Suriname Ministry Report

Well, I think all of you are aware that Hamis, the pastor, has been speaking on missions in general during November, and the other pastors have been assigned to do a report on various missionaries that we support.

I was going to do Renato, and I was all geared up to do that, and found out that he was coming to the States, and as you know, we had him here in person, which is far better. So then I went to Plan B and chose David and Lynn Champlin. One reason being, I send out a devotional to our missionaries and some other folks each week, and often Lynn will respond, so I feel like I've got a little bit of a connection there. A brief introduction, if I may. I chose David and Lynn Champlin because David has been involved in mission work his whole life, beginning as the infant son of Daryl and Louise Champlin, who were missionaries in the Congo for 10 years before moving to Suriname, and I believe the PowerPoint that I compiled will give you an overview of their ministry, and I want to say this before we get into doing the PowerPoint. When God calls men and women into service, he equips them with spiritual gifts to benefit the church. We read of those spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 earlier. I believe God has gifted Daryl and his wife with spiritual gifts, but secondly, as I shared with my class this morning, when God calls men into service or women, he equips them with physical and mental ability to complete tasks for his glory. One spiritual gift, but another just talents that he gives us to accomplish that which he sends us to.

I'll give you some examples. 1 Corinthians 25.1 speaks of skilled musicians that are serving the Lord. 2 Chronicles 2.14 talks of skillful men who could work in gold and silver and bronze and iron and stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, to make any engraving to accomplish any plan which may be given to them in service. That is not me, but God has gifted those men. He gifted them to do that. Ezra 7.6 states that he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, and he had the ability not only to learn it but to teach it and to lead people in it. And I think, as you will see in my report, God has equipped David and Lynn Champlin with spiritual gifts as well as skills to serve him in Suriname.

I will be calling David a jack of all trades, and you'll see when we get into the slides that he is. So we'll start out, David Lynn Champlin, Republic of Suriname. Just a little visitor's guide thing, and it shows a little bit of the culture in those four slides. But that is a picture of Paramarabile. That is where they are in a large city, whether you know it or not. And that particular city is located in the north part of South America, and you can see it highlighted there. Paramarabile is on the Suriname River, about 9.3 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.

So they're not that far from the coast, to be sure. Some general information about Suriname. The official language is Dutch. Surinames speak more than 10 other languages, including variants of Chinese, Hindi, Javanese, and a half dozen original Creoles. The majority religion is Hindu. Animism, or spirit worship, is the next largest, followed by Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

At under 64,000 square miles, it is the smallest country in South America. Its population of nearly 613,000 is dominated by descendants from slaves and laborers brought from Africa and Asia by the Dutch. And these servants, these slaves, were called Maroons. Hindestani, Javanese, Chinese, Guyanese, Brazilian, and Dutch make up the rest.

Most of the people live by the country's north coast, in and around the capital city. Again, just showing you, this will get started, some general information continued. The Quinte tribe, the Quinte tribe, is the smallest of the Maroon tribes in Suriname. And this was kind of alarming and interesting. There's only about 500 of them that remain. And the reason the majority of them fled into the city in the 1980s during the Bush Wars. The war nearly destroyed Quinte villages, including the school and a Moravian church. Since that time, few have returned to the villages. And notice this, many did not even have the means to rebuild their home.

They lived in their cookhouse. It's a very difficult situation. And speaking of animism, this is just a picture of a spirit tree. Very superstitious among many, many, many of the folk there. Give you an overview, again, of the city. This thing will... Okay.

There it goes. A picture of the city. It's on the Pemaro River. The houses are colonial style.

And if you look online, you can see many pictures like that. It looks very quaint. Older homes, colonial style. You see also the presidential palace.

You've got extremes. I know when I went to the Dominican Republic, it was unbelievable. This probably is still true, but I've heard that realtors say there's three words in realty, location, location, location. You don't want to be located next to something that's going to bring down the property value. When I went to the Dominican Republic, which is similar to Suriname in many ways, you would see a trailer next to a mansion. So you will see in these slides extreme luxury, presidential palace, and you see real poverty. You also notice a Jewish synagogue, one of the many religions.

