We arrived: Monday was a busy day packing and getting ready to go. I finally went to bed and got 3 ½ hours sleep before awakening to go to the airport. Liz stayed up the entire night. Kim and Ethan had come to the city, and took us to the airport, arriving about 3:30 AM. They stayed and visited until we went into the customs area. The flights were all on time. All our baggage arrived. We were not charged for our third bag. With multiple long layovers for our four flights, we finally arrived at 11:00 pm and our friends the Hubeles drove us to the mission house at Community Baptist Church.

The big day: For Kenneth Pinas, one of our young preachedrs, and Ricarda Ajeremi, one of Liz's girls, the big day was Saturday, August 1^st. The first part of the wedding was the government part, which is required for all marriages. We were there from 5:30 until 6:00 pm. The church decorations were very nice, and the church filled up quite rapidly. In the mean time, the wedding party traveled through town, took some additional photos, and came to the main church a bit after 7:00 pm. The wedding ceremony was relatively short by Suriname standards. We of course had congregational singing, several special music arrangements, and a short 16 minute sermon. Then we had the wedding vows, concluding music and prayers. Then off across town to the wedding reception. I estimated close to 400 persons at the wedding, and probably more at the reception. We left early, about 9:30 because of our Sunday responsibilities.

Sunday morning I preached on communion, and we had a communion service following which Kalow Palata conducted. People were pretty tired out from the wedding, and the evening service attendance was a bit sparse. David Kago did well preaching.

Learning, learning, learning... This week has been trying to adjust to a bunch of things. My biggest challenge is concerning the new Mac computer. It is beautiful, but different from a PC. There are several new programs to learn, and also a real problem trying to transfer information from my PC over to that. A man from our supporting church worked with me from about 10:15 AM to 8:15 PM. We made some progress, but have several additional things to do.

We also have a new phone system which will permit us to use the computer for wireless and e-mail on the road regardless of wireless service where we are. I am looking forward to being able to keep contact regularly. We also have been learning about a portable PA system which will prove helpful both in the USA and Suriname in preserving my voice. We would appreciate your prayers. In addition, Liz has been reorganizing the things which were left from last furlough, purchasing, ironing, etc.

We will be at the mission house of Community Baptist Church as our base for this week and next, and then will be heading east. I spoke Wednesday morning to a men's group. I will be speaking to the adult auditorium class Sunday morning. Our commissioning service is Sunday night. I will be preaching Wednesday night. Then next Saturday, we will be heading to Ohio for a week, and then to Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and then back to our home base for a two week block course.

Our e-mail will remain bpatton@baptistworldmission.org as before, and we will continue to check bobpatton@sr.net as well. Our new cell phone number is 574-303-9669.

Prayer requests:

1. Safety in travel
2. Strength and health for the work
3. Our spiritual growth
4. Adapting to many new things here in the USA
5. We will be a blessing to our churches
6. The power of the Holy Spirit present in our messages, presentations, and lessons
7. Continued growth of the churches in Suriname.