The Burkholder Beacon

June 2007

Dear Praying Partners,

Matthew 28:20 says “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”The teaching and training of new believers is an important part of Jesus’ command to “go and preach the gospel.” We rejoice that 6 souls were saved in the last two months, and we also praise the Lord for the following ministries which have taken place to fulfill the second half of the Great Commission:

Bible Institute- The Bible Institute is a ministry of the local church in which students have home-study books, come together regularly for review and testing, and remain active in serving in the local church. The Katesh church celebrated its first two graduates, Elijah and Ester. Elijah has been serving as the assistant pastor since the church was started, and his wife Ester is now overseeing the scheduling of the children’s ministries. Please pray for this young couple as they commit to serve the Lord in the local church full-time in the months to come. Praise the Lord for a new group of 7 students who are starting the Bible Institute this month. Please pray for the training of these future leaders.

Evangelism Seminar- In order for the church to grow we have seen the need for new believers to be taught and trained in the area of personal evangelism. Praise the Lord for 15 people who attended a half-day seminar on how to lead people to Christ using the Romans Road, Wordless Book, and Evangecube. Most importantly they learned the importance of personal evangelism and how to share the Word of God with their lost family members, neighbors, and friends. Those who attended really enjoyed the teaching and have already started to use what they learned in their daily lives. Please pray for local believers to know and obey their responsibility to be salt and light, and that through this the Lord would build and strengthen His church.

Revival Meetings – Every June is the month set aside for youth camp, however this year the plans fell through and camp has been postponed until December. However, we were able to plan a mini-camp or revival meetings for June 22-June 24. We will have morning sessions at the church, afternoons in town doing evangelism and visitation, and in the evenings we will have open air meetings in the large field beside the TRUTH Center. Please pray for these meetings and also the follow-up in the weeks to come on decisions made.

TRUTH Center – The TRUTH Center construction is continuing well. All the walls are now completed and the roofs are going on the buildings. There is excitement in the church and the community about the completion of this project. Praise the Lord for the way that He has provided for this project so far. Please continue to pray for the $10,000 still needed to purchase the furniture, supplies, and equipment which will be used at this ministry center.


Your missionaries in Tanzania,
The Burkholders (Steve, Natalie, Hannah, and Caleb)

P.S. Don’t forget to check out more ministry news and pictures http://burkholders.blogspot.com/