Christmas Greetings! Dec., 2010
It is hard to believe another year is fast grinding itself into the dust called history. As we look back on the past 11 months we see times when we doubted God, or our trust wavered, but in every case God was faithful, and He has brought us through another year. We do want to express our thankfulness to you, also, for standing with us by your prayers and through your sacrificial support to our lives and ministry. May God bless you richly this Christmas season!
Remembering Christ’s birthday at this time of year is so important – where would we be without the grace and salvation that He brought! However, all that food and all those sweets from the parties make it very hard to maintain healthy eating habits. We skipped our mission party a few days ago, choosing instead to spend those hours freezing in a cold wind as we watched our daughter, Haley, playing soccer. Florida has been very cold the last few days with nighttime temperatures dropping to freezing or below and another cold front is coming through. Haley will graduate from high school in May. Please pray that she will have wisdom in what her next step in life should be.
Lord willing, our son, Cody will start A and P, or aircraft mechanics in January. He will be going to school in Jacksonville, FL, which is about two hours from home. Please pray for him as he starts this next chapter of his life. He needs to find an apartment there, a job to help with expenses, and a good church. He has a car, but sometimes it is worrisome, at least for his parents- we want him to be able to get back and forth to class everyday, and we hope he will come visit us now and then, too. His car is a KIA with BMW emblems both front and back, compliments of the previous owner. Sad to say, it is still like the KIA that it is!
Our daughter, Heather, graduates December 17 from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Space Systems Technology. In February she will travel to Columbus, Mississippi, to start flight training, paid for by her Uncle Sam. Please continue to pray for her as she enters a very secular world far from home. She has worked so hard to get to this place in her life and we are very proud of her.
Phil continues to get things ready for the volunteers coming in January. With their help we will complete all the kitchen remodels in the big building this year. These apartments are lived in by the missionaries who live and work here in Sanford, whose ministries make it possible for mission work to continue in remote corners of the world. When not at the mission school Jackie has been spending part of her time in the field ministry office. She has recently begun helping some of our computer gurus on a project. She is looking up Bible towns and place names in 3 different languages so they can be part of the software used by our missionaries for chronologically teaching the Bible to tribal people. It is a slow and painstaking process but she feels like she is getting something accomplished that will be a useful tool for our missionaries. Did you know that Bethlehem in Spanish is Beth-lehem; in Portuguese: Bete-Leém and in Indonesian: Betlehem? In any language, it is the place where our Savior came to earth in order to redeem all mankind – what a beautiful story that every tribe, nation and tongue needs to hear!
We participated in our church’s, “One Night to Remember” – a drive through nativity that tells the true meaning of Christmas. Though he doesn’t consider himself an actor, Phil was roped into being a Wise Man because they said he was the only one tall enough to fill one of their costumes (I think they liked his beard, too). He did it last year and found it to be fun, so volunteered for the part again this year. Jackie was a greeter and Cody helped out with traffic control.
Again we thank you for your prayers and support. We pray you have a joyous Christmas season as you remember the birth of our Lord.
Your Missionaries,
Phil and Jackie Burns
Phil and Jackie
Phil and Jackie Burns
www.ntm.org/phil_burns
New Tribes Mission
www.ntm.org
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