Guyana, South America
After planning for almost 2 years, our youth leaders, Carson and Rachel, were able to put together an amazing trip to Guyana for our youth group here in Willow, Alaska. So many issues came up with this trip, but God preformed one miracle after another and worked it out better than any of us ever could. There were 8 people on the trip from Willow though the group grew to 20 after several people from the church in Georgetown joined for the jungle section of the trip.
Jessica wanted to go on this trip really bad as she has heard me talking about Guyana since she was little. I went over 20 years ago and spent 3 months there. It was amazing and I would go back today if I could. I met so many people and made some friends I still have to this day. Jared and I thought about it and though we had our concerns about Venezuela and political issues with Guyana right now and Jessica’s back issues. We decided to trust God to keep Jessica safe and let her go. The stories of how God worked things out when we could not is amazing. I haven’t the time to tell all the miracles worked on the groups behalf, it could fill a book. There was no doubt this trip was blessed by God, and they had His hand of protection on them through it all. We truly serve a very mighty God!
I did not expect to have such a hard time with Jessie being gone, honestly. I was doing fine while I could text her but when she left the US enroute to Guyana I lost communications. I had checked with our phone carrier and while she did not have cell service, she could message over wifi. However, the wifi and cell service stopped when they headed out of town and out into the bush. That day was the most difficult. I broke down and just wept as I had thought her hotspot would cover a message in/out and it didn’t. A week of zero contact was a bit too much for this mama. In an answer to prayer, one of the ladies on the trip bought a sim card for her phone which provided a hot spot. Jess was able to message while out in the bush and send a few pictures each day. I am so thankful for that!! They did run out of data for the hotspot on the way out of the bush, so I didn’t hear from her for about 3 days until I called another member of the team to check on her before their return flight. She was fine of course but it did my heart wonders to hear her say so.
She had an amazing time and made some lifelong friends. Jess is a very independent and capable teen, but she is still just a teen. The trip was amazing in some respects and difficult for her in others. It was a little difficult because her back issues were acting up from the rough road. I had sent Ibuprofen and pain cream down with her but it wasn’t enough. She mostly stayed quiet and did her best to help where she could, but she felt a bit lost quite often as she wasn’t sure what was expected of her. On the advice of someone in the group who lives there early on, she decided to stick with the Guyanese and follow their lead. She was much happier and was able to learn so much about the local area, people, culture, traditions, etc. She was able to use her Spanish quite a bit and was happy about that. She absolutely loved the Guyanese people! In a crazy gift from God, the ladies that took her under their wing were some of my friends from when I was there 20 years ago! If Vidya ever reads this, THANK YOU!! I was so worried about her, but when she told me Vidya, Vashti, Zemina, and Zebrina were helping her out, I lost all my anxiety and thanked God she had Guyanese friends that I know and trust to guide her. That was truly a gift of God to this mama! Jess had so much fun on this trip with the group from Willow and she will be able to share in the memories and stories when they all get home.
Jess was able to experience so many things while she was gone! I wish I could have been there to experience them with her and watch her learn and grow but that’s part of growing up. She excitedly messaged me one day about playing soccer barefoot further out in the bush with some kids in a remote village. She had so much fun, lol, it was entertaining to hear her talk about it when she got home. We heard quite a bit about Vashti and her soccer skills, lol. I did not send sun block with her as she is part Native American and always tans. She never burns…..until now. Poor girl burned so badly her face swelled up and her eyes were partially closed. The leader of the entire group sent one of the Guyanese to the market to buy her some sunscreen and she used it for the rest of the trip. (our independent little traveler did pay him back for it!) Her face blistered and peeled several times before healing up. She has a nice color to her skin now that she is home, lol! I should mention that the AK group did offer some of theirs, but she didn’t want to use theirs up or be annoying or a bother by asking for some several times a day for the whole trip. Thankfully she was able to get her own bottle of sunblock and the swelling went down after a few days, this mama will never make that mistake again!
