Volunteering to work with nationals who pray to idols and dead people did not deter the members of the Summit Church, North Little Rock, AR. Four volunteers traveled to Suriname to hold medical clinics in three villages. The team held adult and children's church each night. They taught the attendees about Jesus, the cost of being a Christian, and preached against idolatry.
Summit Church prayed specifically that the team would be able to get the pharmaceuticals through customs. The team leader says it best.
"When it was time to go through customs, every person's bags and boxes were opened so the officials could search the contents. When it was time for the team to go through customs, I told the lady what we had and what we were doing and she thought about it for a little bit, and then let everyone of us through without opening one of our bags."
The volunteers worked with George, a local Christian man. He was their interpreter and was able to get them into places they would normally not have been able to access. They also had to deal with the "Graanman" who is like a governor of Saramaccan villages in the jungle of Suriname. At one point, the team had to deal directly with a "family feud." The team leader tells the story as follows:
"A young man, Menufesi, who had wanted to date the Graanman's daughter, and the Graanman did not want him to - had lost trust of his family because they tried to sneak medicine in his food. There was a lot of friction between him, the Graanman, and his family. He would not speak to anyone. The other villages did not trust him because they thought he was crazy. George talked with him, gave him his hammock, and we gave him food and took him to church with us. By the end of the week, he was back with his family and shook the Graanman's hand, and the Graanman was not angry with him. Katherine bought him shoes and he wanted to go with us. A very volatile situation was quieted with Christian love and wisdom, and he heard the Gospel."
Katherine shared David and Goliath, and the children acted out the characters. After their performance, the children led the team to the river where they sang Christian songs as the volunteers crossed the river. Think what an awesome journey this must have been for these servants of God!
Another experience shared by the team:
"Six women came to get medicine. When we told them we were about to have a devotional time, they wanted to sit in on it, and George translated. Instead of commenting, we just read from the book of James about a problem we were facing (James 1:1-8, 16-27, 3:8-18). When we finished reading, a woman who had watched George's evangelical movie said that she had done many bad things and she wanted to receive Jesus. After talking to her, three other women wanted to get saved too. We prayed with them, and they seemed to really get it. We gave them a ride back to their village, and after Wendy taught them the model prayer, they gave us some gifts – including palm oil, which takes about a month to make.
Another man was there who had lost a 2-year-old child. We went back to his house to pray with him, and he told us that he was a believer, but his wife was not. He wanted us to pray with them for her salvation and to deal with their loss. We prayed and told them the story of David saying he knew he would see his son again. We sang, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in English and Saramaccan."
We could go on and on with the encounters this team had during their travels. They shared Jesus with villagers, a group of Jehovah's Witnesses, a Hindu cab driver, and a cradle Roman Catholic. In a very loving way, the team shared Jesus at every opportunity! They left Suriname knowing that they had done their best to tell others that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by [Him].
These incredible members of Summit Church shared experiences of a lifetime; not only among themselves, but also with everyone they met. How about YOU…can you see yourself volunteering your skills in Middle America and the Caribbean? All you have to do is contact us and we will assist in your quest to be on mission with God.
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog!
