All It Takes Is ONE

All it takes is one. All it took was one strand of E.coli to be processed into one hamburger patty, to make it to one burger king, to one mom, whose one son, took one bite and the one life he had would then be over. All it took was a series of one events to lead to one of the biggest recalls on beef. Because of one situation America has never been the same.

In 2001, one man, Vernon Burger (my brother), who had, one passion, that being Jesus, took one trip, to Southern Sudan and connected with one bishop, who was trying to love and spread the gospel to many who were orphaned by the civil war. Since that one trip in 2001, HIS VOICE GLOBAL has been in an ongoing relationship with the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church), 10 years and three orphanages later they seek to continue the movement to open a fourth.

You might ask the question what makes this place so special? Sudan was in war for over 20 years before signing a peace agreement in 2006. Until the peace agreement this was the longest civil war to date in human history, leaving over 2 million dead and many children without parents. So what makes this place unique!?!? Many things but one is there are many who have teamed up, like HIS VOICE GLOBAL and The Village Church, to be a gospel centered presence through proclamation and practice. While The Village Church has sent many teams to train pastors, equip leaders and love the children in these orphanages in Yei, HIS VOICE GLOBAL was the door that God used to bring a gospel centered presence from the west into this area of the world. Now there is an opportunity for you to be a part of this continued movement of Christ in this region for as little as a dollar.

This past September a group of 13 from all walks of life from Reach Records, The Village Church, Red Revolution, Collision Records and HIS VOICE GLOBAL partnered under The Village banner to go and minister to those in Southern Sudan. They ministered through teaching, medical, music, and loving children who were victims of the Civil War that now live in one of the three Orphanages sponsored by HIS VOICE GLOBAL. Moved by the fruit there and continued need, Tedashii, Lecrae (Reach Records artist), Swoope (Collision Records artist) and Jai teamed up to do a single to raise awareness and funds for a fourth orphanage in Southern Sudan. The single, which is slated to be released November 16th under new label Collision Records is called Actions Speak Louder. This single and symbol seen above calls believers to move beyond awareness and put their prayers in motion, to quote the song. The symbol inspired by the scriptures that say a strand of three cords are not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12), the exclamation points showing the immediate nature of the call to apply the gospel (Luke 4:18-19), the highlight of one exclamation point showing the power of one to change and lead others and the patch like design showing the reality that there is strength in numbers, calling believers to action, an action beyond themselves.

So leading up to this date will you be the one to blog, the one to tweet, the one to put a twibbon on your twitter account, the one to Facebook, the one to lead and allow you actions to speak as loud as your words. The average number of songs downloaded per day are close to 10,000,000 yes that is correct 10 million. Come November 16th HIS VOICE GLOBAL only needs over 250,000 one’s to download this amazing song (which is not even 10% of the daily average) to complete and have a fourth self sustaining orphanage. We are not asking you to change your lifestyle just point your efforts toward something that will last. The amazing thing about this whole campaign is that 100 percent of the profits from the song will go toward this fourth orphanage. All it takes is one!!!

Lessons About Haiti

Many people are buzzing about the 7.0 earthquake that happened in Haiti a couple days ago. The devastation is widespread and tragic. SO MANY PEOPLE have died or are dying right now! I took the opportunity today to teach Ladan a little bit about it. Here's what we did:

I showed him a map of the earth's plates and the various ways that they move against, toward, and away from each other. We talked about the effects of this movement. Then we built a Lincoln Log house on a flat square lego plate, put some people and animals inside, and shook it. The house crumbled on the plate, and then everything fell off. The people were trapped under the rubble, and we couldn't even find the mother. We talked about what that would be like if I were trapped underneath our house and no one could find me. We talked about the poverty that existed in Haiti long before the earthquake and how that impacts their ability to recover.

Then I showed him real pictures on the internet of the people and places in Haiti. He did see piles of bodies, which may be a lot for a five-year-old... but it's real... and it's what five-year-olds there are dealing with. We didn't stare at the images for a long period of time like the kids there are having to do, but he did get a glimpse of what has happened.

We talked about all the kinds of ways that people in Haiti are going to need help, the most important of which is to know and trust the Lord of heaven and earth for their help and salvation. Then we prayed for the people of Haiti. We prayed for the people who are helping them. And we prayed that we would know if there is any way that we can help them.

And now Ladan is sitting in his comfortable, stable home making disgusting sounds with his Flarp. It is yet another reminder to me that one of the biggest dangers we face in America is complacency. We like to think we know what's happening in the world because we get a 30-second report on the evening news. We like to think we know something about poverty because we sometimes have to choose between buying a new accessory or a dinner out... and can't have both at the same time. To put this in perspective, I was listening to a missionary pilot talk on the radio yesterday about how quite a few people in Haiti eat mud just to have something in their empty stomachs. THAT is poverty. And that was BEFORE the earthquake.

May God be merciful to the people of Haiti as they attempt to recover!

For an interesting read, check out the following article by Dr. Albert Mohler: "Does God Hate Haiti?"

And if you're looking for a way to help the people in Haiti, may I recommend that you consider giving to one of the following organizations, who will not only help provide physical aid but will provide the people of Haiti with the Gospel of Jesus:

Baptist Haiti Mission

Samaritan's Purse

Missionary Aviation Fellowship

Compassion International

For His Glory Adoption Outreach

There are many others out there, but these are a few I know about and am convinced will make good use of the funds they receive to help with aid efforts.

Orphan Sunday--November 8

Well, I haven't written in a LONG TIME, but this is just the reason to get back to it!

Did you know that this Sunday, November 8, is Orphan Sunday?

Did you know that it is Orphan Sunday ALL OVER THE WORLD... not just in our little American corner?

Did you know that my brother and sister-in-law started an amazing ministry called His Voice for Sudan several years ago to do what they can to help care for orphans in Southern Sudan? Since they started their ministry there, they have partnered with the Sudanese people to open two orphanages housing over 190 kids, employing 84 local workers, and providing education for 220 other community children. The Lord has been so faithful to raise up godly men and women among the Sudanese to help care for and teach the children. But they need help.

