In October and November we were on Home Assignment in the Netherlands meeting with our supporting churches and many supporters. Marco joined the Global Leaders meetings in Asia and together we visited our WT team in Lima. We also spend two weeks visiting two organizations in Peru to investigate future possibilities for ministry with Foundations for Farming since Marco has been asked to look for possible connections in South America.

On December 4’, we drove to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at 4.30 am to be in time for an early flight to Paramaribo. We arrived in Suriname early in the afternoon, so we still had time to visit our friend Marja and then our youngest daughter and her family. Monday was a shopping day to buy the last food items before we could fly to Lawa on Tuesday. That flight was also early in the morning, so we had an early start again to drive to Zorg & Hoop airport at 5.30 am. That gave us time in Lawa to clean the house and be ready for visitors the next day. It was heartwarming to meet the people again and to hear that they were happy to see us!

On Wednesday morning, Gum Air landed with 6 guests from Canada and California for a three-day visit. The plane was loaded with almost 300 Love Packs full of presents for children up to the age of 14 and with 100 children’s bibles! The second children’s bible in a series. We will be handing them out at Christmas. Last Sunday we were able to present the new children’s bible to the people who have been assisting Marjolein in translating during the last few years.

The Love Packs were handed out on Thursday afternoon. What a joy! To our great surprise, canoes with children arrived from the surrounding villages also. It was a great event. We enjoyed the enthusiasm of the children’s workers. They had provided lists with all the names and ages of the children in advance. Preparations they have been working on these since August. Only the teenagers couldn’t come because they were still in boarding school. Their turn will be at Christmas time.  Friday morning the plane landed again to fly our guests back to Paramaribo.

Then it was time to sort out the 4 boxes of clothes we had brought from the Netherlands. This week people could come over to our house and choose nice clothes for Christmas and buy them for a small price. As always it is amazing to see how fast neat piles of clothes turn into a colorful mountain in which it is more difficult to find something nice. People will still come in the next few days, so the remaining clothes are waiting for them in neat piles.

Today a large number of men joined together to mow the tall grass in the village for Christmas with bush cutters. Of course, Marco is also there.

Many guests and family members from other villages are expected for Christmas. Saturday evening, we start with singing in the church, and on Sunday and Monday we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus together. At noon, everyone is invited to be served a meal in the ‘Tukusipan’. Great to celebrate together in this way! A very different Christmas than in the Netherlands. In t-shirts and shorts, we celebrate the same event worldwide.

We are grateful to have such a large group of people around us supporting us with prayer and being involved with us. Thank you all!

From Lawa we wish you a blessed Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year.