We are sent a December, 2011 letter to ask individuals and congregations to send contributions to support the pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. We had a wonderful response! We were able to send US$125.00 to each pastor (which amounts to $25,430 Guyana dollars!).Checks to GMN must be written to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church with "Guyana" written in the memo line. You can contiunue to send your check to Guyana Mission Network, c/o The Rev. Paul Tidemann, 1079 Goodrich Avenue, Saint Paul MN 55105.

The pastors are:

The Rev. Paul D. Moonu, President of the ELCG and pastor of Ebenezer Parish
The Rev. Moses Prashad, Pastor of Calvary Parish
The Rev. Leroy Nicholson, Pastor of Advent Parish
The Rev. Diana Liverpool, Pastor of Transfiguration Parish
The Rev. Sugrim Joseph Gobin, Pastor of St. Matthew Parish
The Rev. Burchell Moriah, Pastor of Good Shepherd Parish
The Rev. Errol Inshanally, on leave in graduate study in Jamaica

Each of these pastors also serve as acting pastors in other parishes because there is such a shortage of pastors in the ELCG. Several of them also supervise deacons or deaconesses who provide pastoral leadership in the parishes. For your information, the ELCG uses the word "parish" in most cases to refer to a cluster of 4 and up to 9 congregations for which the pastor (and some deacons/deaconesses) provide pastoral ministry.

NEWS OF THE GUYANA MISSION NETWORK (GMN)

We are pleased that during the year 2011 GMN has provided $7,000 to projects in support of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. Your contributions during this year has made this possible. Here is a summary:

$ 840 - 120 NRSV Bibles
$ 1,103 - 70 Sparks Children’s Bibles
$ 398 - 30 copies of "The Hammer of God" by Bo Giertz for deacon study
$ 964 - 20 Pastoral Communion Sets
$ 553 - Rebinding of ELCG hymnals
$ 29 - Sundays and Seasons liturgical year reference book
$ 1,511 - support for ELCG national Youth Camp
$ 100 - Parish education
$ 875 - Christmas gifts to the pastors
$ 517 - Laptop Computer for office of the President
$ 141 - Postage

NEWS IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN GUYANA

 A group of persons from Wartburg Seminary, headed by the Rev. Dr. Winston Persaud, traveled to Guyana in mid-July. In addition to our financial support for the camp, they carried NRSV Bibles for the ELCG, a set of theological books for the ELCG Lay Training Academy ("The Hammer of God" revised ed., by Bo Giertz), 20 pastoral private Communion sets for use by pastors, deacons and deaconesses and other things.

A group from the Florida Bahamas Synod carried, as a gift from Guyana Mission Network to the Christian Education Department of the ELCG, 70 "Sparks Children's Story Bibles." (FYI - each of these children's Bibles weighs 4 pounds, so they carried 280 pounds of them!) Our thanks to Chris Klafs of the Florida Bahamas Synod Companion Church Committee for making this possible.

There are no missionaries from North America in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana (ELCG) now. Pastors and laity from North America travel to Guyana for short-term visits during the year (see above).

The ELCG held its 68^th annual convention in May under the theme ARISE, GO, PREACH. An excellent report was given by the Rev. Paul D. Moonu, President of the ELCG now in his second year in office. Fine reports were also given by the Vice President, Ms. Sandra Kurtzious, and by the Secretary, Samuel Jerry Goolsarran.

For your information, the ELCG has 48 congregations in 13 parishes, 11,325 baptized members and 6,841 confirmed members. There are 7 ordained pastors and 18 deacons who are serving the congregations. These are challenging times for the church in Guyana, but we are pleased that the church is alive and well. The ELCG is very grateful for its partnerships with the Lutheran World Federation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ministry Among Guyanese in New York, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Guyana Mission Network, Fellowship Lutheran Church Tulsa, Oklahoma, Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Florida Bahamas Synod of the ELCA.

The ELCG has decided to use the term "deacon" in reference to all lay leaders, women and men, who have received training and have been recognized as official laity of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. (Previously, they has referred to women as "deaconnesses.")

PROJECTS IN PROCESS

GMN is funding the purchase of two laser printers for the offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana in New Amsterdam and Georgetown. We are awaiting the arrival of these printers and will pay for them when they arrive.

GMN is also providing a laptop computer for the office of the President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana to assist the President when he must travel to many different parishes. The computer was programmed by the Rev. Ted Carnahan, recent graduate of Wartburg Theological Seminary, now serving as a mission developer in Holdrege, Nebraska. Pastor Carnahan is an expert in computer technology. The computer has been carried to Guyana by seminarians from Wartburg Seminary who traveled there in January 2012.

NEWS IN GUYANA - ELECTIONS

Guyana recently held a national election and Mr. Donald Ramotar of the People’s Progressive Party was elected President. You can read about it at the following BBC link: www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-latin-america-15980149 or read more on Kaietur News at http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/

OTHER SUPPORTING GROUPS 

We want to say that there are several other groups in the U.S. which provide support for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana and we are grateful for their efforts. GMN is an independent organization as are these other groups. For example, Guyanese Lutheran Outreach based in New Jersey gave $1000 for the support of the ELCG Youth Camp and other funds for other projects in the ELCG. Other groups include: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ministry Among Guyanese in New York City, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Fellowship Lutheran Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Florida Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.