Coming
& Going
July
2012
Psalm 121:8
Steve & Alene
Burgert Missionaries at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya
Greetings
from Colorado to our partners and friends!
We are sending a brief update while we
have all 4 of our feet in one place for a while! We will be here at our
home-away-from home for another week, before taking off on our 2-month grand
tour. Alene just returned from visiting sisters in Seattle, while Steve had
some extra guy-time with friends in Loveland.
Steve hiking with
Roger & Leroy
Colorado is very beautiful any time of
the year, especially when the wildflowers are blooming in the Rockies. It is
unfortunate that so many communities and friends have been affected by
wildfires. Even though we are some distance from any danger, worried Kenyans
have been calling to check on us. The smoky air and flying tankers overhead
always prompt us to pray.
 |
| Columbines in bloom near Chasm Lake |
We are at
the half-way point of our Home Ministry Assignment!
Happy, or sad? Yes! We’ve decided that
this on-the-road routine is destined to make us eager to go back to the mission
field! But we are making some incredible new friends and connections as we
go...Yes, to be honest, we can get a bit road-weary - but if we didn’t get out
there, we wouldn’t be meeting some of the inspiring, behind-the-scenes men,
women, youth, and kids who are quietly changing the world from inside their own
communities. We are encouraged and humbled as we meet every one of you. We
cannot list all of you, but just for example...
Briggsdale, CO - A beautiful
(inside and out) 14-year-old young woman co-directing Vacation Bible School
with her mom, welcomed us as VBS missionaries for the day with well-organized
posters, maps, and photos of us, our work, and our mission agency. We have not
had a better welcome anywhere! PLUS, their VBS raised a generous donation for
our mission. She also led the singing, taught each of the VBS age groups, and
helped her mom host a wonderful summer lunch before we drove home. Her sister,
brother, and mom are all very active in their community and church. (Morgan,
we are sure that we will find you on the mission field someday...)
 |
Rochester, MN - We had
dinner with a woman very committed to working with Somali refugees who are
being received in the US from refugee camps - helping them find apartments and
buy groceries and take a bus and look for jobs. She and her team go to great
lengths to help these refugees get settled into their new lives, learn the
language, and become part of their new communities. (Mary, God bless your
commitment to these families!) Another friend who added a legal degree to
his medical degree now helps immigrants sort out the complicated legal issues
involved in making a new life here - working as an advocate for them on a
volunteer basis. (Tony, we saw your tender heart.) Others were working
with women ex-prisoners, helping them grow in faith, develop job skills, and
social networks. (Hallelujah for these women from Autumn Ridge Church!)
Loveland, CO - A man and
his wife started an organization that sorts huge piles of donated equipment and
supplies, and then pro- vides a link to connect those donations with charitable
organizations, projects, and ministries. (Keep it up, Don & Jean!)
We found the same networking in Rochester,
MN for unwanted items from the Mayo Clinic - thousands of pounds of
medical supplies and equip- ment being sent to missions around the world,
through the volunteer services of local teams who sort, pack, and send off
mountains of blessings that would otherwise be discarded. (Way to go, Mayo!)
Cincinnati OH - We enjoyed a
refresher of Kenyan hospitality with some dear friends who are in the US to
study and then plan to return to Nairobi with a vision to launch a Bible
college there. (We are dreaming and praying with you, Philemon & Jane!)
Nicholasville, KY - A couple who
had served at Tenwek many years before we arrived, welcomed us and shared
photos, stories, and delicious pastries. They had recently donated a generous
library of books to the Tenwek Chap- laincy College and we had stopped to thank
them for that blessing and investment in the training of the students and
chaplains there. (Rich and Marlene, you have given a gift that will keep on
giving!)
Everywhere,
USA - We found so many of you engaged in activities like building
local Habitat for Humanity homes, investing in local communities by serving in
homeless shelters or downtown clinics, helping newcomers learn English as their
second language, volunteering through churches to help the youth or the
elderly, or participating in mission trips. Others of you have been serving on
boards, developing businesses that make a difference, mentoring others, sewing
clothing for the needy, and ministering in prisons. Some of you are ministering
within your own families - adopting orphans, tak- ing care of grandkids or
grown kids without employment, or maybe raising a child with a handicap or
assisting a parent recovering from a stroke. We have found many of you who have
been faithful for long, challenging years of serving others. You ALL
deserve recognition, even though we know that praises are not your
motivation. Thanks for sharing your time, your stories, your homes - we have been
blessed, encouraged, humbled and inspired. We pray for each of you in your
unique places of service - may you receive the grace, strength, wisdom, and
encouragement you need when you need it. We thank the Lord for all of you, and
for the God-given opportunity to be out there meeting you!
