Under the Almond Tree

This was quite a day. Up early and showered after my devotions. We met at church at 8:00 for breakfast of cereal and toast. (They have great cereal here - my favorite was the Fruit & Flakes which had large slices of apples, strawberries, rasberries and such in it)

It was Rand's day for devotions and we had a great discussion on his word for the day, which was "Distractions". His scripture reference was Luke 10: 38-42, the story of Mary and Martha. His question was "What distracts us from our time with the Lord each day?" Work, children, spouse, church, serving. They are all good things, but they can also be distractions if we put them before our time with God. Rand shared how he and Mary Beth had made an agreement years ago not to go on mission trips together because it could be too much of a distraction. How can we manage distractions? We need to recognize them. Sometimes a change of scenery such as this trip can get us away from all the things that distract us and give us that focused time with the Lord.

Then the fun started. We loaded up in two cars and headed out to hand out the DVD's that Tracy and I had tested the day before. As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, Imro's goal was to visit as many of the new Chinese stores as possible and give them a DVD pointing them to the Chinese church in Paramaribo. Two or three of us would go into each store and explain to them that we'd like to leave them a DVD as a gift. Since none of us spoke Dutch, we were the DVD holders and we would smile widely and hand them the DVD when they agreed to take it. As daunting as it seemed at first, the shop owners were all very receptive and it turned out to be a really fun experience. Many were surprised when they realized it was free and one or two pulled out Chinese Bibles showing they were already Christians.

This was also supposed to be a walking tour of downtown, however, since Imro was on a mission we tried to stay close to Linda or Millie who actually shared information about areas of the city! It was incredibly hot and we were all sweating like pigs, but we hung in there and even Millie hung in there with us the whole time, bless her heart! We walked all over downtown and it was quite an adventure. We ended up at the same souvenier shop us girls had been to the day before so the guys could load up. I picked up a couple more things and just enjoyed being in a store with a/c! We ended up handing out 57 DVD's. Not one person rejected them and the next day Imro got a call from the Chinese church thanking him for all his work and to tell him they'd already heard from some of the people who were planning to visit the church. All this from a man who was also preparing for the largest conference his church had ever hosted on the most controversial topic in the Bible and yet his heart was for people who wouldn't even be attending his church.

We headed back to Peggy's where we rested (dead asleep) and showered again. It felt so good to be clean again after sweating so much.

Tonight was the big bar-b-que at the Smit's under the almond tree. I remembered MB and John and Gina talking about this when they made their trip here in 2000. Imro and Linda had invited about 60 people from their church to come and eat and fellowship. We hung balloons and lights and set up chairs. People started arriving with food and we all helped set up the table for serving. Beautiful people. They are so diverse, many speaking several languages (Dutch, English, Taki Taki) and very well traveled. The boys from the youth group had spent the afternoon grilling BBQ pork and chicken. It was served with a pink potato salad (delicious) Indonesian soup, vegetables w/peanut sauce, etc. The food was great, but the fellowship was amazing. We sang several praise songs and then Imro had each person come up to the mike and introduce themselves (in English for us) and tell what their job was in the church. There was much laughter and teasing as in any group of friends in Christ as we each took our turn.

I met a Titsia, who about my age and is opening a new shop for making wedding gowns. Since my sister, Sandy, also sews wedding gowns we struck up a great conversation and I will be helping her find items in the US to be shipped to her that she cannot find in South America. I also got to meet Chittra who MB had stayed with in 2000. MB had told me to be sure and give her a big hug when I saw her. She is a striking woman who is so warm and I instantly loved her. We spent several hours eating, talking and getting to know one another. It was a beautiful night. How will I ever say good-by to these people when it's time for us to leave. I feel so at home here.

When we finally got back to Peggy's she came in a gifted me with a beautiful silk and wool shawl that she'd gotten from Turkey. She is so precious and generous with both her time and her home. Tomorrow the conference starts, but what a great day this has been.