A Shout out to our friends in Maryland...

We had so much fun hosting the Glass Team from Maryland. They were here with us from November 1st - November 9th. We are so thankful for the new friendships that have been established over the last 9 days.

We were able to travel back out to Pastor Robbie's orphanage in San Juan de la Maguana and spend several days there playing with and ministering to the kids. The team made wooden cars for each of the kids. They loved them!!! The best part is that can handle the rough dirt and gravel terrain out there as well as those tenderhearted bu rough and tough boys. =) It did not seem to matter how young or how old they were they were thrilled to get a wooden car. Yeah, I know, there are several of you out there reading this and reminising about your wooden cars or trains that you played with as a kid. =)

The team was also able to help us to go to Santiago and dig up plants to be transferred to the Ranch in Bani. Jim had so much fun hacking away at the weeds with the machette that he got carried away and wacked his chin. Don't worry we had 2 paramedic/firemen on the team so he was all taken care of quickly and without stitches. Needless to say we didn't let him use the machette anymore though. =) All of those lovely plants that were donated to us by Luis Arocha who is a botonist here in the D.R.


We then traveled out to Bani where we had a day of Evangilism, Construction, and Gardening. They were able to visit the public school that is located about 1/2 mile from the Ranch. The team put on a puppet show an awsome drama and more puppet skits and then a fun cowboy skit that the kids went wild over. They donated some funds to the school and we headed back to the Ranch to plant all of the those Cruton plants around the gazebo areas. We will be planting more in the future when the buildings are completed. After the planting was finished and we had lunch under the gazebo/shelter they were able to help us move a couple hundred cement blocks up into the building to be used to finish up the second floor as well as cleaning out a bunch of rubble that was hauled over to finish filling the footers on another building. And then we headed back to the school to do the same program for the afternoon students. It was a long day with a lot of work but it was oh so worth it!

The next day the Team decided to bless us, the Burge family, by helping to fix a few things around our house. They sent me, Brittany and Lora away for the day so that all of the men could work on the house. They fixed 3 toilets (some with leaks and some that just did not seem to flush well), They fixed the gas water heater that is in the enclosed laundry area that is on the side of the house (don't worry Ty and Troy, we have it off until we get those carbon monoxide detectors=D ) which gives us hot water for showers and for washing dishes. YEAH!!!! They also scraped and scrubbed all of the thick algea that had grown on the walkways for who knows how long. (Thanks Greg M for all of that muscle work.) And they scraped areas of the roof that were leaking and sealed and painted those. And they scraped, sealed, and painted Brittany's entire room and ceiling, Isaiah's ceiling and the bathroom walls and ceiling, all of which had leaks from all of the Hurricanes and Tropical Storms we had this year. It was like a mini Extreme Home makeover in one day! Thank you Jim G., Jimmy, Ty, Troy, Greg M., Greg B., Matthew and Isaiah for making our home safer, sealed and in better working order. And thank you Lora for filling the day with laughs and fun! Are you ready to come back and get another one of those delicious Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches? *laughs and licks lips*

To finish off the week we were able to arrange, with the help of Bud Simon, to take the team back out to where they had visited over two years ago and they had been part of a team that built a church and playground for a small village. They were worried that all the work they had done would be either run down from lack of care or no longer being used but much to their surprise it was up and running and improved! Where they had built the shell of the building - meaning that they had put up the posts, and roofing for a covered shelter - the space between the columns had been filled in with cement block so that they had solid walls and the playground had been taken care of and the kids were playing on it when we drove up. You must understand that this was a surprise visit that was able to be put together at the last minute so the Pastor had no idea that they were coming but when his wife saw them she immediately recognized them and the smile on her face was priceless. She had opened her home to them on the previous trip and they had used it for a week as a dental clinic and she cooked for them several times. It was a time of rejoicing and remembering. every member had tears in their eyes as they remembered what all was accomplished and as the people of the village came to see who the "Americanos" were they recognozed them and there was even more rejoicing! It remined me that we are all connected as brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what our culture, skin color, race, denomination, or location...we are all ONE body seeking after the ONE true GOD through Jesus Christ! Don't you just love God's creative variety? =)

We have a car...well almost

We wanted to give you a new update on the car, or Trooper in this case. If you remember we wrote to you several months ago about the opportunity to purchase an Isuzu Trooper from another missionary and we asked for your help and prayers in order to purchase it. We have been here in the D.R. for 3 and a half years without our own car. (Read over past blog post for more info) We are praising the Lord and thanking you because we are only $879.00 away from having it paid in full.

