Sole Mates

I wanted to share something with each of you that really touched my heart. On the last day that our home church (Bethel Team) was here and we were at the Ranch they saw the need of the Haitians and Dominicans that they had worked so hard with for a week. What was the need? Shoes! The Haitians were in ragged shoes if they had shoes at all and the Dominican family that care-takes the land needed shoes as well. What did the team do? They gave them shoes off of their feet then we joined in prayer over all of the workers and care-takers and many of the team members left barefoot or in sock feet as they loaded onto the bus. Talk about a real soul-winners or should I say "sole" winners?! The Haitians were double blessed with the gospel and with shoes. =)

A New Place to call "Home"

Yeah, that's right...we found a new home. Thank you for all of your prayers. We found a home in a section called Arroyo Hondo. It is a secure, gated community which is a big relief to both Greg and myself. Though we finally gained the peace of the Lord after the break-in, I can't say that we have been able to sleep as soundly as we did before. Some of you know, after having been here to visit, that every house you pass has bars on the windows and doors and a large gate guarding the entrance to each individual house and when we drove through the new neighborhood we actually found homes without the gates, without bars on the windows and doors which says to us that this is really well guarded.

I, Melynda, made a list of things I would like in the next house and God meet all but one item which was the large kitchen like I had before. He has given me ideas on how to make the smaller kitchen work though so I am fine. The best part is that we will be in a gated/secure area with gurads at the only entrance/exit of the neighborhood and the kids will have the opportunity to ride bikes again without ingesting a load of pollution from cars and such. I can't wait to get out and talk a walk with my hubby and children in the evening or early in the morning. Another bonus is that we are neighbors with several other missionary families who have truly enjoyed living there. Yeah! Go God!

I hope to post pictures once we are in the new house. Thank you Lord for your continued provision, protection, and direction. Thank you friends and family for your prayers! We love you!

"One Shovelful at a Time"

Wow! Can I just say we have, once again, been overwhelmed by God's goodness, blessings, and provision! We just finished with our home church of Bethel Worship Center in Camden, SC. Let me just put a small plug in here...if you do not have a church home and you are anywhere in the Columbia, Camden, Sumter area and are looking for a church you must at least visit Bethel. I know you may be thinking, "that is a long way to drive" or "with gas prices so high it is not worth the cost" but I will tell you that you are wrong! We lived in Columbia and we drove the 50 minutes each way and we were never disappointed. I would dare to say that even with the gas prices here, $5.75 per gallon of regular I would still pay the price to drive if I were in SC. They are family to us and they receive everyone that comes in the door the same regardless of age, gender, what you wear or how you look... you are a child of the living God and they will love on you just as He does! I don't know what we would do without them, their support and prayers.

Now back to the story...we were blessed to have 25 of them come and stay with us for 8, no 9 days (more on that in a minute). Even after living all together (all 30 of us) in our home here and sharing 3 bathrooms, braving the heat, traveling together 1 hour and 35 minutes each way in a guagua to and from Restoration Ranch we managed to still love each other. =) It probably helped that we were in air condition on the bus which was a good thing after we spent the day sweating while laboring in the hot sun. =)

