The
Dutch forced independence upon Suriname in 1975, but the bonds between Suriname
and the Netherlands remain strong. The Netherlands, rather than any neighbouring
country, is still Suriname's largest trading partner. Suriname is dependent upon
mining and foreign aid for foreign exchange. About 200,000 people of Surinamese
descent live in the Netherlands. These people informally contribute a large proportion
of Suriname's foreign exchange every year, and their wealth, knowledge and connections
are a valuable resource for Suriname.
The
following is information forwarded to me by one of the parents serving in this
area through Mike Fisk:
"I thought I had better update you on the information involving Suriname and the
missionary work going on there. I can't give you numbers of baptisms, because
there is always some happening. I do know that during the year 1997 Suriname had
about 35 baptisms, and during the first 3 months of 1998, they had many more than
that, and so far this year has been very fruitful with families coming into the
church. For any missionary's who have been there who might read this, the Ritfields
from Lelydorp were finally married and baptized at the end of September 1998.
This was a great accomplishment, and the missionary's are hoping that now great
things will happen in Lelydorp, which was formally opened to the work during this
past summer. They are hoping to start a branch there. There are currently about
12 missionary's serving in Suriname, with church approval for 14. This is an increase
of 4 Elders. There is also always a couple in Suriname, who help take care of
all of the details of running a mission in Suriname, since Elder Mason only gets
down there about every 6-8 weeks. They have started pulling one missionary out
of Suriname and sending him to work in Trinidad, so everyone will get the chance
to work in Trinidad while they are serving. When my son was in Trinidad earlier
this year, he really loved serving in Arima, and they had a lot of success. The
other news from Suriname is that the church has approved and bought land for a
chapel, which should be started sometime soon. This will help the effort of the
Elders greatly.
Thanks
to Janet Ortgiesen for this information.
Currently,
there is one missionary from the branch serving in Jamaica, and another young
man waiting to turn 19 so he can serve. This past August, a sister came to Salt
Lake and received her temple endowments. This is the first and only women in Suriname
to have had to opportunity to go through the temple. It was an exciting time for
her, as she also received her patriarchal blessing from the Church Patriarch.
The work is progressing quickly in Suriname, any further questions, please let
me know, and I will try to find out exact numbers from my son and tell you how
the branch is growing.
I
received the following from: Carlo J. Bos
"Thanks
for maintaining such a great mission site! I have served in the Trinidad and Tobago
mission. Served in: Suriname (Paramaribo, Lelydorp). Years served: 1991 - 1993.
On
the Suriname link it said that Lelydorp was just barely opened, but that is not
entirely true. Elder Brad Wood and I lived and served in that area for 6 months.
After us at least 2 more sets of elders served there. I was there with Elder Steve
Frandson, and also Elder Jeffery Frink. Elder Brad Wood and Elder Lance Burbank
opened that area if I recall it correctly. We met in the school class room, and
had an avarage attendance of about 30. We had people bussed al the way from reeberg.
Sometimes we would pick them up ourselves if we had access to the Isuzu Trooper.
Most of the roads are dirt roads and get verry muddy in the raining seasons. Also
many suriname people live in the Netherlands and have received their endowments
before missionary work officially started there with the Limburg couple. We also
had a missionary leave from Suriname in 1994 or 1995, I don't recall exactly which
year it was. The Lewises, Elder Frandson, my sister and I met him here in Salt
Lake before he left on his mission. Elder Frandson took us all out 4 wheelin up
Provo canyon, and the Lewises then took us all to see the Manti Pagent, after
a visiting the Manti temple.
There are some pictures of Suriname, the Elders and members on my website from
when I served a mission there at: http://www.users.uswest.net/~cbos/"
I
received the following from: Jeff Frink
"Hey
its nice to know that things are still going good down there. In fact it sounds
like it is going better than ever. That makes me so happy. It made my day, well
maybe my year to find this web site and hear what is happening in my mission.
It made me feel so good to hear about Suriname. I laughed and cried."
Location:
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana
and Guyana.