This is what we said June 30’. The Airvan of MAF was loaded! They took out some seats so we could load an extra 40 kilo’s. We had to leave two boxes with soap bars behind. They’re waiting for an opportunity to be send in later.

 

Our hearts were moved to see how happy the people were to meet us again. A lot of them came over to our house the first night to learn how our grandson is doing.

We see quite some people with shaved heads or a short haircut. This means they’re mourning since a relative or loved one died. We talked about the suicides of this past month with the close relatives of the two young women.

Sunday July 5th there was a funeral in the village. That morning a man of 83 years passed away after being ill for some months in which he became weaker and weaker. His son and daughter in law took good care of him. It was the first time we attended a Wayana funeral. Very impressive. They buried him the same day. After making a casket of planks, he was put in, tucked in his hammock. The men carried the casket into a canoe and brought him to a burial place on an island near the rapids downstream. Together with the casket all his personal belongings were also buried in the grave.

Monday July 6th we invited the elders of the church to meet at our house. We always like to meet with them shortly after we arrive in the village. We want to hear what has been going on in their lives the past few months. This time we first wanted to encourage the elders after the two suicides in June. Marco prepared a short message from Gods word about how Jesus restored Peter. Marco encouraged them to search their hearts before God and see if there was anything that was leading them away from the Lord. Maybe they would need to repent. Monday afternoon we’ll meet again to talk about the plans for the coming few months. We pray that Gods Light will pierce their hearts and the hearts of all Apetina people.

Wednesday July 8th we received guests from Paramaribo: the MAF pilot and his wife, the medical doctor from Medizebs who oversees the work in the interior and an architect. They stayed one night, so we wanted to clean in and around the house, make the beds and prepare a good meal. We enjoyed every minute of their stay.

The doctor used the extra time she had to talk with the women about the suicides and how she could offer help. She chose one of the women to be trained as a ‘gate keeper’. She will learn about signals of depression in a person and how to ask the right questions. Problem is that this lady only speaks Wayana. Marjolein will receive the training material, translate it with help from others into Wayana and train this lady. You can imagine that Marjolein is pretty excited about this challenge. Pray that God will use us as useful utensils in His hand.

Greetings,

Marco and Marjolein