Burwell Bulletin

Chuck & Jan Burwell                             December 14, 2011

14 W. Fiesta Green

Port Hueneme, CA 93041-1820

( home   805-283-6500

( Chuck 805-452-4424

( Jan      805-665-7193

* theburwells@yahoo.com　     

Merry Christmas to our Friends & Family,

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Thank you so much for praying and partnering with us as we seek to mobilize workers to join our Christar teams.

We pray that this Christmas season you will hear His wise counsel, will experience His mighty power, will be comforted by the Father’s loving arms, and will have a heart filled with peace that surpasses understanding.

Updates, corrections and answered prayers

     We praise the Lord that a young lady from New York has been accepted as a short termer with Christar to work for one to two years in the Ube Lighthouse church.  Her goal is to get there in January or February and she is just starting to do support raising.  Please pray for Claudia and pray also that we can recruit another missionary to work with her.

     Praise the Lord for special donations to our account at Christar that has put us in the black for two months in a row.  For the first time in over two years we are no longer running a deficit.  Thank you for giving and praying.

     In our recent email bulletin we shared about 52 new Hindu background believers in India but we found out that actually they are in Bali, Indonesia and came to faith through a local church there.  Christar missionaries have been asked to help with discipling them.

     This is an update on Pastor Youcef in Iran that was just reported this week.  “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Iran to release a Christian pastor facing death due to his faith in Jesus.  Nearly 200,000 Americans have signed a petition for the US government to intervene and help gain freedom for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.  In calling for Nadarkhani’s unconditional release, Clinton said Saturday, “Today, we call on every government to release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, including Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.””  Your prayers are working.

    

 Mobilizing Missionaries

     Since early September, Chuck has visited CIU in Columbia, SC, been to Biola twice, Corban in Salem, OR, and also to Master’s College, Azusa and to two Asian American missions conferences in LA.  Jan accompanied him on all but the CIU and Corban trips.  We are seeing a number of folks sign up for short term trips and it looks like Christar will have an above average response this coming year for short term trips.  But our department is still at half of our goal for getting long term applications for service.  Please pray with us to see many more mobilized.

Japan ministry update

     Pastor Uchida’s mother recently believed in Jesus but unfortunately his father passed away in November and did not indicate that he was a believer.  Please keep praying for their family to be comforted and provided for.

     Another one of the saints, Mrs. Teraoka, passed away in late October.  She was around 87 years old and we first met her when she came to an outreach piano concert by Sam Rotman back in 2004.  It took a few years but she eventually believed the gospel and was a great blessing to the church.  She is pictured here with her daughter-in-law when we visited Ube this May.  Pray that her son and daughter-in-law would believe some day.  They insisted on a Buddhist funeral.

     The Lighthouse church also had a cooking class outreach event in November and the participants including the Uchidas and Weinhofers are pictured here.

     The four gospel choirs did a combined concert as a tribute to Maria Sato, the director who passed away in April of this year.  We just watched the DVD of the concert and they really did a super job.  Of the 80 or so members of the four choirs, somewhere between 15 and 20 are Christians, so we all need to keep praying for them.

     Chuck is planning to lead a team of college students to Japan next year, if the Lord wills, so we ask prayer for the right ones to apply.

     Miyoko Oki, mother of Ayaka the little girl who survived leukemia,  is really struggling and in need of the Lord’s saving grace.  Please keep praying for Miyoko

Local and Family news

     Pastor Yamamoto and his wife are doing well and still trying to find a meeting place in the Thousand Oaks area for a Japanese small group meeting.  They are also continuing their ministry at the Japanese church in Santa Barbara.  We were able to participate in their Christmas outreach to UCSB and SBCC Japanese students this month.

     We have also been helping with the 2^nd and 3^rd grade Sunday School at VMC this fall and it has been a lot of fun.  We are amazed at how much spiritual food these little minds can absorb!  Pray we can recruit some future missionaries here!

     We were blessed for ten days in November with a visit from Chuck’s 88 year young mother who came out from Louisville, KY and also spent three weeks with her sister in Phoenix.  She did great and we had a wonderful time.

