Wayumi Trini Edition

 In October 2022 a small contingent from Trinidad and Tobago journeyed to the middle of Pennsylvania to experience firsthand a program entitled 'Wayumi' - an immersive experience in cross-cultural missions, where participants would be able to learn about what is involved in taking the gospel to another culture that has never heard about Jesus. Our goal in attending was to learn as much as we could so we could offer a similar experience to persons from Trinidad and Tobago, without them having to leave the country. Our target date was April 2023, so from January this year, work began in earnest. Subcommittees were formed and meetings were held as we commenced planning for our first ever local Wayumi experience. I had the privilege of serving on the both the Programming and Administration subcommittees.

Last time we were together was in the USA in cold autumn
- now we were sweltering in the Trini dry season heat

In the weeks leading up to Wayumi, the dry season in Trinidad was brutal. There were numerous bush fires, resulting in a numerous homes being destroyed all over the country. In fact, just the week before Wayumi, there was a severe bush fire in the hills surrounding Victory Heights, and the fire services had to be called in to extinguish the blaze. Thankfully none of the structures were damaged. There were also water issues at the campsite the week before Wayumi, but thankfully these shortages were resolved by the time we started our programmes so everything was able to flow smoothly.

The fire got as close as the grounds for the main building 
we were using for the meetings

The team of missionaries from the States who were serving as the main facilitators were due to be in Trinidad for one week, so we planned two events for the time they were here: a one-day event for church leaders, and a weekend event for everyone else. The Promotions committee worked hard to get the invitations and promotional videos out, but it was only when they started visiting churches and sharing the vision for the event in person, that people understood the purpose behind the event and started responding. In the meantime, the Construction committee worked diligently to prepare the site and construct the huts we needed for the village experience. The Finance committee sourced donations and managed the funds wisely, while the Communications committee ensured that we had all the technical equipment we needed for a successful event.

The decor team did a phenomenal job in bringing
the indigenous flavour to the venue

The Programming committee followed the schedule that was used for Wayumi retreats in the States to ensure that participants would benefit from as much information and training as possible during the time frame we had. We made a few modifications to give a local flavour (corn soup for dinner, steel pan during Sunday morning worship). We also included a traditional African meal along with indigenous snacks to aid with the cultural immersion experience of the participants. Apart from the US-based missionaries, we were blessed to have three local missionaries (Ronald Yearwood, Heather Yearwood and Leah Joslyn) who are currently serving in West Africa with us for our inaugural Wayumi locally. They were able to lend expertise in sharing informally with the participants, helping to construct an African hut for our 'Village' experience, and played the part of tribal people when it was time for participants to visit the village. They did this so well that some persons who knew him did not even recognize Ron in the village!

For the participants, the visit to the Village made all
the information that was shared come alive

As part of the Administration committee, we handled registration, catering and hospitality. The overseas team was high in their commendation for how both events were executed - they were impressed with the logistics, the efforts put into the decor, the construction of the huts for the village, and the turnout. At the Leader's event, we had 37 participants and 25 for the weekend event (including 3 from Tobago!); these participants came from 9 different denominations and 4 separate para-church organizations. Those who attended were fully engaged in all the sessions which were presented, and thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the village where they were able to interact with 'tribal people'. They also benefited from informal conversations with the on-site missionaries. 

Browsing items available for sale at the Information table

We included a session on the last day of the weekend event where participants shared in small groups about how the sessions impacted them, and persons who had been quiet all weekend opened up, sharing how God had been speaking to them about their role in cross-cultural missions. Participants recognized that the harvest field for souls is full, but the workers were few, and committed to sharing this reality in their spheres. They shared how the experience changed their perspective of missions, and they now felt better equipped to pray for those on the field. They left with a greater understanding of the support needed for missionaries to accomplish their roles effectively. In evaluating their experience at Wayumi, they used words such as thought-provoking, enlightening, impactful, impressive and all agreed that they would recommend it to others.

Participants engaging in one of the sessions

We give God all the glory that, at the end of the weekend event, 9 persons responded to the call to become involved in cross cultural missions! One of these persons shared what she had learnt with a friend from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and they too said "Yes" to God's call to go into all nations and preach the gospel! We are beyond grateful to God that we had the privilege of seeing the fruit from all that went into the planning and execution of these two events so soon afterwards. We pray that as these ten persons proceed with the next steps leading to their service cross culturally, they would experience God's abundant provision of all the resources they need, and that many others from the Caribbean would consider their role in the great commission.

Celebrating those who heeded the call to "Go"