Camp Hauraruni

I arrived at Camp Haururani in style with my pterodactyl sheet and hot pink mosquito net. I planned to use my sarong as a top sheet but it had to suffice as my towel, which I had forgotten. Thus, my Gambian skirt doubled as my night time cover. Being a missionary has definitely made me more innovative...
More than 300 youth attended this camp/conference in Hauraruni (a bushy, sandy region about half an hour from Georgetown). Steve and I got to be counselors for a few of them. I had 3 great girls in my dorm. And this was some serious camp! Devotions were from 5am to 5:30 and some of the guys got up for exercises even before that! The dorm lights were controlled from the kitchen so our lights also came on at 3am when the kitchen ladies began preparing our 6:30 breakfast (mostly bread). I searched for a switch in our building but the other counselors said there wasn't one. My next idea was to wear dark eyeshadow to bed, thinking that would perhaps dim the brightness that burned through my eyelids every morning, but I hadn't brought any. Needless to say, sleep was neither lengthy nor undisturbed. But I love being with youth so I didn't mind enduring it.

There was preaching and workshops in the mornings and more preaching in the evenings. The worship was quite a work out, everybody out of their seats jumping and dancing – so much perspiration and not just 'cause we're close to the equator! And if there's a limit to how many times you can sing “wet wet wet, soak soak soak” (in reference to the Holy Spirit), I'm sure we crossed it in the first 10 minutes of the chorus every night. It was a blast and sometimes I just had to laugh...My frist four years of praise and worship experience were in a church where substituting a piano for the humble organ was too risqué for our revered hymns. Last week I found myself under a tent in the sand, being yanked into conga lines and getting pulled up front to jump around and dance. What a life! The evening services were, well, pretty wild – and I'll leave it at that.
Steve and I had the opportunity to do a skit and speak about the upcoming DTS and encourage the youth to “guard what God has entrusted to (them)” that week (2 Tim.1:14). Several of them were very interested in learning about God and missions in a discipling community. Of course with every brochure I handed out, I thought, “Oh my gosh, HOUSING!” We are praying for finances and help to continue building. God contiues to be faithful in this week by week, it's pretty amazing. And some local youth leaders want to bring people from their church to help with the work.

In other news at the youth camp, I tried my hand at Cricket and other field games and chased down 13-year-old Deshawn who told me I couldn't run. Of course, I only caught up with him because he fell in the tall grass but there were no rules that said he had to be standing. Besides, I didn't bruise my pinky toe for nothing.

The photo above is of Beno and I in the kitchen hammock. She is from Guyana and on staff with us in Parika and she was the one who coordinated the camp. Beno makes the best dahl and rhoti on the planet. Check out the "Pictures" link on the right for more photos of the camp!

“Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you...” 2 Timothy 1:6a

Thank you for your prayers. I am doing well. -eM

Welcome to Hyde Park, Everyone!

I am becoming acquainted with our interesting community and I truly feel privileged to be in Guyana and in this town on the east bank of the Essequibo river. People are generous and hospitable; we’re always greeting others left and right as we walk down the road and pastors and neighbours stop by all the time to chat or have a meal or bring us fruit from their farms.

Historically and politically, Guyana is very much a part of the Caribbean so I don’t feel too far from Jamaica. I still hear reggae and occasionally off-key gospel on buses and street corners, plus covers of James Blunt, Chicago and their contemporaries. What’s new to my ears is the Hindi-reggae mix and Hindi back-up vocals for almost every genre of music. In Georgetown, I heard a vendor blaring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

There have been two deaths in Hyde Park since I arrived and this image will forever be seared in my memory:

A 7-year-old girl in her Sunday dress, sitting next to a coffin weeping and whispering, "I love you, Mommy," while holding on to her dead mother's hand. Her mother died of AIDS, her father died of the same syndrome 3 years ago. I wonder how many more children there are here in similar circumstances. The incidence of HIV/AIDS is high in Guyana and thankfully, there are initiatives to educate poeple about it.

I had my first tarantula encounter a few days ago in the bathroom - which is the same place where a little frog jumped on top of my head. I saw him on the wall, then looked in the mirror and there he was, peering back at me. Not quite the accessory I was going for, although I hear the "outdoor" look is in. The tarantula was perched on the shelf, dangerously close to my loofah scrubber. Tim caught it in a bag, which he then dangled in my face. I nearly decked him but restrained myself because I was afriad he'd drop the bag and the hairy monster would get away and I'd never be able to sleep again. Now I enter the bathroom as if it were a potential crime scene, scoping out corners for intruders.

The homesickness/what-am-i-doing-here feelings were really trying to kick my butt last week. One night I finally realized, God must’ve brought me here to show me that He has actually called me to Vancouver or some trendy European city with a big park. Yeah, right. I am more settled now, looking forward to each day andI find it easy to love Guyana. Nights are more challenging when I am alone with my thoughts -please pray about that.

We were thrilled to receive Steve from Washington on Saturday (I worked with him at YWAM Jamaica) and since he arrived the hilarity factor and the making-fun-of-Em factor have significantly increased. Granted, I did hang my wet clothes on the "clothes-line" which turned out to be an electrical cord running power from the house to the dorms.

This week I am looking forward to participating in a 3-day conference on Islam and how it’s affecting the nation and after that, we’ll be working with a youth camp in the bush for 5 days. Please pray for the success of these events and their leaders (Mr. M and Beno, respectively).

It's good to be here, friends. Thanks so much for your support!

“So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19

PS. If someone would like to design a stylish mosquito-net outfit for me, that'd be wonderful. I look good in blues.