Did you know that you can participate in the ministry to the people of Southern Sudan? You can pray for the leadership of His Voice for Sudan. You can pray for the children and leaders of Sudan. You can receive e-mail updates and you can follow the His Voice blog. You can financially support their ministry. You can spread the word by telling others or by having my brother come and speak at your church or other organization.

Here is a short video showing some of the beautiful faces of the kids in Sudan....

His Voice for Sudan from Amber Burger on Vimeo.

And here's another really great Orphan Sunday video...

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Please take a minute to think about all that we have been given and determine if there is anything you can share. Maybe it's giving your time to pray. Maybe it's giving of your financial resources. Maybe it's giving your life to welcome an orphan into your family. I can pretty much guarantee that the blessings will far outweigh the costs.

Updates from India

For those of you who don't know, we were without power from Sunday afternoon until last night. Many, many people are still without power in Louisville. As a result, I didn't get a chance to update the blog as much as I wanted to. We've received a couple updates on Chet's friend, Ani, and the other two men who were beaten. I've copied portions of them below, changing a few words here and there to be sure that I'm not putting a bunch of info out there that would put people in harm's way. These messages will bring more clarity and will provide specific prayer points.

Message #1

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your prayers over the past several days for Ani, Waid & Rabiul who were beaten in India this past Sunday. Below is what we have learned during the past few days.

They traveled to a village last Sunday because 25 Imams (Muslim spiritual leaders) were there and had invited them. The Imams said they wanted to ask questions about Matthew 9:12-13. If Jesus came for sinners then why did Mohammad come? Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, has started and they were asking questions about the need for sacrifices, etc. The Imams were also asking why the Koran 43 : 61-69, says that in the last days Jesus will be leading people.

The Imams were actually listening to our guys and sincerely interested. During their discussions, a mob (over 2000 people) came along and started shouting, "so you think you know more than our clerics" and started beating Ani, Waid & Rabiul. Thankfully, two of the Imams went into the mob, grabbed our guys, and took them out through the back gate of the mosque and warned them that they better not come back. All three guys have been treated by a doctor but are still in a lot of pain.

Ani told us that many members of the mob were people from other villages where jamats (which are what our Indian brothers and sisters call churches for former Muslims) are located. They have figured out the same ministry is behind the conversions in their villages and have all come together to combat what the Lord is doing through these jamats. Sadly, this means that the forces that are against us are trying to band together to defeat or slow the work down and will require that much more prayer as we move forward.

Please especially pray for Rabiul. His father was part of the mob and was telling the rest of the mob to kill his son, cut him into pieces and throw them into the river because he is so disgusted that his son came to the Lord and is now working for the ministry.

We should not be surprised that this persecution is happening. The Apostle Paul tells us in Timothy 3:12, "And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Jesus says in Matthew 10:17, "But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues." He goes on to say in verse 21, "And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child..."

While we certainly grieve deeply for our brothers who have suffered this affliction, we also know that it is because of the obedience and faithful witness of these 3 men and many others that God is using our ministry in incredible ways to reach the lost. These men have a heavenly perspective, they understand what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me."

What should we do? Our first responsibility is to pray. We can specifically pray for the following:

• Thank God for the faithful witness of these men
• Pray for the love and forgiveness of Christ to conquer hate and fear
• Ask strength for Ani, Waid & Rabiul. We believe Ani is attempting to re-enter this village to resume discussions with the Imams.
• Pray for the salvation of all those who are persecuting Christians

Prayer partner, we are fully engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of the nations and we can't back down. The stakes are too high! Hebrews 13:3 says, "Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body." We are so grateful to have you alongside us in this battle.

Message #2

Dear Prayer Partner,

The violence in the state of Orissa [this is a state nearby where the guys were] has not slowed down. However, God is showing up in miraculous ways. Pastor B relayed two amazing accounts of how God protected His people. In one account, while a mob of radical Hindus was moving towards a group of Christians to assumably inflict harm on them, a tiger leapt out of the nearby woods and sat down between the mob and Christians for a few hours until the mob grew tired of waiting and dispersed.

In another report, a very bright light appeared and blinded a radical Hindu mob of people that were ready to inflict bodily harm on a separate group of Christians. What an amazing God we serve! We praise God for making His presence know to these Christians during their time of great need.

In the state of West Bengal, 6 jamats (churches for Muslim background believers) are being forced to either relocate or combine with other area jamats due to the persecution from Muslim extremists. This is occurring in the area where Ani, Waid & Rabiul were recently beaten. These three men are healing from their wounds and greatly appreciate your prayers. We don't have confirmation yet as to if or when Ani will go back to the village to continue conversations with the Imams. Please continue to collectively lift up our Christian brothers and sisters affiliated with our ministry and those who work with other Christian organizations. Your prayers are critical during this difficult time.

Urgent Prayer Request

Last night, Chet had a terrible time falling asleep. Monday is a very full day for him and is always followed by a long night at UPS, so he really needed to sleep. He had no idea why he couldn't fall asleep. Well, he finally gave up and came out to work on some things. At about 6am, he was on the computer doing some assignments when he saw an e-mail message pop up. It was an e-mail update from a ministry he worked with when he was in India saying that two church leaders and the regional church leader from that area had been severely beaten over the weekend. The regional church leader is the man that Chet spent the most time with there when they traveled around to the villages, etc. and Chet became good friends with him there. They correspond fairly regularly via e-mail.

Back to the story. The three men were invited to go and preach in an area that is largely Muslim and Hindu (not unusual to be invited here). They were told that it would be a crowd of about 2,000 people who were interested in hearing the Gospel and learning more about Christianity (exciting, but not strange either). Well, it was a set-up. When the three men arrived, the very large crowd closed in on them, and they were all severely beaten. Apparently, there were some Muslim imams who stepped into the crowd and ended up breaking it up; otherwise, they may have been killed. It is very unusual for Hindus and Muslims to cooperate with one another, so this gives you a picture of how greatly these particular people despise Christianity.

