15 January 2002
Church of Christ 1109 Lassen Street Vallejo, CA 94591-4836 Dear Brethren & Friends From 14 February to 13 March, 2002 we plan to be in Papua New Guinea teaching our third set of classes of “Training Toward Maturity.” Our teaching strategies continue to change because of research and help from TTM students and Ohio Valley College (OVC) faculty members. We are satisfied that our material is growing to meet the needs of preachers and church leaders in PNG where our classes keep getting larger. It is good to note that our TTM students pay for their expenses to come to class, provide their own room and board and do the assigned homework. Their eager response is encouraging to us. They are blessed for it. The classes for TTM will be about the “indigenous” church. We have been requested to present lessons on this topic because some students come to Melanesian Bible school, study and finish and then wait for foreign support to send them back to their villages. It has been said that some are in Lae right now waiting for support.The plan is to begin with a review the use of the reference system in the Pidgin Bible. It is important that our students learn to use this system for all of their studies. I think many of you use it and know how valuable it is in digging out biblical information. The rest of the week we will study about the structure and work of the local congregation. As you know, a congregation that has no goal will not make progress. Growth as in numbers, in spiritual growth and the structure of the church. For two days I plan to study about “money.” It must be one of the crucial topics because several workers have asking me to raise funds for them. What disturbs me about that is that the requests come from congregations that have had years of opportunity to raise funds for their workers but haven’t. The ladies in TTM classes asked for some special help. They are eager to share God’s Word with others, but are encumbered by developments in their country. The government is less stable now than ever before and is unable to control a growing law and order problem. Too many who were once on foreign money are angry because their support is not maintained. Materialism and spiritualism is so intertwined and strikes at the core of tribal and family stability. It would be so wonderful if generosity and knowledge for missions could be combined within the hearts of our brethren. Women have their sphere of influence and they teach their children and others. They have not neglected to support the preaching to other tribes. During our third teaching session we will address these problems. Two special women are going with us this time. Patricia Vann, with her eight month old son, A.J., and Rachel Hyde and her seven month old daughter, Eliza, are also going. (All appropriate precautions have been taken to assure a safe trip for the mothers and babies.) What are these two women and their babies going to add to the growth toward maturity of women in PNG? Much! Their unique talents give substance to their desire to serve God. Patricia is fluent in Pidgin. She is a role model to the Christian ladies she is preparing to teach. Those who will come to Lae or Goroka will see two young women, who are nursing babies, being responsible mothers who are eager to serve others. Patricia and Rachel’s faith and courage encourage me to do a better job. They will inspire the ladies in Lae and Goroka. Rachel understands cultural diversity. She is a Christian wife and college student who right now is helping us produce our visual aids. She is also putting the orientation packages together that will be used by those who will go with us in the future as teaching partners. She and Patricia, along with Sandy, will take the ladies during the break out sessions and show them how to make teaching charts. They will share some special lessons from God’s word. In our teaching it is important to us to use only aids and methods that can be reproduced by our students. Since most of them live in remote villages, all supplies must be simple and inexpensive. They will be making teaching charts and lessons on sheets of material. Rachel and Patricia are raising their support for the trip. See if your congregation is able to contribute. Each is looking for about $ 500.00 more. Contact us for more details on this. Stephan is buried at sea. Some of you asked about the scattering of our son, Stephan’s ashes. We did that in December. Thank you for your prayers during that difficult and necessary step. On Thursday morning, December 27th, 2001 on a calm and beautiful ocean in Monterey Bay, California, we finished the task. It was a task we did not want to do. It was, for Fred and me, a way another realization that Stephan is dead. The event told our hearts of the finality of death. All of us had agreed to scatter the ashes, near Mom’s house, in the ocean that Stephan enjoyed. It is the ocean that flows between our home in the USA and our work in Papua New Guinea. On that Thursday morning the six of us (Alyce Thompson, Analemma Burrows, Aaron and Patricia Burrows,Fred and I) boarded Captain Dan Mercer’s sail boat. It was eight o’clock. The ocean was calm and the boat slipped silently out of the harbor and headed toward Lover’s Point just off Pacific Grove. We watched seals and sea lions and pelicans enjoy life in the beauty of God’s creation. We sat with heavy hearts talking about Stephan. It occurred to us that had Stephan gotten up early on the holiday morning and gone out on a boat - he would have been going fishing, laughing and having fun. He enjoyed life. Even though he loved to have fun he knew how to balance between the seriousness and joy of life. It was a gift Stephan brought