GFS Help to Guyana
Diocesan Press Service. October 10, 1966 [47-13]
A G. F. S. - Society for Girls project in Guyana benefitted the whole diocese. As Miss Jean Kind, national director of the G. F. S. stated, the project was "sponsored through the G. F. S., but was not exclusively for the G. F. S. " This mission outreach was an example of the same spirit which caused the G. F. S., at its triennial meeting in Denver, to vote to disband its national, though not local, organization, and to work through the overall church structure.
The newly independent nation of Guyana (formerly British Guiana) had been the recipient of offerings of the member countries of the G. F. S. World Council from 1962 - 1965. At the world meeting of the G. F. S. in Japan in 1965 the representative from Guyana reported that there was great need for leadership training for lay people and in particular G. F. S. leaders. A young Guyanese would be going to England to prepare for such work, but on-the-spot training was needed immediately. This has now been done. A husband and wife team, the Rev. and Mrs. George Timberlake of Grand Haven, Mich., went to Guyana for nine weeks this summer to conduct leadership training under the sponsorship of the G. F. S. of the United States.
Once the Timberlakes decided to accept the challenge, the whole family became involved. The preparatory study, engaged in by all, enabled the three Timberlake children to be a part of the mission. Leah, 16, assisted her parents with several of the conferences they led; while the two younger children initiated a number of friendships among the various national groups that make up the population of Guyana.
During their stay in Guyana, the Timberlakes conducted nine conferences and consulted with, or trained, some 290 persons, including teachers, YMCA personnel and clergy as well as G. F. S. leadership. Reactions from participants pointed to the need for more extensive programs in the area of leadership training, and the Timberlakes were able to make recommendations for followup.