Burwell Blooper

     Jan and I(Chuck) were recently getting work done on our cars so we would drive to the mechanic and leave one car and drive home.  Then the next day we drove to pick one car up and drop the other one off and as we drove home I said to Jan, “Why are we both in the car together going both directions?”  and she says, “What do you mean…..Oh my gosh! I could have stayed home!  We are losing it!”  Ah, the blessings of getting old.  At least we had a nice ride and a good laugh together.

Summary of Prayer requests

1) For Claudia to raise all her support to go to Japan

2) For another female applicant to join her in Japan.

3) That we would have 14 more financial supporters join our regular support team (we gained one last month).

4) Pray for freedom for Pastor Youcef and the thousands of others around the world who are jailed for their faith.

5) Pray that Christar can double the number of applicants we currently have for 2012.

6) Pray for God’s comfort on the Uchida family and for the Lighthouse church to grow in faith and numbers.

7) Pray for Mrs. Teraoka’s family to believe.

8) Pray for the unsaved choir members and English students to understand and believer the gospel.

9) That God would put together a team of students to go to Japan with Chuck next year.

10) For Miyoko Oki to be saved from the spiritual oppression that she is in.

11) For the Lord to provie a meeting place for the Yamamotos and the Japanese group in Thousand Oaks.

12) For our ministry to the 2^nd and 3^rd graders and that they would all know the Savior and grow in His grace.

Thank you again for your precious prayers and gifts.

Merry Christmas and love to you all,

Mrs. Teraoka and her daughter-in-law

Gospel choir - in memory of Maria Sato

Jan at Biola

Lighthouse church cooking class with Weinhofers and Uchidas

Japanese outreach Christmas party in Santa Barbara

Chuck's mom with Melissa, Liam, Jackson and Justin in back, Nick , Megan and Brooklyn in  front

 Home Office

Christar

PO Box 850357

Richardson, TX 75085-0357

800-755-7955

: www.christar.org

Burwell Bulletin - Nov. 12, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.

I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me 

from all my fears."  Ps. 34:3,4

We thank you once again for your precious prayers. The Lord has answered!

You prayed for our trips to Biola, Corban, Azusa, Masters and the two 

Asian American events.  We were able to share in three classes at Biola and

around 7 classes and seminars at Corban and talked with dozens of students

at each of these locations.  We are now in contact with many of these folks

who are very interested in missions.  We need you to keep praying for them

and us as we guide those who are pursuing missions to get their applications

started.

The second big answered prayer is that there is a young lady applying for 

a two year short term ministry with Christar in Japan and she would work and

live at our former church plant, the Lighthouse Ube Christ Church.  Please 

pray that she can get her application finished soon, and get to Japan by the

end of January.  Pray for her support raising also.

The third answered prayer is that apparently Pastor Uchida's mother is 

believing in the Lord now!  Please keep praying for his father, who is not yet

believing and is suffering from terminal cancer.  In fact he may only have a 

couple of months left.  Pray also for the Uchida's to have strength, hope and

encouragement as they labor for the Lord and desire to see more fruit.

A fourth answered prayer is that our son, Nick and his wife have finally been

able to close the deal on a house in Goleta.  Its a fixer-upper so please also

pray for us old hired hands that get to help :)

The fifth answered prayer truly is a miracle of the Lord and due to your prayers.

We reported that our support account has been in the red for over two years. 

As of November 1st due to some very special donations, our support 

account is in the black!!  Thank you, thank you for your prayers and gifts.

We are still in need of about 15 more regular monthly financial partners in 

order to stay in the black on our support account.  Thank you for praying.

Other ministry news and updates

Christar has many teams around the world, working in remote and least

reached Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim people groups and they are crying out

for more workers for the harvest.  We have about 45 new Christar members 

that are still trying to raise support and finish their preparations to go to the fields.

Would you please pray that each one of them gets out to their target area?

Christar is also organizing short term trips to 12 different countries in 2012 and

some of these are in partnership with colleges we have been recruiting at.  There

could be anywhere from 50 to 100 people combined in all these trips.  Please 

pray for godly, humble and teachable students to sign up for these trips.

We heard a big praise from our India field that recently there were 52 Hindus 

that accepted the Lord and are in need of discipling!  That is the kind of 

problem we wish we had in all of our fields.  Again, please pray for more workers.

