Saving it for others

I watched the end of The Lord of the Rings again last night. Those of you who know the story will understand all the details, but that isn't necessary to understand the point. If you haven't read the books or seen the movies, I would recommend them. They were dedicated to C.S. Lewis and the point of it all is that good will triumph, even when it seems impossible. As Frodo is boarding the ship to leave Middle Earth he tells a friend, "I did all that to save the Shire, but not for me." Frodo did indeed suffer and toil greatly to save the world of man, but then left it.

The thought occurred to me that often times that's what Gospel teachers and preachers do. They suffer with people, teaching them, counseling them, loving them, seeminly for nothing. But some years later they hear that this brother or sister has become a real power for good, or at least is now faithful and strong. During our 8 years in St. Croix we baptized over 70 people, but only a few of them are still in St. Croix. The rest have gone to Dominica, or Miami, or St. Thomas, etc. Many of them are still faithful and are real assets to the work where they now are, but the church in St. Croix doesn't receive the benefit.

Truly our job is to sow the seed, whereever we can. If we receive any benefit from it, that is wonderful. But even if we don't, God does and that is all that really matters.

Tol

Hurricane Dean in Dominica

I spoke with one of the brethren in Vielle Case, Dominica last night and although they had a lot of wind and rain, they are all right. The crops--bananas and plaintains were all blown down, which means they are lost, and some roofs were blown off, but there doesn't seem to be any severe damage in Vielle Case, which is on the north side of the island (straight across from the "beak" on the north end).

I haven't been able to talk with the brethren in La Plaine (just south of this line of type). Regular phones are down, but cell phones seem to be working so I hope to raise them today.

By early next week we should have a better assesment of damage and needs in Dominica. Other than one couple who are "retired", the brethren in Vielle Case are all farmers, so the loss of their crops will hurt them for close to a year. It takes 9 months for a banana tree to bear after it has been planted. Most of the root crops take at least 6 months to produce, so they will need some help. If you're interested in helping, e-mail or call me and I'll let you know when I know more.

Tol (787) 998-2098, tolburk@gmail.com

Hurricane Dean

As the satellite photo shows the eye of Hurricane Dean has now passed Puerto Rico. It is cloudy here, but it has not rained since 6 AM. I don't know how much it rained here on the north side of Puerto Rico--the only time I heard it was at 6. It is still a little windy, but we didn't get very much of that even. We didn't even lose power. We thank God for His care for us.

As the first hurricane begins to approach, we begin getting supplies so that if it does hit we have what we need. So Tues. we bought bottled water, flashlight batteries, candles and more canned goods than usual. We also filled up both cars with gas, as well as the generator. I then trimmed palm fronds that were touching the house, cleared the debris off the roof (we still have a dead a/c compressor up there, but I left it too), gathered up light things in the yard, etc. Because it became obvious pretty early that it wasn't likely to hit PR we didn't have to bring the lawn furniture, bbq grill, plants, etc. inside--one time in St. Croix our bbq grill kept blowing back and forth down the porch. It's a big job preparing for a hurricane and requires several days.

After the first "scare" we are now more or less ready--we will keep the supplies until the end of Oct., then use them up. We can say we are prepared to meet a hurricane. It feels good to be prepared, but the worst that would likely happen in a hurricane is that we would lose our house and stuff, maybe even our life (to put this into perspective Hurricane Hugo severely damaged 70 % of the houses in St. Croix but only 21 people died).

Are you prepared to meet God? If you're not and die, you will lose alot more than physical life. The ASV translates 1 Tim. 6:19, "lay hold on that which is life indeed"--a reference to eternal life in heaven. Obviously then, the opposite of that, eternal destruction in hell, would be the loss of well being indeed. You CAN rebuild after a hurricane but once you die you CANNOT prepare yourself to meet God.

Are YOU ready?

Tol

Bible study in Puerto Rico

We just finished a Bible study with our neighbors tonight. It was our third study and they are right with us thus far. They bake cakes, and I don't mean Wal-mart type cakes, for weddings, birthdays, graduations, etc. They are unbelievable and this is the way they support themselves. The cakes are usually delivered on the weekend, so they bake and decorate them on Wed. & Thur. so Monday or Tuesday is the best night for us to study. They had two different groups coming today to discuss their cake and they were scheduled at 3 PM and 5 PM, so they would be gone before 7, so we could study.

When we got to their house they warned us that the couple from 3 PM had still not come and was coming any minute. They insisted we start the study, which we did. Sure enough, about 10 minutes into the study, here they come. They invited them in and they sat down in the living room (10 feet from where we were in the dining room). We then find out that the couple wants to wait on his sister, so they are invited and come into the dining room and enter the study. We continue to study and just as we are at the next to the last scripture his sister arrives. So instead of studying with 3 people, we studied with 5.

In the States, this study would have probably not happened this week, but here not only did we study, but we studied with a young couple (soon to be married) who we did not expect at all. She at least was attentive and we pray the seed was sown and may one day bear fruit. I left a copy of the lesson with her as well as the sister. So when things don't seem to be working out like you expect, don't worry it may be even better than you think.

Tol

"Life is hard . . ."

The photo on the left is from one of the universities here in Puerto Rico. It says, "Life is hard, prepare yourself well." Of course, their point is that you need a college education in order to prepare yourself for life.

While I wouldn't disagree with the importance of education, particularly a college education, these days there is something even more important--education about God and His Word.

Life is hard, not only are there real dangers/troubles/calamities, but there are also so many possible dangers. How does one face the hurricanes, devastating illnesses, personal tragedies, etc. alone? At those moments when we can't go on by ourselves, God is there to help us, whether by means of our brethren, or however.

Life is hard. Are you preparing yourself?

Tol

The church in La Plaine

This is one of the Bible classes from vacation Bible school in La Plaine, Dominica last week. So far as I know, none of these children attend services with the church there. Elkin studies with the parents of some and they visit occasionally, but as of yet they are not Christians.

The church here is composed of less than 10 members but has an attendance of close to 20 most Sunday mornings. They also meet on Sun. night, then Tues. and Thur. nights as well. Tuesday night is Bible class but Thur. night is "What's your question?"--Elkin entertains any and all questions and tries to provide the Biblical answer. Attendance at most of these services is 10-12. Among those who attend are several Haitian immigrants, so the service is in English and Patois, the broken French that was spoken in Dominica earlier and which the Haitians understand. Last Thur. I was answering questions and one of the Haitians asked me a question in Spanish, so I answered it in English and Spanish, so that service was trilingual.

There is good potential here. Many of the younger people have rejected Catholicism and to some extent the charismatic movement, but they are still confused--they know that some things are wrong, but they are not sure what is right. A woman named Ucille is typical--she has studied with the 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses besides us. She finally told the 7 days not to come back, but she is still confused, as you can imagine. Elkin continues to have 30 or more studies a month.

Please pray for the brethren here. Although few in number they are growing, although not as fast as they would like.

Tol