Chet e-mailed his friend as soon as he heard about it to confirm that it really was him. It was. He's in bed for 10 days healing. As soon as he can, he plans to return to the town to talk to the imams who stepped into the crowd. Please pray for his quick recovery, and PLEASE PRAY THAT HIS LOVE FOR CHRIST AND FOR THESE PEOPLE WILL BE APPARENT AND TRANSFORMING!!!! The other two men may be going back with him also, but I'm not sure about that. Chet's friend has a wife and two children. I'm not sure about the family structure of the other two men. Please pray for their families as well.

Chet was so glad that the Lord kept him awake so that he could receive the message and begin praying immediately. He had a really hard time concentrating in class. He was trying to write a book review and told me that it's really hard to do such crazy things like "writing book reviews for Jesus" when his friend is being beaten because of the Gospel. He had tears in his eyes as he told me that he so wants to be right there by his friend's side and really would like to go with him when he returns to the town in 10 days. We know that it's not possible, but it's definitely a challenge for Chet to be so far away.

Their testimony is a blessing to us, even if we can't be there by their sides. What a neat opportunity also to share this story with our friends (believers and unbelievers). We never know how this type of thing can help people see how valuable the Gospel is and how much passion these men have for the Truth if they're ready to return to this town OUT OF LOVE for the people there and share the reason for the hope they profess.

Chet does realize that his assignments are not pointless and that they are collectively providing preparation for all manner of ministry... but today his heart was in India.

It would be great to let these men know that people from all over the place are praying for them. If you are praying, please comment, and I'll have Chet pass that encouragement on to them.

(On a much less important note, I posted a couple other new entries earlier today, including a description of the system I've put in place to stay on task and another entry with some photos of Chet with the boys.)

Rescue In the Jungle

Many of you have heard or read about the 15 hostages in Colombia that have been recovered and freed. If not, you can read about it here. Twelve of them were Colombian, and three of them were Americans. They have been in captivity in the jungle of Colombia in something like a concentration camp environment operated by the guerrilla army in Colombia. These guerrilla armies have basically held the country under their control for 40 years. In addition to the 15 hostages recovered today, it is thought that they still have 700+ other hostages (according to CBS World News).

When Bill Clinton was in office, he executed a program to help the Colombian government, law enforcement, and armies to regain control of their country. President Bush fully supported this effort when he took over. Throughout the last 10 years or so, the American government has spent something like five to six billion dollars to help strengthen and train Colombian intelligence and military efforts.

Today's rescue was an entirely Colombian effort executed by Colombian intelligence and military forces. Apparently, the rescue went off without a hitch. Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician, was one of the individuals rescued. Of all the hostages held in Colombia right now (including the other possible 700+), she was the highest profile. She was the person the rebel guerrillas used as leverage to get what they wanted from the government. The guerrillas have lost an important "weapon" as a result of this rescue.

When I was watching the news report, I had tears in my eyes. I was excited that these people were rescued and that they can be reunited with their families. However, there was more behind my tears. It was the fact that this was an entirely Colombian operation. The US has been supporting them with funding and training for about a decade, and now they're at a point where they have very effectively won a battle against the guerrillas. Sure, the war is still going, but this seems to be a HUGE victory on so many levels. They are becoming more self-sufficient and successful at carrying these operations out on their own.

You know that my brother (Vernon) and his wife (Amber) as well as Chet's sister (Megan) and her husband (Mike) are involved in ministry in Southern Sudan. My brother and Amber have started an organization called His Voice for Sudan, and Megan and Mike work with a church in Midland, Texas that became involved with the ministry in Sudan when my brother was on staff there.

From the beginning, my brother's heart was to help the Sudanese people to become self-sufficient. He did not want to create a situation where the Sudanese in that area become permanently dependent on American churches. Instead, his goal has been to help develop and train the people in the communities to be able to take over for themselves... to produce their own food, educate their children, sell their goods, improve their health, and most importantly, to grow to love the Lord and train their children according to His Word. They work with the Southern Sudanese church leaders to achieve their goals. Whenever they start a new ministry or community development project, they hire all indigenous people and train them. These people will then turn around and train future generations. The goal is that, eventually, these communities will be strong enough to invest their own earnings into the development of the regions around them.

When I heard the story about the rescue in Colombia tonight, I was so encouraged! I just couldn't help but think about the ministry in Sudan (and other ministries to countries in similar situations) and get excited! These "small" victories are worth it all! All the money, investment of time, danger, hardship, heartache.... Christians all over America and Europe are involved with efforts to help the people of Southern Sudan rise up from under the oppression they've suffered for so long. The HARD work is worth it! These people are worth it! Ultimately, even if their circumstances on this planet never change, it is worth it to encourage them with the Truth of the Word. Their eternity is at stake. May the Word go into all Sudan and bear fruit. May there be a turning point in Sudan that brings peace and unity between the North and the South. May the Lord use the Christians of Southern Sudan to impact and change the rest of Southern Sudan, Northern Sudan, and the world! May the people of Southern Sudan execute a great rescue operation in their own country!

If you are interested in learning more about His Voice for Sudan, please visit their website. When you visit their homepage, you'll see that you can sign up to receive e-mail updates from the ministry. These e-mail messages are very helpful and encouraging, so I highly recommend that you take advantage of this option. For an overview of the history and current state of Sudan, you may want to check out the CIA World Factbook entry on Sudan.

As a side note, my brother has been doing a series on depression on his blog. There has been some very interesting dialogue in the comment section, so check it out if you get a chance.

Chet's Trip #9

They're in the city now. They have to pick up their baggage, drive to the seminary on the shuttle, and then get rides home. Just wanted to let you know now in case I forget when he actually gets home.

