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REPORT : MISSION SURINAME -

We have been on the field for the last 28 months, the time has passed so quickly, we are very thankful to the Lord and to you for the generous support that we have received. The following is a brief report of our activities, placed in categories for easy understanding and clarity.

1] Family

Things continue to go well in the midst of the normal challenges associated with the ministry. Rose continues to be a tower of strength, her commitment and inner resolve is a source of inspiration to all of us. Aaron has done exceptionally well in his exams, resulting in a transfer to the most prestigious school in the city.Arianna and Adam are also on top of their classes, the teachers constantly refer to them as examples of excellence, we say thanks to the Lord for His blessings.

In the month of August 07 we decided to move to a new home 10 minutes away from the city, our former Landlord wanted to raise the rent and we wanted to stay within our budget. In an effort compensate for the additional cost in fuel and transportation to school for the kids, we have started to raise some layers and ducks, we should be getting eggs by February 08 for which we already have a market.

2] Church

The church continues to go well, our regular attendance is between 50-60 people, we are seeing growth and a desire to take leadership and ownership of the church. This past Sunday the ladies was asked to be in charge of the entire meeting, we had two women speak for the first time.

The worship team led by Rose is doing exceptionally well, worship is done in four languages namely Dutch,Taki Taki, Hindi and English. During the vacation [September] we had our first missions trip, we took twenty of our folks to the country Guyana. We spent three days in ministry and also painted the inside of the church building [ funds for the paint was raised in the services]. This brought a great sense of fulfillment to the team, our next missions trip is planned for the same time next year to Trinidad.

In a bid to increase fellowship, six weeks ago we started to provide lunch for everyone on Sundays. Members volunteer to come early to cook and the infrastructure of the building makes this very convenient. We receive a second offering to offset the expenses, the meal adds significant value to the fellowship.

3] Bible School

On Wednesday 31st October 2007 we started our Bible School with 12 students, our plan is to continue for the next six weeks teaching some of the basics and at the same time evaluating the students ability and commitment to the school.

We will begin officially in January 2008 with a two year course, we hope to get some help from OBIT in preparing a syllabus. All the work will be done in Dutch and we will put together a local staff.

4] Social Projects

We have completed six schools with our computer literacy course, a total of 654 kids, our goal is to provide 4000 primary schools kids with five basic lessons on the computer. Each child contributes $1.00 per lesson and with this we pay the teacher and to maintain of the computers.

When each school completes the course, a certificate of participation is given to the school from the Open Bible Churches of Suriname and it is proudly displayed on the wall in the office of the principal.

The garbage collection program has employed two persons for the last two years and continues to go very well, we take out of the city over 40,000 bags of garbage per year. Others have started similar programs in different areas and the Government is considering using this program to effectively deal with the sanitation problem in the country

5] Nickerie Convention Centre

This building which has a seating capacity of 1000 has been one of the significant ways that we able to extend our influence in the country, two weeks ago the President’s wife attended a function in the building. Since we started using the building after the renovations [December 2006] we have had to date over 10,000 people use the building.

There are many areas of the building that still need to be completed including the following

1. A proper electrical system

2. Painting of the interior

3. Replacing of windows

4. Burglar proofing

5. Furnishing of rooms and offices

6. Completion of the kitchen and canteen

7. A proper sound system

We have started to incrementally rent the building, our strategy is to make the centre a viable facility to be used to add value to the city. The funds raised through rent, will be used to maintain what we presently have and to meet the above needs. It is unlikely that all of the above will be done before our term of appointment is completed, that will be a process as the local leadership takes responsibility for the future of their institution.

6] Finances

It is our intention to make this organization financially self-sustaining before our term is completed, to this end we try to teach by example how to generate, manage and control sustainable funding. This is particularly challenging in an economy such as the one that exists in this country, in addition, there is a very poor concept of giving in this culture.

In spite of the above challenges the Lord have been gracious to us, the income of the church approx. $ 1000.00 SRD per month and this takes care of the following.

1. Assistant Pastor $200.00

2. Electricity bill $200.00

3. Janitor $200.00

4. Water $100.00

5. Fuel for church bus $250.00

There are so many other little things that always need to be paid, the important thing is that everything is being taken care of in a timely manner, everything we do is by faith and the LORD always comes through for us, for this we are very greateful.

7. Looking ahead.

We have planned a few activities for the rest of the year including

1. A grand Christmas Concert

2. Our first annual dinner

3. The feeding of two thousand kids [with the help of Rev. V. Hajaree.][December 18 & 19]

4. Flea Market

We want to say thanks to all the individuals and teams who have visited us in 2007, their presence has added value to the work and has given great encouragement to us. We also want to say thanks to the Board of Missions for their continued support and also to the many Pastors who have called and sent gifts. Mission Suriname continues to be a success largely to the continued sacrificial giving and prayer of the many supporters in the local churches across Trinidad and Tobago, to those supporters we especially say ‘thank you’ for your love to us.

Submitted by

Amzad Mohammed

Mission Suriname.