You see in Suriname, a Hindu temple. And then this slide, city folk, for lack of a better way of putting it. They have bush people that live out in the rainforest, but they also have people who are city folks with lack of a way of putting it. And one of the things that they end up doing is going to the market.

I don't know if they do that weekly or daily or whatever, but if you can see that, they have a variety of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit at the marketplace. And just corresponding with the Champlains, they partake of that and make use of it. On one hand, you've got that large city that's very complex, right on the river, nine miles from the ocean. On the other hand, you have tropical rainforest.

So you can see the extremes that are there. Different pictures, absolutely beautiful waterfalls, like a paradise of sorts. Some others on the rainforest. And I won't begin to try to tell you of the animals that they have. That's a species of monkey in the upper corner. Then we've got tapir, birds, all different kinds, frogs. I'm trying to think of what they call them. They're very poisonous. Jaguars.

And again, several lesser animals in the rainforest. Giving you a background. And let me say this before I read this. What's hard for us pastors to do this, a missionary like Paul gets up there and he shows a slide and he can talk for 10 minutes on that one slide. Once I'm done giving you what they have given me or I found on the internet, I've shot the wad on that PowerPoint.

So there's no real way of knowing how long it will last. But background that I think is very, very helpful. David, his parents, Daryl and Louise, and siblings, served in Suriname since June 1965. After his father's home going in 2015, David wrote, I was the first to return to Suriname as a missionary in my own right with my wife.

Jonathan and Sherry were next, and then came Ethan and Kim. Others joined us, us in the struggle of getting the gospel out to the Aucheners. And I think it very interesting and noteworthy and praiseworthy that that entire family devoted their lives to missionary work. And in one sense, they were very privileged in the fact that God called all of them, these different couples, to the same field of service. That's one thing that I think that we overlook sometimes with many of our missionaries. They may have their immediate family with them on the field of God's choosing for them, but their extended family often, they don't see but every four years or so. And I think we're well aware that even with immediate family, sometimes the children, when they get to a certain age, remain in the States and the parents go back.

That is the case with the Sniders. You probably have heard him say their 19-year-old son intends to stay here because in Virginia, he can almost immediately become a policeman, doesn't have to wait to a certain age. So that's one thing that the Champlains had going for them. They were able to minister in the same field for many, many years and encourage and support each other.

And we're thankful for that. David and Lynn have ministered together in Suriname since they married in 1975. For many years, David and Lynn labored on a mission outpost in the Kataka River. And I'll insert here, I didn't put this in this PowerPoint, but for years, Darrell and his wife lived in huts that were made of mud, straw, et cetera, very primitive situation.

David and Lynn did likewise for several years. But in 2006, their mission asked them to move their ministry to the capital city. They're working to establish stronger ties with the government agencies and assist in several of the mission's churches and outreach ministries in the capital. That's one reason why I read spiritual gifts, but also commented that God gives people the ability that they need to do the work that he's called them to. David's intervention and his work with the government has paid great dividends for the missionaries in Suriname.

There's no question about that. And he works to establish stronger ties with the government. This gives a little bit more insight on the fact that he's a jack of all trades, which you'll see in a moment. He's the field administrator, which means he wears a variety of hats. He's not only a preacher, teacher, and evangelist, but also a mechanic, welder, plumber, electrician, medic, and general track, jack of all trades.

And let me pause here. Those who have been to Montana on the mission strip know that Larry Bunyan has become one of them himself. When a hot water heater went out, he didn't call the local plumber and say, hey, come put in a hot water heater for me, because the local plumbers could be 100 miles away if it's out of Great Falls. So often these missionaries have to become, quote, expert, at least jacks of all trades in a variety of different areas. Darryl supports the work of those in the jungle ministry. He preaches in several churches each month as part of their effort to support the local believers who now lead in the day-to-day ministry efforts in their respective areas. I want to end by saying that much of his time is spent supporting, counseling, and visiting those in leadership. That is one of the goals of missionaries, to get the churches to be self-supporting, including having their own pastors.