Chet's Trip #8 and Chicco Infant Seat Recall

Well, the guys are back in the country... hanging out in the Newark airport. They tried to get on an earlier flight, but it was full, so they'll wait. Chet's pretty exhausted as I'm sure they all are. They ran around all day on Sunday in Calcutta and got on the first plane that evening. He slept very little on the plane from Mumbai to Brussels. He did get some better sleep on the plane from Brussels to Newark because he had a whole row of seats to himself and was able to stretch out... but it was still only a few hours of sleep at best. They have an 8-hour layover in Newark before they fly the last leg of the trip. So basically, by the time Chet gets home, it will be like he's only gotten 3-5 hours of not-entirely-restful sleep collectively since our Saturday evening. It's no wonder it takes a long time to recover from that!

I have so many things to tell him about. I'm going to use part of the day today to make a list of things I want to remember to tell him so I don't have to do it all at once. Then I'll rest at ease knowing I won't forget, and I don't have to bombard him with all kinds of randomness when he doesn't have the capacity to even understand what I'm saying.

I asked him if there is anything in particular that he'd like to eat in the next few days. He said he's most excited about drinking a lot of milk and eating a bunch of cereal. And he doesn't care what we eat for dinner as long as it doesn't resemble Indian food... so I guess he did get a little bit tired of it by the end of two weeks. Easy enough.

So I'll dust our bedroom, scrub the kitchen, and mop the floors this afternoon while Gabe's napping. Then I'll do the grocery shopping this evening, and our house will be in good shape. By the time he's home, I will have cleaned every room of our house very thoroughly, been to St. Louis and back, and completed so many other random small and large tasks that I can't possibly list them all here. Of course, there's always so much more to do, but I think it's worthwhile to stop and enjoy all that the Lord has helped us accomplish in the last two weeks.

On a totally unrelated note, my brother just called me and said that their Chicco travel system (infant seat and stroller) have been recalled. The recall was official just today, and it looks like the problem is with the car seat base. So if you are one of the millions of people who own the Chicco system (it's the most popular seller these days), you might want to keep your eyes out for the next couple of days and be sure that yours is not included in the recall. I just looked it up on Google, and I found this blog that listed more details. But keep in mind that this is just a blog and is not an official website... so keep watching for more details and instructions.

Fireman to the Rescue, Chet's Trip #7, and The Wonder That Is Olbas Oil

Well, I've pretty much felt like poop for the last four days, so I did a terrible job of keeping you updated. I think I had an ear infection or something... but more on that later. As a result of the delay, this entry will be somewhat lengthy. Sorry about that. Here are the updates...

Fireman to the Rescue

We had an emergency here the other night. I just knew something like this would happen when Chet was gone! I was just innocently going about my business walking out to the storage unit to put a box of diapers in it. I opened the door to the storage unit, and it hit me right away... that all-too-familiar smell. Unfortunately it wasn't smoke. It was the dead mouse smell! Are you kidding me?!? I knew they had to be newly squished rodents, because all the traps were empty just two days before... and because the smell wasn't too bad yet. I stood as close to the open door as possible while bending at the waist to see which trap was full. There were two. Disgusting! I set the diapers down and slammed the door as quickly as possible.

Okay, now what was I going to do? I know the Lord sometimes gives us challenging tasks and that He equips us to handle them. However, I was really praying that this was not one of those times when I needed to be equipped myself. I called and left messages for Randy Murray and Joseph Bonura to see if they could come by and help me dispose of the dead rodents and set new traps.

Before Randy and Joseph had a chance to call me back, Michele Murray called me because she noticed my number on their caller id. When I told her about my dilemma, she suggested I call her brother, Michael... aka "Fireman Mike". (He's the same fireman that directed the fire house birthday party Ladan went to a year and a half ago. He also goes to our church.) Great idea! He lives right down the street, and we figured that if he can handle burned humans, he could probably handle a couple of dead mice in traps. I called, and he and his wife came down right away. Praise be to God! I am not saying that lightly either. The church family is good for so many reasons, and I think this is just one purpose the Lord had in mind when he decided it was good that we live as part of a community.

In the end, this gives me just one more thing to add to my list of reasons I'm looking forward to my farm boy's return. I'm sure Randy, Joseph and Michael will be glad when Chet can do his own chores again too!

Chet's Trip #7

I've talked to Chet a couple of times since I was able to write in detail. Last weekend, Chet and Tom went to some villages to the west of Calcutta. They went back to Calcutta Sunday, and they left again on Monday to go to some villages to the east of Calcutta. They returned again on Wednesday, and they've been here and there in town since then. That's the overview, and here are some details.

In the first set of villages:

• Chet and Tom went out with a few Bengali men. They walked about 20 miles one day to visit different villages. One village had about 70,000 people living in it. I don't call that a village. When they would reach the villages, Chet would get out his camera and start taking pictures of the kids and then show them their pictures on the digital screen. They thought it was really great. Then he showed their parents, and the parents were immediately drawn to Chet and Tom. This allowed them to start many conversations.
• The people were VERY hospitable. The guys drank a lot of tea in the homes of various people they met.
• Chet was able to preach to about 200 unbelievers. He also gave a short sermon during the worship service of one of the local fellowships (underground churches). There was apparently a drummer playing during the music. He played with each of his fingers and thumbs in addition to using the palms of his hands. Chet said it was amazing! Chet and Tom both said it was emotional to leave this group of believers because they felt such a deep connection with them.
• The people were all very open to hearing them.

