what we do
Our job title is "Jungle Evangelism." We will evangelize in the jungle. ...Sounds fairly simple. We will spend our time evangelizing, church planting, and discipling the Saramaccan people. We will have a house in the city, and a house in the jungle. We don't know yet how much time will be spent in each place, but we do know that most of our time will be spent in the jungle. We may stay with other people or we may stay in our house in the jungle. We will go by bus/truck from our house in the city to the river port Adjone on a red clay road, which will take several hours. We will then get in a boat and go up river to one of the villages. This could take anywhere from three to six hours - depending on where we go and the river elevation and motor size.
Our number one focus is to get the Bible to them in oral form to let Scripture do what Scripture does. They are an oral culture, so we have to build an oral Bible. Since they are an oral people, they remember and understand stories much better than a literate culture. We will utilize a radio station and personal gatherings for that. We will meet under a pavilion or at a home. We will teach things in a way that puts them in the leadership position and takes us out. We want this to be genuinely theirs - independent of us and America. The Saramaccans love music, so we will use music to build bridges and get across the cultural barriers.
In addition to training the Saramaccans to lead their own church, we will work on humanitarian issues. We don't know, at this point, how we will do all of this, but we have ideas. We will have to do some research before we attempt to change anything. We know there is a great need for teaching germ theory. The Saramaccans are a very clean people, but they haven't been educated about passing sickness to each other. This is just one example of the humanitarian work that we will do.
We will be leading volunteer trips that come to work with the Saramaccans. There is a trip coming around the first of September. If anyone is interested in coming on a volunteer trip, they should let us know. You can email me by clicking on the contact link at the top right. We will tell you what you need before you leave as well as facilitate your trip on this end.
As far as our daily chores, those are not nailed down right now. There is a lot to learn, and that will take trial and error. We'll see what works best. Proverbs 14:4 says, "Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox."
