Greetings, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

God is so gracious. We are thankful to share in God's riches and blessings with you. During the past month God has revealed Himself to us in many ways, and continued to speak to us in different ways. He has blessed us with keeping the 4 boys, 2 dogs, 2 tarantulas, and a tank full of fish for 20 days; a beautiful baptismal service; bible studies; and fellowship with one another.  

We thank each of you for your prayers during the month of April. Patricia and I learned a lot during our experience while keeping the boys. We are thankful to say that the missionary parents had a successful and blessed trip to Europe. One misadventure--they did miss their plane, which extended their trip an extra three days. We were then asked to drive to pick them up at the border of Suriname and French Guiana. One the rainy, muddy three-hour drive, Patricia became very excited when we saw a spider monkey cross the road (why? to get to the other side!). And we became extremely excited when we saw a capybara, (kinda like a groundhog). When we met the Davises at the border, they shared their joys of visiting Europe and their excitement in locating new bible materials and resources for the missions bible school in Suriname. The four boys were a blessing. Patricia says that she now understands just how far a box of cereal and a loaf of bread really go. We are thankful for the opportunity and the experience that God allowed us to have with this family. 

We are also thankful for a beautiful baptismal service we had in late April. Patricia and I shared in joy as several of our students were baptized and demonstrated their love for Christ. The service was outdoors on a farm, with palm trees all around. The beauty of the sun setting and the birds whistling added to the awe of our Lord, and the significance of Baptism. 

Keep praying for the continued youth bible studies that Patricia and I lead. They seem to be going well. My prayer is that the young people take to heart all that we discuss in regards to their personal relationship with Christ. We would like to thank Tom Sterling for the 30 bibles we received in this month's shipment. Again we would like to thank those who helped out in this endeavor: Mark McGinness, Ruth Lambert, Mike Blout, Karen Bradt, and my dad. Thanks to them, students have their own personal bibles now. 

We ask that you pray along with us as our fellow missionary friends undertake an evangelism expo here in Suriname. Here is an excerpt from Courtney Street's prayer letter: "The Lord is really at work here in Suriname and we believe that we are standing at the brink of a great revival. Never before have we seen such excitement about what the Lord wants to do among our people. Not only is there an excitement, but believers are buying into our vision for a church in walking distance of every person in Suriname. Many of the key church leaders are seeing the wisdom in starting house and cell churches. This way believers can be adequately discipled and be equipped to do the work of the ministry. With this in mind, we have initiated what we call Evangelism Awareness Week where we will plan activities around the theme, The harvest is great but the workers are few. This event will include a week of prayer, a concert, seminars outlining discipleship and church planting strategies and an expo of discipleship and church planting materials. What was meant to reach a small segment of the Christian community has captured the attention of the whole Christian community in Suriname. Please pray with us that this expo will stimulate and encourage believers to become busy in taking the church to the people, thus facilitating a Church Planting Movement among our people." Courtney works with the inner-city people of Suriname. He has just completed overseeing the translation of the New Testament into Saran Tongo, a common language here. There is a funding need in regards of printing this new translation. If you are interested in assisting Courtney in this project, he has asked that you contact him at BroStreet@aol.com  

We were blessed also by taking part in the official dedication of the new wing of our building at the American Cooperative School. We had a turnout of over 200 people from the community. It was covered by the media. Our first goal was to show God's glory and what He is doing at our school. The other purpose of the evening was to show the Science Fair Projects, and Fine Arts. I coordinated the displays of student art work. The evening was very successful and a wonderful opportunity to reach the community. 

Please pray for these last few days that remain of this school year. As of this writing, there are only 28 actual school days left. I am so amazed at how quickly the time has flown by. We pray that God gives us every opportunity to bring glory and honor to Him. We pray that when the students look at us, they see Him. Sadly, some of our students will be moving and not returning to Suriname. This may be their only opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond. Also, please pray for the staff changes that will be occurring for the new school year. We are eagerly looking forward to our return in August. 

On that note, we depart for the States on June 14th and look forward to fellowshipping with you. I can vouch that I am really hungry for some "authentic American fastfood"! So as our first year draws to a close, we are requesting prayer for safety during our travels, and more opportunities to share Christ's love. We have a busy summer ahead of us!!

In closing, we would like to give God praise and thanks for allowing us this awesome opportunity to come here. We want to thank each one of you for praying for us. We want to thank those that have supported us financially and on occasion, sent us goodies. This is a team effort, and God is the team captain--thanks for being a part of the team!! 

"But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you..."

2 Corinthians 9: 6-8 NKJV 

May God's Grace Abound Toward You,