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| Date: |
Sat, 13 Sep 2003 06:17:20 -0400 |
Greetings!
Hello from hot and humid Suriname! Patricia and I are back for our
THIRD year; and wow, time has flown by. Well, my conscience has been
nagging me to write this update letter; however our schedules have kept me
hopping but I finally have some quality time on my hands to churn this
thing out. Okay, where do I being?
First, we have added some new email recipients to our update
list--Welcome aboard. I try to do an update once a month to keep everyone
informed of what God is doing here and what prayer needs we may have. Thank
you to everyone who keeps us in prayer! Okay, here's the latest...
We enjoyed 8 wonderful weeks back in the states. We got to spend time
with old friends and made some new ones along the way. We tried to see
everyone that we possibly could and we were a little sad that we could
not see everyone. I had the opportunity to share about our ministry
with several different churches and I thank God for those opportunities.
We also got to spend some much needed time with our families; and we
sold our home in North Carolina, so this summer break was a welcomed
respite.
We arrived back in Suriname in the wee hours of the morning on August
19th and we haven't had time to slow down yet. We had anticipated a
fruitful year for the Lord, so it seems that He has filled our plates--and
we are rejoicing with excitement. Here's what's new and can be prayed
over: We have a (full) new staff of 6 teachers--wow--which makes a
total of 12 full-time teachers on staff (that includes Patricia and
myself). So, we need you to pray for this new staff as they settle into this
new environment and we ask prayer that the staff stays in harmony and
keeps Christ in the center of everything. Pray for me, I am teaching
6th and 7th grades combined this year; which means that I am teaching 2
different curriculum levels at the same time (with no planning
period--UGH), but I am not complaining. I have 13 wonderful students, which
gives me the largest class-size here at American Cooperative School. I am
really excited because the majority of the kids do not know the
Lord---why am I excited over this? Because, I understand the awesome
opportunities that lay ahead. It thrills me to see young people come to know
the Lord as their Savior. I have 2 kids from the Indian Embassy, so
they are Hindu; I have one Korean, so he is possibly Buddhist; and the
rest are from other places and their backgrounds are pretty much unknown
to me at this point; so please pray for me as I plant seeds as I share
the Gospel, and pray that I am the example that brings God the glory and
when the kids look at me, they don't just see me but see the Light
(what a run-on sentence!!). Okay, do you get a vibe for my excitement?
At this point, we do not have an 'official' administrator. Dr. Frank
Martens and his wife, Ruth, are enjoying their retirement in the
states, so the interim administrator is Nick Tuit, one of our missionary
parents and school board chairman. He's doing the best he can, so let's
keep Nick in prayer. We have a scheduled visit for a possible
administrator in just 2 weeks. Just pray that God leads in this situation and
that God puts the person that He wants in this position. Chances are,
that this man will be our next administrator.
Since I am teaching 6th and 7th grade, I am no longer in High School
Chapel. And to be quite honest, I was rather upset about that (in the
beginning). I couldn't understand why God would close that door, when I
felt that High School Chapel was a vital part of my ministry--then it
hit me--there I go again, getting in the way of God. When God calls you
to His work, His direction may change--He is the potter, after all; and
if we are to be the clay, well then, we must be pliable like clay. So
basically, it was like "Be quiet, John and just listen." So, I did.
And something interesting happened...At a staff cook-out (right before
school started), I happened to be conversing with one of our school
board members (who is also the pastor of the Chinese church here). Well,
through this conversation, God spoke to me. This man was just inquiring
about my background and through the course of the conversation, he
asked if I could assist in training his youth pastor. Well, I was blown
away by this (and humbled at the same time). I am in no way qualified to
do any type of training and I admitted this, but I said that I would be
willing to help out in any way. So God sort of showed me that His
direction had changed a bit for me. Also God amazingly revealed and
confirmed something else in this particular conversation. The man expressed
the need for a Sunday evening worship service at school--again, this
blew me away, because this validated to me that starting a service at
school is indeed in God's plan for this school year. I shared with this
gentleman that the plans for the services were already in the works.
Our first Sunday night family church service will be held at the school
on September 21. This will be opened to all students and their parents,
so this is another first for this ACS community. Please pray for this
fledgling service. Parents who do not attend an English-speaking
church have requested this need in the past. I will be giving the message
this night, so please, please pray that God directs me in my speaking.
