In November of 2024 what started off as an “interesting opportunity” for a preaching campaign in Georgetown Guyana, quickly turned into an extraordinary experience for the proclamation of the gospel for the brethren and sisters of the Demerara Ecclesias.  In early October it was announced by the Guyana Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce that the GuyExpo would take place in the local fair grounds in the heart of Georgetown on the weekend of November 14^th through the 17^th.

GuyExpo has been the hallmark event showcasing Guyana’s culture and economic potential.  It served as Guyana’s largest trade and investment exposition and began in 1995 and was held annually in 2004-2016. With a brief hiatus through COVID, it restarted in 2023 to showcase the growing economy of Guyana. This exposition and trade fair features local and regional businesses and allows business associates and the general public to meet, network, negotiate with international companies, showcasing their skills, talents, and creative works. For the thousands of patrons who visit the booths, it is an opportunity to experience the wide range of locally produced products and services.

The Genesis of an idea

Sis Dawne Samuels, a long-time member of the Georgetown Ecclesia had spent some extended time in Canada at the Toronto East Ecclesia, and had the opportunity to discover the proclamation work done by ASK at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in downtown Toronto.  For many years, a booth at the CNE had been secured where the gospel would be put on full display for the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the CNE over two weeks in late August and into early September.  It was a sharp, professionally done display leaning on the theme of “5 Proofs the Bible is True”.  Upon Sis Dawne’s return to Guyana in the late summer, an idea took form whereby a similar booth could be created for the GuyExpo in November.

A high-level proposal was put forward to the brethren in the 3 Georgetown ecclesias and it was met with great enthusiasm.  The word went out asking for volunteers to assist in the organizing and support of the program and as God would have it, a group of 12 persons came forward to pull this together.  The energy in this group was infectious! About half of the group members were “children” in Christ with less than 5 years under their belts as members. Except for 5 brothers and sisters, none had ever participated in preaching event, so it was fresh enthusiasm with a nervous energy that moved this along with God’s help, which was evident all through the process.

The work begins…roadblocks removed

Sis Elisa Harry quickly offered to meet the GuyExpo organizers to request a booth on the committee’s behalf.  To her surprise, the organizing body was completely unwilling to rent a booth to a religious group. They advised us that we should just buy tickets, and walk around to share our leaflets on the site.  The GuyExpo organizers however grossly underestimated the stubbornness of the organizing committee to get this done – they were not going to fold that easily, so an official letter was drafted and sent to the Minister of Tourism to appeal the decision. There was no reply for over a month, (hoping perhaps the Preaching committee would just give up on the idea) but almost daily follow-ups occurred, and in the end Sis Dawne insisting on a meeting with the Minister in charge forced the issue to be addressed. Sis Dawne explained to the Minister all the preparation that was taking place that support was even coming from overseas to this event.  The official was shocked at the level of interest and dedication to the cause, and only a few short days later a phone call arrived approving the presence of the Guyana Ecclesias preaching booth at the show, with a slight discount no less to show their appreciation for the energy and dedication to make this happen.

Preparation

Despite all the uncertainty the committee confidently went ahead with their weekly planning. God had already provided all the resources we needed in terms of persons to help. Individuals, ecclesias, support organizations like ASK and CBMC all rallied together to provide what they could to support the rapid assembly of all that was needed to make this possible.  A.S.K committee members in Canada graciously provided all the PDF artwork for the CNE booth, allowing the assembly of an exceptionally professional and stunning display booth.  CBMC stepped in to provide the funds necessary to rent the booth for the 4 days of the Expo.  The Toronto West Ecclesia donated all the leaflets that would be used for preaching purposes, a full Caribbean Airlines checked bag of 50lbs of pamphlets! On the ground the team comprised of a builder for the table and literature stand (Bro. Patrick Joseph), a sales manager (Sis. Elisa Harry), a communication and events expert (Sis. Abike Barker living in China!), a software development engineer (bro. Akeem Headley), teachers (Sis. Elizabeth Europe), CBMC liaison personnel (Bro. David Andrews & Bro. Mark Carr), support staff (Sis. Saygon), Transportation (Bro. Derek Babb), Social media assistant (Sis. Abigail Babb), and Meals (Sis. Joan Andrews and Sis Danielle Semple). As time went on, many more volunteers and supporters helped with the day-to-day work at the Expo like creating content for preaching and organizing outreach plans (Bro Trimal Accra). Almost all able-bodied members in the Georgetown ecclesia came out to share the word and volunteer, even with their tiny children in tow!

