Greetings Dear Friends,

We hope that our letter finds you well.  School is off to a great start.  We are beginning our third week of school Monday.  Our enrollment this year is right around where it was last year--about 80 students--with some new faces around campus. Patricia and I are excited to have the opportunity to share with these new students this year.

Well, allow me to share with you our prayer needs.  It seems that every time God is about to move and work, the old enemy is right there trying to boggle things up.  This has been a very challenging and somewhat
discouraging week.  I was asked to speak at our chapel service on September 11th  to the Seventh to Twelve Grades.  Dr.Martens, our principal, asked me to share about servitude and how we are serving the Lord by teaching in Suriname.   I shared with them the passage that basically put us here (Luke 18:18-23, the young, rich ruler) and I went on to explain how Christ humbled Himself and served His disciples in the Upper Room by washing His disciples feet (John 13:1-17).  I feel that this was a
great example that Christ used for Peter.  I then put the challenge before them about who were they serving.  I could visibly see that the Spirit was convicting several students  I was encouraged to see how God's word had touched several of these students.  Dr. Martens remarked that
this was a great way to start off the year and we, as a staff, feel that revival is near.  Couldn't be better, right?

Well, now the spiritual warfare starts.  I mysteriously began to break out in hives last weekend.  At first, I suspected dust mites but we have pretty much ruled that out.  Then, on Sunday night, Patricia was struck by a car while we were riding our bikes home from school.  God protected her from serious injury.  She was just banged up, scraped and bruised.  The guy had been drinking, driving with no headlights on, and he hit her on the wrong side of the road.  He was not arrested.  We are thankful that God had His hands of protection around her.  During the week, my hives became increasingly worse.  I went to the doctor's clinic on Tuesday, but I ended up going to the hospital on Thursday for an IV
push and a steriod shot.  I've had exactly 48 hours of relief but as I am sittling here writing you, I am broken out again  from head to toe.  We ask that you pray for us in this physical time of need as we are now
living examples of Job--(I pray that it does not get as bad as Job had it!)

We were to begin our bible study with the students this past week, however due to my affliction of hives, it had to be postponed.  Please pray about this study that we will begin this coming Thursday.  I pray that
God uses this study in a mighty way to challenge and spiritually grow the students.  Continue to pray for our health and protection.

We have 2 new teachers on staff this year.  Please pray for their adjustment to Suriname.  Also continue to pray for unity within the staff.  Many times Satan tries to stir up strife and create conflicts in order to discourage teachers.  We continue to ask your prayer for a new teacher to replace the sixth grade position.  The teacher in that position chose to remain in the states due to family needs.  Pray that God would lead the person He desires. 

I know at times that it is easy for us as humans to get discouraged and feel as though everything that could go wrong does go wrong.  But God makes a great promise to us that I have really been contemplating on this week.  It is from Romans 8:31-39 "...If God is for us, who can be against us?...for I am persuaded that neither life nor death, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
In Christ's Love,

John and Patricia