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UPDATE ON THE FLOOD SITUATION IN GUYANA Embassy of the Republic of Guyana 2490 Tracy Place NW.  Washington, DC 20008 Phone: 202 265 6900 Fax: 202 232 1297   UPDATE ON THE FLOOD SITUATION IN GUYANA Release No. 3   1. Effects of the Flooding   Although the flood waters have partially receded, properties of thousands of citizens remain under water. Others whose homes are no longer waterlogged require relief to replace basic possessions and adjust to normal living. The impact of the flooding has been particularly severe on vulnerable groups such as the very young, the infirm and the poor. Emergency relief requirements are still critically needed. While reduced rainfall and increased pumping activity have lowered the flood water levels, possible additional rainfall could exacerbate the disaster. Distribution of relief items has improved but logistics and access continue to pose challenges in low-lying areas. Medical teams have been mobilized to treat water-borne ailments.   2. Centre to Receive Relief Items   The Civil Defence Commission has replaced the Joint Operations Centre as the entity responsible for receiving all flood relief except for monetary donations. The address to which donations in kind must be sent is the:   Civil Defence Commission Thomas Road, Thomas Lands Georgetown Tel. 226 1104 or 226 1117 or 226 8815 Fax. 226 1027  or 225 0486   3. Monetary Donations   Donations in monetary form are preferable to the emergency relief items listed below since such contributions will expedite the acquisition and delivery process. Until further notice, monetary donations should be sent to the following Account which has been established by the Government of Guyana for the specific purpose of flood relief:   The National Relief Fund Bank of Nova Scotia 104 Carmichael St. Georgetown Account No. 109780   In the USA, persons wishing to make monetary donations can do either of the following until further notice:   Send donations to the Guyana Flood Relief Fund at any Branch of Wachovia Bank, Account No. 20000257 33790.   Funds donated will be accounted for by Guyana’s Honorary Consulate in Miami whose contact information is:   Guyana Honorary Consulate 795 NW 72nd St. Miami, Florida Telephone: 786 235 0431 Fax: 305 693 9313 Email: GuyanaConsulate@aol.com   Send checks payable to Guyana Medical Relief Inc at: Guyana Medical Relief Inc. 1656 South Hayworth Ave. Los Angeles 935 4514 California   A receipt for donations will be issued by the Guyana Medical Relief Inc. which is a non-profit organization.   The Embassy of Guyana in Washington, DC expects to have a flood relief Account operational shortly.   4. Shipping of Non-Monetary Relief Items   Persons involved in providing relief items should bear in mind that packages can be delivered to individual families only by private arrangement. In all cases, shipping arrangements of relief supplies are the responsibility of the donors. The following companies are involved with dispatching freight to Guyana:   Laparkan Trading Company has instituted the following special rates for persons desirous of sending relief supplies to Guyana:  Regular barrel - US$89.00 A 50- pound box - US$60.00 (.99cents for each additional pound) Telephone Nos. 305-970-6222 or 786 336 0616 or 973-399-0777 Offer ends February 12, 2005   Direct Resources Shipping (Lanham, MD) Regular barrel - US$85.00 A-50 pound box - US$65.00 (US$1.75 for each additional pound) Telephone numbers: 301-577-2202 or 1-877-666-2203 Offer ends on February 5, 2005   Caribbean Cargo Caribbean Cargo will airlift packages to Guyana at a cost of $10.00 for 25 lbs. Telephone numbers: 718 995 2055 or 718 856 1805   Generally, the cost of shipping a twenty-foot container from the West Coast of the USA is approximately US$6000.00, while a forty-foot container is approximately US$7000.00. Containers of similar size from the East Coast are US$5000.00 and US$6000.00 respectively.       5. Emergency Relief Items   Items which are urgently needed are:   Complete drainage/irrigation mobile pumps with a capacity of 80-100 cubic feet per second and hydraulic head of 16 feet with diesel driven engines of approximately 250 horsepower with assorted pipe works including 100 feet legs of pipes and brackets 4x4 pickups with and without trays and with an engine capacity of 3000-4500cc (diesel or gasoline) Generators (150-300kva) Inflatable dinghies Small flat-bottomed aluminium boats (15-20 ft in length) Forklifts Outboard engines (8-25hp) Earth moving equipment – hymacs, bulldozers, excavators, draglines and small dredges Shelter goods (beds, mattresses, small kerosene stoves) Plastic water tanks with a capacity of 600-1000 gallons and smaller containers for carrying water with a capacity of 2-5 gallons   6. Relief Efforts   The Government and people of Guyana appreciate the interest and goodwill being displayed by the international community, relief agencies, NGO’s, the Caribbean-American community and the Guyanese diaspora. Extensive emergency relief has been provided to the victims by the Government of Guyana while commitments given by the international community are in the pipeline. Continued support and cooperation are required so that the country can overcome its worst natural disaster in living memory and repair the damage and destruction to personal possessions, household items, crops, livestock and infrastructure totaling untold millions of dollars.   