Our Orientation Phase Is Complete

I can hardly believe we’ve been here in Suriname over 6 months now. Unbelievable! Trip four is now complete and we have a lot to praise the Lord for…AGAIN! I want to share a few of our highlights from this past trip:

We were able to share for the first time on Radio Pakati, a jungle radio station that broadcasts to the interior villages. After writing out a short hello and getting some brothers in the jungle to listen to us practice on them, Ryan and I got on the radio and each shared a little about ourselves, why we are here and a short word from the Bible. When we were finished, Baa Joti, our brother and friend, said that it went “gaata” (smooth). Over the next week, people around the village said that they heard us, but more importantly, they understood us:) Two weeks later, we shared again. This time we shared our testimonies. It was awesome!!! And it wasn’t until later that we learned that the radio actually reaches almost every village along the river. So when we shared that we were about to head down river to begin sharing about Jesus, those villagers were able to hear it! I’ve been praying a lot for the Lord to begin stirring in the hearts of those who heard us. That He would place a desire in their hearts to see us and that they would have the opportunity to hear about the love of our Lord.

And another update on the language…God is still answering our prayer for a supernatural ability to learn it. The last worship service we attended at Moitaki, I understood about 75% of the message and a week later, Baa Joti shared his testimony with us and, only by the grace of the Lord and Baa Joti’s graciousness to speak slow and simple words, I understood about 95% of his story. It was incredibly exciting to be able to understand everything he was saying, but even more exciting to hear how our brother came to know the Lord.

And this next one may be the pinnacle of my language successes thus far: I made a personal goal back in January to be able to hold a simple conversation with Baa Joti’s wife (Matilda) before we left Diitabiki. I made this personal challenge after her first solo trip to our house one morning, in which I could hardly understand anything she said. The women talk extremely fast and don’t slow down for the outsiders too much. I recently put a check down beside that goal after I was actually able to talk with Matilda instead of just smiling and nodding my head, which is an art I had perfected with her:)

One last praise: before we headed back in for this last trip, Ryan and I were praying for the Lord to lead us to “two guys” that we could spend more intentional time with during the trip. At first, we were looking for two particular guys, but the Lord had another idea in mind. Instead of just two specific guys, the Lord continued to bring guys to our house in groups of two throughout the entire trip. Sometimes we simply talked, sometimes we shared about why we are here, and other times we shared Bible stories about our faith. I felt the Lord urging me to keep my eyes open to all the people. It was so cool how He answered a specific request that we had, and put His own special twist on it. One of the last mornings we had in the jungle, two random guys (Milano and Roy) just came by and the conversation started off by them being surprised that I had a beard. Somewhere they falsely heard that you couldn’t have facial hair to be a believer. One thing led to another and we ended up having one of the coolest conversations yet about the Lord. Roy actually came back the next morning and we talked a little again and told him we would be praying for him. The Lord has appointments for us everyday. We were finally starting to open our eyes to that!

And Ill end this blog with the special ending we had at Diitabiki. This is how our brother Baa Japen said by to us the night before we left: We were outside cutting some wood when he arrived with his son, Melvin. We talked a bit, hung out, had a few snacks and then after he said good bye, he pulled Ryan and I in by the neck at the same time for a hug and said he was looking forward to seeing us back soon. He let go, took a step back and then came back in and pulled us both back in for another hug. It was such a sweet good bye. We then prayed together (in Aukan:)!!! and then he got in his boat and headed home.

Thank you all again for your continual prayers and a special thanks to all of you who have continued to be a tremendous encouragement through your emails and updates. Take care and I look forward to sharing more about our awesome Savior in the days to come. God bless.