“The people had a mind to work…”

On Sunday, November, the 10th after the memorial service, all volunteers gathered at the Georgetown ecclesial hall along with other members to share a meal and have a training session on how best to proclaim the gospel in this format.  The voice of experience led by Bro. David Andrews coached the team on what we should preach and some things to strategically avoid in our discussions. Sis Elisa a seasoned business leader impressed upon the group that we are there to sell “our product” the Truth, and to make it as attractive and positive sounding as we can.

On Thursday November 14^th after the team arrived early and set up the booth, the first shift to man the booth took place around noon.  While the general public did not arrive until after 2 pm, hundreds of business people and exhibitors who also had come early to set up to display their wares, started to come by even as we were setting up the booth.  Some were shocked to see us (but in a good way), surprised to see a religious booth at a business Expo.  Countless people commented on how good it was to see people preaching the gospel, and praised the professional booth presentation wishing us all the best. At 5pm the President of Guyana arrived with much fanfare to kick off the opening of the Expo and the crowds surged in on the first evening of the event.  We were off to an encouraging start!

Over the 4 days of the Expo the shifts were divided into 2 groups, from 2-6pm and 6-10pm.  The first shift was exceptionally busy as young families took this time to visit, and entire schools of children would be given tickets to attend sometimes causing line-ups at our booth 30 children deep to answer Bible questions!  If the first shift was seen as busy, the evening shift was absolutely chaotic!  It seemed the entire country of Guyana had tickets to attend and the crew on the 6-10 shift was non-stop handing out leaflets, explaining who the “Christa-who’s?” were and speaking of the wonderful Hope within us of the Kingdom of God.  Sis Dawne by day 3 had all but lost her voice, speaking in squeaky sentences about the gospel! It was exhilarating to see everyone smiling, sharing and explaining the Gospel to their friends and strangers alike as hundreds of people streamed by – there seemed to be no lull in the endless people stopping to talk to us. There was lots of noisy chatter and laughter against the background sounds of loud music on the grounds outside. Everyone had a part to play in the work.  Some brethren and sisters covered the booth and explained our Hope, some focused on the children who came to win a prize answering Bible questions. Experienced aunties and new moms carrying young ones in their arms, wandered through the grounds of the Expo handed out leaflets and invitations to the crowds all through the Expo inviting families to our Sunday School, adults to our Bible Classes. So many invitations were handed out a second printing was needed by the second day of the Expo!

Highlights

The first thing that stood out of all things was the “Spin-the-wheel” game which attracted quite a lot of attention, as people were eager to test their bible knowledge and win prizes. It was a particular hit with children of all ages, and questions were tailored to their past exposure to the Bible. Sometimes the question was as simple as “What was your favourite animal in Noah’s ark?” to “Name 3 of the Disciples of Jesus?” No one left without a prize regardless of their Bible knowledge, some with a simple dollar-store airplane and some choosing a Bible bookmark or Bible colouring book.  The enthusiasm and energy of the sometimes dozens of children hovering around the booth at any given time to try to win a prize was a joy to see. All left with an invitation to Sunday School in their hands.

Some of the most incredible unanticipated opportunities came out of the work at GuyExpo.  One of Sis Elisa’s professional social media contacts from work offered to do a reel for social media entirely for free to help us get the word out about our booth. A high-ranking Google representative sent to capture the GuyExpo by camera, once stopped at the booth in amazement. He asked question after question about God’s plans and collected a copy of every piece of literature we had and asked our permission to do a video for Google showcasing the booth. He was very impressed with how we excitedly shared the word of God with him, in particular highlighting how incredible it was that so many young people were intelligently speaking about the Bible.

