Burgin Bolivia Blog

Cooper!

2011-12-04T17:36:00.001-08:00

Cooper is sometimes lost in the crush of cute girls and big brother! We have enjoyed seeing him a couple of times this fall and look forward to Christmas with our special grandson!

Enjoying South Carolina

2011-10-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

Jeanie and I are enjoying our furlough time in South Carolina. The greatest thrill is to be the resident grandparents for the first time in our lives. Our daughter Patty and her husband Luke live here in Camden where he is the assistant pastor at a local church. This week Patty gave birth to a new little girl, Caroline Hope Tolbert. Caroline joins Anna Kate who is 20 months old. Jeanie is in Grandma heaven.

She has been over at Luke and Patty's house helping out while I continue my work as Operations Director for Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America - thanks to my very fast internet connection.

We have been able to do a little touring around South Carolina. On Thursday we took in the South Carolina State Fair. We learned about the benefits of negative ion bracelets (no sale there) and elephant ears (we shared one). It was really a great piece of Americana to enjoy and remember as we prepare to move to Costa Rica.

Last week we visited the Kensington mansion about 40 minutes from Camden. It is an antebellum plantation mansion. The house was beautiful, but the history is also tragic as it was all built on the backs of slave labor. The older gentleman who gave us the tour was a real storehouse of local history and stories.

This week I have spent a lot of time working on a relief project proposal to bring aid to our 50 national staff members who live and serve in the countries of Central America. Heavy rains this month from a series of tropical storms, have brought devastation and misery to the area not seen since Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Floods have caused widespread damage to infrastructure, housing, agriculture, commercial interests, churches, schools, and government institutions. Total losses to the economy will take months to calculate and years to recover. God has supplied funds for emergency help to our staff in the area. Please pray for our staff and all of the people affected by the devastation.

Below is a photo from the city of Quetzaltenango in Guatelmala.

Colorado!

2011-07-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

We have been in Colorado for a week. First we went to a returning missionary conference called Still Waters in Winter Park. We had a refreshing time thinking about transitions to our new assignment in Costa Rica and enjoying time with new and old friends. The setting was beautiful.

Following the conference we took Andrew back to the Denver airport to travel to Florida to start his new life at the University of Florida. Our older son Stephen and his wife Rachael are guiding Andy through the first steps at college.

Since Monday we have been at our Cru (we like the new name!) staff conference. Several of our staff from the Caribbean are joining us here this week:

One last photo from Colorado:

With Grace Community Church in Bolivia

2011-07-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying a great week in Bolivia with our home church from Gresham, Oregon. We have been working with a local church to plant a daughter church and also with our Campus Crusade staff at the Gabriel Rene Moreno University to make contacts with new students. Here are a few pictures.

Ron

May prayer letter

2011-06-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America
www.Burgin-Bolivia.blogspot.com

May, 2011

Dear Friend,

What a month! We have just finished a great week here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia celebrating Andrew’s graduation from the mission school, Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center. We are so proud of him! He will be attending the University of Florida in the fall, majoring in Business. My sister, Patty Burgin; daughter, Patty Burgin Tolbert; and our granddaughter, Anna Kate all flew down to Bolivia to be with us. It was exciting for them to be here and see our life and ministry. Here are a couple of pictures from this week.

Left to right: Patty Burgin Tolbert, Anna Kate, Jeanie, Andrew, Ron, Patty Burgin (AP)

As you may know, my job has grown over the last year as I have taken on the role of Operations Director for Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America. I work with a great team in the areas of JESUS Film, Administration and Finance, Communications, Fund Development, Technology and Crisis Management. The week before graduation I was with our new national leadership team in Puebla, Mexico helping them make the transition. Probably the most exciting part of my job is helping new young leaders as they lead our ministry. On Sunday Jeanie and I will go to Buenos Aires for our Area Leadership Team meeting and then later in June I'll be in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sounds like a lot of travel, and it is! Please pray for safety and effectiveness as we serve our staff, which now numbers over 300 full time national missionaries.

Working with the JESUS Film and our national ministries as they develop strategies to use its resources is a big part of my job. I want to share a story of the impact of the JESUS Film DVD and Magdalena in Mendoza, Argentina.

During Holy Week of 2010, by TV and DVD in homes, an estimated 150,000 people heard about Jesus. The impact in changed lives was so great that Pastor Bazan of the largest church in the city (4000 members) sponsored a premiere showing of the film Magdalena: Released from Shame that was attended by 2000. He and his leaders distributed 1000 DVD’s of the JESUS Film in key neighborhoods where church members opened their homes to show the DVD. The church distributed 500 more DVD’s over Christmas and they did big screen 16 mm showings with 10 projectors throughout the city. They estimate that at least 50,000 more were reached with the Gospel in December alone.

Our team in Argentina is trusting God to multiply this strategy to other parts of the country. Thank you so much for your partnership with us! God continues to do great things, and is using you and us in the process. What a privilege!

Your Missionaries in Latin America,

Ron and Jeanie

Andrew's Graduation

2011-05-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

This is the week of Andrew's graduation. We are so proud of him! He has been named Valedictorian of his class. The year ahead brings exciting new challenges for him at the University of Florida and for us in Costa Rica.

Here is a (very) brief video slide show:

Easter 2011

2011-04-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

April, 2011
Dear Friend,

Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. This is an exciting week in Latin America. In every country there are special celebrations of Semana Santa, Holy Week. Throughout our continent secular TV stations will be showing the JESUS Film and The Story of JESUS for Children. Right here in Bolivia thousands of DVD’s of Magdalena: Released from Shame have been or will be distributed in the coming weeks. We are planning multiple theater premieres of Magdalena in the Quechua and Aymara languages in the major cities of Bolivia. Please pray with us as millions will be exposed to the Gospel through television broadcasts, theater premieres of Magdalena: Released from Shame, and DVD distributions.

While we broadcast the Good News widely, the work is often one on one. Last week Marcelo, a young man I had known previously from the ministry at the Modern Language department at the university phoned me. We got together for lunch and he told me over and over again of his need to draw closer to God. I shared with him an Iphone app version of the Four Spiritual Laws and he received Christ that day! Please pray for Marcelo as we meet together to learn more and he begins to grow in his faith.

Probably our greatest task ahead is working with the next generation of leaders to equip them to take the reins of ministry. Two weeks ago I met with staff from Chile and Bolivia to learn about their ministries. I am so encouraged by the quality of new missionary staff coming up through the ranks.

Patricio (Pato) joined staff with Campus Crusade in Chile just a few months ago after serving for a few years as a volunteer. He will soon be taking the leadership of one of our University districts in Santiago. He is the kind of guy that people want to get know. I think you can tell from his photo why people like talking to him. Very often those conversations lead to the Gospel.

Marcelo and his wife Dita joined our staff a year ago in Bolivia. Marcelo is a recent engineering graduate from the big state university here. He heard the Gospel through one of our staff on campus, received Christ as his Savior and hasn’t stopped running since! He has created an amazing leadership training proposal for the Engineering Department that will allow him to teach leadership principles on campus while he gets to know students and builds a ministry there.

Please pray for Pato and Marcelo and hundreds of other young men and women who are responding to God’s call to reach their generation with Jesus’ love and forgiveness.

Andrew is in the home stretch of his senior year and has been accepted to the University of Florida for the fall. Go Gators! Jeanie is wrapping up five years of teaching at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center with mixed emotions: looking forward to change, but already missing the kids and her colleagues. We are looking forward to moving later in the year to Costa Rica.

Jeanie and I wish you a very Happy Easter. He is Risen!

Ron and Jeanie

Back in Thailand

2011-02-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand. I am here for a 7 day conference along with 30 colleagues from Campus Crusade around the world. I don't really enjoy the trip getting here, but God is really blessing our time together.

One of my responsibilities as Operations Director for CCC Latin America is the area of measurements. Basically, measurements refers to keeping track of our effectiveness in the ministry: How many people have heard the Gospel, how many have trusted Christ as Savior, how many are in discipleship, etc.

These kinds of statistics are vitally important to us for several reasons. First, they tell us if the plans and strategies we are working on in the countries are effective. Second, they give us a measure of individual staff effectiveness. If a particular staff member or team is seeing tremendous fruit, we need to ask, “What are they doing? How can we multiply their experience?” Third, measuring activity and results allows us to be more accountable to our donors and leaders. We want to be sure we are being faithful with the resources God has given us, both human and financial.

Last, and most important, the Bible is very clear on our responsibility as servants to be wise stewards. In the end, our responsibility is to the One who loved us and called us to proclaim His name.

We are using some innovative technologies that allow staff reporting all the way down to the field level using the Internet. Our national and area leaders can have quick access to information to be able to make course adjustments along the way. Well, that may be more than you want to know about Global Measurements!

We are so thankful for your partnership with us at this time! Jeanie and I have had a very full February as we completed the sale of the house in Bolivia (thank you, Lord), and moved to temporary quarters in downtown Santa Cruz until September. Andrew will be graduating from High School in May and is making a decision in the coming days as to which of two fine Universities to attend: UF or FSU. He has been accepted to both.

Thanks again for your continued support! May God continue to richly bless you.

Ron and Jeanie

Magdalena in Quechua and Aymara

2011-02-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

We have a new video production from the JESUS Film called Magdalena, Released from Shame. It has had a tremendous impact on the lives of women around the world and in Latin America. The JESUS Film project has specialists in film translation and dubbing. In fact,the JESUS Film is now available in more than 1000 languages!

Tito Ramos, my friend and director of Campus Crusade here in Bolivia would love to have the Magdalena film translated into Quechua and Aymara, the two largest indigenous languages in Bolivia. Steve Baumann from the JESUS Film came down last week and we all flew to Cochabamba to meet with Rolando and his team with the Bible Society to work out the translation and recording details. In the photo they are reviewing the script.

God is good! The recording and editing have been placed on a fast track calendar. The recording will be done the last week of February and the first week of March, with the final editing and post-production work to be done before Easter!

Please pray for all of the details and the hard work ahead for the Bolivian translators and voice actors, and recordists who will come from the U.S. Then pray as well for the impact of the film on the lives of women who need the hope that only Christ can bring.

Ron

A different Bolivia

2011-01-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

The new government has renamed the country: The Plurinational State of Bolivia. Plurinational because there are so many different people groups.

Over New Years weekend we went out to the Trans World Radio station in Pailon. The ministry there, directed by our friends Jake and Dorothy Fehr, is directed to Spanish speaking Bolivians, Quechua speaking Bolivians and Plautisch speaking Bolivians. Plautisch, or Low German, is the language of the Mennonite colonies. An estimated 60,000 folks live in the colonies in lowland Bolivia. They have a very closed, restricted culture where people can be excommunicated for listening to the radio or reading the Bible. It is a culture where people have very little access to the Good News of the Gospel.

Jake and Dorothy broadcast to these people and the ministry is flourishing. They have many live events at the station where hundreds of Mennonite colonists will come to hear solid teaching from God's word. Among the many tools they use is the JESUS Film on DVD as well as the radio version in Low German.

