Burgess Road Baptist Church

March-April 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends & Supporter,
 
Greetings from the tropical Islands of the Philippines! I pray you are well and blessed!
 
While I know a few of our friends and family in the US are still getting snow, here in the Philippines we feel the onset of summer heat. Fun Fact: Actually it is always hot in the Philippines; we just have different degrees of heat.
 
We praise and thank God that our family is blessed with good health for the most part. I, Annalisa, did have to take it easy for a month after suffering a torn muscle. I am doing so much better now and happy to be back on my feet. Odek still suffers from bouts of hyper acidity but we praise God that it has not affected the work of the ministry.
 
Sam & Eliza are growing up fast. We are so proud of Sam who is now 14 and has stepped up in the ministry. He is now teaching at his Saturday Feeding Center.
 
Sam has also been able to preach several times during Chapel Hour at School. Eliza sings solos in the children choir. She also loves to have the little toddler girls of Subic Bay Children’s Home spend the night with her. She told me that she is their little mama.
 
PROJECT DORCAS

Our program of feeding undernourished children for 200 days is on its 72th day. We have seen a drastic change in the children’s weight and appearance. Currently there are 4 Centers with a combined count of 200 children enrolled. That does not include our seven Saturday Bible Clubs where we also feed over 300 children a hot meal prior to Bible study. With the 200 day program we aim to build the children’s immune systems and of course curb their hunger by feeding them a nutritious breakfast five days a week. The children also have a weekly character trait that we teach them throughout the week and a daily bible study centered around that character trait. The children are picked up on Sundays and also brought to church. Through the Project Dorcas/Feedings our Sunday School has grown tremendously and we can no longer safely accommodate the children. We are now in the progress of building a New Sunday School Building with 6 rooms. The Lord has provided the funds to begin construction and we are trusting that he will continue to provide until the project is complete!
 
Dorcas Project 2022

Our God is truly an Awesome God and a God who transforms lives! Pictured here are brothers in Christ, Police Officer Sayson and Rodel. A mere 3 years ago Officer Sayson arrested Rodel during a buy bust operation. Rodel’s wife, a faithful Christian continued faithfully praying for him. As soon as Rodel was freed from jail he began faithfully attending church with his wife and not longer after was saved and baptized. Officer Sayson is a product of our Philippine National Police weekly Bible Studies.
 
On December 17, 2021, 8 days before Christmas, the southern part of the Philippines was hit by super Typhoon Rai, locally named Odette.
 
The future “Balay Silangan” will be a rehab for drug pushers. During the stay of convicted drug pushers I will be holding bible studies there together with my bible students. I am looking forward to this new prospect of ministry opportunity.
 
In closing, we always want to thank you for your love, your prayers and support. I also want to add, now that the Philippine government is easing up on regulations in connection to Covid, I’d like to extend an invitation to you. We would love for you to personally come and see how the Lord is working here in the Philippines and how your support has a tremendous impact for God in the lives of so many people! If you are interested please get in contact with me and I will answer to the best of my ability any questions or concerns of yours. Email me (Annalisa) at: kids@sbchome.onmicrosoft.com
 
Once again, Thank you! Thank you so much for enabling us to spread the good news of salvation and share the love of God in a tangible way!
 
In Christ,
Annalisa Valbuena
 
314 745-9419

April 2022

Qué está pasando

 Praises

• Safety in travels
• Church to serve in
• Obtaining needed training

Prayer Requests

• Witness opportunities and gospel to go forth here and abroad
• Maintain our support level
• Permanent housing
• Partners

1 Peter 4:11

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
 
Does my speech and my action point people to the Savior? Everything boils down to words and deeds. If I’m a man of the book my speech and actions will reflect that. My talk and walk will match. In and of myself I am nothing and have nothing. If I have anything good in me it’s because of the grace of my God. If I have any abilities or talents it’s because they’ve been given to me from above. If I have been given any of these it is for the sole purpose of using them to serve others so that God alone gets the glory.
 