They had asked us for a "wish list" full of items that are difficult if not impossible to find here, or they cost just too much to even think about buying. Well, once again our Bethel family worked together to fill not one or two of those wishes but filled then ALL and then added items of their own like a new DeWalt tool set. Those of you who know me (Melynda) know that I love tools! They brought us a shop vac which also has been put to use a few times. And just when we thought they were done and we were already speechless they pulled out a new laptop...better and with more memory than the one that was stolen in May. I am still shaking my head in amazement! God's word is true...He says that that which is stolen from you will be returned 7 fold and He did just that! Actually I think it was much more than 7 -fold.
We are so proud of each member...let me see if I can name them here - Pastor Casey, Leland, Eric, John, Russ, Brent, Les, Terri, Karen, Brenda, Kaleigh, Kirstin, Briana, Maggie, Brittany, Helen, Travis, AJ, Josh, Andrew, Jeremy, Brice, Trisha, Jessica, and Kalyn. Whew, that's a mouthful. They were able to accomplish so much in one week that we are still astounded. Here is how the Ranch was blessed by their hard work: (enjoy the photos posted throughout this entry)
~They repaired a lopsided and sinking outdoor sink
~Placed shower rods and curtains in two bathrooms of what we call "the little house"
~Installed two ceiling fans under the gazebo - helps keep flies off of your food. =)
~Built the framework for a concrete ceiling to be poured so we can build a second floor
~Purchased a rebar cutter (which has already saved us thousands of dollars in labor already)
~Fixed the air-conditioning in our car
~Fixed several plumbing issues in the house.
~Cleaned up all of the remaining rubble, dirt, broken block and such from in front of the first building by loading it one shovelful at a time into a wheelbarrow and wheeling over to fill the footers of the second building. We got smart by the 3rd day we rented a Bobcat to help us out.
~And last, but not at all least, dug a huge hole for the septic tank. When I say huge I mean HUGE! It was over 7 feet deep and 24 feet long by 12 feet wide. Greg and I had hoped that the Haitian workers that were hired would finish or at least get close to finishing it before Bethel arrived but they kept quitting and walking out saying the job was too hard. It says a lot when Haitians, who are not really welcomed into this country with open arms and who do just about anything to make money and eat only rice and beans or rice alone just to survive and stay here rather than go back to Haiti, walk away from a job that was paying them and housing them because it was "too hard". It shows the tenacity that our team had in order to come in when the hole was not even a foot deep and dig it out to completion. On the last day they were able to put in the rebar and pour the cement flooring in the bottom which Pastor Casey then carved the initials "BWC 2008" into and said he hoped he never saw the bottom of it again. Hahaha They worked all day, everyday to get that hole dug it became known as "the pit of despair". It sounds horrible and while it was, it was also a place of much laughter, strengthening (both physically and spiritually), and friendships deepened just as the hole did. Greg continually brought relief to those digging in the hole with his comic relief. I just love that man! =)

I also want to share something very special with you that came out of that time in the hole, it is something that still brings tears of sorrow mixed with tears of thankfulness and joy to my eyes as I type it. Pastor Casey shared this with us the last night we had a time of devotion and sharing. He said that the Lord spoke to him clearly and audibly while he was digging and he climbed out of the hole and tried to write it down as fast as he could. Here is what the Lord said to him regarding Restoration Ranch...
“In this place I (God) will break off generational curses. Where there were generations of hatred, they will be replaced with generations of Love. Where there were generations of abuse, I am going to replace it with generations of grace and compassion. Where there were generations of ignorance and illiteracy, I am going to replace it with generations of knowledge and understanding. Where there were generations of despair, I am going to replace it with generations of hope. Where there were generations of incarceration, I am going to replace it with generations of freedom and deliverance.”
***That alone makes all of the pain and soreness from all of the work worthwhile.***

It can be rebuilt...

You won't believe all that God has done in the last few weeks. Don't worry I will share it all with you in hopes that your faith will grow and all of it will glorify God.

Many of you are aware that I feel over 6 feet from a ladder last April and broke my left kneecap and have had trouble ever since. Well, another missionary here, Kristy Engel who is a nurse, has also experienced knee trouble and she told me that there was an Orthopedic Surgeon coming to work with her In La Romana and she gave him my contact info and visa verso. I started emailing back and forth with Dr. Price and he felt that he may be able to help me. So Greg and I began to pray for several things...

1. The money to pay for the surgery and all that entails

2. The money to stay at either the mission house that Kristy has or a motel without stairs because I would not be able to climb them after the surgery.

3. That it would be worth having the surgery...would it really do any good

Let me tell you...God blessed our socks off! Not only did the surgery go smoothly but it did not cost 1 peso! Dr. Price and his hardworking team brought everything from the equipment to do the arthroscopic surgery to the anaesthetics and pain relievers for use after the surgery. Amazing! Now...that means that the surgery would not cost us anything except the gas money to get to La Romana and lodging and food, right? Wrong! God took care of our lodging and food as well. Let me tell you how He provided.

Friends of ours, the Speegles, work with Crown Financial Ministries here in the DR and the President of the board for the DR has a house in Casa de Campo that he said Jason & Mandie could use for the weekend. It is a 4 bedroom house so they asked if they could have us join them and he said yes!

You need to understand that Casa de Campo is one of the most beautiful, secluded, self sufficient areas/neighborhoods on this island. It has a gorgeous golf course, marina, and beach as well as it's own shops, restaurants, grocery store, etc. We saw yachts from Puerto Rico, Florida, and several from Delaware. There are 5 golf courses at Casa de Campo the most famous is The Teeth of the Dog.

