Happy Birthday Joe! The Big 5-0!

Celebrating Joe's 50th birthday with family and friends!

In another 10 years, he'll be middle age !

The Barcelona boys with Alissa and Vanessa!

Adalberto and Rich cooking Carne Asada with our neighbor Ed looks on.

Lori and Doris. Doris made the mango salsa and salsa fresca! Good Stuff!

Erica's great aunts, Rachel and Joann, made the trip down from Palm Desert,CA
along with Dean and Joy.

A thousand thanks to Erica and all who made this a genuine fiesta.
And those to all who came to celebrate with us!

We Celebrate His Resurrection!

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen!”

Luke 24:5-6 NIV

We've added Nevada to our list of visited states.

We are only missing Hawaii. Maybe we can stop over there on our way to Australia!



create your own personalized map of the USA

Back home for a while!

The Burgan's have returned to Mexico after several weeks in Palm Desert, CA with Erica's great aunt, Rachel.

She is doing well, by the way, continuing to grow stronger everyday. God has greatly moved in that she has had virtually no pain through this whole process. Her sister, Joann, is in from Pennsylvania to help with the driving until Rachel can remove the next brace. We enjoyed the opportunity help out around the house.

We are all well. We had a delightful time with Roy and Michelle Pike from Australia. Roy had been raised as a baby by Erica's Grandma Niehaus. Erica hadn't since him since she was 2!

Burgans with the Pikes in Algodones.

Just to give you all a heads up, we are planning on a road trip this summer. Tentatively, we will be leaving Mexico around May 22 with Memphis, TN as our first stop. I am hoping to publish a newsletter with a more definitive itinerary with the next two weeks - the paper and the stamps have already been purchased!

We are hoping to have a yard sell at the end of the month. Basically to eliminate one of the two storage units we have but also to help with the costs of traveling. The Father has already been more than gracious in supplying more than we could hope! The van needed a new water pump and new tires and God supplied! We are so grateful for you who choose to invest in us and the work of the Kingdom through us!

BTW! I did want to let you know that if you use Windows, Microsoft released a series of patches yesterday to fixed security problems in Windows and Internet Explorer. Run Windows Update today!

Here's a picture of Cody and Alissa building a lake in the backyard.

Be blessed!

Pray for Mexico and its national elections this year!

Faith healer protects Mexican presidential hopeful from enemies
Associated Press

VERACRUZ, Mexico – A faith healer known as the Black Wolf brushed basil plants over the face of Mexico's front running presidential candidate on Sunday to protect him against his enemies.

The leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador went through the so-called “cleansing” ritual while campaigning in the southern Mexican town of Catemaco, which is a famous center of faith healers and alternative spirituality.

“I'm defending a just cause that gives me great spiritual and moral strength. This is no more than a cleansing to protect me against any circumstances,” Lopez Obrador said in front of a rally of about 5,000 supporters, who were mostly peasant farmers.

Many Mexican artists and intellectuals go to Catemaco in March to receive cleansings from faith healers such as the Black Wolf, whose real name is Lucio Escobar.

Lopez Obrador, who is the favorite to win the July election according to most opinion polls, has accused his political enemies of plotting to destroy him.

On Sunday, he said his adversaries will not defeat him.

“Nothing will happen to me because good always triumphs over evil,” he said.

-Click on the header to read the entire article.-

Obrador has been the front runner for president of Mexico. The "faith healer", Black Wolf, is in the city of Catemaco, known for its "Annual Gathering of Witches", is where this presidential candidate went for a so-called "cleansing" ritual. It is known as the witchcraft capitol of the world! As the leadership goes, so goes the country! Pray for Mexico, its people as they vote and its leaders! - Joe

Protestant churches gain ground in Mexico

Chris Hawley
The Arizona Republic Mexico City Bureau

In the United States, an influx of Mexicans is transforming Roman Catholic churches. But in Mexico, it's Protestants who are on the rise, led by evangelical churches like the Universal Kingdom of God Church, which runs the Sanctuary of Faith.

Protestants accounted for 8 percent of Mexico's believers in the 2000 census, up from 2.3 percent in 1970. Their numbers are growing 3.7 percent each year, twice as fast as the Catholic population, according to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Processing.

The churches are winning converts through a mix of social programs, charismatic preachers and stirring music.

Christmas Care Packages for Nigeria

Cody and Alissa participated in a program from "Voice of the Martyrs" to send Christmas Care packages to the children of men and women who had been killed for their beliefs in Nigeria. Since 1999, more than 10,000 Christians have been martyred in that country.