Here's Jeanie with her friend Dorothy:

Jake drove us around the community near the station and I caught this Mennonite boy hiding from us in a puddle. Kids are kids!

Been away awhile!

2010-12-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted last, but not because of lack of activity! I am amazed at the changes that are coming fast in our lives. Because of our ministry reorganization earlier this year, we are making a move to Costa Rica where we will establish our new office of Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America.

Picking up from one place and moving to another country is a challenge. We have really put down roots here, including owning a house and a couple of dogs. Knowing that selling a house can take time under the best of circumstances, we decided to list the house with a real estate agent at the end of November.

Have you ever listed a house for sale in the U.S.? If so, you know that there is a listing agreement that you sign with the real estate person, guaranteeing their performance and your payment of 6% more or less when they sell your house. No such thing here. It is all a handshake, a smile and 3% when all is said and done. We listed the house for the agent's recommended price and hunkered down for a many-month process. To our great surprise, the house sold in two weeks. A little less than we were asking, but more than we paid for it.

We signed the papers at an attorney's office and plan to close on or before Feb. 15. Great. The buyer gave us $5000 down - in US $100's and into my pocket. There is no escrow account, because the buyer can't get out of it. No inspection contingency, no house sale contingency, no financing contingency. Just do it or lose the $5000. Very simple.

Very frequently in Bolivia, the new owners purchase a house furnished, so we made a list of items we would not be moving. They came out yesterday to the house with the whole extended family for another tour and to look at the items on the list. They bought it all, with the exception of the piano. We have already lined up an apartment from February through August in downtown Santa Cruz.

There have been times in our life when God has really confirmed His will for us through circumstances. This is DEFINITELY one of those times. We are so thankful for how He is moving to make this move happen.

Now we need to think and pray about the dogs. Stay in Bolivia? Move them to Costa Rica? Lord?

Ron

The story of Mario

2010-10-25T11:45:00.001-07:00

Mario Rios is a dynamic, joyful university student who attends the UAGRM (Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno) state university in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His major is modern languages. When we met last March, he shared how his father had recently passed away, leaving his mother in the small village Mario still calls home. The village is called Malca Mayu in the highland state of Potosi in Bolivia. The people of Malca Mayu speak Quechua and live a rural, agrarian life, though many have gone to the big cities of Bolivia and Argentina to earn a living.

His father was well-loved in his home village and the three neighboring villages. He was always smiling, and always willing to lend a hand. The people of the village see a lot of his father in Mario. His dad was a farmer and rose every day at 4 a.m. to provide for his family. Mario had nine brothers and sisters that lived to adulthood of whom seven are still living. Besides the nine, however, there were eight others who died young. He remembered his favorite little sister who died when she was four, of unknown causes. “She was already reading and the joy of our lives”, he explained. Hardship has always been part of their lives.

Soon after his father died, I gave Mario copy of the JESUS Film in Quechua. He kept hoping for a chance to take it home to the village, but finally sent it to his sister who still lives there. Last week he got the news that they had watched the film. His mother, sister, two aunts and two uncles all saw the film. The only word he has gotten back is that they “liked” the film, and really appreciated that they could see it in their own language. You have to know Mario to understand that “liking” the film isn’t good enough for him.

Mario received Christ as his Savior in 2005 and is excited about his faith. He shared how he preached on the bus when he went home for the funeral of his father. He is very bold with the Good News and wants to see his Quechua people reached with the Gospel. He tells of a certain coldness that the people have toward the Gospel. He says many are enmeshed in the traditions of the Catholic Church and the traditional indigenous worship of the Pachamama, the earth goddess.

In Bolivia funerals always take place on the morning following the death. If someone dies very early in the day, the funeral might take place later that same day. There is no embalming, and the thought of waiting several days, even for distant relatives to arrive, is abhorrent. They have another tradition that Mario shared with me. His eyes lit up as he told me that very often people will gather to spend an afternoon and evening together on the first anniversary of the death of a loved one. Someone as well-loved as Mario’s father, and with as many children, will have a big gathering of remembrance. People bring flowers and lay out the favorite foods of their loved one.

Mario is already thinking strategically (He actually said, “I have a strategic plan”) about this one year anniversary gathering in February, 2011. “If six people ‘liked’ the film, imagine a gathering of 70! With me there to share and encourage them to trust Christ as their Savior!” He is planning to make the trip in February with several more DVD’s of the JESUS Film to give away. He is trusting God that the remembrance of his father’s life will give him an opportunity to share about real life in JESUS!

Friskie the tree climber

2010-10-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I was in the kitchen when I heard a ruckus in the yard and saw a cloud of dust as both dogs took off after some alien intruder. I went outside and spotted the culprit up a tree:

Friskie decided that she should not remain earthbound and started up the tree:

About 10 seconds later, the kitty departed our yard and out under the gate.

Jeanie is pointing on the tree how far Friskie climbed (Friskie is still prowling for the cat):

New life in the backyard

2010-10-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of steps out our backdoor there is an arbor that for many months of the year is awash in flowers. This is the driest time of year and there are no flowers and the leaves are sparse. Through the twigs, though, you can see a mother and father bird guarding a nest. They hold stock-still as you approach. Here's a photo from a few feet away. Spring rains are coming.

Changes

2010-08-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Change is a good thing! (I think)

This year is a time of change for us in Campus Crusade Latin America as we restructure to serve the staff in our continent better. The biggest change at all levels is a change to team leadership. Now, instead of having a continental director who makes the final decisions, we have a leadership team who works together to determine direction and strategy. We hope to multiply the model out to our national ministries as well.

The major implication of the change for us this month is the reduction in size of our former continental office in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We have reduced down to just four of us as Jeanie and I plan a move to our new central office, probably in San Jose, Costa Rica sometime in late 2011, after Andrew graduates from High School.

While the move is definitely in the works, it is not imminent. During the year or so we have left in Bolivia, we are excited to see what God has in store. I met last week with Tito Ramos, our Bolivian National Director. I am very encouraged by his vision and plans. We will be working very closely with him and his team as we bring several teams from the U.S. to Bolivia in the coming year.

Jeanie is in her second week teaching 10th grade U.S. History and English at the mission school. She is excited about this group of kids. She was their social studies teacher back when they were in 8th grade. Please pray for her!

Andrew is due back on Thursday night from Oregon. He has stayed an extra couple of weeks for a final check by the surgeon. We praise God for a successful surgery for Andrew!

Tomorrow I will head out for Mexico to join with our staff in their national conference and then meet with our Latin America leadership team.

Thanks again for your support and prayer!

Finishing the trip.

2010-06-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hi from Coeur D'Alene. The last few days have been a whirl of cross-country activity. We have gone to the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, Mt. Rushmore,Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, and a couple of minor league, but fascinating museums and hikes. Tomorrow it is home to Portland! Meanwhile, here are a few pictures:

This is the house Eisenhower grew up in. They built the Library and Museum around it.

We did the loop drive through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. It is amazing. Really BAD.

Need I say more?

This is a yellow-bellied marmot that we saw in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone.

Old Faithful was so amazing we stayed to watch it erupt twice! We packed a lot into our two days in Yellowstone including a hike to the top of Mt. Washburn.

The buck stops here.

2010-06-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Independence, MO. We spent the morning at the Truman Library and Museum, then on the way to Abilene, KS and the Eisenhower museum we stopped at the US Cavalry Museum at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

Here are Jeanie and Andy in front of the Eisenhower Museum.

This is a replica of the Truman oval office.

Out in the courtyard, Jeanie found the flag from the most beautiful state in the Union.

In front of the Truman home.

All you ever need to know.

At the Ft. Riley U.S. Cavalry Museum

In front of General Custer's house. (He didn't make it home from his last business trip).

Herbert Hoover - not as bad as you think

2010-06-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today we saw the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum in West Branch, Iowa. We learned a lot about a president we had only thought of in relation to "causing" the Great Depression. First, he didn't do that, and second he was a great humanitarian. We're all learning a lot and enjoying the trip. The picture is in front of his birthplace.

Tomorrow it's on to Independence, MO and Harry Truman.

Land of Lincoln

2010-06-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Springfield, IL on Sunday night and spent all day yesterday learning about Abraham Lincoln.

In the morning we went to the Lincoln home. The National Park Service has restored four city blocks to their 1860 appearance. We toured the Lincoln home and took lots of pictures.

In the afternoon we went to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. They had a couple of great multimedia presentations and some self-guided "journeys" through the life of Lincoln. Again, really worth the trip. I can't believe we have never done this before (sorry, older kids:).

Here we are with the Lincolns at the White House (that's John Wilkes Booth over Andrew's right shoulder):

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

2010-06-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

In our cross-country American History tour, Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan have been the highlight. This complex is worth a trip from anywhere in the USA. There is too much to describe, but I will say Andrew was fascinated!

I wish the rental car company had had a newer model for us :)

Washington, D.C.

2010-06-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

We're in the nation's capital with Sarah, Dustin, Wesley Paul and Cooper Andrew. Sarah is big on FAMILY TIME, not MUSEUM time. So we have walked in the arboretum and had a picnic at the park. Yesterday, though, Andy and I went to the new Marine Corps Museum at Quantico. Really worth the trip. Here are some pictures:

The USMC Museum

This is the main hall of the museum. They have amazing galleries for each era and war.

But we're really here to see the kids, Wesley and Cooper:

Three boys. One turtle.

Wesley Paul enjoying Time Out too much.

Cooper Andrew is a happy guy.

Jeanie and Cooper Andrew

Sarah (because she'll ask, "why isn't there a picture of me?")

Columns from the old East Front of the Capitol at the National Arboretum.

South Carolina

2010-06-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

We're a little late blogging, but we had a great time in Camden, South Carolina with our daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Luke and baby Anna Kate. We arrived on Saturday, the day they moved in from Wake Forest. Luke is an assistant pastor at Malvern Hills Baptist Church in Camden. About 40 people showed up to help them move in to their new house.

We all love Anna Kate.

Especially Grandpa.

Here's Anna in her poodle towel.

We're on our way!

2010-06-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

We've been in the US for a week. While I've been in Orlando at our meeting of the new Global Leadership of Campus Crusade, Jeanie has been in Gainesville with Stephen, Rachael and Leah Rose. This morning we'll take off for Camden, South Carolina to the new home of our daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Luke Tolbert and baby Anna Kate.

Here we are with Leah Rose.

The rental car company upgraded us from a small car to a mini-van- no charge! What a blessing!

Great group of learners

2010-05-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

This is a group of great administrative people who have come to Santa Cruz for two weeks of training in managing the resources God provides through effective accounting systems. We want to make sure the funds that our donors give are used properly! They come from Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Venezuela and Brazil.

This weekend we took the whole group to the Guembe Butterfly park. It has a huge aviary and an enclosed butterfly area. In this photo we are at the top of the observation tower above the aviary.