So David, in his responsibilities, encourages and instructs, uplifts, edifies those pastors that are over local churches in the area. And I give you an example of some things that he's done, repaired rotted window frame, steel thief bars were installed, the wood painted, another project that he had of many, many, many repairing crumbling ceiling panels, and he did, as I said, a little bit of everything. I think this next slide is very interesting also. I wish that I could have had a picture of what is going to be mentioned in this slide or the next one. Their warehouse and dock is by the Cataca River in Moango. A few slides from now, I will probably butcher some words.

I did the very best I could to get the pronunciation, but the internet doesn't even recognize a couple of the words, so we'll give it a shout. But the Cataca River in Moango, notice under the picture, this was donated to them by Alcoa after the Civil War that they had. And they did not leave during that Civil War. They toughed it down, a very frightening time, very much dependent upon the Lord's protection time.

This is what I want to mention about David's abilities. He built a steel arm with a 12-volt winch that can be swung out over the canoes on the river. Barrels are picked up by the winch and lowered into the canoes with damage to neither. Now, the thing I want to point out, folks, if you can see that, and this isn't going to show it, but look at how narrow those canoes are. That's two canoes side by side.

Why do I make a big deal out of that? Can you imagine lowering 50-gallon barrels down into something that narrow that are full without the thing tipping over? He really was ingenious in coming up with that crane operated by a 12-volt motor. Now, getting into Lynn and her efforts, Lynn does literacy work, holds Bible clubs for literate students, translates and prepares Bible story lessons, hand illustrating each lesson. And I'm going to show you some samples of that in a minute. She's been assigned four new Chinese students who speak no English. And this is a quote from Lynn, quote, they don't understand me and I don't understand them. Oh, this is fun.

Pray for us. Oh, my goodness. I can't imagine. But you can see the four Chinese students are to your right.

One of them is giving the peace sign. I'm sure that was a challenge for her. And then this gives a picture of some of her artwork. Many of the materials she's prepared are in use by other ministries within CERNOB. Bible Evangelical Methodist Church in Pennsylvania supports the ministry. So she's creative and adds much, much to the ministry. A picture's worth a thousand words they say and she has done a wonderful job.

I just picked out two or three examples, but she's got them for several different Bible stories that they teach. Probably most of our kids in our church don't ride a school bus. They might have the attitude that they're glad to do it, but if they had a school bus in CERNOB, it would look a little like this. That is on the Tapa Nahoni River. And it just goes along the edge of the river, picks up the kids at canoe stops and takes them on to school. This is a picture of their house, home sweet home.

Ladies, I thought this was interesting. In the tropics, you must wipe down ceilings and walls annually with bleach or brown vinegar to keep the mold from taking over. When we lived in the jungle, we had to do this four times a year.

Obviously, when they lived in the jungle, it was much more primitive housing than what they've got here. The next several slides are going to pick up pictures that David sent to me with different churches. This first one, the Dutch Church South Family Day, is an annual event during school vacation, and they have their vacations August to September. The whole church drives to a local recreation spot and spends the day eating and fellowshipping.

This next slide, Rob is going to try to play a video, and it will give you a little flavor. And that's one of the pastors. Daryl said it's Pastor Steve, and that individual shared devotions when they met.

Let me see if this, for some reason, this isn't advancing with each click. Fellowshipping with various congregations is an integral part of David and Lynn's ministry. I think that that's the case with all of our missionaries, building relationships, knocking down mistrust. I know, again, because I'm very familiar with Larry Bunyan, and any of you that have been out there know this too, that is how their ministry really began to flourish out there, making developing relationships. One of the things that Larry does often, and I'm sure David will do the same thing with his gifts, Larry's got a nice singing voice, he plays the guitar, he's been asked to sing at numerous funerals and has done so. And he has built up the trust of those people to the point, I'll never forget this, some of you will remember, they had a little gal out there that committed suicide, young teenager, who came up to their AWANA program. And the long and the short of it is, her parents attended the Catholic church. They invited Larry to participate in the funeral, and he was wise in what he said. He very carefully, but unapologetically shared the gospel. And again, an awful lot of what our missionaries do is breaking down barriers. The Vahalas, one thing they do is they'll have activities that draw people in, a soccer camp, a soccer camp, English camp.