to any relationship. I so miss his joy and his teasing. He must have learned his teasing from his grandfather, Otto Thompson, who was a master of it. Stephan said that it was his “job” to keep this family from being too serious. He did his job well. When we lose the balance between the seriousness and fun of life we need Stephan. After Fred scattered the ash the boat circled the spot three times. In the center of the circle the water calmed. Fred shared his thoughts and feelings about our Stephan with the group. Tears flowed and our hearts were pressed with a terrible sadness and pain. We all marked the spot by tossing a flower into the water. We circled the spot, the resting place where the ash disappeared and the flowers still floated. On the third pass I tossed Stephan’s Australian hat into the water. It was his hat, his mark of distinction. A brown Aussie hat. Some who didn’t know Stephan’s name knew the young man with the Aussie hat. They knew the kindness of the gentle young man known as “Mr. Math,” or “Dr. Who.” We said good bye, not a final one though. We hold the hope in our heart that we will see Stephan when he comes with Jesus on a cloud. We will have a reunion with Christ in the morning of Christ. Thank God for letting us have Stephan for 28 years. Sandy Says: It is, of course, a busy and exciting time for us. As we prepare for substitute teachers to take our classes here at Ohio Valley College and prepare to teach in PNG. It has taken more time in getting tickets this time. But I think I really like the challenge of “surfing” the internet for the best price. Cost of travel has not gone down and with Air Niugini the ONLY air carrier to fly into PNG, those prices stay up. All our tickets are here, the visas are completed and suitcases laid open to catch all the little things we don’t want to forget. Several of the “student shoe-box kits” have arrived in PNG. The students who received kits last time were delighted. They were the ones who walked for 6 days to get to class. The McKee family of Stockton, California, and the Yreka Church of Christ supplied several student kits. (THANK YOU SO MUCH) The 100 baby blankets are a special gift sent by Bright Angel Church of Christ in Las Vegas, where Nancie Strobeck (Fred’s sister) attends. Many other things are coming with us on this trip and several things have been sent. Several boxes of Bibles were provided by the members of the church at Turlock, California. A Dukane projector was given to us by Bruce Logue, of Lodi, California. Alyce Thompson (my Mom) is making Bible covers for those students who did not earn them last time. The congregation at Mountain Lake Terrace in Washington, where Patricia goes, collected many useful but small items for making Sunday school material for women of Melanesian Bible College, Lae. Special Gifts to go ... come from so many. But the students at Ohio Valley College are actively participating in several ways. The “Women for Christ” are writing letters of encouragement for the female students. Each one of our women in TTM classes will receive at least one letter from a not so “secret sister” from OVC. The elementary education majors are making “math kits” for several of the teachers in the church at Lae and for some in the villages who are teaching without any supplies. Our academic advisory committee is sending “us” over with better material and careful preparation in the design and class delivery of the material. OVC teacher, Jo Pennington, brought her sewing machine and had some of the students help us sew hems on 86 teaching charts to take this time. The Terry’s, Harrison’s, Pennington’s, Rachel Hyde, and Bowen’s have been valuable to us in the development of the material AND in accepting us into their life. Being a visitor, and temporary staff isolated us from the daily social and professional relationships that happen naturally in a work place. People are busy with their work, life and family. We understand that and accept it. Being on the outside looking in is part of the role and work in PNG. The isolation is a part of the missionary’s life. But we needed to belong and be part of our own society. They have helped us in many ways acceptance is a big issue. We have also appreciate the letters, notes of encouragement and the many things you have sent to help us reach out to the TTM students with exciting Bible courses and teaching materials. Thank you for all that you have done in helping us grow TTM. Survey the next step: We have looked on the last three TTM trips for a good place to set up the TTM center of operation. We want to be very careful in this decision. It is important not to interfere with the growth and development we see in congregations in PNG. They are learning to do without the presence and money of missionaries. This is good and needs to continue without the dependance starting up again. Several have advised us to settle in a near-by country and continue to travel and deliver TTM courses. So we are looking at the effectiveness, cost, health and social issues of all the possibilities. We have several things we need to add to the course work as the classes advance. It will be important for us to be able to do the traveling, material development and balance our spiritual and physical needs so we can continue doing this for a long time. We are prayerful about this decision and ask for your prayers also. We are very thankful for your continued financial support. Our economy seems to be uncertain. Yet you have shown continued interest in the work we do in PNG. We thank God for that. May God bless all our work in His kingdom. In His Service, Fred & SandyRelated pages:
By Fred and Sandy Burrows | AUSTRALIA-OCEANIA | Papua New Guinea