In the villages east of Calcutta:

• Chet and Tom went out again with one of the Bengali men named Ani (sp?). Ani had been with them on their first round in the other villages, and he asked them if they'd come to some of the villages near his home.
• The villages were much smaller and more like actual villages.
• The people in general were a little bit more closed and skeptical than the people in the other villages. However, they were still very hospitable.
• Somewhere along the way, Ani gave Chet and Tom each a garment that Chet described as "a tube of fabric that goes around your waist down to your ankles". I said, "You mean a skirt?" He was apparently wearing it around the hotel while I was talking to him during that conversation and said it actually was significantly cooler than even shorts. He and Tom wore them in the village homes some, but once they were back in the city, they did not wear them in public. I guess he's getting the full experience!
• While they were in Ani's village, they met a 14-year-old girl and spent some time in her home with her family. At one point, the girl asked Chet if he wanted to go up on the rooftop. He thought she was going to show him some flowers or something. As it turns out, her sister-in-law was up there worshiping their Hindu idols. The girl invited Chet to worship an idol. He explained that he worships Jesus. She said she does too. Apparently it wasn't a good time to continue the conversation, so he left it for the moment. He went back to Ani's house and explained what happened. Then he took Ani back to the girl's house later that night to explain the difference between the way he worships ONLY Jesus and the way she worships Jesus along with other gods. She said that she would worship only Jesus too, but it was too difficult because her family was all Hindu. Chet was able to refer her to Ani and Ani's wife, who both grew up in Hindu families, saying that she could talk to either one of them if she wanted some suggestions for how to handle her family if she wanted to be commited to Jesus alone. Her sister-in-law was in the room listening to the whole conversation, so she was able to hear the Gospel too.
• Chet was able to talk to Ani's church. It was a smaller church (I think he said it was made up of about 40-50 people). At one point, Chet asked the people to raise their hands if Ani led them to the Lord, and 12 people raised their hands. Then he asked them to raise their hands if Ani had discipled them, and every single person raised his/her hand.
• At the end of a week with Ani, Chet and Tom both had a hard time leaving him and his family.

Since they returned to Calcutta:

• Chet has taken a couple of naps.
• He went to some neat shops.
• The guys all went to William Carey's place. It was a bit of a jaunt away, and he said their guide seemed to be in a hurry, so they didn't get to see as much of it as they could have. It was actually the first thing he said wasn't as cool as he expected it to be.
• They ate at a Pizza Hut with a local American missionary and his family. According to Chet, it was the nicest Pizza Hut he's ever been to. Everything was really clean, and the pizza was actually good (pretty shocking to both of us). As a bonus, the waiters would dance if asked. Hilarious!

In the next couple of days, they'll go to the market, do some hanging out as a group, go to church on Sunday morning, and pack up to and prepare to take off on Sunday night. Please pray:

• for continued health and safety for the guys
• that the Gospel will take root in the hearts of those who heard (or will hear) it
• that the believers they met with will be encouraged and will feel better equipped to go out and disciple the people in their churches
• for the 14-year-old girl in Ani's village (and for her family)

And the last update...

The Wonder That Is Olbas Oil

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I think I may have an ear infection or something. I basically had a fever for about a day, my ears were pretty sore and had lots of pressure on them, and my throat felt like people were making me swallow knives for most of this week. It was awful! I don't think I've ever had an ear infection before, so I can't be sure that's what it is. However, I've just treated it as if it was an ear infection, and it started to get lots better. I made sure to drink lots of warm water, took some Tylenol, consumed very few dairy products, and added a B and C vitamin complex and zinc to my regimin.

I sent the Olbas Oil with Chet in case he had trouble with congestion, so I had to go out and buy some more on Wednesday. In case you don't know what Olbas Oil is, it's a mix of essential oils like mint, eucalyptus, juniper, and a few others. This stuff is amazing! We use it for so many things in our house (pregnancy congestion, infant congestion, allergies, runny noses, sore muscles, etc.). I had a friend once who used it for an ear infection, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I put one drop in front of each ear and one drop behind each ear (under my earlobe). I laid down, and within 5 minutes, I felt all the fluid in my ears dripping away. This is exactly what my friend said happened to her! It felt fabulous!

I added a humidifier to the mix while I slept and continued to apply the Olbas Oil every few hours followed by a heating pad on the sides of my face, and today I felt SO MUCH better! My throat also feels better, probably since I don't have all that fluid draining down the back of it all day long. I'll probably keep up the Olbas Oil and the humidifier for one more night, and hopefully this thing will be kicked.

If you've never heard my running Olbas Oil commercial, here's your introduction. We're pretty convinced that every family should keep some in the cabinet. I'm sure there are many places to find it, but we get ours at Whole Foods. It's almost $16 for a bottle, but you only use a few drops at a time, so it lasts for a LONG time.

Chet's Trip #6

Well, Chet made it back to Calcutta. He and Tom had an amazing experience out in the villages. They got to preach the Gospel to 200 or more unbelievers, and the Indian pastors with whom they traveled explained more and are following up with these people. Chet also got to preach in one of the local "fellowships" (underground churches), which he said was awesome. Chet and Tom had such a great time in the four-village area they visited that they are hoping to do the same thing for a few more days in villages east of Calcutta.

My mom and I took the boys to see my grandma in the hospital tonight. She's not in very good shape and has some pretty intense bed sores.

I'll write more about how things are going when I hear from Chet again. In the meantime, pop on over to Amber's blog if you want to see a photo of Justus. He's super-cute!

Chet's Trip #5 and Justus Drew

I'm getting all kinds of fun phone calls these days! Justus Drew Burger, our precious little nephew, is here! Amber went into labor at about 10:30 last night, and Justus made his entrance to the big world outside at 4:41am, just three hours after she went to the hospital. It was a quick labor just like she had with Titus. Justus weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz and measured 20 inches long. He ate well right away, so lets pray that continues. Amber had all kinds of issues when she was nursing Titus, so we've been praying hard that things will go lots better this time.