VOM readers funded more than 11,000 Christams Care Packs for the Nigerian families. Nearly $600,000 was donated for this outreach that touched many widows and fatherlss children.

To the right is a sample of a 180-page Gospel book distributed to Pakistani people. Click on the picture to see it larger.

Pictures from Tahoe!

Playing pool at the Embassy Vacation Resort!
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Cody and Alissa sliding around at almost 2 miles high!
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You can see most all of the 26 miles of Lake Tahoe from here!
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Ice Skating, too!
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Alissa builds her snowman!
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Cody and Alissa at the top of Heavenly Mountain - 9,123ft.
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Thanks to Great Aunt Rachel for taking us along with her for a great trip!

The Gondola to the top of Heavenly!

Alissa's turn on the slide! 

Cody sliding on his belly! 

At the base of Heavenly (That's the name of the ski resort!) 

South Lake Tahoe - Tubing! 

Lake Tahoe, CA

We have been blessed with a trip to Lake Tahoe with Erica's great aunt, Rachel McKinney! Check back for more pics this week.

Steelers Win Super Bowl XL

Photo by Peter Diana / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2/6/2006)

I don't know if God is a Steeler's fan, but I know He hears every prayer!

Just in case you didn't know...

Recommended reading: End of the Spear

The sequel, if you will, to "through the Gates of Spendor" is entitled "End of the Spear".

Description:

Steve Saint was five years old when his father, missionary pilot Nate Saint, was speared to death by a primitive Ecuadorian tribe. In adulthood, Steve, having left Ecuador for a successful business career in the United States, never imagined making the jungle his home again. But when that same tribe asks him to help them, Steve, his wife, and their teenage children move back to the jungle. There, Steve learns long-buried secrets about his father's murder, confronts difficult choices, and finds himself caught between two worlds. Soon to be a major motion picture (January 2006), End of the Spear brilliantly chronicles the continuing story that first captured the world's attention in the bestselling book, Through Gates of Splendor.

From Publishers Weekly
In this heartfelt memoir, Saint writes about growing up with the Ecuadoran tribe whose members killed his father in 1956, and about taking his wife and teenage children back to Ecuador in the 1990s to live among them again. Many of Saint's readers will be familiar with the spearing deaths of five American missionaries by Auca Indians a half-century ago, a story recounted by Elisabeth Elliot in Through Gates of Splendor (1996 revised edition). Saint, who was four years old at the time of the murders, adds to that familiarity with this account of his deep, familial bond with his father's assassin. Specifically, Saint debunks myths about the tribe. He explains that Auca, which means naked savage, is a derogatory name given to the tribe by outsiders, and that they are actually called the Waodani. While he does not dispute that they were vicious killers before they converted to Christianity soon after they murdered Saint's father, he takes pains to help his readers understand what led the Waodani to their murderous worldview. In a long passage, he tells the story of the 1956 murders from the Waodani perspective. Most of the book is devoted to his latest experiences with his Waodani family. Although Saint is not a very accomplished writer, his voice is authentic and humble, and his story will undoubtedly inspire many. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In theaters, starting January 20th, 2006.

Go here to see the web site for the movie.

Behind the scenes look at the movie.

Interesting site from Every Tribe Entertainment.

Every Tribe Entertainment Home Site.

Recommended Reading: Through the Gates of Splendor

If you have not read it yet, it is about time to do.
In Through The Gates of Splendor, five young men dared to make contact with a stone-age tribe deep in the jungles of Eduador. The Goal was to establish communication with a people whose only previous response to the outside world had been to attack all strangers. The men's mission combined modern technology with innate ingenuity, sparked by a passionate determination to get the gospel to a people without Christ. This new edition of the book offers fresh information about subsequent developments in Ecuador and in the lives of the five missionary familes that began in autumn of 1955.

The story is also available on VHS or DVD.

"Beyond the Gates " is a feature length documentary film experience about the Waodani Indians and the missionary men and women who have given their lives to reach them. This powerful emotional journey begins with the Waodani describing their way of life before the missionaries visited them in 1956. Narrated by the son of one of the missionaries and each of the wives of the men who died, the audience takes a nostalgic trip back in time to see how the men and women came to meet up with each other in Ecuador, An inspiring story of forgiveness and love.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2006!


But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isa 40:31NKJV

May this new year find you mounting above the storms,
running the good race,
and walking in integrity
as you rest in He who is our all in all!

Christmas 2005 in Palm Desert, CA!