Greetings from the Wilkerson family! We would like to share some thoughts from our AWA Guyana Project.
When Bruce and I first accepted the call to mission work with AWA, after the initial joy of fulfilling my childhood dream of being a missionary, it dawned on me—what will I do? I am not a pilot, nurse, Bible scholar, teacher, cook, seamstress, nor can I work with arts and crafts, play a musical instrument or garden. However, God is faithful and had a plan for my life, even when I did not see it at the time.
Fast forward over six years later and I am amazed at how God has blessed me with the skill to teach academics at different levels and subjects at one time and–seeing progress! I teach several students that are behind in class with a variety of subjects, covering mathematics, reading, and writing. Our mathematical problems range from simple addition and subtraction, to multiplication and fractions. In reading and writing, we range from nursery level up. The ages of my students also range from young children to grandmothers. Besides the students who are behind in class, I also tutor bright students who want to excel in school, even preparing at this early stage for CXC exams (like SAT in the States). Depending on what we are working on, sometimes I spend 2 hours with one student and at other times, they all come to see me in one day, back-to-back. Those days make me tired and overwhelmed, but fulfilled at the end of the day.
God has blessed my life in order to be able to tutor all these people and help them have a more fulfilling life. Each one of my students has their own success story, and we can see the progress that has happened in the time we have been here. Over six years ago, I would have never thought that I would be juggling the academic gymnastics of mentoring and teaching.
Praise God for He is able! Philippians 4:13 comes to mind where it states, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (KJV)
Last year, the Sandia View Christian School decided to change their curriculum, and thus needed new textbooks. They donated a barrel full of their previous textbooks to our AWA mission project and the children of Guyana. Though a blessing, we knew we did not need all of them for our students.
About the same time, Maranatha Volunteers International built a primary school in Georgetown, Guyana with their first set of students starting in September 2018. They also built a library but had no books to put into it. We went through the barrel and kept some books for our AWA Learning Center, and decided to send the rest to the primary school’s library.
Jim Craik, our relief pilot, and I took the remaining books to the new Georgetown Seventh-day Adventist School. Principal Cecile Thomas was delighted to receive them for the library and was especially excited with the Bible class textbooks! Ms. Thomas extends her warm thank you to AWA/WFH and the Sandia View Christian School, as this was an answered prayer and jumpstarted their library so children and teachers alike could use it.
AWA/WFH exists because many members of God’s people are working together for the future of the children of God in Guyana. Romans 12:4-5 states, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Thank you for working together with us and helping us reach the people of Guyana!
Your AWA Mission Family at Mabaruma, Guyana,
Monique and Bruce
