USHERING in Amerindian Heritage Month 2012, the Ministry of Amerindian affairs yesterday held an inter-faith service at the Umana Yana, Kingston.
The event which was chaired by Ms Yvonne Pearson and Mr. Deon Johnson saw a large turnout of representatives from the different faiths in Guyana.
Representatives from the Guyana Conference of Seventh Day Adventist, as well as Mr. Fenton Parks and his team from “Circle of love” engaged the audience with renditions of gospel songs.
Reverend Marilyn David of the New Life Anointed Ministries engaged the audience with her prayers and readings from the book of Joshua in the Holy Bible. The reverend prayed for the unity and success of the indigenous peoples, and urged them to be proud of their heritage.
According to her, our success is not measured by what or how much we have, but by what we do with what we have. She noted how involved the indigenous people are in Guyanese society today, and advised them to utilize their talent, resources and intelligence to become successful individuals, and make Guyana proud. Celeste David, daughter of the Reverend, also treated the audience to her rendition of a gospel song.
Representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, Father John Persaud and his team treated the audience to prayers in the Amerindian languages of Wapishana and Patamona, as well as songs in Wapishana and Macushi.
Father Philip Edwards of the Diocese of Guyana, prayed for the President and ministers of Guyana, law enforcement personnel, and all the people of Guyana, especially the indigenous people.
There was chanting from the Hallelujah Group who came all the way from Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), Tassarene. The group sang in Akawaio, and also knelt and prayed in their native language.
For the first time, members of the Rastafarian community were involved in the inter-faith service. Representatives from the Rastafarian Council engaged the audience with song, poetry, and drumming about showing more love and trust, and uniting as one people. They said that the indigenous people and the Rastafarians are one, as they are all “people of the most high.”
Members of the Baha’i Community were also present at the service, and treated the audience to a song in the Amerindian language of Macushi.
Representing the Islamic community was Imaam Shaheed Mohammed from the Islamic Organisation. He prayed in Arabic, as well as English, asking Allah to bless all ten regions of Guyana, and to guide the indigenous people in their celebrations. The Imaam said that “we are all one” and we should live that way.
Pandit Omadat Persaud of the Guyana Hindu Dharma Sabha spoke on behalf of the Hindu community. He said that we should all stand in unity and respect each other’s religion. According to him, the theme of Amerindian Heritage month 2012: “Embracing our identity, celebrating our culture” is very fitting, and we should all stand firm with those words.
Representatives from the various faiths were presented with tokens of appreciation for their participation in the inter-faith service.
Also present at the service was Minister of Amerindian Affairs. Pauline Sukhai, Minister of Agriculture, Leslie Ramsammy, and Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran. The Grand Launching of Amerindian Heritage Month 2012 will take place today (September 1) at the Amerindian Village, National Exhibition Complex, Sophia at 17:30hrs.