They have hundreds of species of butterflies at the park. The guide showed us the entire life cycle of the butterfly.

Butterflies usually land at the sweetest spot.

Lunch at Old Key West

2010-04-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

I have been in Orlando for a couple days of meetings. We've been talking about our new organization/culture change that will carry us forward in the next few years. Part of that change is combining all of Latin America and the Caribbean into a single area under a new leadership team. Exciting times ahead!

Whenever I come to Orlando, I try to see our son and daughter-in-law. I had lunch today at Disney's Old Key West resort. One of the best free secrets of Disney is that you can go to Downtown Disney and enjoy a free ferry ride to a couple of different resorts. It was a beautiful ride and a great day.

Leah Rose is just blossoming these last couple of months. She will be one year old on April 20. Hard to believe!

Hanging out in Medellin

2010-03-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

This week I have been in Medellin, Colombia to spend time with our ministry leaders and get to know what God is doing there. The ministry has exploded there with 23 ministry centers in the city/state and thousands of people involved. The commitment to evangelism and discipleship is very strong with lots of new people in every meeting. People are coming to know the Lord!

This week Medellin hosted the South American Games. Saturday morning at 7 am I met with 100 students from one region of the city who gatherered to pray before heading over to the games to share Christ with the students. Although sharing Christ was officially banned on the site of the games, the students led 130 athletes to Christ - all off site, in the streets and restaurant areas surrounding the games.

This is the view from my hotel room. Medellin is a large, very modern city. What a contrast with the small community we live in in Bolivia!

Ministries around the world struggle to win adult men to Christ and see them mature in their faith. In this photo I am with a group of guys who are involved with our ministry. There are groups of men like this that meet all over the city at all hours of the day, starting at 6am. They are involved in a very intentional discipleship process. I have really never seen anything like it. The curriculum they use requires four years to complete.

God is doing great things here and we are learning how we can apply the lessons learned here to ministries in other countries.

Blessings,

Ron

Now that's what I'm talking about!

2010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

At lunch today a young man named Mario came for perhaps the third time to our pizza lunch/bible study. I had to ask his name again, as I had forgotten it. There were around 20 who came today, perhaps 30-35 will join us tomorrow.

Since it had been a while since I had seen Mario, I asked him to come with me over to the pizza place in the food court and help me order the pizza. As we were talking, he shared that his father had died two weeks ago. I told him how sorry I was and then we re-joined the group. We studied Matthew 5:10-16, the passage where Jesus encourages His followers to be salt and light. Mario had some great comments that really added to the conversation, comments that came from personal experience. He shared that his parents spoke Quechua and that he did not begin to learn Spanish until first grade.

After the study I learned that Mario had received Christ about three years ago, and that as a result of prayer, his father trusted Christ as Savior a mere hour before his death. His mother still lives in a small village outside of Potosi, Bolivia. She is struggling with the loss of her husband and is not yet a follower of Christ.

I invited Mario to come to my office so I could give him a copy of the Bolivian version of JESUS Film. The DVD includes eight languages, including Quechua. I put the DVD into my laptop to show Mario how the menu worked. As he listened to the Quechua version with Spanish subtitles, his eyes welled up with gratitude, "My mother will understand about Jesus!".

I gave him three copies of the DVD and a charge: Share it with your mom and others back home in the village. I asked him if they had a DVD player up there in her highland village. He assured me that they did and that in only three weeks, he will be going back home to visit his mom. "I want to be a missionary of God's love". Will you pray with me for Mario and his mom?

Church Led Movements in Bolivia

2010-03-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

On Friday and Saturday I met with our Church Led Movements team with Campus Crusade in Bolivia. They were joined by a pastor from Venezuela who is implementing similar strategies there. We spent the time reviewing our philosophy of ministry, vision, mission and plan for 2010. In the photo at left, I am sharing a devotional on the life of Paul.

These guys are great theoreticians and even better practitioners. They have a heart to see a viral movement of church planting in South America.

The Grandchildren

2010-03-07T17:52:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to say we're back in Bolivia after a great time in the US. Here's a photo of Jeanie and me with 75% of our grandchildren: Anna Kate Tolbert, Wesley Paul Hanks and Cooper Andrew Hanks. (Leah Rose Burgin visited Grandma Jeanie in NC the weekend before)

Dad's proud

2010-02-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Andrew's varsity basketball game. Andrew is a junior at the mission high school, and has played for the last couple of years. Yesterday he was the leading scorer as his team demolished the opponent. He scored 18 points! The score was 58-6.

Here is a link to the news article.

The story is good, they just got Andrew's first name wrong.

Ron

"Lucky's" luck ran out

2010-02-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I wrote about our dog, Jazz. He was a solid and steady German shepherd who had guarded our house for eight years. He died this week.

Monday morning I got an urgent call from our cleaning lady at home. She told me that Jazz had been staggering around and moaning. Then he went into the laundry room and crawled behind the washer where he lay foaming at the mouth. I headed for home and stopped at the veterinary office on the way. Two of their young vets came with me to the house. When we got there, Jazz had already died. It was very sudden.

As the young women veterinarians looked him over, they determined that he did not have rabies (death would have taken several days) and that he was not poisoned, like with rat poison. They said the most likely cause of his intoxication and death was ingestion of a poisonous toad. I had the sad task of digging a very large grave for Jazz. My only experience with dying animals has been a slow decline and then a joint decision with family and the vet to put the animal down when nothing else can be done for them. And of course the vet handles disposal of the body. The sudden finality of this kind of an accidental death is hard to deal with. While the vets were at the house, they caught up our other two dogs on their rabies vaccines.

We'll miss Jazz.

Just abiding

2010-01-19T12:13:00.001-08:00

You know what's cool? Talking with six Bolivian guys about abiding in Christ. The Spanish word for abiding is Permanecer. That's kind of a cool word that you can figure out even if you don't speak Spanish. Permanecer: to stay, remain, make yourself a permanent fixture. That really describes what I want to be with Jesus. As they talked they had some great insights that helped me to consider the concepts.

Take some time and read John 15: 1-10.

Ron

Feeling some pressure

2010-01-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

My Christian friends in Bolivia warned that the passage of the new constitution and the re-election of the socialist president would bring near certain persecution of the church. I am afraid they were right and we are seeing just the beginning. Let me give you three concrete examples:

1. The government is ramping up the official registration requirements for all churches. Our church has complied, but at considerable legal expense. Small national churches don't have the resources or savvy to comply. The estimated cost is upwards of US $1000 from start to finish. Enter the official MAS party which is offering "assistance" to local indigenous churches to "handle" this issue for them at no cost. My Christian friends fear this is the beginning of an officially sanctioned church, similar to the church in China.

2. The official government TV station is running a dramatic piece showing a heavily accented North American preaching the Gospel with a heavy dose of "learn to tithe, or else". The Gringo tells the listeners that failure to give will result in God's wrath. The poor Bolivian, Silverio, just can't give enough and the result is that his house burns down. Enter the friends from the MAS government political party to help. They tell Silverio that they are his friends, they are from his own culture. They will freely give him the help he needs: food, clothing and so forth. You can draw your conclusions about the message they are sending about Christ's church.

3. The socialist government, now officially secular, has scheduled elections for Easter Sunday, April 4. On election day in Bolivia no meetings or assemblies are allowed. No vehicular traffic is allowed. All church services must be cancelled. Is it a coincidence that the holiest day on the Christian calendar is targeted?

Please pray for Bolivia, and treasure the freedom that you have to assemble and worship.

Ron

Back to work after Christmas Break

2010-01-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying the first couple of days back in the office after a nice break over the holidays. Jeanie, Andrew and I enjoyed relaxing at home. We had guests over for Christmas and New Year's Eve, ate lots of cookies and fudge and saw Avatar together. It was a great time!

Over the New Year holiday our oldest kids, Stephen and Sarah and their spouses Rachael and Dustin got together with our three grandchildren, Wesley, Leah Rose and Cooper. I can't resist borrowing a photo from their blogs:

Thanksgiving in Amboro National Park

2009-12-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

While Jeanie was in the U.S. with our new grandson, Cooper, Andrew and I spent Thanksgiving weekend at a remote camp in Amboro National Park. It was two hours in by 4x4 and then two hours hiking each day to get to some spectacular spots: first a beautiful natural pool and then the next day up to a waterfall. Here's a video of what we did and where we went.

You'll see another kid in the pictures. He is our guide, Mario. I called him Surefoot because while Andrew and I were slipping and sliding on the muddy trails, he never slipped once and he wore flip flops.

Blessings,
Ron

Just call me "Lucky"

2009-12-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Three years ago we bought our house outside of Santa Cruz from some other missionaries who were returning to the U.S. In addition to buying the house, we agreed to keep the security system and the monthly maintenance charge. By that I mean the german shepherd, Jazz, and his considerable appetite for dog food. He had a scary reputation here in the neighborhood that has kept the house safe for many years.

Jazz was older when we got him, and reached the point this week that I thought he might be on the downhill slide. He had a baseball size tumor on his abdomen, an oozing swollen infection on the elbow of his front leg, and he's almost blind-though he gets around the yard he has lived in his whole life just fine. I took him in to the vet for an "estimate". When I called back, Dr. Ximena told me that although he is old, he isn't ready to die. So he stayed at the hospital for a couple of nights, had surgery to remove the tumor, the infection was treated and he was ready to come home. He hopped out of the car when we got home so excited to be here.

I think we have our "security system" for a while yet.

A New Grandson!

2009-12-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

I am about 10 days late with the announcement, but we are the proud grandparents of a new grandson! Cooper Andrew Hanks was born to Sarah and Dustin in Washington, D.C. on November 20. He weighed 9 pounds.

Jeanie arrived a couple of days later to help out and she is in Grandma heaven!

Trip to Cidade de Embu

2009-11-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's hard to believe our week in Brazil is over! Saturday morning our Brazilian staff took us to an artisan village called Cidade de Embu, which has as its centerpiece a Jesuit church dating from the 1600's. It had beautiful woodwork and furniture, paintings, porcelain, textiles, leatherwork and ceramics. It was amazing just walking through block after block of quaint shops.

Thanks to Ralph and Mary, Gary, Mark, Doug and Jackie, Rosemary, Clifford, Jim, Dan, Janelle, and Dale for investing a week to see a little of what God is doing in Brazil. We hope your memories will stay with you. We appreciate you. Que Deus te Abencoe Sempre!

Ron

Faith REALLY DOES come by hearing

2009-11-15T04:51:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon we met with our JESUS Film staff in Sao Paulo. It was exciting to hear their vision for expanding the ministry from 7 to 27 cities in the coming years. The movement is truly nationalized. I am so encouraged by their lives and by their burden to connect lost Brazilians to Jesus.

In the evening the Sao Paulo team organized an outreach event that our team attended. Jim Green the Executive Director of the JESUS Film was the speaker. As he shared the love of Christ, several people made life-changing commitments to follow Jesus. Two guys from our team, Mark and Ralph, shared what it has meant to them to be followers of Jesus.

