Prayer of Preparation

Tuesday morning and I wake up really early again, but don't get up till just around 7:00. Did my devotions and prayer time and then got a cup of coffee. Everyone drinks instant coffee down here and they have interesting Dutch creamers and raw sugar. Very different taste. We got dressed and waited for Millie to pick us up.

We meet at the church for breakfast. There is a big kitchen here and it's easier to seat us all and more room for Linda and Millie to prepare. If I didn't mention it before, Linda and Imro live right next to the church so it makes it very convenient for us to meet there. Breakfast was fresh papaya, oatmeal, holiday bread w/Dutch cheese (awesome stuff) and a type of Suriname grapefruit that I loved. It's sweeter though not as juicy. We had it almost every morning.

It was Kathy's turn for devotions and her scripture passage was Jeremiah 17:5-8. "Faith enough to finish". God is more interested in the person than the performance. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but it's leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." What river are my roots in? Money, work, achievement, looks, education, experts, relationships? Do I need to be uprooted and moved closer to the river? Good questions.

When we share our prayer requests, Tom Smith told us that his host Ted has approached him about moving to Suriname to teach. How cool would that be? The school Ted is talking to him about is losing 11 teachers after this year and Tom teaches English. His mother recently passed away so he has no ties to home. We will be praying for God to lead him and later in the week Ted is planning to take Tom to see the school.

Finished with our devotion time we head back to the house. Imro loads us up in the bus and we drive out to the BCM Camp. I thought I had written down what BCM stands for but can't find it. I'll try and add it later. It is out by the airport so it's an hours drive out. The facility is used for kids summer camp, retreats and such. It's a nice building with bedrooms, lots of bathroom facilities for the kids, a big meeting room and picnic area outside. Across the street is a public school that is like nothing we've ever seen back home. The buildings are long with a roof and interior walls to separate the classrooms, but there are no outside walls only like chainlink fencing. There is no a/c and this is how they keep cool. The children are all in uniform and we see them pour out onto the playground at one point for free time. Because of the heat, school here starts at 7:00 AM and gets out around 12:30 to 1:00 to avoid the heat of the afternoon.

Imro brought us out here because as a church every time they have a major decision to make or something big they feel called to do by the Lord they come here where they are away from everything to have a focused time of prayer. Since we are preparing to do a conference on the End Times there is a need to pray for every aspect of the weekend from the technical aspects, to the speakers, to those who will be traveling to come here, to the food we will serve. It is a very special and for me emotional time of prayer. Not sure why it had such an effect on me, but I guess just being a part of something so important humbled me.

Just driving out here was an experience. This was the one day I decided to sit in the back seat right in the middle (on the way back) where I could see exactly what was coming at us. This was also the last time I sat in the back in the middle of the seat where I could see out that window. As I said before, Imro is very experienced driving in Suriname and praise God that he is! The scenery is very diverse from nice houses to thatched huts and places that look like camping areas. Some had just four poles with a thatched roof and hammocks hung inside for sleeping. Some are so pitiful that you can't imagine how anyone can live in them, but there are people and children in the yards. There is no shame or sin in being poor, but it saddens me all the same.

As we come into town the kids are getting out of school and we are floored to see dozens of groups of kids walking home along the sides of these two lane just acting like kids. People in America would be horrified by the sight! They act as if it's the most natural thing in the world and down here it is.

Back at Imro's they fixed burgers and fries. I spent a long time on their balcony with Cody just talking. At one point I heard something fall out of their tree in front and really didn't pay much attention. I was looking out in the grass when suddenly the grass moved and I realized there was a huge iguana in the yard! It must have been almost two feet long and blended perfectly into the lawn. Cody took pictures then handed me the camera to run down the steps and see if he could catch it......RIGHT! Have you ever seen an iguana run? They are like greased lightning and Cody caught nothing but air! Never even got that close actually.

Back to Peggy's to rest and Tracy and I ended up talking almost the entire time. It's been good to have this time with her and get to know her better. There are some hurts that she is struggling with and I share some of my own struggles with her to remind her how faithful God is. Got to spend some time on my balcony watching people go by in cars, bikes, scooters, walking...the way people drive on the roads it's a wonder more people aren't killed.

Millie picked us up for dinner at the Smits and to watch the election returns....something I can do without as I am so sick of hearing about the election I can barely breathe. But, people down here are very interested in what happens in our country and I find that interesting. It's a reminder that what happens in our country still affects other countries around the world. More so now that we are such a global society.

Tomorrow when we wake up we'll have a new president.