April update

2010-04-21T10:34:00.001-05:00

I hope this finds you well. This past weekend was really exciting and a lot of fun. We had our annual all church retreat when all of the house churches spend the weekend together. The theme for the weekend was the Sermon on the Mount and we had five teaching times. The weekend was almost all Mexican led except the AIMers taught five kids’ classes while the adult classes were going on and Chadd preached on Sunday. Gerardo taught on the beatitudes and being salt and light and focused on our identity as Christians. Martín taught on Jesus being the fulfillment of the law and spoke about how what is seen physically isn’t as important as how the heart is. José Luis taught on pleasing God in secret, and Arturo taught on where our treasure is. Each time we met we spent quite a bit of time in group discussions and they seemed very healthy and beneficial. Chadd preached on Sunday and pulled it all together and focused on wise and foolish builders and the storm that is coming. I liked how he emphasized that the storm is coming for everyone, but those who built on the rock handle the storm better.

On Saturdays we have been meeting with the teens in the church. I have been very impressed with them. During the week they have been memorizing the Sermon on the Mount and the majority of them have all of chapter 5 memorized. It was really cool at the retreat because they quoted large sections from the Sermon on the Mount to introduce the text for each session. It was really powerful to see our young people quoting scripture. Another thing that really excited me was that we had over 20 teens at the retreat. They also did a skit that Nancy helped them prepare. It was really cute and focused on everybody thinking someone else was going to do all the necessary tasks so no one ended up doing anything.

We also had good hang out times and each night people would sit around the campfire and sing and share until two or three in the morning.

A family that Toni and I have been getting to know came with us. They are a family of 6 and soon to be seven. During one of our sessions Jesús asked for permission to speak. He began to say that as he has been in his search for God’s people that God’s word has shown him that he will recognize them by their fruit. He began to get chocked up and express how he has seen with his own eyes God’s people. It’s amazing how God works. I comment one of our ex-AIMers, Aaron McCall, for being salt and light. Aaron when he was an AIMer got a job at a car wash to work on his Spanish and meet new people. Jesús was his boss and that is how we originally came in contact with him and his family.

Overall I think the weekend was a success. We spent some really good time together, had some excellent teaching, the food was great and I feel like God was glorified. We had right at seventy people participate in the retreat.

I think for me the most exciting thing is to see our Mexican brothers and sisters take the lead.

Please keep Jesús and his family in your prayers. They seem to be truth seekers. Zach was studying with a guy named Johnny and his family and Johnny passed away this past week. Please keep this family in your prayers. Zach is continuing to meet with this family and God is using him in great ways. Arturo gave out his first two loans in the new microfinance business. I think really great things are to come from this ministry. The diabetic association is putting on a camp for teens this weekend and several from the church are helping out. It seems like there are quite a few among us who are very close to being baptized keep them in your prayers (Laura, Celina, Ismael, Fito, Mario, Diego, and Melanie). I’m not sure about Jesús and his family, but I get the feeling that things could move quickly with them but we don’t want to pressure them. Also, keep our one-year move to the States in your prayers. We are two months away from this transition and it is starting to feel stressful. We do look forward to being closer to you in the coming year. Once again, we are so grateful for our partnership with you through your prayers and support.

God bless,

The Burns family

Burns family update (January)

2010-01-18T17:59:00.002-06:00

Feliz año to everyone and I hope this finds all of you doing well. Today we celebrate 5 years being here. It’s amazing to me how fast the time has flown. I was sharing with Chadd the other day that when we had been here two years it seemed like we had been here for five and now that we have been here for five years it seems like we have only been here for two. I think that is mainly because of the hump we had to get over in our first years here learning the language and culture, and while we would still consider ourselves learners we are way more advanced than when we first arrived here.

We enter this year with lots of excitement. We feel very blessed to have the leaders that we have and we feel grateful for the communities he has formed. I feel blessed to see the maturity of several youth in the church as well. We have been meeting with the youth on Saturdays and it is encouraging to see how they are growing. This past Saturday, the twelve present at our time together agreed to memorize the Sermon on the Mount in 20 weeks. Each week we will be memorizing a new section. The idea is to add a section on each week until it is completely memorized. Nancy will also be helping them develop a skit to share at the all church retreat coming in March. This is always a fun and encouraging time when all of the house churches spend the weekend together at a camp site. We live together, share together, laugh together, cry together, sing together, and so on. It is also a time when we have some more in depth study time with the church.

I also feel very excited about the work with the homeless. The AIMers have done a really good job and are consistent meeting with them. They now know several of them by name and are developing relationships. Every week there are always at least twenty they are able to help. Some are even asking about studying the Bible now. I met one named Eduardo on Friday and this week when we meet I will give him a MP3 player with the gospel of Luke on it. We have found listening to the Bible very useful because of illiteracy. Ken Hargesheimer helps me get the MP3 players from the States. They are very simple in construction, but only cost $4. This makes it very economical to share the story of Jesus. Please keep opportunities like these in your prayers.

Two of my friends from our guys group on Tuesday nights announced last week that they are going to be beginning a microfinance ministry in February. This is something we have been praying about for a while and it is an amazing way for us to practice need oriented evangelism. It is a way that has helped eliminate poverty in lots of places around the world. Basically is gives very small ($50 for example) loans to the poor who have not collateral and no credit. I saw firsthand how these loans work in León and it was amazing to see how the poor were not just being helped, but how poverty was actually being eliminated. Arturo tells stories of families he has helped who were literally living on tortillas and salt. It was so encouraging to see them advancing in life in a way where they are able to buy meat and vegetables. Arturo and Ismael are the two starting this ministry. Please keep Ismael in your prayers. I think he is getting close to being baptized.

At the end of this month we will be beginning a series for married and dating couples we know. We will be using the movie Fireproof to guide us in our discussions. This will be a great time for us to invite non-Christian friends to participate with Christians. We pray that this will bless relationships but also lead to opportunities to share the gospel as well. Our brother Héctor is leading this up.

I am also excited about evangelism that is taking place among the churches. I heard on Saturday that 5 from the church in La Nueva Santa María are very close to being baptized. I always get excited about the church in La Nueva Santa María because it was planted by Mexicans and is led by Mexicans. Gerardo also shared with me that one is close in Jardines del Valle. Ismael from our Thursday night guys group is close and also Laura, Arturo’s girlfriend, is getting closer as well. Héctor is studying with his girlfriend Violeta and that seems very promising as well. Zach and Greg meet with a guy named Jesús every Monday. He is a manager at Starbucks. He seems to really be searching for the Lord as well. Please keep these opportunities in your prayers.

We want to thank you again for your partnership with us in this ministry and we pray God’s richest blessings on you this year.

God bless,

The Burns family

Life and Ministry in GDL

April update

Burns family update (January)