Dear friends,
Warmest Christmas Greetings from all of us to you this holiday season. I think I say this every year, but one of the things I missed the most when we were in Papua New Guinea was the cooler weather during the Christmas season. (Apologies to you guys up North—this is a Texan speaking.) This year, it seemed to take FOREVER for the cooler weather to finally get here—we had highs in the 90’s throughout October but we’ve been enjoying some cooler days finally, although our winter temps are still above average, and we have yet to have a freeze.
Visiting the Rittersbachs, fellow reps serving in the Pacific Northwest
Scott and Terri Sasaki, long time friends from PNG home on medical in Washington
A quick couple days in Canada where we were able to visit the Chells and the Hadeens, long time coworkers in PNG
It was a busy, but fruitful, Fall as far as ministry was concerned. In September, we were able to visit fellow missionaries and several former coworkers from PNG in the Pacific Northwest. Following that, I was able to attend missions conferences at UMHB (Belton), Baylor, East Texas Baptist, Louisville (KY), Houston, and here in College Station as well. We also hosted a few events with Texas A&M students: two “Into the Buddhist Mind” events in November as well as a Missions Night with a Freshman leadership group on campus. All of these events enable us to connect with students (and sometimes others) interested in missions. A good bit of time after each event is spent in following up: texts, emails, and in-person conversations with these interested individuals.
Gaining Perspective(s)
You’ve heard us mention on more than one occasion the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class that we have had a lot of involvement in over the past few years. One of the biggest tasks this Fall has been coordinating our local Perspectives class here in Bryan/College Station. The class will actually take place in the Spring, but the Fall is the time for recruiting, promotion, and planning this multi-church, multi-mission effort. The Lord has been so faithful to raise up a great team to help put this on, people from a variety of churches here in the local area. We are expecting well over 100 students, including many first-language Spanish speakers for whom we will provide live “in-ear” translation (a first for our class this year). Your prayers for this effort are greatly appreciated!
Another activity related to the Perspectives class is coaching alumni from around the USA (online) who have taken the class and are looking to find their “next steps” with the Lord after being challenged by a fresh understanding of God’s heart to reach all peoples. This “Next Steps Network” of mission organizations, including Ethnos360, provides coaches to help students from around the world determine their place in God’s mission! We not only get to coach some of these alumni but also serve on the Next Steps Network leadership team to provide direction and orientation for new coaches just joining the network.
Family Update
Cara and Braden: College graduates!
The biggest news on the family front is Cara and Braden’s graduations from Liberty University this month! In early December, we travelled up to Lynchburg for Cara’s pinning ceremony and then helped drive them back down to Texas as Cara has taken a job here in Bryan/College Station as an ICU nurse! Braden is looking to get a job as a medical scribe at the same hospital and is working on his prerequisites to get into medical school in the next year or two! We are proud of their hard work and dedication and are very happy to have them back close to us.
Meanwhile, those granddaughters are all kinds of fun, and we enjoy them being here in town with us. It was a blessing to have all the kids and grandkids here together a couple of days before Christmas for an early gift-exchange and celebration. What a blessed time!
Thank You and Merry Christmas
Thanks for your faithful prayers and giving to this ministry over the years. As we serve in our 29th year with the mission, we are floored by the faithfulness of God’s people (YOU!) to keep us ministering year after year. Thank you for all that you do for us!
Thank you also to those of you who were able to join the Telegram prayer group. It was encouraging to be able to send updates during my travel season this year as I went from conference to conference having your prayers behind me. If you are interested in being a part of this group, you can download the Telegram app on your device (from Google Play or iPhone App store) and then use this link here to join. It’s an ongoing experiment, but so far it has been working fairly well. Thanks for praying with us in the various opportunities we are able to take part in, to see God raise up laborers for the harvest!
Merry Christmas to you all and your families, and may God bless your 2025 with fresh vision and hearts renewed daily by His love!
With grateful hearts,
Neil and Becky Burleson
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