As of now, we have one more recruiting trip planned for this year and that is to Biola

again from Nov. 14th to 16th.  AC and Teresa Acosta, Christar missionaries from

the Philippines will be accompanying us there.  Please pray for much fruit from

this visit.  Pray also that we can stay healthy and energized.  Chuck has been

on the road for 38 of the last 65 days. 

Other Japan updates

Several non-Christians have been attending outreach events like craft classes

at the Lighthouse church.  They are having a cooking class on Chinese cooking

on Nov. 18th which will be taught by a short term missionary from Christar's 

Hong Kong field.  She is a Chinese citizen, ministering in Japan for about a month.

Please pray for spiritual fruit from this class and her time in Japan.

The workshop training for choir directors was well attended and very well received.

Please pray that a director or two will rise up from one of the choirs in or near Ube.

Chuck is hoping to lead at least one group of students to Japan next year and 

possibly a second trip somewhere so please pray for wisdom and God's 

provision and enabling.

Summary of Prayer requests

1) For many to apply and go out as missionaries with Christar and others

2) For the 45 who are already accepted and raising support to soon be at 100%

and headed for the field.

3) For many to be raised up for short term trips in 2012

4) For the young lady applying for a two year short term trip to Japan

5) For Pastor and Mrs. Uchida to be strengthened and encouraged and for the

salvation of his father.

6) For God's hand of protection, provision and guidance to be upon us and our

children and grandchildren.

7) For 15 more financial supporters to join our team and help us to get more

workers out to the most needy areas of the world.

8) Please pray for those 52 new Hindu believers and that all of our fields 

would be fruitful.

9) Please pray for the short term worker in Japan now with Christar and for

Chuck to be able to lead a team there in 2012.

10) Please keep praying for the salvation of English students and choir 

members in Ube and for a new choir director to rise up.

Thank you for your precious partnership with us and taking the gospel to 

the 3.5 billion who do not have a witness among them.

With love and prayers,

Chuck and Jan

Mobilizing at Azusa

Mobilizing at Evangelica Free Chinese Church

Mobilizing at Corban College

Burwell Bulletin-brief update Oct. 3, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for the prayers and encouraging notes over the weekend.

We just had an update from Pastor Uchida.  He says he does not expect his father to live

much longer so to please pray for his salvation.  His parents now live with Pastor Uchida's

family and have been attending church with them when their health permits.

We would also appreciate prayer for Miyoko Oki to have healing and comfort and salvation.

We can't share any more details but we know she would value your prayers.  Her daughter

Ayaka continues to improve and gain strength.

We don't have any more updates on Pastor Youcef in Iran so we just ask for continued 

prayer for his release and for the protection of his family.  Pray for strength of all the 

believers in Iran too.  Estimates are that there are as many as 300,000 Iranian believers

around the world now, with many of them still inside the country.

Thank you for praying for Nozomi Samura (Sammy) Fujita.  She says her wedding was

all she had dreamed it would be.  We added a picture of Nozomi and her new husband

and also one more picture of some of the Ube gospel choir members.

May His grace and love fill your hearts,

Chuck and Jan

Gospel choir- Noriko, Naoko, Kiyomi and Chisato

Miyoko and Ayaka Oki with Chuck

Pastor Yousef and family in Iran

Nozomi and her hubby on their wedding day

Burwell Bulletin

Dear  Friends and Family,

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."  Ps. 37:3-4

     These are some favorite verses of ours that we saw proved to be true as we trusted in the Lord and dwelled in the land of Japan for many years.  He gave us the desires of our hearts; a planted church with a ministry center and dozens of very special Japanese friends.

     Now as we dwell and trust in the land of California, we are beginning to see our desires come to fruition.  There are many positive developments and answered prayers that we would like to share with you this week.

Mobilizing Missionaries to plant churches among the least reached peoples of the world

     Three of our desires have been (1) to see our home church send out more missionaries (2) to see more missionaries go to Japan and (3) to help Christar mobilize missionaries to plant churches among least reached people groups in about 30 countries world wide.

