Guyana Expo Preaching Campaign

What started as an “interesting opportunity” for a preaching campaign, quickly became an extraordinary experience for the proclamation of the gospel.

This past November 2024, what started as an “interesting opportunity” for a preaching campaign in Georgetown, Guyana, quickly became an extraordinary experience for the proclamation of the gospel for the brothers and sisters of the Demerara ecclesias.

In early October, the Guyana Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce announced that the GuyExpo would take place at the local fairgrounds in the heart of Georgetown on the weekend of November 14-17. GuyExpo has been the hallmark event showcasing Guyana’s culture and economic potential. It served as Guyana’s largest trade and investment exposition, and it began in 1995, being held annually from 2004 to 2016. With a brief hiatus due to COVID-19, 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, and 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 A.S.K. at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in downtown Toronto. For many years, a booth at the CNE had been secured where the gospel was put on full display for the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the CNE over two weeks in late August through early September. It was a compelling, professionally done display leaning on the theme of “5 Proofs the Bible is True.” Upon Sis. Dawne’s return to Guyana an idea took form: a similar booth could be created for the GuyExpo in November 2024. 

A high-level proposal was put forward to the brethren in the three Georgetown ecclesias, and it was met with great enthusiasm. The word went out asking for volunteers to assist in organizing and supporting the program. As God would have it, twelve 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 five years as members. Except for five brothers and sisters, none had ever been involved with a preaching event since their baptisms, so it was fresh enthusiasm with a nervous energy that moved this along with God’s help evident through the process. 

The Work Begins and 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 to buy tickets and walk around to share our leaflets on the site. However, the GuyExpo organizers grossly underestimated the persistence of the organizing committee to get this done—they were not going to fold that easily.

An official letter was sent to the Minister of Tourism to appeal against 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 insisted on a meeting with the Minister in charge, forcing him to address the issue.

Sis. Dawne explained to the Minister all the preparations that were taking place and 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 regarding persons to help. Individuals, ecclesias, and support organizations, like A.S.K. and the Christadelphian Bible Mission of the Caribbean (CBMC), rallied together 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 creation of an exceptionally professional and stunning display booth. CBMC stepped in to provide the funds necessary to rent the booth for the four days of the Expo. The Toronto West Ecclesia donated all the leaflets for preaching, a full Caribbean Airlines checked bag of 50 lbs. of pamphlets!

On the ground, the team comprised 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 and 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 of 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 10, after 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 was led by Bro. David Andrews. He 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 we were there to sell “our product,” which is the Truth, and to make it as attractive and positive sounding as we could. 

On Thursday, November 14, after the team arrived early and set up the booth, the first shift to staff the booth took place around noon. While the general public did not arrive until after 2 pm, hundreds of businesspeople 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) and 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 5 pm, the President of Guyana arrived with much fanfare to kick off the opening of the Expo, and the crowd surged in on the first evening of the event. We were off to an encouraging start!

Over the four days of the Expo, the shifts were from 2-6 pm and 6-10 pm. The first shift was exceptionally busy, as young families took this time to visit, and entire schools of children were given tickets to attend, sometimes causing line-ups at our booth with thirty 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 pm shift was non-stop handing out leaflets, explaining who the “Christa-who’s?” was, and speaking of the wonderful hope within us of the Kingdom of God. By day three, Sis. Dawne 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 and adults to our Bible classes. So many invitations were handed out that a second printing was needed by the second day of the Expo!

Highlights

The first thing that stood out 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 favorite 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 coloring 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 from 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 was sent to capture the GuyExpo by camera once stopped at the booth in amazement.

He asked question after question about God’s plans, collected a copy of every piece of literature we had, and asked our permission to make a video for Google showcasing the booth. He was very impressed with how we excitedly shared the word of God with him, particularly highlighting how incredible it was that so many young people were intelligently speaking about the Bible.

Most incredible and unexpected, a popular television station in Guyana had its 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 staffing the booth, 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, quickly returned and got ready to record. The words of Jesus from Matthew 10:19 (NKJV) 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 are 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 that created a real adrenaline rush to tell everyone in a very modern way about Jesus and his plans for his return to earth. The spot was aired on TV—a channel seen not just in Guyana but across the entire Caribbean. You can watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/1046883255

“Come Over to Essequibo, and Help Us!”  

To echo the famous vision of Macedonia in Acts 16:9 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 two separate occasions, persons from the Essequibo region, the largest county in Guyana without an ecclesia, came to hear us.

Essequibo is named after one of the famed rivers in Guyana, many hours north of Georgetown toward 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 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 the 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 mention here. Thousands of people passed by the booth over the event’s four days. Countless numbers stopped and inquired about the hope that was within us. Needless to say, by the end of the EXPO on Sunday, November 17, the entire team was all exhausted, leaving for home well after the closing time of 11 pm. As we dissembled 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 brothers and sisters to continue on in this important work. Plans are already in the works for where to next preach in Guyana and what would be needed to make this booth more mobile.

While GuyExpo provided a tent to set up our booth, most places we hope to travel to will not have such facilities. In the short term, with the full support of CBMC, a decent-sized 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 were formed to advertise our next events and, most importantly, invite them to continue studies with us, particularly with the Learn to Read the Bible Seminars. The first series began on November 25, 2024, with Genesis, led online by brothers 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 in November, God Willing.

We ask that you keep the work of these brothers and sisters in your thoughts and prayers as they endeavor to spread the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. The ground in Guyana is legendary for its fertile soil, which allows the growing of all kinds of wonderful produce.

We hope that, like the parable of the Sower, the richness of the soil is equally fertile for the spreading of the seed of the Gospel. The 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, and to support the transportation costs to these far-reaching events.

We ask you to please keep these types 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!

Dawne Samuels,
Georgetown Ecclesia, Guyana
and Mark Carr,
CBMC Link for Guyana