Most incredible and unexpected of all, a popular television station in Guyana had their team of media personnel moving around the Expo and capturing the most interesting booths of the show. A representative stopped one evening to talk with Sis Abigail who was manning the booth, and was so impressed they asked her permission to showcase the booth on TV. With a resounding yes, Sis Abigail hurriedly called Sis Dawne who was presently handing out flyers on the other side of the Expo, and she quickly returned and got ready to record. The words of Jesus from Matthew 10 echoed in our heads “…do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak”. A full 4:40 minute spot was professionally recorded with Sis Dawne enthusiastically speaking about the Christadelphians, the essence of what we doing at the Expo, and above all the message of the Booth about the coming Kingdom of God.  It was a crazy turn of events creating a real adrenaline rush to tell everyone in a very modern way about Jesus and his plans upon his return to the earth.  The spot was aired on TV – a channel seen not just in Guyana but across the entire Caribbean.

Watch the video of the TV spot covering the Guyana Expo and the Christadelphians below

 

“Come over to Essequibo, and help us!” 

In the echo of the famous vision of the brethren in Macedonia in Acts 16 to the apostle Paul, “A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us”, and we too were left with a similar appeal. On 2 separate occasions, persons from the Essequibo region, the largest county in Guyana with no ecclesia, came to hear us. Essequibo is named after one of the famed rivers in Guyana many hours north of Georgetown towards the Venezuela’s border, only reachable by ferry boat over the massive river Essequibo.  After spending significant time talking with us they asked that we come over to Essequibo to share the Truth, after being awed by the little that they heard.  They volunteered to help facilitate setting up a similar booth, helping to organize a time and place free of charge to support our showcasing the Hope of Israel.  At time of writing, a campaign has now been scheduled in Essequibo for August 2025 God willing.

The many, many stories and conversations are too numerous to all mention here. Thousands of people passed by the booth over the 4 days of the event, countless numbers stopped and inquired of the Hope that was within us.  Needless to say, by the end of the EXPO on Sunday November 17th, the entire team was all totally exhausted leaving for home well after the closing time of 11 PM. As we were dissembling the booth, people were still standing in front of our banner taking pictures of the QR code to get more information about the Christadelphians as we left.  We felt that all things indeed worked together for good, and to become fishers of men was something we were happy to do together for Jesus.

Looking forward

The tremendous success of this event has energized a whole generation of brethren and sisters to continue on in this important work. Plans are already being made as to where next to preach in Guyana, and what would be needed to make this booth more mobile.  While the GuyExpo provided a tent whereby we could set up our booth, most places we hope to travel will not have such facilities.  In the short term, with the full support CBMC, a decent size tent will be rented to allow the booth to travel to markets, expos, and a wide variety of locations throughout the year.  WhatsApp groups with the numerous contacts made at the Expo was formed in order to advertise our next events and most importantly to invite them to continue studies with us, in particular with the Learn to Read the Bible Seminars.  The first series began on November 25, 2024 with Genesis, led online by brethren in Canada via Zoom. A tentative plan of one preaching event per quarter is scheduled to start with, ending with a return visit to the 2025 GuyExpo God Willing, in November.

We ask that you keep the work of these brethren and sisters in your thoughts and prayers as they endeavour to spread the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.  The ground in Guyana is legendary for its fertile soil for the growing of all kinds of wonderful produce.  It is our Hope that that like the parable of the Sower, the richness of the soil is equally fertile for the spreading of the seed of the Gospel.  CBMC is working to help financially as the committees build their capabilities to visit as many locations as possible throughout the country, to cover the registration costs, to get Bible literature down to support the preaching work, to support in the transportation costs to these far-reaching events. We ask if possible, to please keep these type of efforts in mind as you contribute financially to CBMC throughout 2025 and beyond.  May our Heavenly Father continue to bless efforts like these, and while time remains continue to call out a people for His Name!