Encounter...

Hello...

Just a quick update. Greg will be going on the Men's Ecuentro Con Dios (that Encounter with God) this weekend. It will be totally in Spanish so he will be tired when he returns and his brain will be ready for a break. Hahaha!

We are believing God to give him a refreshing of His Holy Spirit and to recharge his batteries like God did for me when I went on the women's Encuentro back in October of 2007. It was a life-changing experience for me and I am hoping for the same for Greg.

That's all for now. I will let you know how it went when he returns. =)

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Mom! We love you! ;)

All is well...

Just an update to let everyone know that all is going well with the Burge family in the D.R. We are busy as usual. I did want to give you a few updates on Praise Reports and Prayer Requests...

We are asking that you pray with us as we are facing some big decisions on how, what and where God is leading us for the near and distant future. We know that we are in the right place - working on the mission field of Santo Domingo. As many of you know we have been working with Restoration Ranch (a children's home that is under construction and we hope will be open and housing children by early next year) as well as working with Agape Flights (a ministry that brings in mail/cargo to and from missionaries). We have been working with Agape for almost 2 years and we were recently faced with a small dilemma.

Let me share a little more... while we were waiting to find land for Restoration Ranch (henceforth referred to as R.R. since it is easier to type =) ) we decided to help several missionaries in the work they were doing here in the DR. Not only would this help them in what they were/are doing but it would help us to get to know the missionaries, use and learn more Spanish, and learn more about Dominicans and the needs we may be able to help meet. Any who, when Agape said they needed a Field Director to do exactly what we were doing we felt it was a great match. We never gave up on R.R. and we have watched God's timing be perfect in every way! Well, just recently we were told by the Executive Director of Agape that we needed to be Agape 100% and only Agape. There are also several other things/new policies we are struggling with at Agape one of which is the way they want us to go about raising our support funds.

As many of you may already know we have always relied on God to be here. When God called us to the mission field he made it very clear to us where He wanted us to go and how and when. We have shared our experience as part of our testimony. When we came to the DR we came with money in savings and support promises of just over $300 a month. Yes, we live in a third world country but, $300 doesn't even cover our grocery bill much less any of the other monthly bills because things cost double to triple what they do in the US. =) Have we ever missed a payment or a meal?? No, God is faithful! He has always provided everything we have needed and even some of our wants as well! I, Melynda, keep the books and I like to see things match up on paper and I feel like I am limited to what I can see - you know the old saying," continue

We understand that Agape is trying to make a standard for all who may come after us, but we just don't fit inside that box. The policy would cause us to leave the mission field as early as August and we would have to stay in the US until we raise the entire amount of the Agape approved budget which is close to $60,000 a year. For one, we don't agree to the budget amount and secondly, we don't think we should leave indefinitely. We feel that doing it that way takes God and our faith and trust for His provision out of the picture. We know that it is hard to walk by faith...some of you may be going through that growth period in your lives right now - hang on! God is faithful - but we know it is the right thing for us. It is hard to explain but it just fits.

We have prayed hard about this and we ask that you join us in prayer. As it stands right now we have been put in a place of making a decision between Restoration Ranch and Agape. Our leading is, of course, to go with Restoration Ranch, as that is the reason God brought us to the DR in the first place. Yes, it has taken a long time to come to fruition, but we all know the our time is not God's time and God's time is always perfect!
We still hold out hope that God will touch the Executive Director's heart and that we can continue to help both ministries but ultimately we want to serve God. We know that working with Agape has been a blessing to their ministry growing here, the missionary community has been blessed and we have been blessed and learned so much through it all. It has been God's timing. If it is only for a season then we will all depart stronger because of it. God is so good!

Next is a Praise Report and prayer request all in one... it has to do with my knee. I broke my knee cap after falling off of a ladder in April of 2007 and it has not fully healed. I was talking to a missionary here who leads 50+ teams a year (most of them a medical teams as she is a nurse) and she told me that she has an Orthopedic surgeon coming in June who may be able to help me. Yeah! I have already been in contact with him and he believes that he can do an arthroscopic surgery on my knee and help me. That is the Praise part! Now the prayer part is that we will be able to go when he comes and that all will go well with the surgery. =)

Last, I ask that you pray for the missionaries here in the DR as there seems to be a greater spiritual attack against us than there has ever been before. We knew coming to the mission field that we would be on "the front lines" but this is stronger than we have experienced to date. Just pray for protection, wisdom, and strength.

Thank you all for taking the time to read our blog, pray for us and support us. We cannot do it without you! We need you! Thank you again....until next time...