One of the guys who attended was a taxi driver named Edson. A year ago, one of our ministry partners, Phil Kenney from Faith Comes by Hearing rode in Edson's cab and gave him a set of CD's with the complete audio New Testament. Edson told us how he had listened through the set four times! The most astounding thing to me is that he didn't commit his life to Christ until after he had listened through three times to the entire New Testament. He is now in a discipleship group.

Below is a photo of Edson sharing his story with Jim Green of the JESUS Film.

Brazilian youth at the Crossroads

2009-11-14T01:43:00.001-08:00

Friday morning we left Sao Paulo to go out to the small town of Sumare to see our JESUS Film Crossroads strategy in action. Crossroads reaches into public schools with a message of hope about HIV/Aids and Christian values that will last a lifetime. We visited a ninth grade classroom.

The lesson was taught by Edson, one of our CCC staff guys, and his wife. It included a great story that involved volunteer student actors acting out a skit that taught about unseen/unknown dangers that may lie in our path. It was very moving to see how engaged the kids were and how effective our staff was. My friend Janelle Searles, a photographer with the JESUS film got these shots.

Blessings,
Ron

Sertão

2009-11-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

We went out on Wednesday to the town of Esperanca in the Sertão region of Brazil to meet Pastor Bruno. He has planted 36 churches in the region using the JESUS Film! As a part of their follow up, they use the Proclaimer listening device. It has the dramatized New Testament on a memory chip and has a sound system that can fill a small room.
We met a lady who has planted a new small group Bible study using the Proclaimer. Here is a photo in front of the house they meet in. Later that evening we went back to see the group in action. There were about 10 people, men and women who gathered to grow in their faith as they listened to God's word.

While we were there I met a young man, 23, named Luziano. He works in the local rock breaking trade (for roads), a labor intensive, back breaking job. He injured is leg in a motorcycle accident and will be off the job for at least 8 more months. No job, no income. We prayed for him and he was part of the listening group later in the evening.

Farther up the road we stopped in a small town and visited with some of the locals. I talked to this group of men in my broken Portuguese. They laughed when I asked if they were local older gentlemen's club. There was a 91 year old man inside the house that came out to "meet an American". A small group gathered around us and when we told them what we were doing they asked us to stay and show the JESUS Film right there. Because we were showing the film in another location that day, we promised that the local team would come back soon to show the film.

When we did show the film later that evening, I got this shot of a boy who was transfixed by the Story of JESUS for children.

Visit to Castanhal

2009-11-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to the town of Castanhal where we got to hear the story of Pastors Aldenor, Luis Fernando, and Fernando. About six years ago they showed the JESUS Film in a neighborhood. Of the 100 people present, 68 indicated that they wanted to become followers of JESUS. God has built a church around these precious folks. Here is a photo of some of them in front of the new church that is under construction, but already in use:

Later we went to a new neighborhood to work with another local church that was showing the JESUS Film in a neighborhood for the first time. There were 142 people who came out for the film. At the end 86 children and 16 adults prayed and received Christ.

I got to talk with one 36 year old man who raised his hand when they asked who had prayed to received Christ. We had shared popcorn during the movie. I don't think I have ever seen a more serious, thoughtful decision to follow Jesus. I gave him an illustrated version (like a comic book) of the New Testament. (that's him in front)

Up the Amazon

2009-11-09T02:06:00.001-08:00

I am in Brazil this week with a great group of leaders and friends of the JESUS Film movement from the U.S. Yesterday with went with one of our partnering missionaries to visit river villages on the Amazon.

We left Belem on a small bus met up with the Brazilian missionary and set out in his boat. We had to walk along a series of logs to get down to the water, then step through a small river boat and up into the bigger boat. How to describe the boat... Have you been on the Jungle Cruise at Disney? Let's say Walt got it about right.

We landed at a small island that can only be reached by boat and met two families that have become followers of Jesus. They are learning more about Him as they listen through the New Testament on the Proclaimer.

In the afternoon and evening we went to another island and a town of about 2000 people who desperately need the Lord. The adult population (say 16 years and up) was about 80% drinking and/or already drunk. Very sad. We showed the JESUS Film to 44 precious children. 34 prayed to receive JESUS. He is really their only hope.

Today we'll meet with a group of pastors in Belem who are planting churches throughout the region.

Blessings,
Ron

New guys

2009-10-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had over 40 students at our CineCenter lunch Bible Studies. They were divided into seven small groups of men and women, all studying the last part of Philippians chapter 1. It was great to see everyone thinking through what it would mean to put other people's needs ahead of our own!

I was with a group of three first year students from the Modern Language Department at the state university: Adalid, Jhon, and Emiterio. This Christian stuff is pretty new to them all. Last week Adalid prayed and received Christ and this week he told the other guys about it. Different needy folks often wander through asking for money and we shared a piece of pizza with a young deaf boy yesterday.

Today I went back to the food court for lunch alone. The lady who served me my lunch works at one of the small fast food places close to the tables where our students always gather. She took a look at me and asked, "What do you do with all of those students every week?" I guess we're pretty noticable. I got to share briefly with her how we study the Bible together.

Please keep praying for our pizza lunches!

US Treats for Andrew

2009-09-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

I am in Orlando for a meeting of Campus Crusade Area Financial Managers from around the world. Taking advantage of the nearby Walmart, I loaded up on something that just isn't the same in Bolivia: CEREAL. I even brought an extra duffle to take them home in. We'll see what Andrew thinks when I get home.

Dad, where do we live?

2009-09-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last night Andrew was working on an assigned college application for his Life Skills class. He asked me, "Dad, where do we live?", meaning "what is our address?"

We had to laugh because our dirt road does not have a name and our house does not have a number. The best we can do is:

Kilometer 14 on the old highway to Cochabamba.
Turn in 2 kilometers to the neighborhood call "El Balcon 1"
The white house with the red tile roof next door to the tall water tower.
If you get lost, ask the neighbors where the gringos live.

I am afraid when Andrew gets around to the real college applications that won't fit in the blanks!

Ron

Happy Birthday Andrew

2009-09-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Andrew turned 17 on Friday. The great sacrifice for him about living in Bolivia is that you can't drive (legally) until you're 18. Because of when his birthday falls, he will spend his whole senior year next year as an 18 year old. He is counting the months!

August 2009 letter

2009-09-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, Bolivia
http://burgin-bolivia.blogspot.com/

August, 2009

Dear Friend,

Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia! I’m sure you’re gearing up for a new school/church year just like we are here. The weather is turning warmer as we head into springtime.

Last week I was having lunch with Darling, a guy in our Bible study and Wilfredo, a guy who we had just gotten acquainted with. As we were studying the passage in Luke 24 where Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, it seemed pretty clear that Wilfredo did not know Christ as his Savior, yet. As we finished studying the passage I asked Darling to share the Four Spiritual Laws with Wilfredo. Wilfredo hung on every word, and at the end of the booklet joyfully received Christ as his Savior. I can’t tell you the privilege it is to serve here in Bolivia and see God work in such tremendous ways.

In my work as the South America representative for the JESUS Film, I get to support and encourage ministry throughout our continent. We supply equipment and 16mm films, DVD’s and projectors to our Campus Crusade staff and other pastors and missionaries throughout the ten countries of South America. I received this story yesterday from Wilson Moreno, one of our staff in Colombia:

“I want to tell you the story of a special pastor that I met a few years ago. I’ll call him Pedro. Physically, Pedro looks small and a little fragile, to the point that I didn’t expect much from him. He lives in a small village, San Martin, about an hour from the nearest town of any size. When I met him, his heart was on fire with the idea of planting churches the length and breadth of the Colombian state of Meta. This of course implied a lot of hard and constant labor to get to really remote locations, many of which were very dangerous because of the ongoing violence in the rural areas. The terrorist factions and the paramilitaries hate the message of love and forgiveness in the Gospel of Jesus.

We loaned Pedro a 16mm equipment set and a copy of the JESUS film. We also trained him in how to share the Four Spiritual Laws. He set off for places that we would not consider very important or strategic, but for Pedro were his top priority. The results have been astounding! Since he started with the JESUS Film, he has planted nine churches in areas where no other Christian has been able to work. He even planted a church in the town of Mapiripán, the site of a terrible massacre by paramilitary forces (right wing) in 1997.

I spoke with Pedro a few days ago and how he moves me with compassion for the people of his community who need Jesus. He has a new goal: he wants to train young people in leadership where they would learn to study the Word of God, how to disciple others, and how to start new small prayer groups. All of this is being done with the prayer of bringing revival to places where people are used to thinking only in terms of war and hatred. He gathered them together in the town of Villavicencio to encourage them and give them vision for what God can do in their villages.

The story of Pedro has been such a lesson to me of a man who made plans of faith, not based on his personal abilities or capacity, not based on his financial resources, but only trusting in the unfailing faithfulness of God.”

I want to thank you for the part you play in allowing us to serve in South America! May God continue to richly bless you!

Your missionaries in Bolivia,
Ron, Jeanie and Andrew Burgin

Prayer requests:
-Pray for Wilfredo and the many new believers in our ministry.
-Pray for Pastor Pedro and the hundreds of pastors like him who struggle against long odds to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.
-Pray for the effectiveness of our ministry to students here in Bolivia and for partnering pastors as they plant churches and build disciples throughout South America.
-Pray for Jeanie and Andrew as they begin a new year at the mission school here in Santa Cruz; Jeanie as a teacher of Social Studies and U.S. History and Andrew as a high school junior.
-Pray for God’s care over our daughters Sarah and Patty (and their husbands, Dustin and Luke). They are expecting in November and February respectively. The babies will be grandchildren number three and four for us.
-Pray for our granddaughter Leah Rose Burgin (four months old). She has been diagnosed with vision deficiencies. We praise God that apart from the vision problem she is a happy, giggling little girl.

Mar del Plata

2009-08-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I am in Mar del Plata, Argentina for the COICOM Conference. Coicom is the Latin equivalent of the National Religious Broadcasters convention in the US, but has grown to include pastors, mission leaders, and educators as well as broadcasters. I am here with several of our key leaders representing the JESUS Film, but more specifically the Magdalena film and strategies for reaching leaders and planting churches.

This is a great gathering place for new ideas and direction. Mar del Plata is kind of chilly in August. It is more like a California coastal city than a tropical resort. I'd appreciate your prayer as we meet together this week.

Back in Bolivia

2009-08-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

I am back in Bolivia after 10 days in the US. I went home for a great reason: Mom and Dad were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. We had a great celebration in Portland. Congratulations Mom and Dad!