We are praying for a nice turn-out.
I am now speaking at the Elementary Chapel instead of the High School
one. I spoke at the first one this past Thursday. I did the paintboard
of "The Good Shepard" and presented the Gospel to the first through
seventh grades. Using the paintboard is an effective way of getting the
message across. I learned to use this particular method back in New
Bern, NC when we took our youth group to Philly for a short term missions
trip. I had some really encouraging feedback from some of the
elementary teachers. They told me that the paintboard really opened up
discussion in their classrooms because some of the little kids didn't even
know who God was or what sin was. I was only given 15 minutes to do the
presentation (imagine that, me, speaking for ONLY 15 minutes!) and as I
concluded, I told the kids that they could ask their teachers more
about the free gift of salvation which God has provided us--and the kids
did!! I told the teachers that that was a true praise! We have new kids
this year, who have never heard the Gospel--so what awesome
opportunities lie ahead!
I am speaking this Sunday at our local Guyanese church, as I did last
year. We've been back for three Sundays and they've already worked me
back into the rotation. Please pray that I can still bring honor and
glory to God through this opportunity of speaking from the pulpit. The
people were warm and welcoming as usual and it was a real joy to worship
with them again.
Patricia and myself, along with Adam (co-teacher), have begun a weekly
bible study in our home. Last Saturday evening, we had 7 high school
students to attend our first study. This is a discipleship class, with
the main objective being that the kids get bold enough to share the
gospel with others. Please pray hard (wear holes in your knees) about
this study. Our main priority will be this bible study. Pray for the
kid's spiritual growth, pray for understanding and boldness on their part.
Pray for us who are leading this study, that God can equip us for this
important task at hand. I foresee this study having a dynamic
influence on these kids and the school as a whole. Pray for revival to begin
in the school through is small group of students.
Patricia has a different and new dynamic for her school bible study
this year. Instead of having an "all girl" bible study, she now has the
entire co-ed senior class. Pray for her, as these students have diverse
beliefs. Patricia only has one student who professes Christ as their
Savior. Be praying as she shares God's truths to the other six
students. Also, being praying--Patricia very much wants to attend her Ladies
Meeting this school year; however transportation may be a problem. With
so many new staff people and only one school van, transportation can
easily become an issue.
This school year (as each school year) has a lot of new variables, so
we look forward to the challenges ahead. This promises to be an
interesting year. I would like to share a few prayer requests about a couple
things down the road. Please pray about the possibility of having a
youth retreat over the Christmas break. We ask prayer that several of
our stateside friends will have the ability to join us in Suriname over
the Christmas break. Rob and Amy Krieg are planning to come down and
join us over break. Just lift up in prayer that their employment
schedules can work out so they can join us. Also, something exciting--a young
lady, Ashley Luper, was the person to suggest the idea for a youth
retreat. Please pray that if it's God's will, that Ashley will be able to
come down during the break also. She has really encouraged us by
expressing her willingness and excitement to come down and assist us in
running this youth retreat. Ashley is in the eleventh grade at New Bern
High School; and it is SO encouraging to see a young person excited about
being a tool for God. She would be an excellent model for our own
youth here in Suriname. We just pray that she can raise the money for
airfare and can get an available flight. Two others who would like to join
us over the break are Richard Jones and Sarah Pharr. These 2 young
people are in college and are former Youth Group kids of ours. We are
also excited about the possibility of their attendance. Just pray that
there are enough airline seats available (we've heard that it is
difficult at that time of the year) and that funds can be raised for them to do
a short term missions trip here.
Our final request is for my paternal grandmother, Barbara Dunlap. Her
health is failing quickly and we actually thought that she would die
while we where home in the states. She knows and loves the Lord and has
expressed to my dad that she was ready to go home to Jesus. I just ask
you to lift up my family in prayer (my dad and his sister, Ellen) as
they face the inevitable. I probably will not get the chance to return
home until next June, but I know that I will see my grandmother again
someday.
Thank you for reading and praying for us. If you have any specific
prayer needs, please do not hesitate to share them with us via email. We
love you and think of you often. Take care.
More than Conquerors,
John and Patricia
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