Dios les bendiga richamente and Vaya con Dios! (May God bless you richly and go with God)

Our First Team in 2008

We had our first team of the year. The BCS Team (that’s Bradenton Christian School for those of you who are not familiar). There was an awesome group of 17 Juniors and Seniors (with the 3 teachers included) on the team. We were so glad that Jesse, Jen Doll, Jenny, and Krista were able to make it back again this year.

They arrived and went straight to the church to minister to the youth group at Palabras de Vida. Sunday we went to church and then we set off for La Romana to work for two days at a girls’ home. Of course, when it came time to leave the orphanage…no one wanted to leave.

Wednesday we dug out the paintbrushes and headed for Ina’s to paint her newly built church/ministry center. That was loads of fun! We had bright blue paint all over us by the time we finished. We split into two groups half going to take all of the children to play baseball and the rest continued to paint and dig up roots and stumps so that the cement floor could be poured.

When we ran out of paint we decided to take a break to eat lunch but as we ate the clouds grew dark and we had a heavy downpour so we had to call it a day earlier than we planned. At least we were able to play with the children, paint and dig up stumps. We tell every team that the key word for a trip to the DR is “flexibility”! That came into play that day.

Thursday we packed a lunch and headed for Bani to paint at Restoration Ranch! The BCS Team that came last year went to the Ranch just after the land was purchased and they learned about prayer walking. It was an awesome testimony for them to return for a day this year and to see God at work and prayers coming to fruition. Several walked the land and prayed for 2 hours while others painted the front gate, gazebos, and benches. We then walked over to the site were the houses are being built and prayed together. You could tangibly feel the presence of the Lord. Several of us were in tears and we all look forward to seeing what God does at the Ranch not only in the here and now but in the future. Jenny and Mr. J (Jonathan) were on the same page when they had the idea of giving each team member a small stone to take back to the U.S. as a way to remember their time here and as a reminder to continue to pray for Restoration Ranch and the country of the Dominican Republic. How beautiful is that?!

They were able to relax and enjoy Friday as we drove to Jarabacoa – a mountainous area of the country where it always seems to be about 10 degrees cooler. After hanging out at the recreational center playing ping pong, swimming in the cold pool and eating Dominican style food we headed out on the hike to the waterfall. It was a beautiful hike and Mr. Greg (the Science teacher) was in his element. =) He was thoroughly enjoying himself with all of the plants and so forth. When we arrived at the waterfall we were in awe of the wonder of God and His creativity. To top it all off two of the girls from the team and Isaiah were baptized in the pool below the waterfall. Yeah, did you catch that… "and Isaiah…”, that’s my Isaiah. He had told us he wanted to be baptized and we told him that we would do that the next time we were in the States but when Jonathan talked about it with some of the team members Isaiah talked to Jonathan and Isaiah decided he wanted to do it then too! I was balling of course! =) Tears of joy running down my face as my husband bent down in the ice cold water to speak to my youngest son about his fairly new relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think that they were both a little numb by the time it was over. lol =)

Needless to say it was a very successful and life changing trip for all of us but it didn’t stop there… After we said our sorrowful farewells at the airport on Saturday the team had a long lay over in Puerto Rico. They ran into another team from Florida who had also spent their Spring break on a mission trip here to the Dominican Republic so they were able to spend some of the time exchanging stories. Jesse, who plays guitar, and Cody felt like they should play some Praise & Worship music and sing. As they were doing so quietly they felt like the Lord was telling them to do so but to do it louder. So…unashamed they did just that. Others from the BCS team and the other team began to join them and before they knew it the Lord’s presence was in the airport and though they had several people walk by and stare or walk by and laugh they also had those who stopped to listen. There were even several who the team members began to pray for as the Lord moved. In fact, there were a couple of them who said that they weren’t sure what to pray as they did not know a lot of Spanish but that when they decided to be obedient and pray anyway the Holy Spirit gave them the words and they were praying in other tongues and in Spanish (Spanish that they did not know before!)!!! God is so awesome! He even shows up and shows out in the middle of a waiting area of the airport in a foreign country!

Now you probably think that the story is over now huh? Wrong again! Several of the youth/students have put their faith in action and they are meeting and taking meals to the homeless in the mornings, meeting and praying before school, and looking for ways to reach out to their communities. Talk about being impacted for God…their lives are changed...forever! You know what? Yours can be too! Why don’t you ask God to show you how to impact your community? Or plan to go on a mission trip and see how other people around the world live. I have said this for about 12 years now…” I believe every American should take at least one trip to the mission field in his/her life. It will change you, impact you, and help you to see with new eyes.” Ask God how He wants to use you and then open yourself up to be used and be obedient even if it sounds crazy, like singing out loud in an airport, God will use you for His glory!