Mission trips and more mission trips

2009-07-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is the high season for mission trips and we are loving it! We combine three vital forces all under the command of the Holy Spirit: First, a team from a U.S. church with a heart for Bolivia; second, bolivian students from our university ministry; and third, a local Bolivian pastor and a few followers who want to plant a church. The results are astounding!
This week we were in Cochabamba with Christ Fellowship from Miami, 15 university students from Santa Cruz, and Pastor Jorge and friends from Fraternidad Cristiana in Cochabamba. Pastor Jorge is in our T-Net training program and has gotten permission to set up portable tents every week in a plaza in a growing neighborhood of Cochabamba. We got to help set it up the first Sunday.
Here is the photo record:

Watching Wesley in Washington, DC

2009-06-20T17:16:00.001-07:00

I had a great day enjoying Wesley in Washington, DC. First a one-year-old birthday party for a friend. about 15 one-year-olds were present. Then we went to National Community Church for the Saturday evening service.

Sarah and Dustin left me alone in charge for a while this evening. Wesley was supposed to eat oatmeal. Things went from Ok to worse (as you can see in the pictures). Sarah came home and Wesley got happy real quick.

Grandpa and Leah Rose

2009-06-16T04:53:00.000-07:00

It works out pretty well that the world headquarters for Campus Crusade is only two hours away from world headquarters for my new granddaughter Leah Rose.

After a full day of meetings on Monday, I dashed up to Gainesville to meet Leah Rose Burgin, 2 months old. She is beautiful, inquisitive and cuddly!

Tomorrow I'll go back to Orlando for more meetings.

No easy answers

2009-06-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

Still making the issue clear here in Bolivia. But it's tough.

Last night I spent some time talking with Juan Gabriel, a 21 year old university student. We were talking about the amazing love and grace of God. I shared with him that we need to understand that we are sinners to be able to appreciate and benefit from God's grace. I asked him if he believed he was a sinner - as I believe I am. He said yes, but then said, "My worst sin is my anger at God. It is a sin to be angry with God, isn't it?"

Juan Gabriel went on to share about his struggle with epilepsy, only partially controlled by medication. Two weeks ago he had a convulsion in class. Painful, embarrassing, disruptive, humiliating. I can only guess at his pain. He is angry that he should have to deal with this in his life. But he didn't question that God loved him, only that he felt bad about his anger.

David was angry (OK, frustrated?) with God in the Psalms 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer”

But he goes on to proclaim God’s dominion in the same Psalm:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.”

Pray for Juan Gabriel as he struggles with knowing God in His Goodness.

Making the issue clear

2009-06-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

What is the Gospel? How can a person be saved?

For someone who has been an evangelical Christian for 38 years, the answer is pretty clear: Believe and be saved. OK, believe what, exactly?

The Word of God gives clear guidance on this issue, but it is a matter that is both "critical and progressive". That is, salvation has a clear beginning point and then a lifetime of growing in grace and understanding.

This week I met with two young men with very different perspectives. The first has a traditional Roman Catholic background. When I asked him if he was sure about going to heaven, he replied, "I hope so, unless there are some sins I am unaware of that will prevent me from entering heaven." His hope is built on his own goodness, rather than on Christ's all-sufficiency. That is a pretty common misunderstanding that people from all kinds of church backgrounds hold to.

The other young man I talked to yesterday had a background of Bible studies with Jehovah's Witnesses (he had since fallen away from them). He said, "The Jehovah's witnesses talk only about God. You Christians talk only about Jesus Christ." Wow. Where to begin.

I am learning that the place to begin is with humility and compassion. The Gospel really is Good News. I love this verse:

Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

These young men both need rest. Pray for us that we would make the Good News clear to them.

Ron

Pastors in El Alto

2009-05-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to El Alto in the highlands of Bolivia to visit pastors involved in our church planting project. The project includes training through T-Net, proclamation of the Gospel with the JESUS Film and follow-up using the audio Bible from Faith Comes by Hearing in Spanish, Quechua and Aymara.

It was astounding and moving to hear the pastors' stories. People's lives are being transformed! This is a picture of Julia who was paralyzed for much of her life. God has healed her to be able to minister to other Aymara women. We met Julia in her home along with several of the women she ministers to. They gave us a traditional lunch. Please pray for Julia and the pastors in El Alto.

CineCenter Invasion

2009-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

The biggest multiplex cinema in Bolivia is right here in Santa Cruz. It also the biggest hangout for kids in town, since we don't have a real mall. The CineCenter, does, however have a big food court. It is sort of like a big mall, minus the stores (OK, it has a FEW stores).

I have been meeting with a couple of small groups of guys for lunch there for a year and a half. We have pizza and talk about Jesus and His word. Well, this school year (just started), I decided to make the CineCenter lunches an incubator for new small groups and also to start inviting the girls.

This week we had a total of 60 students, divided into 15 small groups eating pizza and studying what Jesus says about worrying in Luke 12. There were 8 girls groups and I had 7 guys small groups. Can you imagine the joy of seeing 15 new small group leaders caring about the guys in their groups, leading discussion and praying with them? I am excited! Please pray that the groups will continue to multiply and that many students will come to know Christ as Savior.

Also ... please pray for the management at CineCenter. They are a little overwhelmed by our numbers. I guess as long as we keep buying pizza they can't throw us out :)

What would Jesus ask me?

2009-04-21T04:27:00.000-07:00

Wow - Back home in Santa Cruz after a week or so in Gainesville, Florida. We were awaiting the birth of our second grandchild: Leah Rose born to Stephen and Rachael. She is beautiful!

Jeanie stayed the extra day to see the long awaited Leah Rose (nearly a week overdue), but I came back on schedule to be with our son, Andrew and get to work. Two hours after getting through customs I was leading a Bible study for 24 university students, both men and women.

We eat pizza and divide into small groups to learn more about Jesus. We'll do the same with a different group of students today. This week we studied the story in Luke 10 of the man who asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus' reply includes the story of the Good Samaritan.

I was struck by how Jesus answered his question with a question based on all the teaching God had already provided the man: "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"

How often do we cry out to God with a question or doubt (or even a challenge) demanding an answer? I wonder if we shouldn't be still and listen to Jesus' question in reply:

"Child, do you remember my faithfulness last year?"
"What did I show you yesterday in the Psalms?"
"Son, do you already know the right thing, the thing that honors Me?"

I am going to be listening more for His question.

Ron

On Baby Watch in Gainesville

2009-04-12T18:56:00.001-07:00

This week Jeanie and I are in Gainesville with our son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Rachael, awaiting the birth of their first child. We had a beautiful Resurrection Day service at their church and then dinner at the home of friends. Here is a picture of Stephen and Rachael just a few steps down the patio of their friends house.

Jeanie shows Magdalena

2009-04-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

This past week we had a group of 34 from LSU with us in Santa Cruz. We did campus ministry, door to door evangelism, and high school outreaches.
On Tuesday evening, Jeanie had planned an outreach for Bolivian women at our church. This is Holy Week and people are more aware than normal of the reality of Jesus' death on the Cross. The women showed the new film from the JESUS Project called Magdalena: Released from Shame. More than 120 women came to the event and the girls from LSU helped with comment cards and conversation after the showing. It was a great success and many of the Christian ladies were moved to purchase the DVD to show in their own homes and churches.

Overall the team from LSU, together with our staff and students presented the Gospel to more than 1500 people with more than 600 praying to trust Christ as their Savior!

One of the last of a generation

2009-03-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

I am in Curitiba, Brasil for a Call2All conference. The conference challenges Christians, churches and organizations to adopt one of the last unreached and unengaged people groups. The worship has been amazing, once you get used to the Brazilian style.

Last night Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, spoke. His message of vision and commitment to a cause really struck home with me. He is one of the last of a generation of leaders who founded organizations and movements in the post-war era, including Bill Bright. I have the impression that my generation has largely kept the light burning after these fellows have cast the vision. The current and coming generations will have to do much more to trust God for revival. We need new ideas, new structures, maybe a break with the past. I am excited to see it coming.

A Wedding in our Leadership Team

2009-03-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

This weekend Paola and Christian were married. Paola is a Bolivian staff member and Christian is an associate staff member from Switzerland. They have been dating for a year or so. For Christian it was love at first site. It took a little longer for Paola. :)

Here are a couple of pictures, first of the bride and groom, then of the parents meeting for the first time.

You know what's exciting?

2009-03-02T11:51:00.001-08:00

I'll tell you what's exciting: Having student leaders who are growing and taking charge. I have been leading two men's groups on Monday and Tuesday every week for a year and a half. This week my two disciples, Dennis and Darling, will start taking over. I'll still be there for a while, but they're ready! Each group has 8-10 men. I'm thinking that after that, I'll start over with a new group.

I'll tell you what's NOT exciting: Jeanie just sent me a note saying that we're going to be confined to the house on Saturday, by government edict. We are in the midst of an epidemic of Dengue Fever, about 40,000 cases so far. It is a mosquito borne illness that can be very severe, even fatal (about 40 deaths so far). We are using lots of insect repellent - graciously left behind by our Christ Fellowship team from Miami last summer. The enforced closure of the city is for the purpose of cleaning up around our houses: eliminating trash and standing water that can be a breeding ground for mosquitos.

Amazing ministry, Beautiful Bolivia

2009-02-28T03:50:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip out to Comarapa, and, thankfully, our car had no troubles! That is really news after lots of breakdowns with our previous car - the Jeep Cherokee. We went out to Comarapa for our annual national Carnaval Conference for Campus Crusade. I spoke on the last day on the subject of Walking in the Spirit. The response was tremendous as more than half of the students made a commitment to a lifetime of service. Here are a few of the promised photos:

Carnaval in Monteblanco

2009-02-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Comarapa/Monteblanco, Bolivia. We are about 150 miles from home celebrating the 4 day Carnaval weekend with 270 students and families involved with Campus Crusade from all over Bolivia. It has been a great time: Great worship, good messages and lots of fun!

I'll upload some pictures when we get back to Santa Cruz and "fast" internet.

Ah, Bolivia

2009-02-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Can I share a story without seeming critical of the country in which we reside? Chalk this up to the confused foreigner who tends to view procedures from my own US lens. As Jeanie says, "it's not wrong, it just different".

Anyhow, my driver's license (brevet) was issued in 2004 and was good for five years. Since there is no mail service here and the transit department doesn't warn you that your license is about to expire, it was good that I looked at it and happened to notice that mine expires on March 4, 2009.

Ok, so I went to "Transito" to renew it. Not so fast! First, I learned that you cannot renew it until it is expired, so March 5 would be the first day that I could renew. (Which raises the question, what if I'm stopped after it expires? I would be in trouble.) As long as I was there, I asked the requirements for the renewal. Here goes:

1. Police background check. You have to request this a couple days in advance. It is a whole procedure in itself.
2. An attorney must prepare an official request for a renewed license.
3. Medical and ocular certificate.
4. copies of ID card and present driver's license front and back.
5. the expired license itself.
6. 2 photos with blue background.

Except for point one and four, the items on the list can be accomplished at "transito", for a fee in each case. The background check form, for instance, costs $4US plus about a $1.50 tip for the guy who fills it out. I know that because I just applied for the background check to be able to comply with registration requirements as a board member of our church.