Washington, DC January 27, 2004 Posted by Embassy of the Republic of Guyana on Friday, January 28, 2005 at 21:29 Comments (6) Former pastor,missionary in Divinity choosed Islam Former pastor, missionary, professor in Divinity choosed Islam ! Khadijah 'Sue' Watson - Former pastor, missionary, professor. Master's degree in Divinity "What happened to you !" ..... This was usually the first reaction I encountered when my former classmates, friends and co-pastors saw me after having embraced Islam. I suppose I couldn't blame them, I was a highly unlikely the person to change religions. Formerly, I was a professor, pastor, church planter and missionary. If anyone was a radical fundamentalist it was I. I had just graduated with my Master's Degree of Divinity from an elite seminary five months before. It was after that time I met a lady who had worked in Saudi Arabia and had embraced Islam. Of course I asked her about the treatment of women in Islam. I was shocked at her answer, it wasn't what I expected so I proceeded to ask other questions relating to Allah and Muhammad (pbuh). She informed me that she would take me to the Islamic Center where they would be better able to answer my questions. Being prayed up, meaning-asking Jesus for protection against demon spirits seeing that what we had been taught about Islam is that it is Demonic and Satanic religion. Having taught Evangelism I was quite shocked at their approach, it was direct and straightforward. No intimidation, no harassment, no psychological manipulation, no subliminal influence! None of this, "let's have a Qur'aanic study in your house", like a counter part of the Bible study. I couldn't believe it! They gave me some books and told me if I had some questions they were available to answer them in the office. That night I read all of the books they gave. It was the first time I had ever read a book about Islam written by a Muslim, we had studied and read books about Islam only written by Christians. The next day I spent three hours at the office asking questions. This went on everyday for a week, by which time I had read twelve books and knew why Muslims are the hardest people in the world to convert to Christianity. Why? Because there is nothing to offer them!! (In Islam) There is a relationship with Allah, forgiveness of sins, salvation and promise of Eternal Life. Naturally, my first question centered on the deity of Allah. Who is this Allah that the Muslims worship? We had been taught as Christians that this is another god, a false god. When in fact He is the Omniscient-All Knowing, Omnipotent-All Powerful, and Omnipresent-All Present God. The One and Only without co-partners or co-equal. It is interesting to note that there were bishops during the first three hundred years of the Church that were teaching as the Muslim beli eves that Jesus (pbuh) was a prophet and teacher!! It was only after the conversion of Emperor Constantine that he was the one to call and introduce the doctrine of the Trinity. He a convert to Christianity who knew nothing of this religion introduced a paganistic concept that goes back to Babylonian times. Because the space does not permit me to go into detail about the subject insha'Allah, another time. Only I must point out that the word TRINITY is not found in the Bible in any of its many translation nor is it found in the original Greek or Hebrew languages! My other important question centered on Muhammad (pbuh). Who is this Muhammad? I found out that Muslims do not pray to him like the Christians pray to Jesus. He is not an intermediary and in fact it is forbidden to pray to him. We ask blessing upon him at the end of our prayer but likewise we ask blessings on Abraham. He is a Prophet and a Messenger, the final and last Prophet. In fact, until now, one thousand four hundred and eighteen years (1,418) later there has been no prophet after him. His message is for All Mankind as opposed to the message of Jesus or Moses (peace be upon them both) which was sent to the Jews. "Hear O Israel" But the message is the same message of Allah. "The Lord Your God is One God and you shall have no other gods before Me."(Mark 12:29). Because prayer was a very important part of my Christian life I was both interested and curious to know what the Muslims were praying. As Christians we were as ignorant on this aspect of Muslim belief as on the other aspects. We thought and were taught, that the Muslims were bowing down to the Ka'bah (in Mecca), that that was there god and center point of this false deity. Again, I was shocked to learn that the manner of prayer is prescribed by God, Himself. The words of the prayer are one of praise and exaltation. The approach to prayer (ablution or washing) in cleanliness is under the direction of Allah. He is a Holy God and it is not for us to approach Him in an arbitrary manner but only reasonable that He should tell us how we should approach Him. At the end of that week after having spent eight (8) years of formal theological studies I knew cognitively (head knowledge) that Islam was true. But I did not embrace Islam at that time because I did not believe it in my heart. I continued to pray, to read the Bible, to attend lectures at the Islamic Center. I was in earnest asking and seeking God's direction. It is not easy to change your religion. I did not want to loose my salvation if there was salvation to loose. I continued to be shocked and amazed at what I was learning because it was not what I was taught that Islam believed. In my Master's level, the professor I had was respected as an authority on Islam yet his teaching and that of Christianity in general is full of Misunderstanding. He and many Christians like him are sincere but they are sincerely wrong. Two months later after having once again prayed seeking God's direction, I felt something drop into my being! I sat up, and it was the first time I was to use the name of Allah, and I said, "Allah, I believe you are the One and Only True God." There was peace that descended upon me and from that day four years ago until now I have never regretted embracing Islam. This decision did not come without trial. I was fired from my job as I was teaching in two Bible Colleges at that time , ostracized by my former classmates, professors and co-pastors, disowned by my husband's family, misunderstood by my adult children and made a suspicion by my own government. Without the faith that enables man to stand up to Satanic forces I would not ha ve been able to withstand all of this. I am ever so grateful to Allah that I am a Muslim and may I live and die a Muslim. "Truly, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are all for God the Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner has He, this I am commanded. And I am the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam." (Holy Qur'aan 6:162-163) * Sister Khadijah Watson is presently working as a teacher for women in one of the Da'wah (Invitation) Centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Posted by IslamWay.com on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 10:03 Comments (1) Jesus, on whom be peace in the Glorious Quran Jesus, on whom be peace in the Glorious Quran        The Qur'an tells us a lot of wonderful things about Jesus. As a result, believers in the Qur'an love Jesus, honour him, and believe in him. In fact, no Muslim can be a Muslim unless he or she believes in Jesus, on whom be peace.        