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 =)

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!