Update on Mrs. Patton: I just spoke with my brother and sister-in-law. They had made a special trip to see my mother. My mother, who fell and broke a hip and shoulder at age 93, has deteriorated dramatically in the last two weeks. She is hardly eating or drinking, continues to be confused (she fell in the Alzheimer's unit), and her weight has dropped to 96 pounds (9 pounds in two weeks). She can stand but not walk. Fortunately she has no pain, occasionally responds, but sleeps about 90 percent of the time. The team caring for her is recommending the skilled care unit and hospice. When she was lucid a few years ago, she had expressed the desire to be with the Lord. It would appear that she will receive her wish. We would appreciate your prayers.

No "poeroe blaka" in our church! Our people, the Bush Negroes of Suriname, were basically animists before increasing numbers have become Christians. They have a great fear of death. First, they don't ask "how did this person die" but "why did this person die?" They seek the answer from witchdoctors, or sometimes persons with a "winti" - an evil spirit. There is a great fear that unless the death is properly handled, the spirit of the departed can return and take revenge on those still alive. So deaths are handled elaborately.

The entire clan often participates in "dede oso." This includes ceremonies, offerings to the departed spirit, inviting the spirits of departed ancestors to join in eating food placed for them (trowe njanjan), pouring out libations of water or alcohol (trowe watra), and many other ceremonies. I have heard the elders standing at a grave of the departed and stating that they had no intent of evil, etc. There are other ceremonies which others can describe in much greater detail about how the families try to decide who is responsible for the death of the individual. (People don't just die - there has to be some reason).

They then place at least one person in a formal mourning period. If there is a surviving spouse, that is usually the individual. This person has all sorts of restrictions. He or she must wear certain clothes and head-dress indicating that they are in mourning. They must remain quiet, not spend a lot of time laughing, etc. They have a special stool on which they sit - no one else. And they are not to sit on regular seats. The stool usually has a white cloth tied around it which was obtained off the covering of the coffin when the clan "said goodby" to the departed. The person may have to wear some of the intimate underclothing of the departed. He or she must put a bit of their food on the floor or ground to share with the departed spouse, as well as drinks. They call this period "blaka" (an appropriate name!). At the end of the time determined by the family of the departed, then they have a feast and remove the restrictions, which they call "poeroe blaka". They have traditionally had ceremonies at the burial, one week later, six weeks later, and then a final ceremony about 6-9 months later. It is difficult for persons during this period to participate in church, especially if they have not previously attended but now want to accept the Lord.

When we deal with the culture, we do not want to perpetuate heathen customs. However, it may be helpful to have certain Christian services to replace those of the heathen when we bury our believers. They need extra support during the time of loss. So we work hard to help our Christian believers avoid "blaka." We have a burial fund which helps cover the costs of burial, which normally would come from donations of the entire clan. If the heathen pay for the burial, they expect to control the manner of burial too, including their heathen ceremonies. Thus our people can have a Christian burial without being dependent upon the funds from heathen relatives. Usually the clan make some donations and cover some of the costs. We try to explain to the unsaved relatives that we are not afraid of the spirit of the departed coming back as an evil spirit to torment the family. The departed believer is "absent from the body but present with the Lord." So what do we do?

We normally try to have the entire burial process in our hands. We have services before burial, including the wake the night before burial. We bury without any of the heathen practices. We do have a Christian service after one week and six weeks to substitute for the heathen services. We have some food, singing, preaching, and testimonies during these services. We also encourage the church family to visit the surviving spouse or relatives and pray with them. We work to give spiritual support to the surviving spouse during a period of about 6 months, and then have a special service with prayer thanking the Lord for His assistance during the mourning period. Of course, the heathen members of the family are welcome to come, but not to try to do their heathen practices in our midst. Sometimes, they will have a separate service elsewhere to "do their thing."

I was very pleased this week by our service completing the mourning period for a man in his early 60s from the Winti Wai church. His wife died unexpectedly, leaving him to care for two young girls about 8 and 6 years old. We used our usual midweek prayer service at the main church. Winston Zeeman did an excellent job - gave an excellent sermon on the resurrection of the dead, and a very clear invitation for salvation at the end. Our music leader and choir also did well, as did the ladies who served coffee and soft drinks and some sandwiches afterwards to the 200 or so in attendance from all four churches. The service was about 1 ½ hours long, but our people enjoy getting together so much that most of the people did not leave until about an hour or so later. So - no " poeroe blaka" for us because we don't put persons in "blaka." As I mentioned, we must sorrow, because the pain of parting is present even though we know that we will be reunited later. But we must not sorrow as those who have no hope. We would appreciate your prayers for this man in his continued adjustment to caring for his family without the assistance of a wife.

It is sometimes difficult to provide a Christian alternative to certain heathen practices. However, I find it good that the church as well as the family does work at supporting the surviving spouse. Often in the USA, after the bustle of the funeral, a few days later the grieving survivors are pretty much alone. We do our best to use the positive aspects of the culture in a Christian framework. We do not want to leave a vacuum where they will be pulled back into the heathen practices from which Christ made them free. They are under tremendous pressure from family.

I would ask also for prayers for two other individuals:

• The wife of one of our preachers in training went into labor at 34 weeks, losing a lot of amnionic fluid. She has not gone into labor on bedrest, and fluid loss is much less. They are hoping to wait another week plus until she is at 37 weeks and then induce her.
• A 20 year old student had some sort of seizure, and MRI scans show a lesion in the occipital lobe of the brain. They plan to repeat the MRI scan, but may need to operate. The lesion has affected part of his field of vision. I am concerned about a possible brain tumor...

Prayer requests:

1. Health and strength for the work
2. Our spiritual growth
3. Soulwinning and discipling believers
4. Independence of the 4 churches
5. Bible Institutes - another correspondence student begins next week
6. Continuing to learn Final Cut 4 and starting producing DVDs