CRCNA Leader Sees Ministry at Work in ‘Plastic City’

Colin Watson, Sr., director of ministries and administration for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, opened the Friday, Oct. 26, meeting of a World Communion  of Reformed Churches regional gathering in Georgetown, Guyana, with a Bible study focusing on the need for unity among God’s people.

Having been born in Guyana, it was exciting for Watson to return and be invited to lead the Friday devotional study. He also had the chance to visit a place called Plastic City, a garbage-strewn area that wasn’t there when he lived in the country.

The verses he chose to discuss at the assembly of the Caribbean and North American Area Council (CANAAC) included Jeremiah 6:13-14, which speaks of the sinfulness of prophets and priests who speak of peace when there is no peace.

He also touched on the parable of the good Samaritan and other verses in Luke 10 about Jesus’ sending out 72 followers to spread his message — and John 17:20-21 (NRSV), which says, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may [all who believe in me] also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Watson explained that he spoke about “the importance of unity and real peace” because the participants would soon be going out to visit ministry sites in the area. “That was an immersion learning experience,” he said. “We were able to reflect on and engage people on topics” such as those he touched on in his Bible readings.

Delegates to the assembly came from the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, and the CRCNA. Other delegates were from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, as well as churches in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.

The CANAAC assembly began on October 25 at an opening worship service at Burns Memorial Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, with members of local congregations joining in.

Rev. Robina Winbush, associate stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), delivered the sermon, asking, “How do we live faithfully as a people of hope in the world today?” She said we must look beyond current realities and know that there is something better, that today’s world is not God’s intention.

For his immersion experience, Watson, who was elected to the CANAAC steering committee, visited two communities served by a local Presbyterian church. The first was Plastic City, a poor community, originally started by squatters and located outside Georgetown in a swampy area near the shore of the Caribbean Sea and the mouth of the Demerara River.

People in Plastic City have no running water, electricity, or other services.

It is called Plastic City because the people who first lived there had scavenged plastic items to build their homes. Watson and his group were guided through the area by members of the nearby Vreed en Hoop Presbyterian Church, which conducts ministry there.

In another nearby location, Watson said, “Families are living just behind a sea wall. Since the coastline is actually below sea level, the area is prone to flooding. We heard many stories of how the church members had to evacuate some families in the past.”

When Watson grew up in Guyana, Plastic City did not exist. The area was formed by the dredging of the Demerara River to create shipping lanes, and squatters were later allowed to settle there. Watson said, “For me, this was an eye-opening experience. I saw ministry in a tough place where I’d never gone.”

At first glance, dire poverty is most apparent. You see children playing in muddy water and families (including children) working hard just to earn enough to buy food for that day. But looking closer and talking to residents and church members, said Watson, made him realize the hope also present among the people there, even in the midst of their many needs.

He also saw, by making the visit, that it is important for us to pay attention to opportunities for ministry that are close by — in our neighborhoods and communities.

“Unless you really look for them and pay attention, there are communities and ministry opportunities for mutual blessing that you can miss,” he said.

According to a message published after the meeting, CANAAC announced, “Our delegates discussed the need for education, greater consciousness of environmental sustainability, and issues of pollution.”

In addition, they discussed the need for more jobs, the importance for people to own land, and sanitation and disease.

Delegates who went on other immersion experiences — for example, a visit to a project working to reforest areas near the coastline — also had discussions.

On Saturday, members of the assembly were led by Joshua Narcisse in a Bible study of Philip’s baptism of the official from Ethiopia (Acts 8). Participants then attended two plenary sessions. One was on racism in church and society. The other was on human sexuality, families, and the role of churches.

A panel of assembly attendees also provided perspectives on church and society from the United States, the Cayman Islands, Canada, Guyana, and the Dominican Republic.

After the meeting, CANAAC issued various calls to action, including a request to stand “against discriminatory practices, while nurturing relationships in the midst of difficult and potentially divisive conversations,” and to “urge member churches to be voices of courage in confronting and dismantling theologies, practices, and narratives that allow racism to go unaddressed.”

Watson said there were some other calls to action with which the CRCNA did not take an official position. But, overall, he said, attending the assembly helped him to realize “that the challenges we all face are fairly universal.”

“We can look at the challenges and see the issue of poverty and how the church can address it,” he said. “We can also see places where the gospel message of peace and hope are at work.”