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EBC family,

This weekend and next, during our Sunday morning services, we will be taking some time to pray for the nation and people of Haiti. Most everyone has heard about the destruction caused by the earthquake earlier this week, and we want to be involved in helping bring hope to a seemingly hopeless situation here.  We will also be taking a special offering for the next couple weeks in order to give to the rebuilding efforts of a mission’s organization on the ground in Haiti, for the hope of rebuilding churches that have been destroyed.  We’ll update you on this soon.  Please be prepared to give to that.

If you are wondering what to think about the earthquake, and where God is in the midst of a terrible tragedy like this, I would encourage you to look up a couple resources and read them for comfort, encouragement, and a Christ-centered view of this.  You can click the links below for this.

- Does God Hate Haiti, by Albert Mohler
-  The Gospel Coalition Blog re: Haiti
- Links to Give Money to Relief Efforts, by Desiring God

Praying together for Haiti, and our church,

Pastor Darren

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Let us share with you some great things that God has been doing in East Russia.   As planned our team was able to hold 9 Bible conferences on the book of Philippians.  It  was great to see what God did in people’s lives as a result of the proclamation of the Word.   We distributed almost 350 copies of my translated notes (54 pages) to those attending.

Early in our trip God gave me a challenge and a great promise.   2 Chron. 16:9  “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Carried along by the Lord, we watched Him work in many people’s lives. He did show Himself strong on our behalf.  Each of the team members had many times of counseling various individuals.  They included advising about abusive drunken fathers and husbands, about possessing the mind and ways of Christ instead of being legalistic and harsh, comforting a pastor’s wife whose husband had left her for another woman, bringing reconciliation between a pastor and a key woman in the church, being an encouragement to a 19 year old wonderful Christian gal, Leana, who is in a deep struggle with cancer and without proper treatment, encouraging and counseling pastors all along the way,  and leading Ella to Christ between Seoul and Vladivostok.

In each church that I visited I asked church members how their pastor has been developing in the last two years since twice a year he has been attending the special John McArthur type training in Ukraine on Biblical preaching and developing Biblical churches.  Thanks so much for you who have been supporting us, which has enabled several of them to go.   Concerning the 7 pastors I was able to ask about, I heard these same answers repeated consistently.  “He is more Biblical or contextual, deeper, more practical, more logical and easier to understand, more serious in his preaching, more caring about people, more serious in his ministry, and we respect him more as a pastor.” Below is the quote of a member of Oleg’s church.  Oleg is a developing pastor in Vladivostok and a great friend of mine.  He drove the team I was with for 3 weeks because he wanted to learn and develop all he could.  Yet while we were traveling he told me that he missed his church people so much.  We had many deep discussions about the heart of a true pastor.  He is so receptive.  He told me that I unloaded a truck load on him, and he would be working on it for this whole year.   Praise the Lord.

The church in Spassk has gone through some very hard times and a split a year ago.  But I found those who remained in the church to be growing and I was encouraged that Pastor Sasha and his wife, Anya, are also growing and he is developing as the pastor.  Jim and Gary, on our team greatly encouraged him as he drove them.  All the pastors need prayer and encouragement. At least 6 of them, including Sasha, grew up without a father, so they have hurdles to overcome in developing as pastors.  But God is working and I saw much more evidence of it on this trip than previously.  Yuri, the director for the fellowship of churches has asked that we return next year to again hold Bible conferences in the churches and another Pastors’ training as to have our pastors, Dave and Tom teach in the seminary.  What we did last year was much appreciated. I have been challenged by the Lord to pray more, and know I haven’t prayed for them as much as I ought.   Praise the Lord that Jesus is building His Church.   May I be a faithful laborer for Him on His Building.

Well, “when the cat’s away the mice play.”  So while I was gone Jeanette traveled to Canada to spend a couple weeks enjoying her sister.  After she returned she and our 5 daughters got away to central Oregon for a long weekend and had a lot of fun together.    I’m so thankful that Jeanette has these outlets.  It certainly breaks up my long absences from the home front.  All our family are doing well, though several have battled the “hog” flu.