And I'm sure with David, his gifts in building and mechanics come into play much. And they're innovative. Notice this, the center copy that I've got up there, innovative multi-cup coffee maker. If you look at that, that's off to the right. I don't know that I'd want to drink that coffee.

Hunter probably would, because he's a connoisseur or fanatic of coffee, but anywho. Bright color. Bright color as far as their clothing and bright color as far as their music is characteristic of many South American cultures, and that's the same with Suriname. This next slide, eating off banana tree leaves on church family day. I get hacked eating off the leaves, but I don't know if you can see that. I don't know what that is, but it is not appealing to me. And then notice their after lunch recreation hammocks.

The river water is black, but that did not stop the young people from swimming, according to Darrow. That was during that family day. And then this one, the Dutch Church South annual business meeting. That's kind of sad. 43 out of 47 members were present.

That's a good percentage, but here's where the problem comes. COVID dropped the membership from 150 people to 47. So it really took a hit on them, and I cannot imagine how disappointing that was for the missionaries, for the Champlains and others to go from 150 to a third of the number that they had. They ended up having breakfast from 7 to 8 a.m., and this was their Christmas morning service that started at 6 a.m. Pastor Winston at Winty Y. Church has asked David to begin preaching again on the second Sunday of each month. So he gets to speak in the various churches.

This one is more of a consistent thing, where he goes the second Sunday of each month. Unfortunately, security bars inside the Winty Y Church, high theft, much like my understanding where La Verne is, where they have to have fences around their properties or iron bars on windows. That is the best picture he could send me of Pastor Winston, which is not clear at all. I had this as a video, and I hate like I'll get at it.

It didn't come through. I'm sure it was my fault, but young people led the service at the Winty Y Church, and as Daryl said, they're the future. Well, they're the future not only there in Suriname, but they're the future here in the States and at Beacon. Another group, this is a sampling of how they go about building down there. They don't get contractors building a new church.

The work is done by members on weekends and holidays. Church was held under an extended roof of the house. Plastic chairs were used as they were building the church, and I'm sure again that Daryl's talents came into play there. I will not begin to try to pronounce the name of that church.

It's over the doorway. Pastor Tony and Treasurer Edward, another picture that he sent to me, but if you look at the upper right-hand corner, the interior of that church is very nice, very well done. This next slide, Pastor Seto's wedding ceremony in the Poiketty Church, and then this summer camp, and boy, you look at the number of kids that they have coming. Very good outreach into the community because they surely don't have that many in the churches. A legacy of, let me get this, a legacy of service.

Let me state something before I read these next two slides. I got the PowerPoint done and thought, well, I'm going to do a little bit more research on the family, the Champlain family. So when I'm done with the next four slides, I want to read a follow-up that I think will really give you insights on God's mercy to our missionaries, but a legacy of service. Beginning with David's parents, Daryl and Louise, the Champlains have labored in Suriname for over 51 years, arriving in 1965 after being forced out of the Congo by the Simba revolutionaries.

They settled in Makanu, Mofo, on the Katakah River, over the years the Champlains ministered in all the villages along the Katakah River, and also reached to the Mariwensknee, whatever, and Tappahonee Rivers, as well as the mining town of Moengo. At the very bottom, at 83 years of age, Daryl went home on August 26, 2015. Daryl was involved as a guest professor, had an honorary doctorate, a guest professor at several universities, was a gifted speaker, et cetera. And as I saw his background and everything, I couldn't help but think, how God just uses different people. David would not be one, I don't believe, that would say he had the same gifts his father had.

But vice versa, I think his dad would say the same thing. And this, I don't know if Pastor will remember this or not, there's no reason for him to, it just hit me hard when this happened. I will never forget one sentence in a prayer by David's father, Daryl, that he prayed decades ago at Beacon when they were home on furlough. He said, Father, we thank you for your severe mercies. Now he sat about four rows back from me when he prayed that prayer. Father, we thank you for your severe mercies.