March was crazy busy for us. We started off by meeting some of our Costa Rican partners in Okeechobee, FL for a couple of days. It was so good to see Pastor Chavarris and his family and get an update on how their ministry, Campamento Bereca, is doing and the plans and progress of the training center there. We met with our partners, the Caldwells, in Lake Butler, FL and spent the day getting to know one another and fellowshipping. Bro Caldwell is a builder by trade and recently surrendered to go all in for Jesus. We had to drive our Jeep 2 hours to Tallahassee, FL for a physical inspection. When our Jeep arrived from Costa Rica it did so with no paperwork and there was no way to get any. Our shipper subbed out to a guy who subbed out to a guy and no one knew what the other was supposed to do. Insert much prayer. We thank God it had been in Florida before and we had proof of that so the DMV took that into consideration, but then still had to travel 4-1/2 hours to our county of residency to get it the title and tag work done. We did get to see our family and go to our grandson’s birthday party, so sort of a multipurpose trip. We are still hunting for a permanent house to rent or buy. The market here is at an all-time low inventory and seems the whole country wants to move here. We know God has just the right place for us, in His time, as he has many times before. For now we hop from one Airbnb to another and look non-stop for our own place.
 
We have found a great church in the area to serve in and work out of. It has really been a blessing already for our family as I travel and will be away from home quite a bit. I’ve been working a lot on my prerequisites online for courses necessary for our new commitments. Last week our team was in Englewood, FL for our CERT basic training course. Three days of classroom slides and presentation. At the end of this week we travel to Pensacola, FL for our train the trainer courses. This will allow us to properly train response teams in churches in the Caribbean Islands and Gulf states.
 
Much interest in the training center has come up in the last couple of weeks. There are interests in South Florida, Haiti, and the Philippines and heard of another yesterday in Nicaragua. The need to train men in vocational and practical skills seems to grow more all the time. We want to continue in these areas as God leads and provides. Most places in the world do not have AAA or a handyman network, especially on the mission field. As one pastor told me a while back, 75% of the missionary’s day is spent just surviving. He can thrive with a toolbox full of know-how and be a blessing to those he is ministering to. Help us to continue getting the skills to those who need them.
 
In our travels and transitions we seem to have lost some partners along the way. We do understand and are grateful for those that were with us for a while and those that still are. Our heart is to continue in the work God began and expand and reach into other areas. All of that takes prayers and giving and going. It won’t get done without all three. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns or more details on our current work. We are thankful for what God continues to do in and with us through you.
 
In Christ,
Kevin, Sonya, Beth and Jon McCoy – your missionaries to the Caribbean

Email: Mccoysincostarica@yahoo.com
Kevin 850 777-0097       Sonya 850 698-1694

April 2022

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for your faithful prayers and faithful financial support.  God’s faithfulness is evident and we are thankful for the many ways that He is at work in Honduras.
 
At the beginning of March, Cori and Blake were able to make the quick trip to Florida for the first visit with the endocrinologist.  This was a very profitable trip and, while living with a chronic illness has its ups and downs, the doctor was able to give us many helpful resources and we feel like we have a good plan.  God has supplied for our needs in this as well in that one of our supporting churches sent us a love offering that covered the trip’s expenses.
 
Later on in the month our team received a visiting teen group from Nebraska and together with volunteers from our church we were able to work on the building project of a sister ministry about 45 minutes away.  The work that God is doing in Honduras is multifaceted and we are thankful for all the missionaries faithfully serving Him to advance His kingdom among Hondurans.
 
Also a major highlight in March was our annual missions conference at church.  Even though we are on the mission field, it is so important to maintain a vision for reaching the outermost parts of the earth with the message of Jesus Christ.  We had a wonderful spirit and good attendance for all 3 services.  There were a few newer members at church who said this was their first time being introduced to the idea of impacting world missions.  We heard wonderful testimonies from 2 Central Americans who are missionaries going to other parts of the world.  Just like last year’s conference, it is very exciting to get to be a part of supporting the nationals that God is raising up.
 
Here at the end of April, we will be headed back to the States as a family.  BIMI (our mission board) is hosting an enrichment conference for all Central American missionaries.  We will also take advantage of this time with quick visits with both sets of grandparents, a follow up with the endocrinologist, and reporting back to 2 of our supporting churches.  It will be a whirlwind of a trip, but we are excited and expecting God to use it.  Please be praying for traveling mercies and that God would reinvigorate us through the fellowship.  Life and ministry in Honduras is moving on at a quick pace and we are in need of His strength and empowerment through it all.  Thank you again for your prayers and support.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continued spiritual growth in the church family.
• For wisdom as we grow in our understanding of Type 1 diabetes,
  and how to best help Blake.
• For traveling mercies while we are in the States.
• Renewed strength as a result of the BIMI Enrichment conference, and time with family.

In Christ,
Nate and Cori, with Mykenzie, Grant, Blake and Savanna