The Qur'an says that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he spoke while he was still only a baby, that he healed the blind and the leper by God's leave, and that he raised the dead by God's leave.      What then is the significance of these miracles? First, the virgin birth. God demonstrates his power to create in every way. God created everyone we know from a man and a woman. But how about Adam, on whom be peace? God created him from neither a man nor a woman. And Eve from only a man, but not a woman. And, finally, to complete the picture, God created Jesus from a woman, but not a man.      What about the other miracles? These were to show that Jesus was not acting on his own behalf, but that he was backed by God. The Qur'an specifies that these miracles were performed by God's leave. This may be compared to the Book of Acts in the Bible, chapter 2, verse 22, where it says that the miracles were done by God to show that he approved of Jesus. Also, note that Jesus himself is recorded in the Gospel of John to have said, "I can do  nothing of my own authority" (5:30). The miracles, therefore, were done not by his own authority, but by God's authority.      What did Jesus teach? The Qur'an tells us that Jesus came to teach the same basic message which was taught by previous prophets from God—that we must shun every false god and worship only the one true God. Jesus taught that he is the servant and messenger of that one true God, the God of Abraham. These Quranic teachings can be compared with the Bible (Mark 10:18; Matthew 26:39; John 14:28, 17:3, and 20:17) where Jesus teaches that the one he worshipped is the only true God. See also Matthew 12:18; Acts 3:13, and 4:27 where wefind that his disciples knew him as Servant of God.      The Qur'an tells us that some of the Israelites rejected Jesus, and conspired to kill him, but Allah (God) rescued Jesus and raised him to Himself. Allah will cause Jesus to descend again, at which time Jesus will confirm his true teachings and everyone will believe in him as he is and as the Qur'an teaches about him.      Jesus is the Messiah. He is a word from Allah, and a spirit from Him. He is honoured in this world and in the hereafter, and he is one of those brought nearest to Allah.      Jesus was a man who spoke the truth which he heard from God. This can be compared with the Gospel According to John where Jesus says to the Israelites: "You are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God" (John 8:40). Posted by DiscoverIslam.com on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 10:00 Comments (1) What Do Muslims Think About Jesus? What Do Muslims Think About Jesus?   Muslims respect and revere Jesus. They consider him one of the greatest of God's prophets and messengers to humankind. A Muslim never refers to him simply as "Jesus", but always adds the phrase "upon him be peace."   The Qur'an confirms his virgin birth, and a special surah of the Qur'an is entitled "Mary." The Qur'an describes the Annunciation as follows: "'Behold (O Mary!)' The Angel said, 'God has chosen you, and purified you, and chosen you above the women of all nations. O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name shall be the Anointed (Masih or Messiah), Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and in the hereafter, and one of those brought near to God. He shall speak to the people from his cradle and in maturity, and shall be of the righteous.' "She said: 'O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?' He said: 'Even so; God creates what He wills. When He decrees a thing, He says to it, "Be!" and it is.'" (Qur'an 3:42-7) Jesus was born miraculously through the same power that had brought Adam into being without a father: "Truly the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust and then said to him, 'Be!' and he was." (Qur'an 3:59) During his prophetic mission, Jesus performed many miracles. The Qur'an tells us that he said: "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make for you out of clay, as it were, a figure of a bird, and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's leave. And I heal the blind, and the lepers, and I raise the dead by God's leave." (Qur'an 3:49) Neither Muhammad nor Jesus came to change the basic doctrine of the belief in One God, brought by earlier prophets, but to confirm and renew it. In the Qur'an, Jesus is reported as saying that he came: "To attest the law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you; I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear God and obey me." (Qur'an 3:50) The Prophet Muhammad said: "Whoever believes that there is none worthy of worship but God, alone without partner, that Muhammad is His messenger, that Jesus is the servant and messenger of God, His word which He bestowed on Mary and a spirit proceeding from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are true, shall be received by God into Heaven." (A Hadith from the collections of al Bukhari) To view more from the exhibit visit: www.discoverislam.com Posted by DiscoverIslam.com on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 09:53 Comments (1) View Articles and Archive