DAILY PRAYER GUIDE FOR THE 2024 SUMMER TRIP TO GUYANA
Our team verse for this year is GALATIANS 6:9. We have all memorized it and will say it together each day. Please pray that God will bring in a harvest.
“LET US NOT BECOME WEARY IN DOING GOOD, FOR AT THE PROPER TIME WE WILL REAP A HARVEST IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP.”
MONDAY—July 15—Please pray for our travel day as 6 of us from the US join our Guyanese team of 7. Here is the list so you can pray for us by name:
Alan Patrick
Gene Flack
Emily Edson
Allen Cleveland
Steve Puckett
Beth Puckett
Jai
Tracy
Alex
Michael
Vanessa
Markey
Deanna
Charlotte airport is going through major renovations right now and we have been informed by the airlines that navigating it is extra hard so pray that we will not have any problems as we arrive very early to patiently wait in the longer lines. We are to arrive in Georgetown, Guyana at 10:40 PM then go through customs and drive an hour to our hotel. Please pray for a good night’s sleep after a long travel day.
TUESDAY—July 16 —We will spend some time doing a meet and greet with our Guyanese team. We will have breakfast and our team devotional time. Then we will head to Berbice about 2 1/2 hours east where our Guyanese team live. We will settle in at Jai and Tracy’s house where we will stay for two nights. (They are great cooks so we are in for a treat!!!) They have created lodging for teams at their house with lots of extra bathrooms. After lunch, we will have a children’s event at a church at 1:00. We will tie a bracelet with colored beads on each child’s arm. The colors represent the details of the plan of salvation. Here is what the five colors stand for.
Black Bead- Represents the sin in our lives which we can’t get rid of on our own no matter how good we are.
Red Bead- Represents Jesus’ blood that He shed on the cross to pay the price for the sins of the world. Those who repent and accept Him as Savior and receive the free gift of forgiveness are born into God’s family.
White Bead- Represents being clean in God’s sight. If we accept Jesus’ free gift and are forgiven, our sins are gone and God sees us as clean.
Yellow Bead- Represents the streets of gold in Heaven. That is where we will spend eternity if we have had our sins forgiven and are deemed clean by God.
Green Bead- Represents growth as a new believer. Just as grass and leaves are green and grow, we must grow as Christians so we can serve and tell others. We do that by studying the Bible, praying, hearing the Scriptures taught, encouraging other believers and sharing what happened to you with others who need to ask Jesus to be their Savior.
Our service will include fun songs with motions, Alan will teach a Bible story and Beth will explain the colors of their bracelets and make sure the children understand the plan of salvation. Then our team will sit across from each child and wash their feet and have a talk, being available for whatever questions they may have. If they are ready to make a decision to accept Christ, we will pray with them. We will give them new flip flops and lots of love. Those who make decisions will be followed up by the leaders of the church. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will draw those children who are ready to make a decision.
Back home, we will rest a little then have dinner and team time. That is when we take turns sharing testimonies with the team, either how we came to know Jesus or what He has been doing to grow us and use us. During the week, we will each have a time to share with the team.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY—July 17 & 18—We will be at the New Amsterdam Prison for two days. It is near Jai’s house. Our Guyanese team goes there weekly to do Bible study and to disciple those who want to learn more. We will greet the inmates as they come in and tie a bracelet on each of them. We will have about 200 come to the services. We will sing worship songs led by our Guyanese team. Jai will preach Wednesday and Alex will preach Thursday. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to speak powerfully through them. Then they will clearly explain the plan of salvation and explain baptism. We love to teach these men that even though they are behind bars, they can be spiritually free if they accept Jesus as their Savior and ask for his forgiveness and repent of their sins to have a new life as a part of God’s family.
After the service, each person on our team will sit across from a chair with a basin filled with water in front of us. They will bring the inmates one at a time to sit with us and have his feet washed. We will have one on one conversations with them, answering questions they have about what they heard in the sermon and just listening to their hearts and encouraging them. We will pray for their families and other concerns. This is where we use the bracelets to make the plan of salvation very simple for them. Some will have prayed the prayer asking for forgiveness during the service and others will want to do it with us if they make that decision after more discussion. Some aren’t interested and we respect that and just pray for them and show them that we care. We will then give each one new flip flops, toothbrushes and toothpaste and a Bible. Our team will follow up closely with these men as they go back to this prison for services weekly.
For those who accept Jesus and want to be baptized, we use a baby pool and have a time of baptism each day. We carefully explain that baptism doesn’t save anyone but is an outward symbol of what has already happened in their heart when they prayed the prayer to accept Jesus and were forgiven, their sins were buried and they were raised to walk in their new life.
Wednesday after lunch, we will have some rest/game time and make more bracelets. Today if there hasn’t been too much flooding from the recent nearby hurricane, we may get to go “net fishing”. Afterwards we will have team time where we share testimonies, pray and share the events of the day. We will have dinner and play games or just visit.
Thursday after lunch, we will pack up and drive the 2 1/2 hours back to Georgetown and settle into our hotel. We will have dinner and team time and prepare for the next day’s events.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY—July 19 & 20—Today we start our two day work in Lusignan Prison, the largest prison in Guyana. We were there last year for 3 days. Each day we see about 200 inmates. Last year, Chad Hite , 33, was with us and was very effective telling the inmates about his struggle with addiction and that he had spent some time behind bars also so he understood how they felt. He told the how God had redeemed him and turned his life around. Many of them gathered around him after the service to ask him questions and learned from him. Sadly, on June 10th of this year, God took Chad to Heaven after he had made a huge difference for the Kingdom by being transparent and sharing his story of redemption. Many of those inmates in attendance will have been there last year so I am going to show them a large poster with Chad’s picture and remind them of his story and his encouragement. I will make the point that we never know how long we have on this earth so if they are putting off a decision to follow Christ, now is the time. Chad’s encouragement will continue to be told even after his death.
Alan will preach Friday and Gene on Saturday. Please pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to make their messages powerful as they clearly proclaim the truth to these precious souls that God loves so much.
On Friday after lunch, we will do a little touring and souvenir shopping and going to our favorite museum. Emily will have a chance to have a reunion with a young Guyanese lady that she met in our hotel 8 years ago, This lady was at the darkest time in her life and Emily led her to accept Christ. They have kept up for these 8 years and another family member came with her a few years ago for her visit with Emily as also accepted Christ. It is so wonderful to have these ongoing relationships with those God leads us to. Please pray Emily and her spiritual daughter will have a sweet reunion.
SUNDAY—July 21—Today we will have a church service with our team at the hotel. Alan will bring our message. Then we will travel an hour to visit with our Hararuni Girls that we have worked with for years. There are 13 girls, abused and/or abandoned, who have been displaced from their facility because it is under much needed renovation. Last year when we visited there, we identified lots of problems with the facility and initiated the updates. The girls are bering housed in another facility where we will visit. We will sing, Emily will teach a Bible story and share her heart with them. She has been very involved with these girls over the years, We will provide a pizza lunch and then have a fun time of playing games.
We will go back to Georgetown and have our last TEAM DINNER at a nice restaurant. We will each share the highlights from our week. This is always a VERY special time. Being on this mission team always creates special friendships for life. We love seeing how God puts our teams together each year.
MONDAY—July 22—Please pray for problem-free travel. We have to get up at about 3:00 AM for a 3:30 departure from the hotel. The airport is about an hour away and we have to be there early for a 6:45 AM flight. We will look forward to getting back and sharing with you how God blessed the trip and changed lives. Thank you for praying for us.