To top it all off the gas prices here have gone down over 30% in the last month! Yeah!!!! We have never seen gas under $5.10 per gallon for regular here in the 3 and a half years and it is now down to $3.90 per gallon. Wow!! It had been hoovering around the $6.00 mark for almost a year. I know that we heard a lot of complaints from people in the States about gas prices going up to $4.00 and while we could sympathize it is all a matter of perspective as you can see we are celebrating about having the same prices you were complaining about so remember to give thanks to God above in everything that you have. When you think your price is high try living here. That doesn't just apply to gas it applies to the cost of food, electricity, housing, clothing, etc. It is all much higher here in a third world country. Many of you who have visited know what I am talking about and the rest of you just need to trust me and again be thankful that God is providing for you and for us!

We ask that you continue to pray with us that the final amount would come in very soon. We know that many of you are facing economic stresses and plaese know that we are praying for you. We understand what you are going through...more than you know. What affects you affects us as so many of you are our supporters and without you we cannot be here doing the work that we are. We pray earnestly that God is providing for your every need and that you will see Him and His faithfulness in the midst of these econmic troubles. Reamin in Him and He will remain in you and He WILL be faithful to you and bless you no matter what the economy is. Trust in, rely on, and believe in Him continuously!

We love you and our prayers are with you!

The Burge family

Lots of quick updates...

This month has a busy one once again...

I, Melynda, celebrated my 37th birthday on the 18th of this month. I don't feel a day older until I think of my daughter going to college next fall. =0

We are getting ready for a team that is coming in from Maryland for an 8 day mission trip. Pray that they will be able to accomplish all that God has planned for them and that we will have safety and protection during all of the traveling.

Remember my story about Mandie and Edwin Speegle? Keep praying for them to get a Tourist Visa to travel to the US. They now have finalized the adoption process here and have Edwin's birth certificate but are waiting on his Dominican Passport and then they can file papers (yeah, more paperwork) to apply for the Visa.

**We urge you to take some time each day to pray over the upcoming elections. There are a lot of churches doing "a prayer a day" or the "prayer for a moment". If you would like more info please contact us or ask your local pastor. It is time that we stand up for our faith and the best way to do so is to get on our knees before God and ask for His guidance, mercy, and direction. All with a repentant heart.

Things are progressing at Restoration Ranch. We will be updating in detail soon. In the meantime be praying for the finances to continue to come in as we approach the end of building walls and soon we will begin the process of pouring the roof! Yeah, 4 homes (building #1) is closer than ever to completion!

An awesome book to read...One Month to Live by Kerry & Chris Shook.

Well....what are you waiting for? Get off the computer and go get that book. *Grin*

Praise Reports...

I got the news and wanted to share it with all of you...

Just a few days ago I wrote about my Aunt Meg and how the doctors said that she had cancer in her uterus...guess what...she is HEALED!!!! Yeah that's right...no cancer. The doctors are astounded and cannot believe that the tumor that they found is not tumorous. Go God! Go God! We are all doing the happy dance around here and praising God for His healing touch!

Guess what else...my brother does not have to go to Iraq for a second tour. I am so beside myself with joy that I don't know what to do except dance and sing.

Whatever you are believing for...don't give up! Keep believing God and trust that He has the best plan for you, your loved one, and your friends. Keep standing in faith even in the midst of the hardest trials you may face...keep standing firm on God's Word and believe that He is who He says He is and that He can do the impossible!

A short trip and a long prayer...

I, Melynda, made a short trip to S.C. (sorry I could not visit with you all while I was there) to visit with my brother before he follows through with orders to be deployed once again to Iraq. I am praying that he won't have to go but I wanted to see him in case he does otherwise it will have been a 3 year time span between visits. That is just too long for me.

What I thought was going to be a trip to spend time with him turned into so much more. God has a way of taking our plans and turning the upside-down and bringing more out of them than we ever thought possible. Here is what I experienced on the short (13 day) trip to the States...

I arrived at the airport in Atlanta after a very long day of layovers to be greeted by my Mom and my sister, Angela, and my cute niece, Eliza. We loaded up my suitcase and headed out to meet my stepsister, Katie, and her son, Caden to eat dinner. The next day we left out from Atlanta and made the trip back to Greenville/Simsonville, SC. Of course we made a few shopping stops along the way. haha

I spent 2 hours helping my sister pack boxes as she was prepping to move to Texas two days later. We spent several hours the next day packing then met up with family for dinner. On Saturday we loaded her whole house into a moving truck. There were only 3 of us loading for a while then my brother's friend joined us for some heavy lifting. We retired early and rose early (4:30am) to get on the road so we could make it to Louisiana the first day. So my sister, my mom, Eliza, and I rode together in the car and my brother and his friend rode in the truck.

