TWO SIDES

You know the saying that there are TWO SIDES to every story. Recently, in Asia we took a taxi from the airport to our apartment. Now, honestly speaking, almost every taxi ride in Asia has been a positive experience. However, on THAT day, the taxi driver was cold, and appeared unhappy and his words were not kind. We really were taken back by his behavior.

Now just thinking about that experience makes a lot of things run through my head . . . Did WE do something to upset him? Does he not like foreigners? Did he have a run-in with someone that made him angry? Is he like this all the time? Was he abused growing up? Who knows! The truth is as our daughter often says, this is not always about ME! There are at least two sides to every story and lots of information that we do not know, and then there are SCREENSHOTS  that really don’t define us but are just a moment in time. However, one thing we do know is that God calls us to LOVE even if they are our enemies. So since most people are not our enemies and we are to love them too, then the options for loving people are pretty endless! That is a CHALLENGE!

That’s a lot of food for thought. So no matter how our day goes or what kind of response we get from people, it is an opportunity for us to be kind. You know the saying, “They’ll know we are Christians by our LOVE”.

We are thankful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving,

Robert and Donna Burris

 

 

♥ Compelled by LOVE ♥

I do understand that the Bible says that people will know that we are Christians by our love. However, it’s not always easy for me to figure out exactly how that plays out. BUT, sometimes that kind of LOVE can just hit you in the face.

Recently, among our friends, a young couple, originally in the church, divorced. They have two small children, ages 2 and 3. It was a very difficult and unfortunate divorce with lots of financial difficulties involved as well. Of course, there are two small children involved.  Even extended family members were stressed to consider caring for them for many reason including illness. But you know, when someone is drowning . . . you do what you can. So one of our church pastors and family took the little girl, and yesterday the 3 year brother was delivered to their house. We don’t know the outcome of this situation, but just like the example I used for someone drowning, these two children are in a tough situation.

Please pray for these parents to come to Christ. Pray for the extended family also to put aside anger and loss of face in order to experience restoration. Also pray for the church family as they attempt to maneuver these very treacherous waters as they look for ways to care for these two children and other hurting families in the community. As far as I am concerned, this is definitely one of those LOVE stories that let people know we as Christians are compelled to love.

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us I Corinthians 5:14a

♥ THE CALL ♥

So what is our call as Christians? The Bible says it so well . . . They will know we are Christians by our LOVE.

A picture is indeed worth a thousand words. We are sooooo grateful for the ministry of our SE Asia partners not only to Hokkien but beyond as well. The elderly, children, the poor, the sick, families, etc. are all beneficiaries of the love shown through our SE Asia partners.

Thank you so much for praying for us and sending words of encouragement. Check out the video below. It absolutely will melt your heart.

 

HOLY MOMENTS

As I write this blog after returning from SE Asia,  I am deeply moved to see how God is working among Hokkien people. As we traveled through SE Asia, time and time again we saw God’s fingerprints in the lives of people who were transformed. Major answers to prayer. We are so proud of our partners across this vast area as they continue to pay the price to share the love of Jesus in their communities AND beyond. In one fishing community there were about 120 who attended our evangelism banquet. Once again, this was beyond our expectations. People prayed. People served. People shared. AND God always is at work. What a God we serve. Here’s a little glimpse of Robert preaching in Hokkien. Thanks soooo much for your prayers. Hot weather. Health issues and always spiritual warfare. Your prayers mean everything.

Then as we moved to Singapore, once again God was on the move. There were 13 churches across Singapore who joined hands and hearts to make this event possible. What a great testimony. The Bible tells us that people will know we are followers of Jesus by our love. We are so thankful that these workers were one in Spirit to form a committee and find a way to make this happen. There were a total of 3,100 people attending the two events with 108 people praying to receive Jesus. Thank you so much for your prayers. You are a part of the team.

As we think about the beginnings of the vision to reach Hokkien and see a Hokkien Harvest . . . words cannot express our joy and absolute amazement to see what God is doing. What an awesome God we serve. At the end of the rally as people came forward to receive Christ, it was indeed for me A HOLY MOMENT. However, on this trip there were many HOLY MOMENTS. I couldn’t help but shed tears. God has done so much more than we could ever imagine. He really is alive and well — Lord increase our faith. Here are just a few of the photos from some of these events. Stay tuned! There’s always more to come.

KEEP PRAYING

Thanks so much for keeping up with us. Your prayers are a real life line for ministry among Hokkien people. Within this last year we have asked you to pray for a new building for our ministry on a fishing island in SE Asia. Well, one has been located and resources provided, and we are waiting for final approval. That is already miracle. Sometimes there are glitches along the way so we ask you to pray that all will go well with this process. The building is surrounded by other religious groups that are local. It certainly is evident that spiritual warfare is a real thing among the people there. Please pray for our team there… that all will go well and it won’t be long before they will be able to complete the purchase and move into the new building. You are so great to pray with us about these matters. Thanks for joining us on the journey.

Robert and Donna Burris