by Marcee Strickland
Florida-Bahamas Synod Global Mission Committee
Marcee Strickland leads a women’s workshop on spiritual gifts.
On April 30, 2017, I was privileged to be a part of the Suriname/Guyana Task Force of the Florida Bahamas Synod when we arrived at Ebeneezer Lutheran Church in New Amsterdam, Guyana. We were there for the three-day convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Guyana. The convention opened with a procession around the block led by a banner and a band with the participants singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” as they proceeded into the church and the service began. Everyone was excited and inspired to be there and participate.
Women gather to learn more about their spiritual gifts.
After the church service, there were two meetings. Representatives from the Florida Bahamas Synod, Suriname, and Canada met with the ELCG board. This meeting and the rest of the trip are detailed in another article. During the second meeting I led a women’s workshop accompanied by Chris Klafs and Leandra Rizzo. The workshop was titled “Gifts for You: Opening Your Spiritual Gifts”. I got the plan for the workshop from the WELCA website. There were about 34 women present. Bible passages about spiritual gifts were included as part of the workshop. There was also an inventory for each woman to take to try to determine her own personal gifts.
The women seemed to enjoy participating and seemed very intrigued by their inventory results. Most seem to think the inventory was very true to what they expected and some had surprises. There was also information about how to use our spiritual gifts. The workshop was a time of exploration and learning; it was also a time of fellowship with Lutheran women from another country. I enjoyed getting to know my Lutheran sisters in Guyana and exploring God’s will and purpose for us.
What I find out on these trips is that these Christians may live in a different country, but they believe and worship the same as we do. We have much more in common than we have different. I think this is what accompaniment means.