The trip out was long but good, for the most part, as I was able to spend some time in deep conversation with my brother and with my Mom and sister. It was our first journey out West that was not because of a custody battle. (I will save that story for another day). Even though it was not the way most people would choose to spend time with family I think that it was a very memorable and ground-breaking way for us. You have to understand our history together to fully appreciate the significance of it all so you will have to trust me when I say that it was a journey of the heart for each of us. Yes, as with most long road trips, tensions did get a little high at times but we worked through it...Thanks Mama! =) and we did arrive safely in Texas Monday evening. We unloaded the truck. Actually, we started unloading the truck when I had a sudden and pretty serious asthma attack that came out of no where. Luckily Brad, my brother, and Semore, his friend, are both Paramedics so I was in good hands. After a good scare and several shots of inhalation meds I was back to breathing regular. I was done for the night and was put on strict rest by both paramedics. Not so bad when I think about not having to unload the truck. lol Just kidding Sis! =D

We spent a day together before heading out again at 4:30am on Wednesday to get back to SC. What is it with the early morning stuff anyway!? After arriving back in SC and dropping off my brother and Semore so they could get some rest my Mom and I headed for her home. Yes, crazy as we are and as tired as we were we shopped on the way. At least my Christmas presents are all purchased and they all fit into a suitcase. We have learned that we don't "need" much but when your kids are too tall for their clothes it is time to get some that fit. *giggles*

I was able to spend some time with Greg's dad and step mom and Greg's mom over the next 4 days before heading back to the good 'ole DR and my loving husband and children. I also got to spend some quality time with my Aunt Meg. She shared with me that she had not been feeling well and so she made an appointment to go to see a gynecologist. The news she received was not good...not good at all. The gynecologist took three tissue samples and said that she is afraid that my aunt has uterine cancer though she could not say if it had progressed any farther.

Needless to say, my Aunt was down and in need of prayer and encouragement. Once again I saw that God's timing was perfect for me to be there to do just that...encourage her and pray for her. While I prayed for her that very day I also told her that I wanted to spend some time with God and ask Him how He would direct my prayers for her, for her future, etc. She understood.

A little background on my Aunt Meg ~ she has been the prayer warrior over my life for as long as I can remember and I am sure even further back than that. She and my Nanny (my Mom's mom) have served as my "safe place" and my refuge before I knew that God could and wants to be that for me. She has been so much more than an "aunt" she has been like a mom to me. I love her deeply and we have shared a lot of pain, sorrow and joy together. I was the one who was there when her 4 year old son drowned and went home to be with the Lord. That is just a snippet of the strength of our relationship. I just knew God was not finished with her yet!

I spent a long time alone praying for her but was awakened later in the night with a sudden desire to pray for several of my family members. I feel like I was fighting a spiritual battle for each of them and it ended when I felt God's peace come over me and then I went back to sleep for a short time. When I saw my Aunt on Sunday before leaving to came back to the D.R. I was ready to pray for her once again. I cannot tell you what all the Holy Spirit gave me to pray because I cannot remember it all but I could feel the power and presence of God there with us and when I finished praying we were all in tears and I believe with all of my heart that the cancer is gone! She will receive the results in a few days but I already know the diagnosis. I serve a very real, powerful, loving God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of you and me and He CAN do all things! I can't wait to give you the doctor's results and rejoice because my God is faithful and He is Jehovah Raffa (my Healer) He is the great "I am"!

All of this to say that what I thought would be a trip home to spend time with my brother was that and so much more for me. I had 28 hours to reflect on my life, to learn more about myself and my family, to be a blessing to them as well as being blessed by them, to see how strong my Mom's faith has grown, to hear the wisdom that God has imparted in my brother and the change that has taken place in him, and to see my sister start her journey of a new level of faith and trust in God, and last but not at all least to have little reminders of why I am so blessed to serve God, and why I need to have complete dependence upon, complete trust in, and total reliance on HIM who loves me most!!! I love you Daddy (God)! I love you Jesus! I love you Holy Spirit!
~Your daughter, Melynda

The Geary Family from SC

We have had the most enjoyable time with the Geary family. They have been staying with us for about a week. A mother, Gloria, and her three sons, Hatcher, Reid, and Harrison were finishing a year mission trip around the world. They started by packing up and taking a trip to IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Missouri and after spending several weeks ther they began a trip across America sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone they met. They then travel to places like Granada, Ghana, El Salvador, Ciaro, Madrid, Malasia, and Singapore and many others.