So these things seem like a lot of work to me, but to a Bolivian the procedures are just a part of life. To tell the truth, I'm not sure taking a number and waiting at the DMV in Florida is any easier. I remember driving our kids around South Florida trying to find the least busy DMV office.

Election Day - again

2009-01-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, South America
http://burgin-bolivia.blogspot.com/

January 25, 2009

Dear Friend,
Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia! Today we spent the whole day at home because it is Election Day here in Bolivia. The voters are deciding whether to approve a new constitution that will have lasting impact on the country. The early results show it being approved by a 60% to 40% margin, which was pretty much what was expected. As I write I can hear some fireworks in our neighborhood celebrating the new constitution. That's a photo of our president at a polling station.

Pastors and Christian school leaders are anxious as to the impact of the new constitution on their institutions. We all need to remember that God is still on His throne and at work in the hearts of Bolivians.

We were home all day because no driving is allowed. Election Day is a good day to rest and catch up. Around midday we lost electricity, which isn’t too unusual, so we waited a while for the power to come back. I usually assume it is a neighborhood outage and the electric coop must be aware of the problem. When we were still out of power after 45 minutes, I called the cooperative and they said the problem must be at our meter. We went out to check and the breaker was flipped off. I think we got carried away in our electrical consumption. We had one A/C unit going, the electric dryer, soup cooking on the electric range and the water pump running to wash the cars, plus miscellaneous computer, monitor, tv, etc. I guess we learned the limits of our electrical system. (Anyone remember the 1960’s sitcom, “Green Acres”? )

People are still very open to the Gospel. Friday while I was still in Colombia working with staff there, students in our university ministry went to the big state university here to share the Gospel with students waiting to register. Overall, 80 students heard the Gospel using the Four Spiritual Law booklet and 40 prayed to receive Jesus as Savior.

Last night at our weekly meeting, one of our students, Darling, told about his experience sharing Christ. He has taken some good-natured ribbing in the past because whenever we go on mission trips, he seems to end up sharing the gospel with whole groups of young ladies. Can’t figure that out J. Anyway, Friday he ended up talking with 15 guys and 8 of them prayed to receive Christ! He was excited. There were several new guys from the U at our meeting, including Maxim and Juan Gabriel. Please pray for these kids as God draws them to Himself.

This week we have a group of Campus Crusade leaders from around South America here in Santa Cruz to think together about how we can work effectively with pastors and denominations in planting new churches in every corner of the continent. Please pray that God would use our time together to build His Kingdom.

Thanks for your unceasing prayer and financial support of our ministry! We appreciate you now more than ever!

Your missionaries in Bolivia,
Ron, Jeanie and Andrew Burgin

Mataburros and other repairs

2009-01-14T06:38:00.001-08:00

It is always a challenge to return to Bolivia after being away. It seems that things magically fall apart in our absence. Tires go flat, light bulbs burn out, dogs get tick infestations, etc. So... I always want to get back to the ministry, but the circumstances require me to do general "tech support" around the house.

On Monday Jeanie and Andrew came home complaining about a thumping sound in the little car. Turns out the mataburros (burro killer-sort of an additional superbumper) on the front of the car came loose and needed to be welded back in place on one side. We have a neighbor, Freddy, who is now doing body work in his yard, so I decided to ask him to take a look. (This is the same Freddy whose cow died in the field across from our house some time back. He has broadened his professional interests since then.)

Anyway, getting to and from his yard is an experience. You have to walk through the barnyard of vacant lots to get there: mean dogs, pigs, lambs, goats and lots of Freddy's relatives. They mostly speak Quechua, though Freddy and his father-in-law do Ok in Spanish as well. It has been fun to get to know them. Freddy has an arc welder and sent me on the way with a repaired mataburros in a couple of hours.

I am going to go back and offer them the Quechua version of the JESUS Film on DVD. Maybe we can watch it together. Pray that God will touch their hearts.

Home for the Holidays

2008-12-21T15:00:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! We are in Orlando for the holiday sharing a couple of apartments at the Wycliffe Mobilization Center with all of our children. We are all together at Christmas for the first time in six years.

Andrew and Jeanie had fun last night decorating a real Christmas tree and we are all having fun playing with 11 month old Wesley, Sarah and Dustin's baby. Stephen and Rachael are expecting in April. We are expecting Patty and Luke in later this evening from North Carolina.

Blessings!

Ron and Jeanie

Our local police

2008-12-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

I like to smile and wave at the folks in our neighborhood. Today I noticed a police car (whatever image that conjures up, think much smaller, much older, and with significant body damage), so I stopped and said hello from my driver side window to the officer at the wheel of the police car.

He was friendly enough, but then asked a couple of questions:
Where do you live? (around the corner)
What time do you leave for work? (around 7:30 or 8:00 am)
Then he told me, "We'll be stopping by to see you."

Now it was my turn for (unspoken) questions:
What are you up to?
What do you want from me?

From this scenario you might get a little scared about living in a police state. But that isn't what I suspect is going on.

At this time of year everyone in Bolivia gets/expects a Christmas bonus or gift basket. The police are probably expecting some kind of gift from us in return for their faithful service in the neighborhood. (Although the reason I stopped in the first place was that their presence was such a novelty.)

Anyway, we'll see what they want when they show up. They might just want $10 for gas.

Ron

Too Cute... How can we stand being so far away?

2008-11-24T15:51:00.000-08:00

This is our daughter Sarah with Wesley, all bundled up for the Washington, D.C. late fall weather. Is he cute? We'll all be together for a week at Christmas in Orlando for the first time in six Christmases, but man, is it hard for Jeanie and me to be away from the kids.

How can we do it? Well, God gives us bonuses that carry us through. On Saturday night I was taking one of the guys home after our meeting. We had never had a private conversation before, so I asked him some probing questions about his relationship with God. He had some common, but mistaken ideas about his salvation depending on his living a good life. I shared with him the sad news that he could NEVER be good enough to please God. Then I told him the GREAT NEWS that he didn't have to be good enough. Jesus made all the payment necessary for his salvation on the cross. He prayed to receive Christ right there in my Pathfinder by the side of the road. We're meeting later this week to explore some more about the "excellencies" of Jesus (I Peter 2).

Oh. Something funny. I was so excited to get back together with him that I set up our appointment for Thursday at 2 p.m., forgetting that we are going to celebrate American Thanksgiving with some friends on Thursday at 2 p.m. Jeanie would not be amused. I changed the appointment.

Ron

Quito, Ecuador Directors Conference

2008-11-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

This week I have been in Quito, Ecuador for our annual directors conference for South America. It was a great time of vision and planning. One of our big challenges is a transition of leadership over the coming year as our continental director of the last 20 years steps into a new role as "Elder Statesman" in a ministry to high level government and business leaders throughout the continent.

Here are some photos I took this week. I'm the guy behind the camera, so you won't see me. But I was there :)

Photoshop. Oh no.

2008-11-13T15:47:00.001-08:00

Every year at this time we send a real snail mail letter to our friends and supporters in the U.S. This year I decided to include a new prayer card - really just a photo with some writing on it. It is something missionaries do. Hopefully it will make it to some refrigerators and people will be reminded to pray for the ministry.

The mountain is an hour or so from our house. I love the colors on the sheer cliffs. The mountain is real. The people and the sky have been photoshopped. (Jeanie just commented that the people, although photoshopped, ARE real).

Little did I realize

2008-10-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I started a men's group for university students. It grew. The guys wanted to include girls. The group grew even more :) And the men in the initial group kept growing spiritually.

Our vision was to build the group around the Win Build Send basics of Campus Crusade for Christ, but with a special emphasis on using the JESUS Film to help pastors plant local churches. We are really seeing the fruit! This past weekend we sent 24 students and staff to Cochabamba to partner with pastors from the UBB Baptist denomination to help reach their neighborhoods with the Gospel.

This coming weekend we are sending film teams of students to Yacuiba in the South of Bolivia to work with a Free Brethren pastor to plant new groups. Also this weekend, Ever Castro, one of my key men is leading another group of 50 young people from his church to Sucre, taking a JESUS Film equipment set with them.

The joy of seeing these guys and girls go out, at their own expense, to share the Good News is tremendous! Thanks for praying and giving to make this possible!

Ron

Training in Brasil

2008-10-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

After months of planning and preparation in Brasil, we have launched a pilot project partnering the JESUS Film and the Faith Comes by Hearing audio New Testament. The project is called the End to End Partnership. This week we have been training national church planters to use these effective tools to reach people with the good news of Jesus and disciple them in small groups, embryonic churches, using the audio bible - the Proclaimer device.

Our first of three trainings took place in Northeast Brasil, in a region called the Sertao. It is a starkly beautiful region as you can see from this photograph. The people of the region are among the poorest of Brasil and among the least reached with the Gospel.

My role was to explain the vision of the project and the role of the national church planters in testing the concept over the next 10 months. If the initial test with 200 proclaimers is successful, i.e. if the church planters have a higher percentage of people who remain in the new churches as a result of the new discipleship training, the plan will be to expand the program dramatically.

Here a couple of our trainees learn how to use the proclaimer.

In the two day training, the partner church planters learned how to use the JESUS Film effectively to reach people with the Gospel, how to use the Proclaimer in follow up sessions to listen through the New Testament, how to effectively lead a small group and ask good questions, and how to monitor and report the results of their efforts. We all left the trainings encouraged and very hopeful.

Please join us in praying that God will do a great work in Brasil in the End to End Partnership.

We have decided not to participate in the crisis

2008-10-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

"There cannot be a crisis today, my schedule is already full." Henry Kissinger

The governors and the president of Bolivia continue in crisis negotiations to avert a political meltdown in the country. But meanwhile, life is pretty normal.

Yesterday our 14 student leaders gathered for the regular lunch meeting, and we are planning our upcoming mission trips.

I am leaving for Brasil on Saturday to attend a couple of training sessions for pastors. We are implementing a new strategy using the JESUS Film for proclamation, and Faith Comes by Hearing audio versions of the New Testament for follow-up with the goal of planting new baby churches. The big difference with this new END TO END Partnership is to see whether we can successfully equip national church planters to use the tools we have developed. The tools have worked well for our Campus Crusade staff, the time has come to multiply their impact. Brasil, along with India and Nigeria have been selected for the initial test.

By the way, while we are not fighting roadblocks this week in Santa Cruz, I am fighting a chest cold. I broke down today and went to the neighborhood doctor. He did the usual BP, temperature (had to remind him on that one), physical exam and the stethoscope part. After we finished he determined I needed a dose of penecillin, just in case. I got about 8 cc's in the posterior. He said I'd be fine to go to Brasil. Total office visit and prescriptions: Bs. 66 (a little less than $9). Uh-oh! I forgot to get a receipt to turn it in to my U.S. insurance carrier, Blue Cross - just kidding.

Good summary in the Economist.com

2008-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hi from Bolivia,

School was cancelled again today, although Jeanie went in to get some grading done. I ran across an article in the Economist.com that gave a great summary of the situation here. I would recommend it to you.