Thanks for your prayers and financial support.  It is much appreciated and needed.  We’re joyful in Jesus!

He’s coming SOON, and we belong to Him and love Him!

John & Jeanette

PS My Myeloma counts remain low and unchanged – still present, but controlled.   X-rays and a PET scan show signs of healing of past Myeloma sights and show no new signs.  Praise the Lord!!!

PSS. I’ve held off sending this letter as I was waiting for confirmations from Liberia about my heading there the middle of January for about 6 weeks.  I have medical clearance and had my immunizations. Today, I heard back from Liberia that I should proceed.  So it looks like things are coming together.  Since SIM doesn’t have a spare vehicle, I will have to depend on hiring a vehicle to take my Liberian team and me to Kolahun and to 2 or maybe 3 other districts to hold training courses for pastors and leaders.  The trip to Kolahun is the longest being 8-10 hours over some very war   n out roads.   Some of them became impassable during the rainy season which ended in October.

In January, ’09, on my last trip to Kolahun, where we ministered during the 1980s among the Bandi people, I became involved in the exposure of some blatant and unchecked sin in some of the leaders.  The ECUL (Evangelical Church Union of Liberia) leadership has followed up on this and some things have been righted.  But because of lack of funds for travel and not having a vehicle, (their worn out one was totaled early this year in an accident,) they have not been able to make adequate trips to Kolahun to finish working through some of those problems.

The churches in the Kolahun district were begun in the 1980s and then war hit in 1989, and while many were not well established in their faith, the missionaries all had to leave.  It wasn’t until 2005 that I was able to make my first trip back to Kolahun as the people were just returning from Sierra Leone and Guinea where they had fled the last 4 years of the war.    During that time several key pastors were either killed or died fleeing, and others moved elsewhere, so other church members without any training took their place.  Because most rural Liberians never had books to read or study from, they received what education they could but never learned the value of reading.  Therefore, the Bible is used as a text book with very few having ever read through the New Testament.  ECUL is taking much more of a lead roll and the leaders are not afraid to confront sin.  For this I am very glad, and I will be working under them, which I have always done to some degree.  Not everyone was pleased with the exposure of the sin, so there are still some issues to be solved.  No doubt there is still the need for true repentance among some.  Others need to more fully understand the gospel of Christ.  Pray!

Boakai Harleyson, who has been attending JETS (Jos Evangelical Theological Seminary) in Jos Nigeria, will be graduating in December, and I trust he will return from there by the time I arrive.   He will be the first theologically trained leader to be ministering among his people since the war.  I have been discipling him by phone in various ways since 2004, but haven’t seen him now for nearly 5 years.  Pray that he will come with a humble heart and become a true servant leader among these people.  I know he desires to serve them and to train leaders.   God doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, but I know His plan is perfect.  It’s so great to be a part of fulfilling that plan, no matter how discouraging some things look at times.  The encouragement from what I witnessed of the pastors in Russia after many years of seeking to encourage them, gives me added fuel to see what God will do in Liberia.  It has a different culture, different dynamics, different level of knowing the Word, and with much less training, but it’s Jesus who is building His Church.  He cannot fail, and He will not fail.  As Jesus stated that He did only what He saw His Father doing, may He enable me to follow increasingly in His footsteps!!  It certainly takes away the stress and discouragement when my eyes are on him and not the problems.  Peter’s walking on the water, and then looking at the waves and sinking, and then looking back to Jesus is such a good lesson.  But it’s much better to keep our eyes singularly on Jesus, even though may  be conscious of the waves.

Again, thanks for your prayers as there are many challenges.   Among the other things is my somewhat compromised immune system, so I appreciate prayer for health and strength to minister effectively.  Of course I appreciate prayer for Jeanette, especially while I am gone.  Pray that God will put all the pieces together for this upcoming trip and raise up godly pastors among the Bandi people

Do have a very thank filled Thanksgiving time and a Blessed Christmas season as we worship God and His unspeakable Gift.