It was an absolutely beautiful house with its own pool and plenty of places to lounge. Incredible view. Soft green grass to walk barefoot through, large bedrooms with air condition (a rare treat for us) and big comfy beds. It was an awesome way to spend the weekend before I had surgery. I know that we say it time and time again but God is so faithful to us and continually shows His love for us and His abundance in so many ways. I cannot tell you enough how much we needed that little mini vacation especially since we had not had a solid nights sleep since the robbery and with a surgery on Monday it was more than we could have thought or asked. Thank you Father God!

The surgery went well. We actually arrived early to the hospital and spent some time watching Kristy greet and speak to many different patients who came into the hospital looking for help with things like nerve damage, tumors, a growth on a young boys' face, hernias, etc. I could see the love of God coming through Kristy as she spoke with some in Spanish and others in Creole and told them if and when she would have someone there to help them. I was in tears seeing people through the eyes of Jesus and with His compassion. I just wanted to lay hands on every person there and pray that God would heal each of them.

My surgery went well. Dr. Price was able to clean up a frayed tendon, remove some small bone fragments, and clean up some stuff on the back of my knee cap. I am so thankful! Now when I am back to exercising I will know that the pain I am experiencing is for my gain and not making things worse. I am recovering, slower than I would like but recovering nonetheless. =)

We share all of our victories, blessings, and difficulties in hopes that your faith will grow.

Until next time...may you rest in God's protection and peace.

In His Love & Service,

Melynda

Go God!...Go God!

We wanted to share some good news with you! We have been praying for so many different things in our lives and we are seeing things happen!

1st ~ Thank you to those of you who have given towards the purchase of the car. We have well over 1/2 of the funds needed to pay for the car! We still need $4,354.00 to meet our goal but we are well on the way! Yeah! Can I have a round of applause?! =) *big smiles* If you haven't heard about this please look back in our blog and read all about the car and the donations. You can still help us to meet the need to pay off the car by sending a check to:

Bethel Worship Center

814 Fair Street

Camden, SC 29020

**Please write Burge or Car on the memo line**

2nd ~ I will be having the arthroscopic knee surgery on June 9th. Though I don't want to think about the needles and stitches I am very happy that it is going to be worked on. Thank you to Dr. Jim Price and all of his nurses and staff that will be coming with him. Also thank you to Kristy Engel for thinking of me and informing me about him. Yeah!! I am believing for a speedy recovery. Dr. Price thinks I should be back up and running within 2 weeks time after the surgery which will be just in time for our home church in Camden, SC to arrive and work at Restoration Ranch.

3rd ~ We will be having a great friend of ours, John Woods, visit us June 3rd - June 10th.

4th ~ We have made a decision about the whole Agape vs. Restoration Ranch deal. We have volunteered to help the couple who will be replacing us as Field Directors for Agape. They will be arriving in mid to late July. We had hoped that we would be able to continue with both but that was not given as an option so we are transitioning out of that role. We ask that you pray for John & Sarah who will be replacing us as they are coming in expecting their second child within a few weeks of their arrival. It is enough to go through culture shock but to do so while being a few weeks from delivering a baby, not really knowing any Spanish, and taking on a ministry is a bit overwhelming. We offered to continue running things until November so that they could have the baby in the States but they are eager to get here so we have gathered names for an Ob-Gyn who speaks English, a good pediatrician who also speaks English and we will help them to settle in as much as possible.
We will continue to help the missionary community as we have the entire time we have been here as well as working with teams to continue to build at Restoration Ranch. In fact, there will be a team here May 31st - June 7th.

5th ~ This also means that we will be house-hunting so please pray with us as we begin the search. We are praying for another house where we can house teams, a safe neighborhood, a Godly landlord/lady, and a great location at a great price. Once again...you all get to share in the experience of watching God work on our behalf. We know He already has the perfect house picked out for us we just need to find it! ;)

Well, that's the update for now. Please email us, write us or call us. We would love to hear from you. You can email us at burgefam5@yahoo.com Look for more updates on the blog soon!

Sleep...

Well, after just over two weeks of not sleeping very well and waking up at every sound we finally slept more than we were awake for the first night two nights ago. We have been praying everyday and night but we just have not slept well. We had a couple over for dinner last night, they lead the Praise & Worship at Palabras de Vida here in the DR. They wanted to pray with us before they left for home and I am telling you that the presence of God just settled in this house. Thank you all for your prayers as well.

