More on Guyana River Ministries

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

I want to lay out here my dreams and visions for Guyana River Ministries. It might help to go back to the beginning.

My story is a great story. Not a story of a great man; a story of the Grace of God that saved a wretched sinner. The great part of my story centers around a Great and Merciful God.

In 1985 I was released from a six month stint in prison. The part leading up to that will be left to your imagination. I was a ruined man. I had lost family, career and my reputation. God is merciful and the prison Chaplin took me under his wing and spoke into my life in a powerful way. Six months after my release, I found myself deep in the jungles of Peru as a guest of Wycliffe Bible Translators and Bill Townsend, the founder's son. From prison to the mission field in six months! Only God could do that.

God began to prepare me. I spent two years teaching ESOL at a school in Mexico where I learned to speak Spanish. Returning to the States, I attended Manna Christian Institute in Bonita Springs, Florida, where I earned an Associates Degree in Missions.

The call was out for a Missionary to assist a small, English speaking church in Venezuela. As a single student with few ties, it was easy for me to go. I felt the call and went to San Felix, Venezuela; arriving in February of 1990.

The church was small, about thirty members but they were hungry for God. In the next seven years, God would grow that church to more than five hundred members, start a Bible School and seven daughter churches. Beyond that, he gave me a wife, Kathy, and two lovely children, Christopher and Amanda.

From the day I arrived at the Rivers of Living Water Church in San Felix, I knew my calling was to the Guyanese. I loved them and they loved me. God worked many miracles during that time. I have missed that fellowship greatly. Kathy and I have returned to Venezuela and made extended trips to Guyana. Somehow, my heart is in that place and with those people. Today, armed with a Bachelor's degree in Biblical studies and an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree, God has strongly burdened my heart to reach out again and touch Guyana with His Gospel.

I have explained in other places what a mess Guyana is in. The Government does not function, Police protection and legal recourse are openly offered to the highest bidder and the poor suffer greatly. HIV / AIDS is a part of every family's life, even Kathy's extended family has been touched. When she was there in 2003, Kathy was asked to bring resources and teaching on AIDS. Information is scarce in the back parts of Guyana. Often, wives tales carry more weight than fact.

The Christian Church is strong where it is found. Their outreach is limited by poverty. There is a shortage of trained Pastors. In the River areas, a man cannot pastor an area larger than he can cover in a canoe with a paddle.

Our outreach will be to take Mission trips to the river areas of Guyana. We will support local Pastors in anyway we can. We will teach, preach and do things like show the Jesus Movie. In areas with no TV or Theaters, this draws large crowds. We will also prepare and present a very basic seminar on AIDS. This will include basic facts on the disease and a strong plea for abstinence outside of marriage and faithfulness within. Those who keep their sexual encounters within Biblical boundaries have little or no chance of contracting HIV.

In the future, I would like to purchase a small sailboat, capable of making the trip to Guyana with five or six persons aboard. We would be able to motor up the rivers, teaching and preaching as we go. We could generate power for lights, microphones and projectors and we would have a comfortable base in which to eat and sleep. It is not a far fetched dream, it is a tool that would help us achieve our goals and our vision. It would also open up the entire Caribbean for ministry on the trips back and forth.

Fundraising is the first issue of business. We need to plan and hold a fundraising Banquet. I need a person to take charge of those arrangements. We need a place and time, food, drink, decorations and a lot more. If you can help, please talk to Kathy. (239-887-0023) I will present the ministry at the Banquet and we will take up an offering and ask for pledges.

I also have a small Kayak. I am planning a trip along the lines of a walk-a-thon, asking for by the mile pledges. It would be fun if we could get a group together. If that excites you, call me at 887-1024.

Any other fundraising ideas you may have are welcome. Money for the sake of money is boorish. Money for the Gospel is great. It blesses the giver and fundraising can be fun!

We need members for our Board of Regents. Vance and Barb Wonderly, along with Don and Cindy Goodwin have agreed to serve on the Board. If you would be interested in serving alongside these wonderful people, let me know.

Our current goal is $7,500.00. This represents three months salary and will allow me to go into the ministry full time. Besides arraigning and making Mission Trips, there is a fulltime job in fundraising. Also, I would like to be able to offer my time and skills, teaching English in non-English speaking congregations in the area. This is meeting a real need in the community and is a great outreach program for those churches.

Kathy and I are planning a trip to Guyana in the Spring. This would be to make arraignments for a group trip to follow. We could take a couple of people with us; people who don't care where they sleep or what they eat! If that's you, let us know.

Please join us as we reach out to Guyana and the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Dave Rice