Sunny Point: We had a good service at Sunny Point last Sunday AM. I preached on giving, and Br. Kenneth Domini spent nearly as long (30 minutes) exhorting the people of Sunny Point. The problem is that most are unemployed or with low paying jobs, like cleaning houses, etc. They struggle to keep food on the table and clothing on the children. But I mentioned that "little is much when God is in it", as the song goes.

The notaris states that the paperwork for the property will be done early in the week, and we will finalize the purchase. The church has scheduled a work day to clean the trees and brush away this coming Saturday. Then they would like to dig the foundation the following week, followed shortly by pouring the foundation.

Financially, we are grateful to have the property. I was able to move funds to the sum of $12,000 from our love offerings to the Sunny Point building fund. Now we need to see the Lord bring in funds. The church paid for the architect to make drawings and a price list, which came to about $65,000. The church will do the work, which will save about $23,000. That brings the total to $42,000 with $12,000 now, leaving a sum of about $30,000. However, there will be additional costs for a fence around the property, electricity, lights, for benches and a pulpit as well. I am eager now to see how the Lord will work. We hope to be able to set up a loan fund so that the majority of funds will eventually be repaid, so that the churches will have a fund to use for other building projects in the future.

Anyone interested may send contributions to:

Baptist World Mission
P.O. Box 2149
Decatur, AL 35602
Pattons - Sunny Point Building Fund

The main church: The attendance was excellent and the service Sunday morning went well. We had three baptized, and are scheduled to see three more persons baptized this week. The opposition seems to be dying off, and at present, it seems that we will lose no more than six persons. We hope that very soon we can put the past behind us and move ahead, and that the healing will be complete.

A long trip! Before returning to Suriname November 3rd, we mailed about 10 books which were to help both with the teaching materials in colleges in the USA as well as the Bible Institutes here. Liz called the post office repeatedly, but no books. They finally arrived - back in Niles, Michigan after having spent 4 months touring El Salvator... despite the fact that they were clearly labelled. Why they were not sent on to Suriname? We don't know, but pray that the second time around, they will indeed arrive here.

We finished our second module for the Advanced Bible Institute; the exam will be after Easter. Other programs seem to be going well.

Prayer requests:

1. Our spiritual growth
2. Strength and health for the work here
3. Safety in traffic
4. The Sunny Point building project fund
5. Stability, unity and growth at the main church