Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. This has been a rough week, but with special blessings. Last Sunday morning, a group of five Saramaccan women and children came to church by taxi. They live quite a distance from the church. Liz and I went to visit them today, and the Lord helped us find the house. One of the ladies received us kindly. Her mother came in, a woman in her 40-50's, who understands Sranantongo but speaks only Saramaccan. I presented the plan of salvation, and both ladies prayed to receive Christ. Then the older lady told us that she had had a dream a few days previously. She was afraid of hell, but dreamed that a white woman would come to tell her about salvation! We rejoiced, and told her that the white woman brought her husband along to give the good news! Pray that they will continue to come despite the difficulties in transportation.
Opposition in the church: I mentioned last week that there was considerable opposition to the proposed new senior pastor. On Sunday, I gave a very clear outline of why all the decisions were made, and there seemed to be a visible improvement in the atmosphere. I am convinced that the leadership has made the right decision in a difficult situation. We had communion on Wednesday with the specific purpose of giving forgiveness and coming together in unity. Several did not take part in communion which we had hoped would help lead to reconciliation. Would you join us in prayer for that to take place? We are asking the Lord to intervene and change the situation.
I remind myself that this is an attack of the evil one on our church, which is experiencing growth and outreach, and also is going independent with national leadership. In fact, this week we are running a third bus because of increased attendance. Ultimately we do not fight with flesh and blood, but against principalities... I believe that some of our people have allowed the flesh to creep in and give the devil a foothold. It appears that the root of bitterness has sprung up and defiled many. I am praying for the leadership, the new pastor and myself not to allow bitterness or anger in ourselves, but to overwin the opposition with love, but without compromise.
Activities for this weekend:
Tomorrow we have a 4 hour seminar on HIV/AIDS. Two of our church ladies working as nurses will speak, and I will speak primarily as pastor and not doctor - on the spiritual aspects of immorality resulting in infection. We are expecting about 100 in attendance.
Sunday we will have the installation of the new senior pastor. We have a pretty complete program worked out. One person will go over the history of the church. Then I will give a charge to the pastor, followed by prayer given by the senior pastors of our three side churches and myself. After the service, we will be serving a bit of food . We pray that despite the opposition, this will prove a time of blessing. We will covet your prayers!!!
The other programs are progressing normally, including the radio and TV broadcasts and the Bible Institutes. We are still awaiting some paperwork before finalizing the purchase of land for Sunny Point, and would appreciate your prayers there as well.
Prayer requests:
Health and strength for the work
Our spiritual growth
Safety driving here
Unity and spiritual power in the main church with the new pastor
Completion of independence for the four churches
Completing purchase of Sunny Point property
Souls saved and discipled
Installation of the new pastor Sunday
Seminar on HIV/AIDS Saturday afternoon
In Him and Content: Bob & Liz Patton Missionaries to Suriname
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