I went back to sleep for a while after that good news, and about an hour after I woke up, Chet called. We got some business out of the way (updates on family news, final decision making regarding our will which I have an appointment to revise next week... you know, simple decisions (obviously kidding)). Then I got to hear lots more about how things have been going. Chet is having a REALLY great time! Here are some of the things he talked about:

• He talked to Ladan about the monkeys that are everywhere in town, explaining all the tricks they do. It sounds like Chet has had some really fun conversations with the monkey peddlers.
• So far everyone is healthy. Chet's not sick of the food yet and is enjoying trying all kinds of new things.
• The teaching times went extremely well yesterday and today. Ryan and Chet each taught 4 sessions of about 60-90 minutes on their respective teaching days. The discussion groups went really well yesterday after Ryan's teaching. Today they didn't end up discussing as much of the teaching content, partly because they had a different translator today who didn't translate back into English as well as he could traslate English into Bengali. So there was a lot of conversation about the teaching topic going on, but it was in Bengali and very little was translated back to the guys in English. The discussion times were still very fruitful though because the men they were teaching had lots of questions about the Bible that weren't necessarily related to the teaching topic, so it ended up being more of a Q&A time today. Chet's overall assessment is that both days went extremely well. That means it must have been really good, because Chet doesn't use superlatives loosely.
• Tomorrow, Chet and Tom will head out to a smaller town/village area with a couple of the Bengali men. They'll stay there until Sunday. They will go to evangelize with an interesting strategy. Apparently, Tom and Chet will kind of be the spectacles that draw the crowd. They'll act like tourists (which they kind of are) and start asking the people all about things that they see in the area. They'll move into questions about the faith of the local people. This is when their Bengali partners will jump in and begin moving the conversation to the Gospel and Christianity. They call this strategy "camel jumping" there, and apparently it's very effective at getting conversations started. It also allows them to get a good picture of where the people are and how they can explain the differences between their faith and Christianity.
• The people are VERY friendly no matter what their income level or station in life. Chet said they are very open to conversation and have very likable personalities. They laugh a lot and talk openly. Chet said it's like a breath of fresh air because people don't hesitate to be kind.
• Brian and Matt seem to be doing well in the remote area they're visiting. They've been calling the guys in Calcutta daily to touch base. Apparently, though, a series of events and circumstances caused the local authorities to suspect that Matt and Brian were terrorists, so they had to be taken in for questioning. All is well, and they're having good conversations with the people. They're still planning to come back to Calcutta on Saturday. As a result of this event, Brian has been nicknamed "Osama V."
• Apparently, the hotel staff is really great. The guys have the same waiter at the restaurant all the time, and they were able to meet his family this morning. There is also a security guard outside the hotel that they've had some really good conversations with. Now I'm second-guessing myself. I can't remember if it was the waiter's family or the security guard's family they met. Either way, the people there are great, and they met someone's family.
• He told me that I would HATE riding around in the car there. I'm sure he's right. He said the drivers get so close to other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians that he's not sure how it doesn't result in a pile of casualties every day. The people walk and cycle right in the middle of the road with the cars all zooming in and out. These people have to have nerves of steel!
• Today was super-hot, and it was the first day that the heat bothered Chet at all. We got him some quick-drying polos for the trip, and he said they're awesome! I'm so glad! He said he pretty much is drenched all the time, but the shirts don't even show it, and they dry very quickly as soon as he comes out of the heat.
• As far as the men they're teaching go, he said they are so faithful! They know the Quran, so they can effectively witness to the Muslims around them. And he said they don't even flinch when they share the Gospel, they know it so thoroughly and so deeply in their own hearts. He has found these men to be very endearing. They don't necessarily have the most sophisticated understanding of all the subtleties of the Bible, but they know the Truth and they share it freely.

In the end, he didn't have anything negative to say at all. I can tell that he's pretty much having the time of his life! I'm so thankful! Please pray for safety for all the guys, continued health, that the Lord would open the hearts of unbelievers to hear the Gospel, and that the believers (including our guys) will all be strengthened by this experience.

And the Winner Is...

DAVID COOK!!!! Ladan was predicting all day that David Archuleta would win. I told him that he might be right but that I hoped he was wrong. (Sorry if you're reading this, Randy Murray.) Ladan responded, "David Cook is not going to win, Mom." Needless to say, he was a little bit surprised when it turned out that David Cook won... by 12 million votes. It's probably the first time this whole season that his predictions were off. Not bad for a three-year-old. Though it only lasted a few minutes, the two Davids provided a good example of what it looks like to win and come in second graciously. You can't actually call it a loss if you come in second out of 100,000+ people.

The other funny thing is that it seems as though Syesha Mercado (the 2nd runner up in the American Idol contest) has been traveling around with us for the last two days. Sometimes Ladan says she's his mom (usually when he doesn't want to do something I've asked him to do--as an attempt to basically reject my authority in his life... which he quickly gets over when I give him the stern look). Tonight I had to physically open the passenger door of the van and move a paper towel that was sitting on the seat so Syesha could ride to church with us. Nice. When it doesn't promote disobedience or disrespect I'm happy to encourage his imagination.

He's getting really good at identifying which letter a word starts with. And whenever he identifies it correctly he tells me another word that starts with the same letter. It goes something like this... "Mom, what letter does Lightning McQueen begin with?" The appropriate response is not to answer the question but to ask, "What letter does Lightning McQueen begin with?" He'll put on his thinking face for a minute and say, "Lightning McQueen begins with L, like 'lion'!" Then he gets a high five or some other type of encouragement that makes him smile really big and sometimes laugh with excitement. On the way home from church tonight (a quick 4-mile ride), he identified the first letter of bricks, firetruck, smoothie, David (as in Cook and Archuleta), and one other word that I can't remember right now. This type of activity probably makes up at least 20-30% of our conversation each day... and I'm never the one initiating the questions.

I've written several times about how Ladan has a really hard time talking to people who greet him. Well, just the other day, a senior lady said hello to him at the grocery store, and he looked her in the eye, smiled, and cheerfully said, "Hello!" I almost fell over. Then she asked him how he was doing, and he said, "Good," with the same smile and good eye contact. I could hardly believe it. She walked away chuckling, and he was smiling from ear to ear. Then he got a treat, a big hug, and lots of praise for doing the right thing on his own. It's really fun to see your kid do something well all by himself, especially when you know it doesn't come easily for him.

