Hi Friends,

Enjoy the latest News update from  Andrea G Burgess, serving in Nicaragua.

Summer’s Over…

July was a great month, ushering in the rainy season again, so the landscape has changed from the brown and golden hues to many incredible shades of lush, rich green.

The mountains and valleys are now flourishing, and look breathtakingly beautiful. As I look around I am filled with the wonder of Creation all over again.

As most of you know, the Lord lead me to a new ministry, New Life Re-nutrition Center in Managua, Nicaragua.  I have been presented with many different kinds of ministry opportunities, covering a wide range of ages and needs. New Life is similar to the previous home, in that it is an orphanage for children from birth to six years old.

This is a snapshot of what my new ministry involves: One afternoon I took one of our babies, 4 month old Diana Gabriela, to the hospital for an appointment and she ended up being admitted, so I stayed there with her overnight. She was released after a few days but still needed 24 hour care and isolation from the other children, so I was honored to be able to take her back to my home and care for her there. She is doing much better now with her new family and in a private home setting but she still needs our prayers for a complete recovery which may take a while.

On another occasion, I was asked to care for a newborn called Danny, for a few days while his mother recovered in the hospital after having a C-section. He was so cute, with a birth weight of 15 lbs! Ouch!! He was bigger at 3 weeks than Gabriela who was already 4 months! Chunky Monkey, beautiful little (big) boy!! J God makes us all so unique!

I enjoy taking the children out whenever possible to introduce them to new environments, and have had fun especially taking them to church with me, then out for lunch as a treat afterwards. Check out the photos for our July birthday party too!!! Too cute

Another highlight of the summer:
My dear friend and sister in Christ, Kathy Bolton, returned to Nicaragua for her second visit. She served with a medical team for a week, and then she spent an entire week with me. God’s timing is perfect! It was a blessing to have a friend to walk with me through a difficult period of transition. We started our days with praise & worship and prayer & meditation. As we surrendered each day to The LORD, we felt totally at ease enjoying the peace of His presence. During the afternoons, we traveled around seeing some of the country as we went around spending time with the Nicaraguan people in their homes. Our mornings were at the children’s home getting to know 25 new faces.

Rosalinda, my friend from the beach

Also, we made it to the beach and visited with Rosalinda! We gave her the birthday presents: a blue dress, new shoes and other sundry gifts, and celebrated her 8th birthday with her. Rosalinda’s Father was there, it was the 1st time I had met him. He sat at a table close by. He did not want to join us. Rosalinda seemed reserved and shy and chose to take her gifts home with her to open.

A visit to Los Cedros

We went to visit with the children at the home in Los Cedros a couple of times. My heart hurts to be away from them. I have known many of them since birth, but I know through Faith that our Sovereign God has them in His hands. I plan to go and visit with them regularly so they don’t forget how special they are to me and to let them know I still love them very much!!

World travels in August

It had been my dream to go to England and visit family there, some who I had not seen for many years. As I prayed for a miracle, the ticket prices rose rapidly. But “Is anything too hard for The LORD?” Genesis 18 v 14a
God made it happen, Praise God! He provided the finances for the ticket and all the expenses along the way for the entire 10 days! I was with my daughter in time for my granddaughter Faith’s 5th Birthday party!! Being with my Grandchildren again, laughing, crying, playing, and praying together was a dream come true. Thank you to all of you who gave so generously to make it a reality.

I visited my birth Mother, 20 minutes away from my daughter Maria (unbeknown to either of them before my visit!)  My older sister was there visiting from Singapore, so we all went out one day for a big picnic in the park.
Lastly, I got to be with my two younger sisters and their families.

Tears come to my eyes as I write this. I am amazed by God’s love, goodness and provision. I still can’t believe I was able to go!

Back to Florida. Gainesville was fun! I caught up with many good friends and my church family, with the added bonus of seeing Ron & Cynthia McVicar tooJ   Blessings and thanks to my friends who provided a place to rest my head and transportation while I was there. The rummage sale was a huge success, thanks again to all of you who helped.
My trip ended in South Florida with my son and his wife, which included a boat trip one afternoon though for some R & R., my favorite pastime in South Florida.
Good times, great memories, blessings galore! This was a very special time for me and my family for building and restoring relationships. Now I am relaxed and refreshed and ready to start again!!

