Our Weekend

Yo! Storytime. God provides! So we hung out with the youth of Maarten Luther Kerk ( Martin Luther Church) for most of the weekend, super fun! We were very privileged to be involved in the youth's initiative project: PAINTING THE WALL. Step 1 - raise money. The church is very conveniently located right in the downtown market area, so the youth put on a clothing sale of articles donated by members of the congregation. We were ready and raring to go at 5 in the morning, (the market had been bustling with business for at least 2 hours already). Our little thrift store was open till about ten o'clock, when the sun was starting to really bake. We shut it down and counted up our profits. About 280 SRD (Suriname dollars). We were hoping to make about 300, and we didn't quite have enough to but all the paint we needed. But dontcha know, the guy at the paint store also takes clothing donations! Winning combination. So a deal was made, and we gave him the bags of clothes we hadn't sold that morning, and he gave us a gallon of paint for it. The rest of the paint cost 270 SRD, and with brushes and rollers we had just about exactly enough money. Even more than provision of materials, though, was God's presence in the youth and in our fellowship as we completed this objective together. Pastor Jacobsen told us that this is the first project the youth of Maarten Luther have done together, from inspiration to completion. It was a great experience to be a part of it, and to see the youth grow as they saw the fruits of their efforts. I've heard many people comment that the youth are the future of the church, but it is most certainly true that they are the church now!

Yesterday night we had the chance to meet with a class of theology students at the bible school/seminary here in Paramaribo. It was a very encouraging encounter! I've been learning more and more that though our cultures are so different, there are so many matters of faith that we deal with universally.



Again, we thank you so much for your prayers and your support for us and for all the other IMPACT teams. God bless!

Andrew