It took about 24 hours of flights and layovers to get there so they arrived tired but eager to get involved. The first Sunday they split into 2 groups and went to 2 different churches to help out. The different services went great, and the group gathered back at the mission house that evening to get ready to leave at about 2:30ish am. It is a 12-hour drive to the first base camp. A very, very hot and tired group arrived at Kurukukari to set up camp. They were here for 2 days, then went on to Annai where they stayed for 2 days as well. From each of these campgrounds, the group ministered in 2 outlying villages. They were supposed to stay one more night in Kurukukari 1 night to break the trip back into a shorter drive, but they decided to push through and drive all the way back, about 16 hours in total. Jessica was sitting in the very back of the van and was getting overheated and the pain was almost too much. The next time they stopped for a break she took more pain medication and chugged a full 40oz water bottle. The driver, Ricky, was concerned about her and wanted her to move up closer to the air conditioner but it didn’t happen.
The group split up into 2 groups and were able to have children’s services and regular services in 4 villages. The Lord helped them to minister and touch so many people! They were able to hand out Bibles to those that wanted one and share the message of Jesus to those who may not have ever heard about Someone who loves them so incredibly much. They were expecting about 30 kids at one village and over 70 showed up to listen to the story of Jesus. I am so grateful that my daughter was able to see and experience the life of a missionary. I hope she never loses the love of telling others about Christ. At the end of our days when we pass from this life and into the next, what else will matter? Heaven or Hell are the only options, I pray we all choose wisely.
The group drove for 16 hours back out of the bush and to the mission house. Jessica said she was so tired and in so much pain by the time she got back she lay down and fell asleep before she could shower, put pajamas on fully or even cover up, lol. The group relaxed and caught up on laundry and rested the next day before getting ready for Sunday. Sunday they again split up into 2 groups and went to different churches for services. One of the churches they went to is up river several hours so they have to leave in the very early morning and catch a boat. The second Sunday the different churches gathered together for one big service and to say goodbye to the group. Jessica had mixed emotions as she had already fallen in love with the place and people there, but she was getting a bit homesick as well. The group went to market the next day and picked up souvenirs and trinkets before packing and leaving for the airport. They flew out of Georgetown at 1am local time on Tuesday morning and landed in NY about 5:15am local time.
In NY God again had everything under control. We were quite worried about NY and the group getting lost, or separated, or about anything, lol. Well, making a very long story short, an acquaintance (now friend) of Carsons, Paul, found out they were going to be landing there on Tuesday so arranged to pick them up. Paul is an advisor to President Trump! The group was picked up in a luxury van, had a security detail in another car behind, and Paul’s aunt and nieces were there as well to serve as tour guides. They are Guyanese so that was so amazing how God worked everything out. The aunt is a 9/11 survivor and was in one of the towers, she was rescued and lived through it thankfully. She had many stories to tell the group while they toured NY. Paul took the group out to eat, bought them snacks, and made sure they were back at the airport in time to catch their flight back. Paul may not know it, but he was an answer to several mama’s prayers, lol. Only God could have gotten our little group such an amazing and protected tour of NY free of charge. None of us could have pulled that one off, lol!
The flight back to Seattle from NY was long but I had her buy the wifi so we could chat a bit, check her FB, emails, etc. Dear me! That girl chatted the entire 6 hour flight! LOL! She had so many stories to tell us that could not wait until she got home. They landed in SeaTac and had another long layover so stayed with some friends to get a nap and some food. Back to the airport at 0dark30 to catch the final flight back to Anchorage. They had to do some stuff in Anchorage and then finally arrived home, safe and sound. I told her after hugging her for the first time in 2 weeks that she is never allowed to go anywhere ever again until she is at least 102 years old. She has been chattering non-stop and telling me all about the trip and her friends, the food, the services, camping, market, the mission house, and the list goes on and on and on. She is already looking forward to the next adventure!
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