     Praise the Lord that our home church, Ventura Missionary, has recently sent out a single man to the Thailand-Burma border, a couple to Mexico and in the fall is sending a single lady to Guatemala.  Missions giving has also increased and we are very excited about how God is once again stirring hearts for missions at VMC.

     About a week ago Pastor Uchida (Lighthouse church in Ube) asked us to start looking for a short term (one or two year) missionary to come to Ube and teach English to replace the Weinhofers who are going on furlough next year.  (They will then move to another city to do an internship in a cell group church.)  One of our contacts who recently graduated from college is very interested in this opportunity in Japan.  And we have a number of other contacts who are planning to go to Japan eventually.  They won't all go with Christar but we are still rejoicing that God is replenishing the aging missionary work force in Japan.

     Thirdly we are receiving more and more inquiries from people wanting to work with the least reached in China, Holland, Spain, Turkey and other places.  As you can imagine, it is a huge step of faith to decide to go into missionary work so these people have a lot of questions and we need a lot of wisdom as we interact with them.

Japan ministry update

      There have been many answered prayers in Japan and we want to share some highlights with you.

      The Hikari church plant has had some children recently put their faith in Jesus and the indigenous church we first worked at in Hofu has had a bit of a revival lately and will be baptizing three believers between now and December.  One of them, Mayumi Taneda, was in our youth group in Hofu back in 1996 and her mom has been a faithful church attender for over 20 years.  You just never know when those seeds are going to sprout!

     We are also excited about the news that the Ube gospel choir will be transitioning into the Hallelujah Gospel Family.  However they have not yet secured a director or found someone to train as a director in the Ube area.

     Pastor Uchida also reported that a number of English students are showing more interest in the gospel. Pastor Uchida's parents have also made the transition to living with them at the church parsonage and they are attending church each week.  His parents are not yet believers.

Local and Family news

     We recently met with Pastor and Mrs. Yamamoto and they were not able to work out a ministry arrangement with their former church in Camarillo so they will continue leading the Japanese congregation in Santa Barbara and may start a new house church for Japanese in Ventura County somewhere.  For the time being it looks like we will just assist them with special outreach events.  Please pray that many of the un-churched Japanese folks in our area would be reached and also pray that the Yamamotos would receive some new sources of support.

     Thank you for your many prayers for Nick and Megan and the birth of our granddaughter, Brooklyn Elizabeth Burwell.  She arrived on July 13 and weighed in at 8lbs 14 oz.  Like her cousin, Liam Wilkins, born in April to Melissa and Justin, she is growing like a weed, but cute as a flower.

     In August we will help a bit with the Child Evangelism Fellowship booth at the Ventura County Fair and then take a couple of weeks off to enjoy our kids, grandkids and the S. California beaches.  During that time Jan's sister Edie will also visit us which we are really looking forward to as well.  Then in September the crazy travel schedule begins again.  Pray that we are rested up and ready!

Summary of Prayer requests

1) That we would meet many prospective missionary candidates

2) That we would have wisdom as we interact with them
3) That we would mobilize 10 folks for short term missions in 2012
4) That we would mobilize five folks for January and another five for the June orientation with Christar
5) Wise use of our time as we set up visits to colleges, seminaries and missions conferences.
6) Spiritual growth and maturity for new Christians in Japan
7) For the relief efforts in Tohoku Japan to bring not only relief but hope, joy and salvation to the people
8) For the Ube English students and choir members to put their faith in Jesus
9) For a gospel choir director to be trained for Ube city
10) For the Yamamotos to reach many of the un-churched Japanese in Ventura County
11) For good times of refreshment and planning in August.
12) That the Lord would provide us with about 15 more financial support partners.

Jan's mom at 100 with Melissa and her great grandson Jackson

Noboru Nishimura and Chuck in April 2003

Nozomi "Sammy" Samura - Nozomi means "hope"

Beach Boys at Ventura County Fair

Thank you again for your precious prayers and gifts.

Love and thanks to you all,

We have been having a great time with our children and grandson, Jackson over the holidays. Here Jan is helping out with some yummy veggies as Jackson gets distracted by the camera.

Chuck and Jan in Japan

Welcome to the new blog for Chuck and Jan Burwell. We hope to keep you up to date on our work here in Japan and post pictures on a regular basis.