Back in the saddle:

After a month of reconnecting with friends, family, and supporters, I headed back to Nicaragua August 31st.
I’ll share about New Life’s vision next time I write so you can fit my piece in the larger puzzle of what God is doing with these precious children.

Finally, my friends, God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, thank you all for your compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, generosity, patience, mercy and love. Thank you for bearing with me through it allJ (Col 3 v 12 paraphrased)

Until next time, much love in Christ, andrea xxx

What’s new? April 2009 Andrea G Burgess

Hogar de Nueva Esperanza, Los Cedros, Nicaragua.

Dear friends and family:

This month I wanted to share with you an email sent to me by Theresa Williams’ daughter, Elise, age 8. I love and miss you all, see you soon. May God continue to bless you extravagantly.J
Subject: A note from Elise
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:11:10 -0400

Dear Miss Andrea,

Hi Elise: I was so happy to hear from you, thank you for writing.

Are the kids and babies from the orphanage adoptable?

Our goal would be to get all the babies adopted and settled into families as soon as possible, but it is a very long and difficult process.

If the kids are adopted, can they take their blankies that we made with them?

Yes of course they could take their beautiful blankies with them. If/when children leave, we pack their personal things for them to take with them:)

I will be praying that if they get adopted, that they will have a nice new family.

That is an awesome prayer and one dear to my heart also.

If they are not allowed to be adopted, what would they like for me to pray for them?

All the children have had sad things happen to them in their lives before they came here, I would ask for prayers for healing for them from their sadness, and for them to be filled with the love of Jesus. I pray that they will be great leaders for their country, they need to do well in school for this:) A good prayer would be that they will all be able to get a good education, that is not so easy here. Many children cannot go to school for different reasons.

I’m really glad that Miss Allyson is going to visit the orphanage, because it sounds like you are already very busy!

Me too!! Only a few days away now, I am really excited. I miss my friends and family back in USA. It really helps me to hear from you, makes me feel closer to you:) Thank you so much for writing.

Do you have enough story books in Spanish to read to the little ones?

We do have lots of books, in English and Spanish. The children love to be read to, I cannot think of a favorite story though, they like lots of different ones. What is your favorite story? I remember my Mother reading “Alice in Wonderland” to me when I was a little girl. I loved it, she read it over and over again!!! (Maybe we didn’t have many books then:)

Do they have a favorite story? I wonder if it is easy to buy story books in Nicaragua?

There are book stores here, but I do not have a car to go into town to go shopping very often, and we have to be careful with our budget, (ask Mummy about that!!) We are very blessed to have been given lots of books, although we constantly need more since they suffer a lot of wear and tear with so many children sharing them!

Do you know when you will be coming to Gainesville for a visit?

I will be coming to USA April 28th for 2 weeks, for a conference in Pensacola. I hope to visit Gainesville during that time, and Shana and Todd have spoken about having a dinner one night in the community room so we can all get together and talk. I think she said Sat May 9th, then prayer on Sunday 10th, Mothers’ Day before I leave again for Nicaragua.)

Is there anything you will need when you come back?

I would love to visit with as many of you wonderful people as possible while I am there.

Is there anything you will need for the orphanage?

Ms Allysen has a list of things we need at the moment. I am not sure what she will be able to bring, so we will know more after she arrives:) Thank you for asking!

Guess what one of the numbers I was in for my Gainesville Youth Chorus Sweet Taste of Broadway? It’s a Hard Knock Life from Annie.

I’m glad that your orphanage is not like Annie’s orphanage!

I wish I could hear you singing, I am sure I would cry with pride and joy! (I know, how embarassing for you! I cried when my son sang in choir when he was a little boy!)

Hugs and Kisses,

thanks for your love Elise, and for all your hard work and help with the blankies, I think of you every time I see them, which is almost every day:) Hugs and kisses back to you, you are very dear to my heart. My prayer is that you would be able to come and visit us one day, it would be SO cool:) You should start studying Spanish. :):) Would you like to travel, if so, what countries would you like to see?

I miss you lots

Lots of love in Jesus,

ms andrea,

smiles and blessings galore

Elise

P.S. By the way, I did get to listen to Elise sing at a concert in Gainesville while I was home in May. I was honored to be invited and included in family plans. And yes, I did cry, I was so proud of you Elise, and you too Tim! Love you always n forever!! XX andrea XX