Blessings,
Ron

Follow this link to the story.

Back in Bolivia!

2008-09-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

All American Airlines flights to Bolivia have been cancelled for the last week. I found myself stuck in Orlando with the earliest possible reservation for Sunday September 21, but that flight itself was subject to cancellation.

The alternative I found was to travel from Orlando-Miami-Sao Paulo, Brazil on American and then from Sao Paulo to Santa Cruz, Bolivia via AeroSur, a Bolivian airline. It took 24 hours, but I'm home.

Jeanie and Andrew are fine, and the school is operating, but there is a lot of nervousness in the country. Last night the opposition governors signed an agreement to dialog with the national government and its president, Evo Morales. The agreement brings at least the possibility of a truce. Please pray that God will bring a just peace to this country.

Stranded in Florida

2008-09-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hi from Gainesville, Florida.

I am stranded here with all American Airlines flights to Bolivia cancelled. Jeanie and Andrew are in Santa Cruz with plenty of food and gasoline. The political unrest is nowhere near our house, but with things heating up, I need to be there. Please pray that a flight would open up soon for me to go home.

Ron

Here is an article from google that is a pretty good summary:

Tense, fearful feeling grips Bolivia's economic heartland
14 Sep, 2008, 0741 hrs IST, AGENCIES
SANTA CRUZ-BOLIVIA: Santa Cruz, Bolivia's most
economically vital state, was in the grip of fear and suffering fuel
shortages over the weekend as a conflict pitting it and other rebel
regions against the leftwing government deepened.

Hundreds of cars lined up in front of service stations around the
city of Santa Cruz - capital of the state of the same name - waiting
for limited deliveries of gasoline and diesel. Drivers slept for hours
in their vehicles to receive a ration of 10 liters (2.5 gallons).

Families also lined up to fill compressed gas cylinders needed for
cooking. Around the state, trucks transporting food and goods
were held up at roadblocks manned by anti-government
protesters. The unrest was also affecting Santa Cruz's airport.
Passengers arriving on the few flights still going to Bolivia during
the crisis found a blockade at the road entrance to the facility
prevented taxis from getting through.

Cellular and land telephone lines were patchy at best, with the
biggest operator, state-run Entel, badly affected by the ransacking
of its offices in the city. But with most residents of the state
backing conservative governor Ruben Costas in his struggle with
President Evo Morales, there was little overt violence.

There was, however, fear. Eugenio Ondo, a street vendor in an
indigenous district that was one of the few enclaves dominated by
pro-Morales sentiment, said the normally busy market where he
was working was "empty, no activity." "There are provocations
every day, every night," he said, as he sold a cup of caramel and
cream to a customer.

Nearby, another vendor, Jose Luis Garcia, explained that the
outlying neighborhood was being harrassed in the evenings by a
rightwing group called the Youth Union which has ties to the
governor and other opposition figures. "People are afraid that the
Youth Union will come here from the town to burn everything," he
said.

In several places around Santa Cruz, mainly Entel and
government offices, the scars of rampages that have shaken the
city this week were evident. The glass exterior of an Entel building
with transmission equipment was pocked with jagged holes where
anti-government militants had thrown rocks.

A street away, offices for "agricultural reform" were closed with
burnt furniture stacked outside and the place sealed with yellow
tape declaring entry to be prohibited. Someone had scrawled
"Evo Murderer" on a wall. Government vehicles belonging to the
office were nearby, all their windows smashed and their panels
badly dented.

The center of Santa Cruz was calm, with people reading and
sitting on benches in the main square. But around them, usually
busy shops were empty, with a few shuttered. A Christian concert
exhorting peace was the principal animation in the city on
Saturday.

A few hundred people, some clutching Bibles or flags, marched
up to the stage to hear the band appeal for an end to the violence
between tropical tunes dedicated to Jesus Christ.

Random funny event

2008-09-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I have been working away in my office in downtown Santa Cruz. My office is on the second floor overlooking the street. They are remodeling the house across the street and the guys like their music loud. There are lots of styles of music in Bolivia. I confess it can get annoying.

Two minutes ago I looked up suddenly as I heard the strains of John Denver singing "Sunshine on my Shoulders". I laughed out loud. My irritation went away!

The sound and the fury

2008-08-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

Bolivians like their music and their celebrations LOUD. There is a whole cottage industry here with home delivery of rental amps and huge speakers. Families host parties for quinceaneras (15 year old coming out parties), birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and weddings.

Tonight the sound is intense inside our house as some neighbors a block away celebrate a wedding. Now, in the U.S., we would be righteously indignant, maybe call the police, or at least the president of the homeowner's association. Not here. This is how you celebrate. I took the dog out for a walk and the hosts of the party invited me in for a drink and some dancing. I passed, but congratulated them on the wedding.

The sound thing cuts both ways. Every Saturday evening we have our campus ministry meeting in a neighborhood in town and we have pretty loud music with drums, keyboard and electric guitar on the back patio, with preaching and loud singing, 60 voices strong. No one has ever complained. Can you imagine the response to our group in a U.S. neighborhood. Every Saturday evening?

Have a great evening!
Ron

P.S.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. Macbeth, act 5, scene 5

Death of his Saints

2008-08-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The last several weeks have seen the homegoing of two precious brothers in the Lord.

Our good friend Earl Gosvenor lived a rich, full life. Together with his wife Joan, they have been a constant encouragement to this missionary and countless others. In their 70's they came to Bolivia as part of a mission team, and the children flocked to Earl's side. He was a precious man.

We saw Earl and Joan just a few days before his death and had a chance to pray with them. Death is not easy and we could see that he was weary and sorry to be leaving his loved ones. At the same time his confidence was sure. Please pray for Joan as she adjusts to her new life.

_______________________

At the end of July, a faithful missionary with the JESUS Film project in Brasil lost his life. Here is his story:

Valdi Daniel lived in Brasilia - Federal District and worked for Campus Crusade in Brazil for ten years, specifically in Jesus Film Movement, On July, 29th he was returning from a evangelistic project in Minas Gerais state, when a bus which was trying to avoid a hole on the road, hit his car in a frontal crash. He passed away immediately, leaving his wife, Luiza Daniel and his sons Tiago Daniel and Jeferson Daniel.

Valdi was a pioneer of Campus Crusade Movement in the Brazilian Northern Region, specially Pará state. He was a man that did not fear obstacles or new frontiers to spread the Gospel. He traveled a lot, always with this purpose in his heart. He called himself an "Jesus' Office Boy" [Office Boy is generally the first job a boy gets in Brazil doing all kind of things in a company, usually things no one else desires to do]. He loved personal evangelism and never lost opportunities to share about Christ. He trained thousands of Christians teaching them how to multiply, performing the same task as his.

For sure, a huge void now exists in Brazil, considering one of our warriors has left this world. Our comfort is to know that he is with the Lord, and our task is to depend on God and in his consolation.

Technology catches up with the Vision

2008-08-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, South America
http://burgin-bolivia.blogspot.com/

August 5, 2008

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Santa Cruz. We are home again after our time in the U.S. and it feels good. The house was well cared for and the dogs were healthy - covered with ticks - but healthy. School starts for Jeanie and Andrew on Monday.

Today is a big day for us: Jeanie and I are celbrating our 30th wedding anniversary. What a joy it is to see all that God has done in our lives. We are planning a special getaway to celebrate.

We are back up to speed in the ministry, working with students and the JESUS Film project. Bolivia is part of Andean South America where there are many indigenous languages. The JESUS Film has been produced for dozens of different people groups and languages. Sadly, our distribution efforts over the years have not been 100% effective in getting out to those people groups.

With the advent of multi-language DVD's, direct student volunteers and an installed base of DVD players in even the most remote villages, God is beginning to do a great work.

Over the past 4 months we have produced multi-language DVD's for Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia. The Bolivia version, for example includes 8 languages. The response to the DVD has been overwhelming. Our Campus Crusade staff have never before had masters for these languages available for duplication in their countries.

Here in Bolivia, we have a group of university students who are part of our JESUS Film movement. Some are only one generation removed from indigenous communities. I took the Bolivian DVD to my Monday Bible study with university men and challenged them with Paul's words from Romans 15:20-21 to take the Gospel of JESUS where Christ has not already been named, to make it their "holy ambition" to be a part of movements everywhere.

As the men, including Dennis pictured here with his little brother and sister, gathered around the portable DVD player, I watched their faces light up as they saw the story of JESUS play out in Quechua with Spanish subtitles. Dennis said, "I have to take this to my grandparents". Tomas, another student is from an indigenous Quechua community east of Santa Cruz and wants a copy. Cesar was fascinated: his mother is Quechua and his father is Aymara. Both languages are on the DVD. Cesar took my copy of the DVD with him to show his family. What a difference it will make to hear and see JESUS in their heart languages!

For many years we have looked for ways to take the JESUS film to the people groups. It seems that our technology has finally caught up with our vision! God has given us

missionary university students with a vision for planting groups,

a transferable technology: the DVD player,

and an inexpensive ($3) multi-lingual DVD with a clear message of hope.

For years we have been looking for missionaries to go to the indigenous groups. It turns out the "missionaries" were in universities all around us!

Please pray that God will raise up hundreds of missionary university students who will be willing to step back into their culture of origin and plant seeds of hope and movements everywhere.

Thanks so much for your partnership with us! It was great to see so many of you while we were home on our brief furlough. We appreciate your continued prayer very much.

Your missionaries,
Ron, Jeanie and Andrew Burgin

Hooray for Skype!

2008-08-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

We love Skype. We are far away, but our daughter Sarah is a faithful Skyper. Almost every day we gather by the computer for the "Wesley Show". Here is a video snapshot - the same live image we see-of our grandson from tonight's conversation. Not as good as being there, but we can't complain!

Sunday night at our house

2008-07-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

What do you do on a Sunday night at your house? We are in the middle of a couple of weeks of conferences with our national directors from all over South America. It's a quiet evening home, and I got to thinking about all the boards that the Tae kwan do team from Miami left behind. I challenged Andrew to see who could build the highest tower. Here's his effort - you can see his construction assistant with him! The last photo shows the tower in mid-crash.

Reality strikes

2008-07-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

A week into our new term in Bolivia and we are reminded of the differences between life at home and life here.

Last night on the way home from an event at around 9 p.m., we came to an impromptu police checkpoint. The officer came to the window and I showed him my various stickers on the windshield that make the car legal: insurance, inspection, third license plate sticker. He asked where we had been and where we were going, and wanted to see my driver's license. Satisfied with all of the above, he asked me to blow in his face - apparently checking for any whiff of liquor on my breath.

Such is life in Bolivia. The police can stop you any time, any place for any or no reason at all. It will never feel right. Our motto for living here is "it's not wrong, it's just different". These kind of police stops are not only uncomfortable, they just feel wrong.

