‘Good people have serious problems.’ Lessons learned in Guyana’s Region 9

ANNAI, Guyana (BNc) by Charles Box — Annai is located in the interior of Guyana. It is in a section of Guyana known as Region 9. The people who live in Annai are called Amerindians. Annai is made up of five villages: Annai, Rupertee, Kwatamang, Wowetta, and Surama.

The total population for these five villages is around 3000 people. The leading political official in Annai is called the Toshao. Each village also has a council that works with the Toshao to govern each village.

Almost everyone in these villages speaks English. Their local language is called Macushi. Most, with the exception of some of the older people, speak both languages fluently.

Many times, as we preach in English, one of the brothers translates what is said into Macushi. Translating the message benefits those few who do not speak English and those who would have difficulty understanding the sound of Southern English.

We must do our best to preach the gospel to these people because Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” Mk 16:15-16.

There are many lessons that we can learn in Annai.

Let us learn that good people have serious problems

The Toshao over the villages in Annai is a man named Mark George. He is a man who is very caring about his people. He has become a close friend to me and to the church.

His brother, Charles George, was taught the gospel and baptized by Ricky Bagents.

His sister, Louise, has cared for us at the guesthouse where we stayed many times. She has cooked for us and even washed our clothes. She attended the services of the Annai congregation for the first time on the last Sunday we were in Guyana. We have shared the gospel with her many times, and we are praying that it will take root in her heart.

The Toshao, Mark George, is a good man but he has a serious problem. He and I have studied the Bible ,and we have talked often and studied specifically about this problem. Mark, like other men and women in these villages, has a serious problem with alcohol. God says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” Pro 20:1. Please pray for Mark and for all of those who are struggling with addiction to alcohol or other drugs!

Let us learn that people die

Almost every trip that we have made to Annai, we have dealt with death and dying.

On one trip it was a young pregnant woman who had taken poison. She died on the back of our truck, as we were trying to get her help.

On another occasion, a young man had been drinking or taking drugs; he was either murdered or fell into a well and drowned. When his body was taken from the well, we used the truck to take him to the cemetery.

On the last trip I made, one of our first stops in Annai central was for me to visit Mark George. Mark was very glad that we came again and he showed us kindness and hospitality. He told me that a woman had just died that afternoon in the village and asked me if I would go pray with her family.

Mark and I immediately walked across the village and when I saw the house we were going to, I realized that I had been there several times to try to study the Bible with this family and to pray for this elderly lady who was sick.

Her brother, Leonard, is an elderly man who has been baptized into Christ. He lives next door. When we reach the house, we found the woman’s body in a little homemade box on the floor and her family surrounding her as they mourned. I shared Scripture and prayed for them.

But I am reminded that death comes to everyone. The term “death” is found in 351 verses in our King James Bible. In one of the most profound Bible statements about death David said, “As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death” 1Sam 20:3.

Death is coming; are you ready to meet God now? When we left the house that had been visited by death, Mark wanted me to go and pray with some others. We must have visited six or eight other homes and prayed about specific struggles that these people were going through.

Let us learn to be thankful for our blessings and to stop complaining

Annai has no electricity. There is a generator in Annai that runs for two or three hours each evening to provide current (most of the time). In Annai a few places have running water (some of the time). The water would not be safe for us to drink. Some families have wells in their own yard. The wells are mostly uncovered and may have just a board across them that a person would stand on to draw the water by hand.

The road or Trail, as it is called, that leads from Linden to Annai is 199 miles long. It is an unbelievably rough road. Not included in the 199-mile trip to the interior is also about 71 miles of paved road before you reach the trail.

Our trip out, during the last visit, took about 20 hours to cover the 270 miles.

Medical help is almost nonexistent. The small clinic in Annai had a very old ambulance when we were there. They had never had it before. The joke there is that the ambulance is sicker than the patient.

The people live in small little huts or houses. Some of them still have dirt floors and roofs made out of palm leaves. The people have very few clothes, even though most of them dress more modest than people in the US.

Not many of the local people have vehicles of their own. It is hard for them to even have a copy of the Bible. In the village of Masaru, a man and his wife have been visiting the church meetings. They are not members yet, but we are praying that they will be Christians soon. She has a Bible, but it is very old and the pages are coming apart everywhere. We are helping her to get a Bible.

She said of this tattered and worn Bible, “I do believe that my Bible is going to get to heaven before I do.”

The Wednesday morning ladies Bible class at the Walnut Street church helped with the purchase of Bibles and also copies of the Muscle and a Shovel book that were used on our last trip.

Before you complain about things, just think about your blessings, which are so many! We would do well to hear the words of Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without murmurings and disputing.”

Let us learn that there are people in Annai who have open Bibles and honest hearts

We now have congregations of the Lord’s church in Annai, Kwatamang, Wowetta, and Massara. Massara is not one of the Annai villages; it is a neighboring village about 18 miles from Annai.

Of these four congregations, Massara is the only one that does not have its own building.

In these villages you are not allowed to purchase the land, you must be granted permission to build on the land by the village council.

In Massara we do have a congregation meeting on a little porch at a family’s house. We left them with money to build a shed to meet under, as they have outgrown this porch. They can build a shed because it will be personal property of the family where the church is presently meeting. It will be in their backyard.

Let us learn to be legally married and to not just live together in fornication

Marriage is difficult and somewhat expensive for the people in these villages. There are only a few marriage officers who can conduct the weddings, and many of the people do not have proper identification.

The church has been successful in encouraging many people to get married and become children of God. During this last trip there were three weddings on the same Sunday afternoon.

Almost 50% of the babies who are born in the state of Alabama last year were born to unwed mothers. Within these villages in Annai, you will find many people who are just living together. They have a term that makes the fornication sound not nearly so bad. They say they are “leaving home.”

The Bible says, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hb 13:4. God’s plan is for one man to be joined to one woman for the duration of a lifetime.

“For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband” Rm 7:2.

Home and family are serious matters to both the Father and to Jesus, the Son. Jesus said, “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” Mt 19:6.

It is within the home that the man and his wife find love, companionship and also satisfaction for sexual desires, 1Co 7:2-5.

As we teach people the gospel, we teach them that they must obey the laws of the land concerning marriage. That is included in their repentance.

Charles Box works with the Walnut Street church in  Greenville, Ala.