Gabe is starting to say more and more words daily, which is really fun. He's so stinking cute! He almost always leaves off the consonants at the start of a word. For example, yucky is "ucky", potty is "otty", banana is "ana". He says "mo" for no, which is really hard to take seriously when he's got his brow all furrowed and is giving the glare. He does say "shoes" pretty well, but it comes out more like "choosh" most of the time. He still says "Nanan" for Ladan and still runs to Ladan's room if he wakes up before his big brother. When he runs, his arms and hands flail around like noodles at his sides. I have to try to get video of that sometime.

He's really good at playing catch even with a small ball. At this point, he almost always throws with his left hand and is most accurate with that hand. He's getting quite an arm which may cause us to have to limit the types of balls he can throw in the house (yes, I allow my children to throw balls in the house). He shoots baskets with accuracy and consistency from up to a few feet away from the basket. He can go down steps without holding onto anything. He climbs to the top of Ladan's bunkbed with ease... when he finds a way to sneak into the room in the first place. Thankfully he's too scared to try to get down on his own. He loves to stand at the kitchen counter to "see" (usually with his hands) what I'm trying to do. He doesn't like it when I move the stepstool to the middle of the room away from the sharp knives because apparently that's not close enough. I do have to draw the line somewhere though.

His attention span is lengthening, which is nice because he can sit still for longer and wants to read more books. Five Silly Monkeys is his favorite right now. He brings it over to me, crawls up in my lap, and lays back with the top of his head right by my jaw. He's also working more on his fine motor skills and is starting to play more with two toys (one in each hand) acting like he's actually doing something with them (i.e. horses running toward one another, cars crashing or racing, a lion roaring at another animal, etc.). He enjoys trying to buckle the straps on his booster seat and tries to put keys in the door.

He'll be 20 months old next week, but he's still so tiny that he can wear 6-9 month shorts. Almost all of his shirts are 9-12 months with some 12-18 months thrown in... but nothing bigger than that yet. In general he wears 12-18 month pants and can still fit into some 9-12 month pairs. My biggest problem comes when I try to get him in jeans. He's too tall for his 18 month jeans, but it looks like I've dressed him in parachute pants when I put him in 24-month pants... probably because I have to put the adjustable waist on the tightest setting to hold them up, but there's enough fabric around his bottom to cover him twice. I'm thankful that summer is quickly approaching, so I don't have to worry about that. Hopefully he'll be big enough to fill out his jeans by the time fall rolls around again.

I guess that turned out to be longer than I expected. I was thinking yesterday and realized that I hadn't really recorded much of what the boys are doing on a daily basis. So there you have it.

Chet should be preparing to teach as I write this. He's planning to try to call in the morning (which will be the end of his teaching day there), so I'll let you know how it's going after I hear more.

And Saturday is the big day that Amber will be induced (by chiropractic adjustment rather than drugs) if she doesn't deliver on her own before then. Soon we'll have yet another little boy to love on! So many exciting things are happening in our family!

Chet's Trip #4

Chet called again just a little while ago. They're doing well. They took some time today to learn more about the culture and how to effectively evangelize (there's an American missionary there that they're working with). Earlier today, he went for a couple of walks (one with Matt and one with Ryan) to locate a few things in town, and apparently they had some fun conversations with little kids on the way. He said they were really cute!

Chet said that, as they were discussing their plans for the teaching times, everything changed from the original plan (which they knew was up in the air anyway). Ryan teaches the larger group tomorrow, and then Chet will teach on Thursday. I'm not exactly sure when or how they'll work out the small group plan, but that's when each guy will take a group to teach. Anyway, this is totally new territory for Chet. If you've ever seen/heard him teach, he always has more prepared than he's planning to say... just because it may be helpful. This is an excellent quality, but when you have no idea how to prepare, how it's going to go talking through a translator, or what questions people will have, it becomes a little disconcerting. I'm confident he'll do a great job, and apparently Brian thinks he'll do well (otherwise, he wouldn't have assigned him the task), but I'm not sure Chet's quite as sure as everyone around him. His main concern is that he wants the men they're teaching to get as much out of it as possible.

Thankfully, he's not freaking out or anything. However, I'd say it's definitely a good thing to pray about. Please pray that he will have clarity of mind, that the Holy Spirit will fill in the blanks where he would otherwise fail to clearly communicate, and that the men he's teaching will know what questions to ask if they don't understand something. Let's pray the same for Ryan as he's teaching tomorrow.

Matt and Brian should be on their way to the remote area (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to name these places, so until further notice, it's just "a remote area") if they haven't already arrived. Please pray for them throughout the week. And pray for the believers there. The church there is struggling and, from what I understand, is suffering some persecution. Matt and Brian will try to encourage and further equip them to face these uncertain times.

The guys haven't been able to check their e-mail since being in India, but they found a couple of possibilities that they may check out tomorrow. Chet will try to call again on Thursday if he can't get the e-mail thing to work in the meantime.

FYI--they're 9.5 hours ahead of Eastern time.

Building Schools in Sudan

A note from my brother. He and his wife have started an organization called His Voice for Sudan. If you don't know about what they're doing in Sudan, please read about it here and pray about whether or not the Lord is leading you to get involved.

Hey Everyone,

We are trying to raise some funds for the secondary school that we are building in Southern Sudan. I have posted some pictures of what the school buildings will look like. Bishop (our head guy on the ground) needs to get $20,000 asap in order to procure some materials before the rainy season.

If you, your church/organization, or anyone you know would be interested in giving to this project, please contact us at vernon@hisvoiceforsudan.com or visit the PARTNER page of our website for details on how to give.