Then today another missionary couple, Jerry & Betty Poppe, came over and prayed over and annointed our house. There were many tears shed as we felt God with us as we prayed in each and every room of the house. God is so good! We are so thankful for the outpouring of love, emails, and phone calls we have received during this whole ordeal. Thank you Lord!!

Please keep us in prayer and pray for another laptop. We are down to one for a family of five where our oldest daughter is on-line for high school and Matthew needs to use it for reports and Greg and I need it for work. It has been a challenge, but we know that God will provide!

Cinco de Mayo

Well, I must say that I will never remember Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) the same way again. When I used to hear someone say or refer to Cinco de Mayo I used to think of the 5K race that I ran with my Mom when I was about 11 years old. I ran and I won first place for my age group. That was a great day! Don't get me wrong...I will always hold onto that memory but right now there is another memory that will come with it. It is the reason for this blog entry and for requesting your prayers.

On Cinco de Mayo 2008 (yesterday) we were robbed. Yes, you read that correctly. It happened at about 2:30am and yes, we were at home when it happened. Don't worry! We are all safe and they didn't touch a hair on any of our heads. Thank you again Lord Jesus! Here is the story... *Warning* it may be a little long!

We were sleeping soundly. Greg had returned home from his men's Encuentro Con Dios (encounter with God) weekend. He returned Sunday evening and we got home about 8:00pm and he was able to tell me how much God touched his life and the lives of others. Awesome! We retired a little earlier than usual because Greg had a long weekend and was very tired. Anyway, about 2:30 I, Melynda, heard someone come into my room. I slightly lifted my head off the pillow to look to see who it was. Then I saw someone hurriedly walking out of my room bent over. I thought that it was Matthew because it was someone the same build, no shirt on, and no shoes on. I thought that maybe he did not feel good so that is why he was walking bent over. I didn't say anything but I laid there and thought,"Why did he come in our room when he has a bathroom?" Then I remembered that the puppies were sleeping in his bathroom so it would be easier for him to come in our room than to try to round up all the puppies in the dark, especially if he was not feeling good. After just a few seconds I heard the jingling of keys and I thought, "Why would he need keys in the middle of the night?" So I thought maybe I should go check on him. I decided to wait a minute or two to see if he called out to us and about that time I saw the same person enter our bedroom a second time. As soon as he walked past our bed and over to my desk I sat up and said,"Matt! What are you doing?" That startled the intruder who jumped and grabbed our new laptop and ran out of our room. As he was grabbing the laptop and running I yelled to Greg,"He is stealing our laptop!" At which Greg went from sleeping soundly to standing upright and yelling at the top of his lungs in a language I have never heard! It was not English and it was not Spanish. =)

Greg went toward our kids rooms'and I went toward the stairs where the thief had run.

I went running downstairs and when I got to the bottom of the steps I realized that the front door was open and my keys were hanging in the inside lock. I ran out of the house and down the side walkway until I felt the Holy Spirit say, "STOP!" I stopped and stood there staring into the backyard waiting to see if I saw someone jump over the back wall. After no more than a minute I turned to go back to the front door.

By the time I got inside the kids and Greg were all downstairs and turning lights on everywhere. Brittany suggested we call Euri Cabral - that is the Dominican family we have become really close to. She called him and woke him and Cheizi up. While she talked to Cheizi her dad, Euri, was calling the police.

Meanwhile I am walking around the house with Greg trying to figure out where they got in. I went into the back kitchen and the door was open and I saw a tool sitting on the short wall that I knew was not ours (I am the tool person in our family). I called to Greg and as he was coming I also realized that they had moved my laundry basket and the rolling cooler was missing. I asked Greg if he had opened the door for Gracie, our Miniature Schnauzer, to go out and he said no. I found that puzzling. I continued to look around and a few moments later Brittany went to the same door and noticed that the bars that guard the door were bent. We all went to look and realized that the thief had used a car jack to pry open the bars.

