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Self-sufficiency has become a clear goal of a small corps of missions workers in Guyana. Paulette Charles, for one, has a justifiable reputation for being a dynamo in her role as principal at a Georgetown school for children with multiple disabilities.

Charles's unshakable commitment to helping the needy does not end there. As a social-services volunteer at Saint Paul's Anglican Church, Charles is a toughlove watchdog in the community to make certain children better themselves in order to escape poverty's undertow. With books donated by parishioners, she has started a library in her home for neighborhood children. And she teaches 25 girls marketable skills, such as making jewelry boxes or crocheting hats.

While showing visitors through her Goedverwagting neighborhood east of the capital, Charles cannot keep from worrying about the destitute children around her. "Why aren't you in school?" she barks at one youngster. "Why aren't you doing your crafts?" she asks another.

Charles sees self-employment as an effective means of escape for many of the children. "If you ask for help, you must first show what you can do for yourself." The international relief agencies working in Guyana, such as Food for the Poor (FFP), based in south Florida, must play by government rules and stay away from any connection to political activity. These relief agencies and other nongovernmental organizations provide a critical margin of support in supplying hospital beds, school desks, and other resources because of the government's own strapped finances.

"We don't want to just be a handout operation," says Guyana FFP executive director Leon Davis. "We want to help people to make it on their own. It's the only chance these people have. Otherwise, they will be poor 100 years from now."

Half the country's 800,000 residents are Christians, yet, unlike the rest of South America—with the exception of neighboring Suriname—Catholics are not a majority. One-third of the population is Hindu, and one in ten is Muslim. From outward appearances, mosques and temples seem to be in much better repair than Christian churches, which often are in desperate need of new windows and a coat of paint.

A NEWFOUND UNITY

The faithful in Guyana exhibited tremendous unity earlier this year in stopping a bill that would have legalized abortion. Protestant denominations and Catholics united, as 10,000 marched in Georgetown to protest the proposed law. The March for Jesus in June also symbolized an unprecedented ecumenical effort, he says.

"There is no reason the church can't work together," says Maj. Sydney McKenzie, commander of the Salvation Army in Guyana. "We have much common ground on social problems."

As the government has retreated from responsibility, most churches have enacted social programs to try to meet clothing, medical, and food needs. Churches, particularly Catholic ones, had strong social services and educational programs before the government nationalized the country's health care and educational programs. Now, because the need is overwhelming, churches and parachurch organizations realize they cannot solve societal problems without cooperating.

Lucius Bruyning is in charge of church planting for Full Gospel Fellowship, a denomination with more than 80 congregations in Guyaria.

Bruyning, 45, says the charismatic churches in Guyana are growing because they are aggressively evangelistic and missionary-minded. "We preach a gospel that embraces a spiritual need as well as a social need," he says. "The church is not rich. There is very little we can do materially."

Bruyning drives around Georgetown in a car that has huge cracks in the windshield since the hood whipped back six years ago. The headlights flicker off whenever the car hits a pothole. "Most pastors have come from abject poverty," Bruyning says. "We have to rise above the hopelessness of poverty. People know that we can identify with them."

Copyright 1994 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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September 12 1994, Vol. 38, No. 10