John

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We are in need… paint the hallways, a dump run, install lighting, more to follow.
I need to know who is available THIS Saturday the 14th, and next Saturday the 21st? I would love to have a group both weekends, but if we can at least meet on one of these Saturdays, we could get a lot done.
Please respond and let me know if you are willing and available to serve.

Pizza Lunch!!

Let’s work from 10am till whenever (afternoon). Once I get responses, I’ll let each of you know when we’ll have an EBC work day!!

Thanks,
Jud

PS …Invite anyone else that you think of that could help!!

Please respond by leaving a comment or sending an email to jud@ebcseattle.org

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1.  Jim and Gena have finished the first draft of the Dom NT, a major milestone.

2.  Progress in comprehensive checking.

3.  God’s grace during this separation with Jim in PNG.

4.  Brian’s six weeks of work at his old job has turned into 3 months with a real chance of a permanent job.

5.  Heather passed her driver’s test and has been driving a lot to school and various ministries she is involved in.

Prayer:

1.  For good comprehension checks and some good teams to help with it.  He has one team, wants another one or two teams of two.

2.  Ilai is struggling.  Cannot say anymore.  But would appreciate continued prayer.

3.  Jobs for Heather, Ilai, and I.

4.  For reconciliation between Gena and Bapka.

Jim has now been gone for seven weeks with four to go.  But a major praise is that he has finished the first draft of the Dom New Testament.   We must admit that there were times over the years that we wondered if we would ever get to this point.  This separation has been worth it to finish this major part of the translation project.  He has also finished the comprehension checking of 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Peter.  They are now working on 2 Timothy.  He will be leaving the Dom on November 25^th, having Thanksgiving at our headquarters and then leaving Goroka on December 1, overnighting in the capital, overnighting in Brisbane and then arriving in San Diegoon December 3.  While waiting in Goroka he can be working on the Back to English of the books that they have done the comprehensive checking on.  This Back to English is for one of the final checks that is done with a translation consultant sometime when we return.

Gena, Jim’s translation helper, and another Christian, had a falling out.  It was not anything Gena had done, but his wife.  Gena has tried to settle things with Bapka, but Bapka only wants money and won’t come to church or talk to Gena until such a time.  Jim has been able to talk to Bapka several times encouraging him to forgive, that his heart attitude and walk with the Lord are more important than money.  Bapka thanked Jim and said he would think about it.  Pray that he would get his heart right with God and take care of things the Christian way, not the Dom way.

Kapia Joseph, at the other Dom church, continues to have outreaches and working with the new believers from the other outreach he did.  His daughter Carol has completed High School which is a great feat for any Dom person, especially a girl.  She now wants to go to nursing school which is expensive so pray for them that they can find the funds.

I keep busy with living and various projects.  Tuesday and Friday nights I attend two different small groups.  Wednesday night I am participating in a Beth Moore Bible Study on Esther.  Thursday night I am taking a Microsoft Office 2007 class.

Some have asked about Brian and if he has work.  Yes, that is an answer to prayer.  He was called back to the company he had gotten laid off from.  It was for 6 weeks, but has ended up being 3 months and now they are hiring him for a specific job.  Continue to pray for a job for Ilai, Heather and a part time one for me over the holiday season.  Heather passed her driver’s test and has been driving to school and various ministries she is involved in.  We are praying for God’s timing for a vehicle for her and for the right one.

Please continue to pray for Ilai.  He is struggling with his situation.  May He find God in all of this.

We have much to be thankful for not only this Thanksgiving but all the time.  Thank you so much for your faithful prayers. We are so blessed with the support team that we have financially and in prayer.   We have been going through some difficult things, but God has given us grace and it is a learning time to totally trust Him in all things.  1 Chronicles 16:34 “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jim and Judy Burdett
Dom (dome) Tribe, Papua New Guinea

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