Greg soon realized that his wallet, keys, and watch were gone. He had put them on my vanity, which is not where he normally laid them. I went upstairs and immediately called to cancel the 2 debit cards he had in his wallet. Greg said that they, the thieves, were going to be very disappointed because he did not have any money in his wallet. *Note - this is part of the Praise report to come out of this.* Greg began to tell us the story about when they took up an offering during his men's weekend and he was praying about how much to give and he felt that God was telling him to give it all. He said he hesitated and said,"God are you sure you want me to give it all? How about half so that I still have money for bills and such?" He said he felt that God said, "Give it all." So he gave it all. I am glad. I would much rather God have my money than a thief! =)

Just before the police arrived we were walking around trying to figure out how to secure the car and house since they stole Greg's keys which had a key to the front gate, keys to the house, and the only keys we have to the car. We thought about taking the battery out of the car so they could not steal it if they came back but we remembered that we could not open the car without the key because of the alarm. A minute or two later we decided to stand outside the front door and watch for the police and that is when the second Praise came into play. Matt found the keys to the car and Greg's watch. Evidently they had sat them on the ledge on the front porch and when they had to leave running because we woke up and were yelling they ran by trying to scoop them up but the keys and watch fell out of their hands. Yeah God! They did not have keys to our car, house, or front gate!

A few minutes later the police arrived. That is when a few of the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. As we walked around the house and told the police the story we found the car jack that the intruders used to pry the bars open. we also found the cooler that we thought had been stolen. They had moved it to a set of steps leading to a room on the backside of the house. They had laid it caddie-corner on the steps and used it to boost themselves up onto Brittany's balcony which is why Gracie, who Brittany had closed up in her room, was growling around 11:30 that night. Brittany had thought maybe she heard or smelled a rat so she just closed the windows and got ready for bed. Evidently, when they climbed up and saw that there was a dog in that room they decided to avoid it. Again, a praise because normally Gracie roams the house at night but that night God knew that Gracie needed to stay in b=Brittany's room to protect her from the intruders coming in.

Two of the policemen stayed and kept guard over our house while Greg and Brittany went down to the police station to file the report they actually stayed and guarded the house until 7:00am.

As the light of the sun began to shine the Light of God's Son and His protection also began to shine. Let me explain...Our neighbor came over to check on us and as he was talking he saw something out of the corner of his eye. When they went to inspect they realized it was Greg's wallet. So, after everything, the thieves only got our new laptop. As you noticed I have said"they" that is because we believe - and so do the police - that there were two the guy who came upstairs is the one who fit through the bars, looked around downstairs until he found my keys and opened the front door for his accomplice. The accomplice thought that my Bible cover was a pocketbook so he had taken it over to the door where he could see it in the light and had gone through it looking for money. What a way to find the Word of God huh? Hahaha! We also figured out that they had climbed up on another balcony, but realized it would be too hard to get in that way so they dropped the car jack (yeah, that would be a second car jack) down to the ground. We also discovered a machete (in case you don't know that is a really long and sharp knife that is used to cut down bushes, thick brush, etc) in the front yard. They could have used this on us but didn't. The police told us that there are usually two or more and that more times than not one or both are armed (yeah, with a gun). They police believe that the guy that was downstairs was probably armed since the one that came upstairs was not (remember he was barefoot and had no shirt on).

As you can see God's hand of protection was all around us. Things could have been really bad but none of us were hurt or even touched. We have already joked as a family that maybe, when Greg was yelling, he was actually saying their names and that the enemy in them was scared because it was as if God was calling out to them through Greg.

Needless to say, it has been hard to sleep at night but we will get there. We were surrounded by friends all day yesterday and many more who called to check on us throughout the day yesterday and today. We are so grateful for God's protection and we have already, as a family, begun to pray for those who broke into our home. We are praying for their salvation. Yes, we are putting into practice the verse that says to pray for your enemies. It was hard a t first but within hours of the break in we began to pray for them. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

To end all of this we would ask that you pray for us to once again sleep in peace, for continued protection, and that the enemy would not be able to stand against us or cause us to become bitter towards the Dominican people. The enemy wants us to give up, leave and go back to the States so...we are going to do just the opposite! we are going to stay and pray even more for this country and the people within it! The enemy will not win through the Burge family! We will stand and watch the Lord for the battle is HIS! And through him we have the VICTORY!

I want to leave you with this thought....
Wallet...$10.00
Laptop...$800.00
Friends who surround you with love and prayer in a crisis...PRICELESS!

Lots of Love,
Melynda and the rest of the Burge clan =)