The Joy of the Lord

2008-07-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

Just before we left for furlough in the U.S., I wrote about Rodrigo. He was a guy who received Christ with great joy in his heart and deep repentance. The first time he met with our men's small group, his prayer request was that God would change his life. It was hard to leave Bolivia just a few days later and hope that Rodrigo would stay involved and begin to grow in Christ.

We arrived back in Santa Cruz last week and immediately welcomed a team from Christ Fellowship church in Miami. We always involve our university students with the Americans and to my delight Rodrigo was on the list. Last night he was right up front leading the group of children as the American team played music. I thought you'd enjoy a picture of him. God is amazing!

Back in Santa Cruz

2008-07-12T10:55:00.001-07:00

I arrived back in Bolivia on Wednesday and spent two full days opening up the house, de-ticking the dogs, paying the power and phone bills, charging a car battery and buying car insurance. Whew! I guess we're ready to get on with life! Jeanie and Andrew left early this morning from Portland and, God willing, will be here tomorrow morning.

The team from Christ Fellowship in Miami arrived late last night. All the luggage arrived with the exception of a big soundboard they will need for the music team. It came in this morning, so Pastor Berch from CF and I went back to the airport in my newly insured Pathfinder to get the equipment.

After we picked it up, as we were going through an intersection, I was clipped by a truck. Of course it was 100% his fault :)

I stormed out of the car like a typical American guy and started talking? to the young truck driver. He accepted at least 50% of the blame and suggested that we drive to a body shop and get an estimate. (His suggestion in itself is pretty miraculous in Bolivia.) I was to follow him in my car, so to be sure he didn't just drive off, I had Pastor Berch (no Spanish) ride in the truck with the driver. The body shop gave us an estimate of $50 plus maybe another $40 in parts. You should see the damage. It would be $800 in the US.

Jose Alberto, the truck driver, rode with us from the body shop in my car for another quote on a part and we got to talking. I found out he and his wife have a daughter and had a baby boy who died a year ago. We talked more and I shared my story about knowing Jesus as my personal Savior. As I shared God's offer of eternal life with him, he prayed with me, right out loud, to receive Christ. We exchanged phone numbers and look forward to having coffee together.

We got back to the hotel in time for lunch. God really uses circumstances to open new conversations and new relationships. Please pray for Jose Alberto and his family.

Here's a photo of the team from Miami. Pray for us this week as we share Christ's love with lots of young people like Jose Alberto.

The Gorge

2008-06-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a family hike to Angel's Rest in the Columbia River Gorge. The trail gains 1500 feet elevation in 2.3 miles. Very steep, but worth the effort when you reach the top. I went with Andrew, my daughter Patty and her husband, Luke, and my brother Gary.
In just three weeks we'll be headed back to Bolivia and a different kind of beauty.

Back in the USA

2008-06-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirlwind furlough with both of us making trips to DC and then settling in to Oregon for several weeks of visiting family, friends and supporters. I thought you might like this picture of Jeanie with Wesley, our first grandson.

Back in the USA

2008-05-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have been in the USA for a month travelling from Miami to Washington, D.C. to Iowa to Portland to Seattle and back to Portland. Jeanie and Andrew arrived on Monday and will be in Portland with me on Friday - At last!

I went to Seattle last week and spent time with my sister, Patty and then a group of great folks who came with a mission team to Bolivia in 2006 from Grace Community Church in Auburn. The photo above is of Patty and me.

I also went to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It would be great to take our college group in Santa Cruz:

High School in Bolivia

2008-04-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

This year Andrew is enrolled at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center, the mission school in this part of Bolivia. There are around 240 students in the high school, about half Bolivian and half missionary kids. This weekend was the big Junior/Senior banquet. At SCCLC, everyone is invited. Here is a picture of Andrew with his proud parents.

Talita Cumi Board

2008-04-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Since the earliest days of our work in Bolivia, Jeanie has been involved with the Talita Cumi Children's Home. Last night we had the board over for dinner on the occasion of the visit of some friends from the U.S.

Talita Cumi is home to 30-35 orphaned or abandoned children. They learn, perhaps for the first time, how to live as part of a family. They learn about God's love for them and have constant encouragement academically, emotionally and socially.

This is a photo of the Talita Cumi Board for 2008. That's Jeanie seated on the left.

Finding Christians in the USA

2008-04-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago one of our JESUS Film student volunteers, Saul, left for the University of Arkansas on a Fulbright Scholarship. Saul comes from a humble part of Santa Cruz, Plan 3000, where he lived with his mother. He is really a great guy who wants to know the Lord more deeply.
He wrote to me after a week in Arkansas and told me that he was a little lonely. I called Jason, a Campus Crusade staff member in Fayetteville and asked him to invite Saul to their weekly meeting. The U.Ark. CCC Campus Director, Tim Casteel, wrote back and said that Saul had a great time.

Here is what Saul wrote me today:
"First you have to tell me how you knew? (that I attended the CRU meeting at U. Ark.) Well I am going to tell you something about the meeting, it was really good, approximately 150 young people, they have a band, and there is just one word to describe it, it was awesome. Besides, a preacher came from Oklahoma, and he was really funny explaining the gospel. Furthermore they talk about their next trip that they are going to have to Thailand, they do the same things that we do in Bolivia, and I felt like if I was in Sirari. It’s wonderful to see many people around the world that are adoring the lord, different cultures, different languages, but they are looking for the same like us in Bolivia. Thank you for being in contact with me, sometimes I feel alone, and its good to receive news from Bolivia. Please say hello to everybody in the group and God bless all of you."

I am just so thankful for God's people around the world. Please pray for Saul as he works to adjust to life in the USA and as he continues to grow in the Lord.

Ron

Random Paragraphs

2008-03-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hi from Bolivia,

Can I give you a few random thoughts about life in Bolivia this Sunday?

We finally sold our 1994 Jeep Cherokee. It was a real problem. Never-ending maintenance. The good news is that I sold it to the mechanic who worked on it, so I have a clear conscience. Not the kind of car you would want to sell to a non-mechanic friend.

We bought a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. (That's Andrew and Frisky in front of the car. Frisky is a Bolivian Terrier. Really.) The Pathfinder started life in Massachussetts and was imported a couple of years ago. I have no illusions. It is an older car, but the engine runs well and Japanese cars have readily available parts here. I am thrilled to have a more reliable (I hope!) vehicle to haul kids around in. Last night I took four university students home over very rough roads and we did well. By comparison, with the Cherokee, you just never knew when it might break down!

We are very thankful for Skype. We get to see Wesley (our new grandson) in real time video. I think being a missionary in 2008 is very different from being an overseas missionary in, say, 1908 or even 1988! Wesley's blog is very cute: http://babyhanks.blogspot.com/.

We had a great group last night at our CCC campus ministry meeting. Around 70 people came to the regular weekly meeting, including some family members and several new university students. We are seeing some new leaders forming. Very exciting things! Last night we had a very significant time of praise and worship. God was glorified!

Bolivia is still in turmoil. This time the central government is trying to control cooking oil prices by banning exports. The domino effect: Vegetable oil producers cut production>Truckers are out of business>farmers are stuck with crops they can't sell>farm workers are without the daily income they need to survive. Terrible. Here is a post from the usually "progressive - somewhat leftist" Democracy Center that is really pretty balanced and will give you a more complete picture, if you want to take a few minutes to read it: http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/2008/03/bolivia-notes-on-divided-country.html

This afternoon, Andrew and I worked in our storeroom, the one we built 2 years ago when we moved in. We saw tell-tale sawdust that told me we had termites. (None in the main house, as far as we know). We tore out all of the shelving and threw out everything made of wood or cardboard or paper, then swept it out and FOGGED it. We'll see if it works!

Other than that, Sunday is a great day to just relax, read, watch a DVD episode or two and get ready for the next week.

Talk to you soon,

Ron

La Niña Rains continue

2008-03-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

This morning we awoke to the sounds of heavy rain again. Shortly after we got up we received a call from school that classes had been cancelled for the day because several classrooms and the lunch room were flooded. Andrew and I headed down to see if we could help. Roads from our house to the highway are very washed out and the highway itself was under a foot of fast flowing water. Pumps are working at the school, but until the rain stops, they won't make much headway.

Here's a picture of the dirt road in front of out house. The house itself is high and dry. We left the neighborhood on another street :)

Baby Wesley

2008-02-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

Jeanie just got home yesterday from three weeks in Washington, D.C. for the birth of our first Grandson, Wesley Paul Hanks. I was there last weekend and, with the help of a new camcorder took a few videos.

Here is some video - probably more than you want to see, but not near enough for his grandparents!

Ron

Carnaval and Baby

2008-02-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

Hi from Santa Cruz!

Today through Tuesday is Carnaval in Bolivia. It is a wild time when it is best to stay off the streets, unless you don't mind being pelted with water balloons, or worse, balloons and water guns filled with paint or indelible ink. Since I have to go out to pick up a friend at the airport, I am following the lead of the buses and taxis. Can you see a car under this mud? The idea is that the ink and paint will wash off with the mud.

Meanwhile in cooler, calmer Washington, DC, Jeanie is with Sarah and Dustin taking care of little Wesley.

New Grandson

2008-01-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

Jeanie and I are now Grandparents! Wesley Paul Hanks was born at 2:33 PM, Saturday, January 26, 2008 in Washington, D.C. He is 8lbs. 12oz. and is 21 inches long! The proud parents are Sarah and Dustin Hanks.

January newsletter

2008-01-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

The pounding rain started about a week ago and has continued for several hours every day since. Everything feels damp. Children play in muddy flowing streams. Cars and taxis break down in deep water. Hidden potholes "swallow" the undercarriages of vehicles large and small. The poor neighborhoods always suffer the most. This picture was in our local newspaper this morning. Please pray for the people here and especially for the pastors and Christian brothers and sisters who are struggling with the high water.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, are experiencing scenes like this (photos from El Deber newspaper):

This is a photo of Andrew's school today. I got a call this morning that the rising water had moved into some classrooms. The principal closed the school at noon for the rest of the week. Please pray that the buildings suffer little damage and that classes can resume next week.

The ministry continues in spite of the rain! Today Daniel, one of our university disciples and JESUS Film volunteers left for Argentina. He is going to live with his aunt and uncle in Tierra del Fuego at the very southern tip of South America. He is going in search of a job to be able to help his parents and sisters here in Bolivia. There is no Campus Crusade in Tierra del Fuego, and God has given him a vision to start a ministry among students there. We loaded him up with materials and a lot of prayer. Please pray for Daniel as he heads out in the power of the Holy Spirit to help connect lost people to their creator.

I took Jeanie to the airport this morning to travel to Washington, D.C. to be with our daughter, Sarah as she and Dustin expect our first grandchild. Her due date is January 26. We'll keep you posted on the progress. Please pray for Sarah and Dustin as they await the birth. Please pray that WESLEY will be born strong and healthy.

Jeanie and I love you and value your partnership with us.

In Christ,

Ron, Jeanie and Andrew

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31-32