel Church of Christ. Several representatives from Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and other states were present. Some very frank discussions took place to determine what the best approach to the Guyana work should be. Some definite conclusions were drawn and these will publish them on the Web Site just as soon as the notes are transcribed and sent to me. In the meantime I will share with you the main areas of discussion and some of the things that were suggested. Five study groups were formed and discussed five major topics on Friday night and Saturday, then presented their conclusions to the entire assembly on Saturday afternoon. These conclusions were not intended to dictate any policy to anyone involved in the Guyana work. Following is quick summary of these discussions.
Deon Fair, a mission’s deacon at Webb Chapel said concerning GIBI, “this is the engine that drives the work in Guyana.” This is not to say it is more important than anything else that is taking place in Guyana, but to say without the training of preachers and church leaders, some of the other work could be futile. There are now 85 churches in the nation and only 50 full time preachers to minister to them.
GIBI is stepping up its efforts to training more qualified men to serve churches and to reach out to the church in general via Satellite school to mature the young Christians. We need your help to accomplish this. We are considering a “branch” school in the New Amsterdam area. This would increase attendance by reducing travel time for some students. This could happen as early as this fall.
This was a major area of discussion. Everyone sees the need of
nurturing the great number of new converts. We all realize that many of the
converts are lost before they ever have a chance to be grounded and grow.
This is not the fault of anyone! The number of converts are just too great
for the few people who have the responsibility for nurturing. More workers are
needed. There is hope for the near future. Glen and Mariann Willcut have
moved to the New Amsterdam area, Doug and Dawn Winder are coming back
to Georgetown, along with Andy and Allison Bosinger. Added to the other
workers who are already there, such as the Coxes, Deloaches, Finlaysons,
Houses, Fosters, and Cantrells, we should be able to eventually address this
problem.
No one is in favor of curtailing crusades, campaigns, or medical
missions, but it was suggested that we may shift our emphasis from conversion
to nurturing. Our experience has been that even when you focus on maturing,
nurturing, and grounding, you still experience a lot of baptisms. those who
regularly come to Guyana in any of these effort may consider how they can
focus more directly on nurturing the immature Christians.
The Guyanese are expressing the need for permanent facilities to
dismiss the idea on the part of the community that the church is only
temporary. This seems to be a valid concern. Discussion was given to how
the American churches could help with these facilities.
This topic demanded more attention than any other. No one is interested in the Guyanese preachers suffering from the lack of finances, but most thought that the time has come for the Guyanese to stand on their own! Most present (not all) felt we needed to address these situations as soon as possible. No one is wanting to set policy for any other congregations, but only to explore the essentialities of acting on steps as soon as feasible to start the church in Guyana on the road to self-sufficiency.
Most felt the preacher’s standard of living exceeded that of the average
member in the congregation. This is due to the American support. Some
research among Assembly of God preachers in Guyana revealed that they have
not received outside support in 20 years, and all of their 100+ churches
either
completely support their preachers or the preachers works to support himself.
This pattern was found to be true in their churches all across the Caribbean.
The elders of the Central church in Cocoa, Florida, have agreed to host another Forum in Cocoa, probably on October 1-3, 1999. As the time draws closer more details will be given. Watch the web site for additional information.
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