Dear Prayer Partner:Thanks so much for your prayers for our ministry here. It is neat to see answers come.
Wedding: It was a lovely wedding. And a most interesting story is behind it. About thirty years ago, two Bush Negro lady friends decided that if one had a boy and the other a girl, that they would promise have them marry. In due time, one had a boy, and the other a girl. The mother of the boy eventually was saved, and later much of her family accepted the Lord. But the boy, now a young man, remained unsaved. In order to go further in school, the girl came to the city to live with an unsaved aunt, the older sister of our strongest pastor in the interior. Her uncle was saved, then eventually the aunt, and the young lady accepted the Lord. Virtually the whole family were saved and baptized. She started to grow in the Lord.
At the appropriate age, the two families arranged for the young man and girl to marry in the cultural fashion. I was horrified, as this was truly an "unequally yoked situation." While the family decision was far from ideal, God intervened. The young lady became even stronger now that she was living with her husband close to the church. He began to attend. The young men reached out to him, and soon he accepted the Lord and was baptized. A few months ago, he approached me about having a legal marriage through the government and a church blessing. We were delighted to be able to do so yesterday. One of our assistant pastors, John Naingie conducted the basic service, I preached and did the vows, and another assistant pastor, Eduard Akoeba was the "master of ceremonies" at the reception. I would estimate about 300 persons attended, including many family members from the interior. We pray for a long life with the Lord's blessing!
Other blessings:
To each his own: Traditionally in Suriname, your birthday is a "big thing". Often you don't work, and in the old times, you had a big feast for your family and friends. But I decided to treat myself - not by taking the day off, but by preaching the morning service (on baptism) at the main church, and on the life of Gideon in the evening service. We were blessed to see folks accept the Lord at the morning service, and will have a baptismal service next week.
Some of the young ladies asked Liz and myself what we were going to do for my birthday... meaning what sort of treat. Fortunately, the children's church workers were selling all kinds of food that day to help cover some of the costs for children's camp in April. So Liz baked cupcakes as a donation, and gave some money out to a few people to buy things as well.
Geslaagd! (Finished!) We wrote about a young preacher and his wife who had lost two pregnancies, but finally delivered successfully a few months ago. She was a student at the University. To actually get your diploma, you need endurance as well as smarts. There are certain faculty members who seem to delight in holding students back. (Even our preacher in the USA who is second in charge of the US embassy was held up by certain faculty members.) She had a final exam corrected only several months after she had done it, only to be told she did not pass, but received no information on why she did not pass or what to correct. And if you challenge the issue, you may have even more problems. But she finally passed her thesis and received her degree this last week (basically equivalent of a masters)! We praise the Lord!
Bible Institute:
When we first came to Suriname, I remember meeting church members from other churches who were university students, and I prayed that I might have such students to challenge actually in our church. When we began, we had none, but now have a number either in the University or equivalent, with a few actually graduating.
I have really enjoyed teaching the students, especially the advanced course. It is proving a huge amount of work, but challenging. Thank the Lord that Liz is fully involved in helping me. It is a true team effort. She baked cupcakes again Monday and Tuesday for the classes. They also had soft drinks. After the Tuesday night class, you would have thought we were at a birthday celebration rather than a class. By the way, we continue to have some technical problems with our computers, and would appreciate your prayers that they would be fixed.
Sunny Point: Tomorrow Liz and I will go to Sunny Point, where I will bring the message. We are also bringing some cakes and soft drinks, as it is their sixth anniversary. We thank the Lord for the growth we see there. We pray for a strong national church, and for them to have their own building in the future.
Prayer requests:
- Our own spiritual growth
- Our health and strength for the work
- The Bible Institutes to truly prove a blessing
- Strong, unified national leadership
- Bible Institutes
- Solution to technical computer problems
- Scheduling. Most of our scheduling is complete, but we await hearing from one school and also a number of churches for possible meetings to challenge in missions.
In Him and Content:
Bob and Liz Patton
Missionaries to Suriname