Dear Friends and Family,

Patricia and I depart on Thurs. Aug. 9th for Suriname,
South America.  As you know, God has called us into
the mission field.  We are excited about the wonderful
opportunity to share the Gospel there in the
international community.  We will have internet
access, so continue to correspond with us through this
address (just hit REPLY, and add us to you email
address if you already haven't done so).  Please keep
us in your prayers.  This will probably be our last
stateside email.  We pray that God blesses you and
keeps you well.  Write us.  Check out more on Suriname
by visiting www.surinam.net


In Christ's Love,
John and Patricia McClung
1 Peter 1:15-16

Well, the big day had arrived at last--August 9th--Patricia's birthday.  We had everything packed and said our tearful goodbyes and took off for South America via a long layover in Miami....

 

 

Greetings to all,

   Thanks to everyone that has been praying for us,
for we have actually felt your prayers!  We landed
safely here in Suriname on Thursday, August 9th and we
have been busy ever since. I personally went through
the "pruning" process that Christ speaks about in John
15.  My thought process has really been reorganized in
regards to priorities (material possessions, mainly).
Patricia and I seem to have adjusted well.  We have
met many new friends, we haven't gone hungry, and
we've been rather busy settling in.  School begins on
September 4th. I will be teaching 6th grade and 9th
grade World Geography.  Patricia is over-seeing the
High School correspondance courses.  All high school
students take their course through correspondance. She
has been working for almost 2 weeks now.  I have just
been busy helping where I am needed.  We walk
everywhere.  The school is a little over a mile from
where we live, so we walk just over 2 miles to and
from school!  We also walk in the evenings with a
couple that we met.  That's another 3 miles.  So, we
will become more healthy.  We do have several prayer
needs--(mail here is slow, so we are not up to date on
our support), we are praying that God provides for us
financially during our time here.  We are specifically
praying that others have joined our small circle of
support.  We will not know who those people are for
another month; however, if you have supported us since
out last stateside letter-we thank you.  If you would
like to help out, just email me personally.  Another
prayer need is that we had a paperwork snafu--I sent
our background check to the wrong place.  We are
praying and trusting that God assists Donnie and Susan
Luper to straighten this out for us back in New Bern.
Also, the June shipment that we sent from the states
is just sitting on the dock here.  They have had a
dock strike, so there is no telling when we will get
our first shipment.  Please pray that we get the June
shipment soon, and PLEASE pray that we get all of our
August shipment.  That shipment has our bicycles and
computer(!) along with other household goods.  We just
pray that we receive all our items intact.  Please
pray for the coming school year.  This is going to be
an awesome opportunity to plant, water, and eventually
harvest!!  God is in charge and we praise Him!!  Good
news, our Principal just walked in and told me that
the June shipment will be here today or tomorrow--WOW,
God is answering prayers as I type!!  Isn't God
AWESOME?? I will wrap up now.  If you have any
questions or prayer needs, please feel free to email
me so we can pray together.  God Bless you all.

In Christ's Love,

John and Patricia