The Caribbean Consultation held in Tobago on January 12-15, 2017 was the culmination of several years of work through our GFM (USA) – International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) Caribbean partnership and the CARIFES movements’ work to develop ministry among graduate students and faculty. While my GFM colleagues Dr. Alice Brown-Collins, Felicia Anderson, Chermaine Kabugu and Wendy Quay attended the consultation, I was prevented from joining them by illness, so I traveled to Guyana and Suriname nine months later to encourage and affirm the CARIFES staff and volunteers there, with an eye to promoting faculty, postgraduate and alumni ministry.
My first few days were spent in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. Desmond Rogers, the Regional Secretary for the Caribbean, and I visited with the Guyana IFES staff team and met with several local supporters. Though the history and context of Guyana’s IFES group (Inter-School and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship – IS /IVCF) is quite different from our own, these meetings were very similar to what we in InterVarsity/USA experience. I particularly enjoyed hearing from IS/IVCF staff members about their life and work.
The next day seven IFES staff and I left very early on an 11 ½ hour journey to Suriname. The trip was a wonderful bonding experience. When we arrived in Suriname, each of us was given a bag filled with food (beans, rice & chicken, cheese sandwich, sweet bread, red cake, Indian dough balls) and drink. This typified the hospitality I received throughout the trip.
Suriname was lovely, with large coconut, rice and banana farms, waterways (not unlike The Netherlands), and blue sky. The towns we passed through contained fascinating architecture - houses, businesses, temples, etc, all built on pillars that lifted them a floor off the ground. Some houses were huge and elaborate, some were more modest and rundown, some were not yet finished, some were falling into decay.
In Paramaribo, Suriname, Desmond and I were joined by Flemlyn (General Secretary for IFES Guyana), Darren, Jesslyn, Vanessa and Michelle, who are members of the Guyanese IFES staff team. Over the next few days we met with members of the Suriname IFES movement, which is known as the Jesus Students Suriname Movement (JSSM.)
At the JSSM office we met board chair Clive Cambridge and JSSM staff, students, graduates (alumni) & board members. We attended several events, including a drama competition which was hosted by JSSM as a fund-raiser and the 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of JSSM. The anniversary celebration was held in the Cultural Center Suriname and included a program of special music, worship, speakers, and presentations. During the celebration, the Guyana IFES team presented gifts to JSSM. I presented a framed congratulatory certificate on behalf of IVCF/USA along with words of affirmation. Later that night Desmond and I had a special time with the Guyana IFES team, exchanging gifts and words of encouragement prior to their departure early the next morning.
After the Guyana team’s departure, Desmond and I continued to explore Paramaribo, worshiping in a large church (Dutch-speaking, like Suriname as a whole) that supports the ministry of JSSM, touring the old part of the city and discussing how our InterVarsity GFM/CARIFES partnership could continue to grow. On the last day of our trip, Desmond and I ate dinner with the JSSM board and I was given an opportunity to speak briefly about faculty ministry.
It was such a privilege to enter into the relationships, history and working of God's grace in Guyana and Suriname! I was impressed by the depth of their commitment to the ministry, their hospitality and prayerfulness and by what God is accomplishing through these small and lightly-funded student movements. Although we discussed graduate and faculty ministry together, what seemed to matter most to the staff was my presence – that someone from another country would visit and celebrate their history, affirmed and validated them profoundly. I would love for more of our CARIFES colleagues to have the opportunity to visit the US to share their vision and ministry with us and to create more opportunities for our faculty, students and GFM staff to visit, encourage and learn from our Caribbean brothers and sisters. Before the trip to Guyana and Suriname, I prayed that I would be able to encourage and honor my IFES brothers and sisters who work hard to serve Christ among students. I trust that God answered this prayer.