Prayers,
please... If you have been praying for us, THANK YOU! We recognize the
answers in many miles of safe travel and wonderful hospitality in homes,
churches, and various gatherings. Please praise the Lord with us, and continue
with these needs in mind:
• That we might be content and fruitful
with the new roles & rhythms of this time in the US
• That we might have the periods of
rest & refreshment needed before our return to Kenya
• For continued protection of body,
mind, & spirit as we travel and stay in many new places
• For the partners and funding needed
for approval to return to our work in Kenya!
• Special Request: For an
extra dose of Holy Spirit wisdom in how to present the needs of the Kenyan
church prison ministry programs to various congregations, grant foundations,
and individuals who might be moved to support the exciting work going on there.
How is your
support-raising going? (good news & bad news...)
Many of you have
asked us this question - we are so very grateful for each and every
contribution! Our level of required support has increased by 43% in comparison
to the previous 3 years. We are thankful to report that we have 40 new
financial supporters and 23 who have increased their level of contribution in
2012. We project that we are at 67.3% of our needed support, which means
that we still need additional donations totaling $2, 629 per month. Join
us in prayer for supporters to step forward with us -- such as 53 individuals
at $50 per month or 63 supporters at $500 per year. Of course, ANY contribution
is a plus!
It is easy to
donate online via our WGM website: www.wgm.org/burgert Click “One-time gift”
OR “Recurring gift” to contribute each month via your credit card.
Prefer a
recurring donation via a monthly electronic funds transfer from your bank
account?
Then please print out
the EFT form and mail it to World Gospel Mission. Here is the link for the EFT
form: http://www.wgm.org/document.doc?id=948
Checks should
be made out to: “World Gospel Mission” and note on the memo line: “Burgert
Ministry”
Send to: World Gospel
Mission, PO Box 948 Marion, IN 46952
We plan to return to
Kenya in October, but need to have our full support confirmed before we will be
authorized to go. We are so very grateful for all who are providing financial
and prayer support!
We are still eager to visit as many of
you as possible. If you have ideas for visiting or speaking opportunities,
please email: wgm@wgm.org
Home
Ministry Assignment July - October 2012
Jul 10-19 in Marion,
IN (World Gospel Mission Hdqtrs)
Jul 20-23 in
Rochester, MN (time with Steve’s family)
Jul 26-Aug 2 in
Spokane, WA area
Jul 29 – Spokane First Presbyterian Church
Aug 2-5 in Wenatchee,
WA area
Aug 2 – Wenatchee Columbia Heights Retirement Center
Aug 6-15 in Seattle,
WA area
Aug 9-12 Alene’s parents’ 60th anniversary
in Seattle
Aug 16-20 in
Portland, OR area
Aug 19 – Hope Community Church, Lake Oswego
Aug 21 in Sacramento,
CA
Aug 22 in Walnut Creek,
CA
Aug 23-Sep 3 in
Mariposa, CA
Sep 8-17 in Loveland,
CO
Sep 18-21 in
Rochester, MN
Sep 21-Oct 6 in
Philadelphia, PA & Maryland
Sep 23 - Grace Chapel, Havertown, PA
Sep 26-28 in Kensington, MD (NIH
presentation)
Sep 29 - 30 visit Steve’s brother and family
in PA
Sep 30 - Llanerch Presbyterian Church,
Havertown, PA
Oct 6-10 in Shelby,
NC area
Oct 7 - Shelby Presbyterian Church
Oct 11-14 in
Asheville, NC - medical mission meeting
Oct 15 - 23 in
Loveland, CO (final packing)
Oct 21 - First United
Methodist Church Send-Off Sunday!
Oct 24 - Depart
Denver for Kenya, Lord willing!
Contributions: World
Gospel Mission, 3783 East State Road 18, PO Box 948, Marion IN 46952 (account
02273-Burgert) Steve & Alene Burgert, PO Box 948, Marion IN 46952 • Email:
wgm@wgm.org • Website: www.wgm.org/burgert
