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Hello Prayer Partners!
We hope this email finds you well. I really wanted to share an
exciting and encouraging newsletter this month, but it may be a little
difficult...I will start with the exciting news first. Our home was invaded
on Sunday night/early Monday morning by thieves. This is why the
newsletter is a little difficult to write this time. We are both fine, but
somewhat shaken. The burglars came in quickly and quietly. They stole
our VCR, a broken boom-box stereo, and unfortunately (because of my
stupidity) they stole the laptop bag with my digital camera in it with
some various software, cds, and a dvd I had yet to watch. I left the
laptop bag on the couch, along with the laptop powercord. They got the
powercord too, along with our bookbags and Doby's "carry-on" kennel that
we use for air travel. Our greatest loss was the camera and powercord,
however we know that these are just material things that can be easily
replaced. We just ask prayer for the emotional trauma that something
like this brings. We know that God protected us and I truly believe
that God kept us asleep because He knows how I can over-react in
situations like this. We have always known that we were at risk of break-ins
while living in Suriname. It was just a matter of time. A lot of good
people here that we know belong to the elite group of "property crime
victims". Well, what good can come from this? I don't quite know yet.
It makes you realize that your stuff is just "stuff" that belongs to
God anyhow. We know that Christ said to love/pray for your enemies, but
it's a challenge to put that into practice. I guess that is something
I need to work on. Pray for me in that regard.
So, now to answer your many questions...Q) How did they break in? A)
Patricia and I had (past tense) a bad habit (hindsight is 20/20) of
leaving our keys on the kitchen counter. Well, basically we handed our
keys to the thieves and said, "Have at it". They slit the screen over
the kitchen sink and used a very long stick to retrieve the keys (the old
western movie "break out of jail" trick). Usually, they break off the
thief bars on the windows or they jimmy the lock. Not in this case;
much easier when you have the keys to the door! Q2)
Where was your dog? A2) The little bugger was in bed with us. Patricia
did awaken to some voices around 4 am and said that Doby growled once
or twice but she dismissed the voices as our neighbors (which has been
the case in the past). So the only use that Doby is, is a snuggle buddy
lap dog. He seems to understand what has happened and even seems a
little traumatized himself because he won't bark when we are not at home.
Q3) When did you realize you had been robbed? A3) When Patricia got
up at 5:30 am to walk Doby. She couldn't find the keys and she
instantly noticed that the VCR was missing. She woke me up and we realized
what had happened. In fact, they had locked us in. We had to call our
neighbor, Adam, and he came over and discovered the keys in the door on
the outside. At least the robbers were considerate enough to leave our
keys behind. Q4) What are you going to do to better protect
yourself? A4) Continue to rely on God. We've hire a school guard to stay
outside all night until Friday. This is just so I can sleep peacefully
at night. I don't think that they will be back. We changed the locks
and we are getting new screens and we are 'borrowing' a Rottweiler from
one of our students on Friday. We can keep this dog until we come home
for the summer. Also, we are having an iron gate-type door installed
at the top of our upstairs to protect the upstairs bedroom areas. This
reminds me of the saying "Locking the barndoor after the horse is
stolen".
Here's a humbling thought...Jesus pretty much set the example. He had
very few material things, yet His heavenly Father made provisions for
Him. He had a place to sleep and food to eat. So many times, we put
too much emphasis on the material, temporal world, and we 'suffer' when
we go without things. We must remember how important it is to "lay up
our treasures in heaven" rather than here on earth.
Some Prayer Requests:
Please continue to pray about our home in North Carolina. We are still
without renters.
Pray for teachers for next year. Here is a Praise! A new teacher,
Emily Fulkerson, just arrived fresh out of college from Arizona. Please
pray for her transition to Suriname. She will be teaching the third
graders. Now we only need about 7 more teachers.
Continue to pray for our students and our ministry opportunities with
them. We are already excited about some ministry opportunities for next
school year.
Please pray for the class trip that Patricia and I are chaperoning in
just a few weeks. We are taking 10 high school students to
Trinidad-Tobago for their trip. We are praying that Rob and Amy Krieg can join us
on this adventure, so pray for their schedules.
I have been worked into the monthly rotation at our local church to
give the message on a monthly basis. Please pray that God uses me in the
way He desires for this ministry.
There are probably some more requests that I'm forgetting. Forgive me,
because my mind is still a little numb. If I am reminded of any other
prayer needs, I will let you know. Thank you for all of your prayers
and lifting us up to Lord. We really appreciate that. Feel free to
drop us a line and share any praises or prayer needs that you may have.
In His Name,John
and Patricia
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