We were blessed to have them stay with us and share their stories of adventure and sharing the gospel with all people. Amazing family!!! You can read more about them on their blog at http://www.gearyfamilymission.blogspot.com/ Talk about the chance of a lifetime...I know we are not supposed to be jealous of others but it was difficult to not be when you sat acroos the table and hear the stories of how God moved in their lives and in the lives of others all across the world.

Go Geary family! We loved having you and we look forward to seeing you in Gaffney, SC in the future!

We Have New Roommates

Well, our prayer to make our house open to and to be used to bless others is already happening. Goes to show that you should take care in what you pray because you just might get it! In this case we are both happy and sad to report that our home will now be shared with another family. Why is that a happy and sad thing? To answer that means I have to share a bit of their story...

There once was a family who lived in the Dominican Republic and their names were Jason & Mandie Speegle. They were living in Santo Domingo serving the Lord through the ministry of Crown Financial and one day they met the Burge family who also lived and served the Lord in the Dominican Republic. After spending a little time together they became very good friends sharing so many things in common like... enjoying eating icing right out of the container, enjoying the gift of living in the DR, but finding the driving in the DR a stressful chore, and of course that 2 of the 4 are life-long Cowboy fans. hahaha They enjoyed several Sunday dinners followed by the watching of the Cowboys and whoever they were playing on t.v.

One day the Speegles shared their desire to adopt a child from the Dominican and asked the Burges to pray with them that God might lead them to the right child. He did...and sooner than they ever expected Edwin David entered their lives and they were hooked from the moment they saw him. The Burge family was overflowing with joy in celebration with the Speegles and they enjoyed watching him grow over the next several months. Secretly they also enjoyed being called Tia Melynda and Tio Greg (that's Aunt & Uncle). =)

One evening, Jason & Mandie shared with the Burges that they were praying about moving back to the US and to pray with them about God's direction. Jason was offered his "dream job" of working at the college he once attended and they were praying about accepting the job. While this made the Burges a little sad...

**Side note** One of the hardest things about living on the mission field is making friends who then leave and move on to the next adventure with God. **

...they also were joyful and expectant on what lay ahead for the Speegles. A few weeks or so later Jason accepted the job and they began their preparations for the move which included training someone to take Jason place, selling items, getting paperwork filed and the adoption finalized so that they could all leave as a family.

Well...this is were it gets hard and sad...while Jason and Mandie had done everything the legal route to adopt Edwin (such a cutie) the paperwork was slowing down and included very important paperwork being lost, fraudulently signed by an impostor (unknown for weeks by Jason & Mandie and their lawyer) and the money that went with the paperwork stolen by the impostor (he posed as a government official and signed the paperwork but ran off with the money). So, they had to refile paperwork and pay more money to get that processed. Luckily Greg and Melynda had a friend who was able to get the paperwork pushed through for them. Go God! While all of this is going on Jason and Mandie were running out of time before they would need to leave for the US.

With less than a month before their departure date they were working to get Edwin's adoption finalized so that they could get his Dominican Passport and apply for his US Passport or Visa when they were told that would would not be possible because they had not followed the guidelines for an International adoption. True they had not because they had applied for adoption as Dominican residents (remember the lost paperwork? that was their residency paperwork that was being made current) so those rules were not supposed to apply to them. They had to halt the finalizing of the adoption and talk with the US Embassy and other government agencies to find out what to do next. Long story shorter, when the date came for them to leave for the US Mandie had to stay behind with Edwin to finish the process of trying to get a way for Edwin to go to the US. They had already sold most of what they owned, turned in their notice to the landlord that they would be leaving and sold one vehicle so when the Burges heard that they were looking for a place to live they offered for them to live with them. They, Mandie and Edwin, are moving into the Burge home and praying that the Visa will come through very soon so that they can be reunited with their husband/daddy in Kansas. Looking for that "happy ending".

Now you see why this is a bitter-sweet scenario. We are blessed to have them stay with us but hope and pray for them that it will be a short time before they are reunited together as a family and all live in a cute cottage-style home in Kansas. No, really they rented a cute cottage-style home that wasn't just part of the fairy-tale ending. *smiles and laughs*

Please pray for them to have favor with the US Embassy, US government and Dominican government to solve this and allow his adoption to be finalized, and Passports issued so that they can be together again. Thanks!