‘First Assembly’ holds grand celebration : –in recognition of three signature events

LAST Sunday, the First Assembly of God Church on D’Urban Street, Wortmanville, celebrated three signature events in its life, one of which was the fifth anniversary of establishment of its technical and vocational institution, ‘Generation Next’, located opposite the church.

Having first thrown its doors open to the public in September 2008, Generation Next has, to date, graduated more than 500 students with recognized certificates in computer studies and a variety of technical and vocational skills.

According to Deaconess Merissa Massiah, in the not too distant future, the church plans to broaden the range of skills training it offers, and languages are to be taught as well.

Apart from celebrating Generation Next, the church concurrently celebrated two other exciting activities — Uniforms Day and Career Day – which brought together a keenly enthusiastic congregation for a joint inspiring and memorable celebration.

In brief remarks to the Guyana Chronicle, Deaconess Massiah commented: “Uniforms Day at First Assembly of God is a day in celebration of ‘work’. All honest work is honourable, and we believe in work. It is the first time the church is hosting Uniforms and Career Day; and basically, what it set out to do was celebrate the different types of work.

“So, whether you are a carpenter, plumber or doctor, we really want to bring it to the fore…to celebrate what you do. We want to remind people that their job is important, and should not be taken for granted or treated shoddily.

“In doing their jobs, therefore, they can actually serve not only people, but serve God. It’s actually a ministry.”

What the church wants to do, she said, is to highlight Uniforms Day so that the youths as well could be informed and develop a responsible attitude and approach towards their work.

Concurring with Deaconess Massiah, Deaconess Adel Faria added that since honest work is honourable, persons should feel proud to wear their uniforms and identify with their professions, since working is a ministry.

The response to the call for everyone attending church on that day to wear their uniforms or working attire was overwhelming, and persons wore those clothes with pride. Uniforms of all kinds were in evidence: construction workers, labourers, vendors, the disciplined services, lawyers and other legal practitioners, nurses and other medical practitioners, media practitioners, public servants, private sector employees, consultants, waiters and waitresses, and a host of other professions, represented by arbitrary decisions as to what was most comfortable, or what was safe for them on the basis of occupational health and safety.

It was an amazing scenario, literally a kaleidoscope of colours; and the congregation, in one accord, just surrendered all to God, worshipping Him and giving thanks.

Those yet job seeking likely used the opportunity to affirm their faith and recommit their trust in God that they, too, would soon be blessed with jobs.

Career Day

Equally exciting was the Career Day component of the celebrations. Commenting on the celebration of Career Day, Deaconess Faria said the aim and purpose of the Career Day exercise was to set the stage for careers: to educate, inform, enlighten and motivate those who are working in the various fields. It sought to motivate them to continue to serve, and to do their jobs with excellence, thereby honouring God.

The church had the support of two distinguished work organizations — the Guyana Defence Force and the Foreign Services Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, represented by Director General Ambassador Elizabeth Harper — which joined in sharing thoughts on choice of careers, as well as giving insights into the workings of their organizations, during the 08:00 hrs segment of the church service.

Ambassador Harper spoke on careers that can be pursued in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the representative of the Guyana Defence Force enlightened the youths on the possibilities for entry to careers within the Guyana Defence Force, and what soldiering is all about.

It was also an opportunity to educate young people about different career paths.

Ambassador Elizabeth Harper gave an interesting and enlightening discourse on the Foreign Services Department. She took the congregation through what it takes to become an ambassador, and told them a bit about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her discourse provided a holistic picture for any young person to get an idea of what it means to work with the Foreign Services Department and other units – Languages, International Relations; Economics; Foreign Trade, and the lot.

As part of the Uniforms/Career Day celebrations, the church sought to showcase/highlight some of the work streams that young people don’t generally know about, and do not generally go into; so that, armed with information from the competent authorities, they would have a wider range from which to choose.

To this end, a career fair was mounted at the church on that day, which showed the congregation, and especially people who don’t really care much about work, a new perspective on work.

“What we want to get over is the message that, when you work honestly, you are doing something that is not just a pay cheque at the end of the month, or just another job; you are doing valuable work,” she stressed.

Giving tangible support to the Career Fair, which ran until 15:00 hrs, several entities set up and manned booths which offered career guidance for persons seeking jobs. Those entities included the Guyana Police Force and its various units; lawyers; doctors; the Bakke University, the Prison Service; health services, and education services, among others.

Other services provided included free health checks, such as blood pressure and glucose testing, and counselling.

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