Technology catches up with the Vision

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