Love Truth,
Vernon
Jn. 17:3

Chet's Trip #3

I just got a call from Chet. They've been in Calcutta for about 14 hours. All their luggage arrived. He described some of the things he's seeing in the city. Here are some of the things he said:

• There are people everywhere. Vendors selling random things throughout all the alleyways. Vehicles move so quickly and recklessly that it almost doesn't feel dangerous. He had a chance to hang out the windows of the vehicle they were in to take some photos as they drove down the road. Fun!
• There is a dramatic difference between the poor and the rich. He saw a Rolex billboard with people living in shanties underneath it. Some people live in abandoned buildings, and right next door is an upscale condo building. There are families living in tents in the streets.
• The poor people regularly grab onto the guys and ask them for money. They can't give them any money because the people in the streets would swarm them and not allow them to go anywhere. They would be followed everywhere they went. This is a hard thing to handle well, because Chet so wants to just give them some money. In addition to the beggars, there are many people who try to force the guys to allow them to work (i.e. carry their bags) in exchange for money. They have to be firm and do their own chores.
• He said the city reminds him quite a bit of New Orleans (before Katrina). The architecture, stark difference between the rich and poor all living/standing on the same street, activity level, lower level of cleanliness, sounds, etc.
• Their hotel is definitely not a chain. It's more like a mom-and-pop place. It has a very nice restaurant on the lower level. They have squatty potties in the hotel. We'll see how that goes.

Their schedule looks something like this:

• Tomorrow will be another slower-paced day. They'll have some meetings, familiarize themselves with more of the town, prepare for teaching, etc.
• Brian and Matt will leave tomorrow for a more remote area where the church is struggling. It's a 16-hour train ride. They'll return to Calcutta on Saturday.
• Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be teaching days. Chet and Ryan will do the main teachings on these days. All the guys will have opportunities to teach/lead smaller groups of men.
• Saturday and Sunday will be slower-paced days. They might go to the market or do other fun things. They'll go to church. They'll look for opportunities to interact with unbelievers. And they'll prepare for next week's teaching times.
• Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be teaching times again.
• Two groups of two guys will go out to villages during these teaching days.
• They're not exactly sure how the end of next week will unfold. They have some ideas, but their plans aren't settled.
• They start the return flight on Sunday, June 1. They'll arrive here very late on Monday night.

So, please keep praying for the guys as they prepare to teach, go out to other places in the country, and interact with unbelievers. Pray also that the Lord uses this experience to help them grow individually.

More updates as they come...

Chet's Trip #2 and Crib Tents

Chet should have landed in Calcutta at about 11pm yesterday (our time). They had a lot to do when they got there--track down all their luggage and pray that it all arrived, exchange their money, find and get settled into their hotel, etc. I haven't heard from him since he should have been in Calcutta, but that's not surprising to me. I figure that since I also haven't heard from anyone at the seminary, everything is just fine, as they'd be calling me if his plane crashed or he ran into some other trouble.

I did get a message from Brussels yesterday. He hadn't been able to sleep at all on the plane by that point, but he did get to watch John Rambo (Thank goodness I got out of that one!). He said we should add Matt, one of the other guys, to our prayer list specifically. Apparently Matt, who's fairly tall, banged his head really hard on the overhead cabin in the plane. Chet asked that we pray that Matt is able to avoid "serious injury" during the rest of their travel! (Obviously joking, but I guess it couldn't hurt!) I told Matt's wife we should also pray that he doesn't get an unsightly bump on his head that would make it difficult for anyone to take him seriously... after all, the coneheads aren't exactly a well-respected group.

I took the boys for a long walk last night. For those of you who know where we live, we walked all the way from our home to the Target on Westport and Hubbards, walked around the store a bit, and came back home. It was great! The only problem was that there aren't great sidewalks on parts of Chenoweth and Westport. It only took about an hour and 45 minutes for the entire trip--a one-way walk took about 35-40 minutes. Not bad since I wasn't walking for speed or anything.

As for the crib tent idea, the only one I can find is absolutely hideous. It would be great if his crib was white or something, but it's not. There isn't a single white thing in Gabe's room for that matter. I don't know if I'll go for it or not. Hopefully my reaction to him climbing out the first time will be motivation enough to keep him in it... and yet I'm not exactly convinced that it's going to work. Here's the tent I found. If any of you have found or used any other crib tents, please let me know.

I'll let you know if/when I hear anything else from Chet

And He's Off!

Chet should be in the air as I write. Yesterday we had a fun family day. We went to the zoo for a little while, finished getting Chet's bags packed, and ate taco pizza for dinner (something totally different than the Indian food he'll be eating for two weeks). In the middle of all that I got to go to see Cali, one of the girls from church, all dressed up for prom. Her dress is from the 1950's and was this really great iridescent green color. Isn't this a fun photo?!?

Once Gabe was in bed (which took a couple of tries because he was a bit cantankerous), I gave Chet a haircut, Ladan read his Bible story to Chet before he went to bed, and Chet and I watched a movie. I was glad Chet's bag was pretty well packed by Thursday night, because it was fun just to hang out.

This morning we took a few photos before he left.

If/when there are updates from the trip, I'll post them here. In the meantime, we would appreciate your prayers for the following:

• The eight guys going on the trip and their families/fiances.
• There will be two smaller groups (probably two guys in each of the two groups) going out into smaller, more remote areas of the country. Pray for their protection and that their time will be fruitful.
• All the guys will have various opportunities to teach, mostly through translators. Pray that the translators will be able to accurately convey the information and that the guys will maintain their train of thought as they're teaching (especially as they'll have to stop every sentence or two to allow for translation).
• Good health for all the guys (I sent Chet off with vitamins and acidophilus in addition to his prescriptions, so hopefully that will keep his immune system working well).
• Pray that the Gospel will be clearly communicated to unbelievers they meet and that they will rightly divide the Word as they teach local believers and church elders.

And, please pray for me as I'm here with the boys. I think it's going to be a great time, but just as I was writing this message, I heard Gabe's doorknob moving around. He's supposed to be IN HIS CRIB TAKING A NAP! I just went in there, and he had climbed out (safely, thank goodness) and was playing with his toys on the floor. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! I love his ingenuity and bravery, but this is just crossing the line. We may have to take some further safety measures. I'm definitely not ready for him to be in the big boy bed in Ladan's room, but it looks like he's not going to last in the crib as long as Ladan did either... unless I find some way to jail him in there more effectively. Good grief!