I thought, what an odd coupling, severe mercies. We're thankful for our missionaries, all of whom pay a price that comes in various forms and to various degrees to serve the Lord. This guy, Jordan Groom, said, if God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king. And I would throw that out to our young people, if God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king.

That's the PowerPoint on the Champlains, but I want to follow up the PowerPoint with a little bit more information that I think will be insightful to you. As I mentioned at the end of the PowerPoint, David's father, Daryl Champlin, made the following statement in a prayer at Beacon over 30 years ago. Father, we thank you for your severe mercies. Given the context of his family being forced to leave the Congo due to violence, God's severe mercies became evident in their move to Suriname.

And after compiling the PowerPoint, I came across additional details that will illustrate why he included the statement about God's severe mercies in his prayer. Here's a quote. Prepare immediately to evacuate. Situation grim. Helicopter coming. Don't delay.

Don't question. Irene is dead. Wait for helicopter. Love, Daryl. That's pretty shattering.

That was in the Congo. You'll know a little bit more about Irene in a minute. Prepare immediately to evacuate. Situation grim. Helicopter coming. Don't delay. Don't question. Irene is dead.

Wait for helicopter. Love, Daryl. These words on a cloth bandage dropped from a plane above the mission station in the Congo describe the death of a man who died in the Congo. Situation in the Congo describe the depth of commitment and the personal cost that missionary Daryl Champlin and his family joyfully rendered in bringing the news of Jesus to the people of Congo, Africa. Venturing with God in Congo is a history of events written by Daryl and later compiled into a book by his wife, Louise. It's more than a history of missionary endeavors by faithful missionary family. It's the testimony of the triumph of the gospel in the darkest places of Africa by very ordinary people who prize the glory of the gospel above their own lives. Can I read that again?

Not the whole thing. By very ordinary people who prize the glory of the gospel above their own lives. And they certainly did.

We read on. Daryl, Louise, and their young son David went to the Congo in the early 1950s. In 1964, they were forced out of the Congo by the Simba revolutionaries, leaving behind many pastors and churches which they had established.

The Simbas killed a number of missionaries, including their close relative, Irene Farrell. They returned to USA landing in New York City in the winter wearing summer clothing as all else had been lost. They lost everything. They literally got out of the Congo with a shirt on their back. Now, what would you be tempted to do?

You know, I thought about that. I mean, you've had a close relative and certainly close friends who've been massacred by these revolutionaries. You are forced to flee for your life and you arrive in New York City, bitter cold, wearing summer clothing.

Now what? Well, since it was not possible to return to the Congo, they sought a similar situation and they went to Suriname, South America, settling in Rakhano, Mofo, on the Kadaka River in 1965. Daryl's comment in his prayer, Father, we thank you for your severe mercies as illustrated in the lives of many missionaries who endure various hardships as they serve. You think of Laverne and Stuart. I can't imagine being away from Jane for months on end.

She's alone there and I've never been to Zimbabwe, but I'm sure there are, I know, there are dangers there. You know, when Bob Boyd came back recently from there, he talked about a cobra, large cobra, being out near the bathroom and them having to try to get rid of that. But you think of the was, you think of Larry and Carol Bunyan serving for 30-some years out in Montana, getting a letter stating your lease is up when they'd been promised a lifetime lease.

And if you, those of you that have been out there, they have a modular home that may very well be able to be taken apart and moved, but it's on a concrete slab and their garage is stick built. You know, I just think of the labor-intense situation that they're in. Very, very difficult. And yet, I'm confident they know that the Lord will work on their behalf.

We go on, though. Recently, we heard a report from missionary Paul Snyder in which he detailed some of the physical and spiritual challenges that he and his family have faced in Papua Indonesia. Paul's prolonged and difficult bout with several physical maladies were a severe mercy of God.

