Well, another season of activity has ended in Guyana and God has certainly blessed our efforts in FANTASTIC ways! Below you will see a brief report of what we have gotten to do this past year. This is followed by an update of what we have been able to be involved in since the beginning of our ministry in Guyana. I think you will see that we have indeed been busy, and have been blessed by God in ways that we never could have imagined.
Here is a very brief summary of what we have been able to be involved in 2002:
Year 2002 we…
n Conducted 8 Medical Missions
n Treated over 8,463 patients
n Baptized over 147
n Conducted 6 VBS's
n Conducted 20 Nurturing Projects
n Built a Church building at the Canal 2 congregation
n And Much More…
n And ALL OF THIS HAS BEEN SINCE THE END OF MAY!!!
In January and February, we did the following;
· Hosted the second Operation Guyana Lectureship and Workshop (with over 300 in attendance, and over 30 congregations involved).
· Hosted FOUR different Nurturing Projects.
· And set things up for this summer.
Since 1992,
n We have had 96 different Medical Missions.
n We have treated over 145,000 patients in our Mobile clinics
n All of these patients had an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ
n We have conducted over 220 different Nurturing Projects and over 110 Vacation Bible Schools or Bible Hour Programs.
n Given away over 15,000 Bibles!
n Given away thousands of Song Books, and tens of thousands of Gospel tracts and Bible Class workbooks.
AND, WE HAVE SEEN OVER 4,300 PRECIOUS SOULS BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST!
And the work just keeps on Progressing! Just look at what else has happened!
INTERNS
We have had over a dozen young men and women come to Guyana and work with us as Summer Interns. These young people have come from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. These young people have worked with us for anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months in length, and have all been vital to our work.
These young people often do the "unglamorous" work of our ministry….cleaning porta potties, carrying crates of supplies, organizing arrivals and departures, reconfirming airline tickets, holding the hands of sick medical mission workers, carrying luggage, setting up and taking down clinics, and much more.
We couldn't do our work without them! If you know one of our interns…let them know you appreciate their hard work.
JERRY AND PAT VEATCH
Jerry and Pat are from Wichita Kansas, and moved here in June 2001 to work with us for at least the next three years. Jerry serves as our Assistant Director of Operation Guyana, and Pat serves as our Clinic Supervisor for our permanent clinic at our office.
Pat organized our Pharmacy here at our office and literally has made it where we can lay our hands on what we need….when we need it. She also operates our "follow up" clinic at our office and sees an average of between 25 and 30 patients….five to six days a week!
Jerry is our troubleshooter. He works with our local churches and preachers, and also makes sure our equipment is working properly.
They are a long overdue addition to our staff. And the exciting thing is that they are in Guyana all year! This will enable us to do things that we could NEVER do before. Things like follow up care of clinic patients, organizing year round projects, and helping us pin point what needs to be done in terms of nurturing.
Jerry has also helped us get our Operation Guyana Nurturing Institute off the ground. This "school" has been designed to help us offer practical resources to the church here in Guyana the year round, and also offer our preachers and others a way to further their education. This school was kicked off after the first of this past year, and was really the first of it's kind in Guyana.
LIVE THE MISSION ENCAMPMENT #4
Also last summer, we held our fifth annual Live the Mission Encampment! This has been going on for five years now, and the people that have been impacted by this have seen amazing changes in their lives.
Live the Mission is designed to instill in the minds of our teens and college aged young people, a heart for missions. This is done by spending a week together in a camp setting in the Rainforest, followed by a week working with one of our Medical Teams. Last summer, we had 20 who were involved in our camp, and it was a wonderful success
Our Theme for this past year was: Live the Mission - Stepping out of the Boat! We hope this is something we can do for many years to come.
OPERATION GUYANA GENERAL OFFICES
Now….our teams, my family, our office and Pharmacy, and all of our storage, is under one roof. This has been a first for us these past two years, and it has really been an incredible asset to our work.
Our new office is really set up well. It allows us to shift things around and use our facility in a variety of ways. We can conduct a clinic, hold classes, meet with our staff, and so much more….from one central location. AND….since it is here at the hotel, we enjoy great security, and fabulous exposure! What an incredible blessing this has been!
Now our office has its own Copy Machine, Fax Machine, High Speed Computer Network, and room to expand too! This allows us not only to assist the teams and our work, but to also help the local churches too!
GOVERNMENT STANDING
There have also been two new developments in terms of our work here that will open even more doors of opportunity.
First, after almost 10 years of working here in Guyana, the Government has granted us Permanent Residence Status. This allows us to come and go freely in Guyana, and not to have to apply for a work permit every single year. In fact, this gives us the ability to live and work here as Guyanese! What an incredible help to our work.
Secondly, Operation Guyana is in the process of being recognized as a Non-Government Organization (NGO), which gives us an entirely different relationship with the Government here. It allows us to do even more, and in fact, reduces our difficulties and "red tape" along the way. All this, while still being recognized as a ministry of Churches of Christ.
OPERATION GUYANA LECTURESHIP AND WORKSHOP
For the past two years, our Lectureship has been a great success! And already, we are making BIG plans for our next one. The dates have been set (Feb. 4-7, 2003), the Theme has been decided on (Building Up One Another), and we are currently building our schedule of speakers.
Word is already getting out about this event, and I am certain that we will have hundreds in attendance.
Start praying now that God will bless our efforts, and allow us to continue this great work for years to come.
CONCLUSION
So, as you can see, we have been busy. Souls have been saved, the church continues to grow, and God is glorified. What a wonderful experience it has been too!
AND THIS IS NOT ALL THAT IS GOING ON IN GUYANA!
God is moving rapidly throughout the country in Guyana, and many other efforts (independent of Operation Guyana) are also growing and progressing. God is blessing the efforts of the Guyana International Bible Institute (formally known as our School of Biblical Studies), the Hope Children's Home (housed at Enmore), World Bible School, and countless other crusade and Medical Missions, as well as many other efforts going on all over the country.
God is moving and working! And we praise Him that we are getting to be a small part of his plan!
Keep us in your regular and daily prayers! Ask God to continue to use us, and to lead us to even GREATER opportunities for his cause.
And thank you so much for your support in other ways too. Thanks for your encouragement. Thanks for your financial support. Thanks for all you do to hold up our arms during the battle. We could not do this without you.
Our prayer for you is that God will richly bless you as well!
May God use us all in his efforts!
Your Brother in Christ,
Stephen L. DeLoach; D. Min., D. Div.
Director / Founder - Operation Guyana
Miltary Fellowship
Church
422 5th Ave N
PO Box 51153
Jacksonville Bch
Florida 32240