And you might say, how so? Unable to stay in Papua, he continued to serve the Lord with hard-crime missionary society during his sickness. I flat-out respected that immensely, continuing to serve the God in the states while sick. We go on, he labored to develop a written form of the northern Corawine language spoken in Papua and then translated salvation history catechisms into that native tongue. The salvation history catechisms are recorded on solar-powered players and can be taken to places that would be difficult or impossible for missionaries to reach. I know the disciples serving Christ Sunday School class sent money for them to be able to purchase some of those recorders.

I talked to Paul about that when they were here a couple of weeks ago, and he said that he's found a place where he can buy those for $13 apiece. And beloved, you know, just think about the opportunity of getting the gospel history to people where a missionary just could not go. These people, and they're begging for them.

They're begging for these. But I think he is a good example of Darrow's quote, Lord, we thank you for your severe mercies. His severe mercy was the fact that they got out of the Congo alive and developed a multifaceted ministry in Suriname, a multifaceted ministry in Suriname, and served for over 50 years in that ministry. By way of application, my challenge to our church is fourfold. Pray for the protection and provision of our missionaries. If you know specifically requests that the missionaries have given, pray specifically for those requests. Mike Webster and Tim Bixby need government papers to be able to stay in France.

They need those papers to be able to stay in France. I try to daily pray that God and His grace will get those papers for them. Mike Webster has health issues. David and Donna Edens have health issues.

She has congestive heart failure. Paul Snyder, Trevor Johnson, unfortunately, has spiritual as well as physical needs. But my challenge to all of us is pray for the protection and provision of our missionaries.

You probably don't have this ability without going after it. As one of the pastors, I will get many, if not all, of our missionaries' newsletters to my computer. Sometimes Dolly sends it out to us, but because of the impact devotional, sometimes I get theirs direct. I simply write back, thank you for the informative newsletter. Why? They know somebody wrote it.

How long did that take me? And if I know more, I say more. I don't shoot the breeze with them, but I'm not going to say I pray for you if I'm not praying for them, but you get my drift. By just letting them know that you read the prayer letter and you're praying for them means, means much. A second application for a church pray for a harvest of God's choosing through their efforts. I'm sure that some of them get very discouraged.

I know Larry and Carol, they've wanted to find a young couple to replace them because they're getting up in years. God is able, and if God sees fit to continue that ministry in Harp Butte, he will send a couple there, but pray for a harvest of God's choosing through their efforts. And number three application, pray that they would not grow weary and well-doing as they face challenges in their work.

It's got to be rough not being able to fellowship with folks from their country that they have as friends. It's got to be rough, and we need to pray that they not grow weary and well-doing. And finally, for us, use the gifts and the gifts and abilities that God has given to you to be a mouthpiece for the gospel in a world that is growing increasingly vile and increasingly vicious.

Vile and vicious, and I would add a third V, vain. As I said this morning to Disciples Serve in Christ, the vanity of Hollywood is, in other words, nauseating. They think they've got something we ought to listen to.

In another time frame, they would be jokesters in the king's court, entertainers, and yet they have a loud and influential voice. Pray that God will use the gifts and abilities that he's given you to be a mouthpiece for the gospel in a world that is growing increasingly vile and vicious and vain. We need to be salt and light. Let's pray. Father, I pray that what we've shared tonight has been informative to our folk. Lord, we do pray for our missionaries. We ask that you'd encourage them, that you'd protect them, that you'd provide for their needs. Indeed, that you would bring forth a harvest of your choosing and for your glory. We pray for those missionaries who have physical needs, Lord.

We know that they have these for your purposes. We're thankful for those who persevere and continue to serve you as they heal up. We think, in particular, of Paul Snyder and his family as they go back to Papua in January. We pray that you'd protect them and help their ministry to be fruitful. Lord, we're thankful that Beacon Baptist Church has always been and we trust will continue to be very missions-minded. If it would please you, Lord, help us to increase our faith promise this year that we might even do more. Thank you that we have this confidence that salvation is of the Lord, that Jesus came to this earth to die for his own, and that he will save his people from their sin. Help us to be instruments in the Redeemer's hands and we'll praise you for it. In Christ's name, amen.