Hospitality
How are we supposed to make contacts since we have moved to a city where at first, we knew no one? We mix-and-mingle with people in all sorts of activities. We strive to be friendly, strike-up conversations and friendships. We also invite people into our home. February was filled with lots of hospitality. We had a group in each Thursday night for our weekly Bible study. The church met in our house the first three Sundays in February. We invited the contractor who is remodeling our house and his wife in for an evening meal. We also had a one-on-one Bible study in our house. We had members of the Littleton and Lancaster congregations come for breakfast. We are thankful to have our nice house, even though it is not completely remodeled yet. It is a vital tool in our work. Weezie deserves a Big Thank You for keeping the house presentable and for furnishing meals and snacks for all occasions. We also recognize that none of this would be possible if it were not for all of you who support us! Thanks!
Meeting People
We found out that at the Community Center, the second Friday night of each month people gather to play games. Mac, Weezie and I attended the February game night. There were not many people there, but it gave us the opportunity to meet a few people, one of whom is a deacon and trustee for the Community United Church of Christ in a town just outside Littleton. He and I have corresponded a few times since the meeting.
To find out more about Littleton and to support one of the members of the city council (in NH, called “Selectman”) Weezie and I have been attending these meetings. It helps us learn about what is going on in the area. That lead to me being asked to lead the opening prayer for the last meeting.
Help Coming
We were blessed this month to talk to two individuals (Sean Ralls and Justus Bobo) who plan to bring groups here this summer to help us in whatever way we need them. One of the main outreaches will be service projects for those in the community who need help, particularly the elderly and widows.
Another great news this month is that Dominic and Heather Benetti are making plans to join the Littleton mission team. That will be great! They are in the process of finding a sponsoring congregation and raising funds. If you as an individual or as a congregation can help them, please do so. Their contact information is: 1-602-579-1138 or dominic.benetti@gmail.com
Teaching and Preaching
The Lancaster and Littleton congregations are blessed to have three men who are very capable of preaching and teaching. One of those is Scott Johnson who is a Bear Valley graduate who has been in the area about nine years and supports himself by working for the Postal Service. The other is Mac Graham, who graduated from Bear Valley last May and who moved here with us, is also very capable preacher and teacher. I preach every other Sunday in Littleton with those two men preaching the other two Sundays. The three of us rotate in preaching for Lancaster. Mac teaches the Wednesday night Bible class there and I teach the Sunday morning class. Lancaster began having a potluck dinner the first Sunday of each month and that followed by a lengthy class time for a special study. I am teaching Denominational Doctrines in order to educate us about how they were formed and a little about what each teaches. Soon we will spend more in depth time studying the denominations that are in our areas. Mac and I also teach a Personal Evangelism class each Friday night to a couple in the Lancaster congregation who are trying to become more evangelistic.
During the month I have also worked on my syllabus for the Restoration Movement short course that I am to teach at the end of March at the Bear Valley Bible Institute as well as studying for two lessons that I am to present at the Bear Valley extension school in Guatemala at the end of March. Those topics are “Church Discipline” and “Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage.”
We are pleased that the two new converts are growing spiritually. He is taking an active part in leading the worship service. When their work allows, they also attend our Thursday night Bible study. Mac and I continue one-on-one studies with him and her, as their schedule allows.
Advertising
Each week I write an article for the local paper, and I put an ad in a magazine that promotes activities in the area each quarter. From that, a lady in another part of the state called me and we had a long discussion. I’m hoping that she and her husband will be interested in Weezie and me coming to study with them. We shall see how that goes.
This month I wrote a couple of articles for the April issue of House-to-House-Heart-to-Heart. In February we also delivered some gift boxes to residents who have recently moved into the area.
This month we bought an A-Frame sign board. Staples also made two different two-foot by four-feet posters that go inside the A-Frame sign. One we put in front of our house to advertise our Thursday night Bible study. The other sign tells the time of our worship service. We also put it in front of the house the Sunday we met in our house. We will put it on the sidewalk in front of the Opera House when we begin meeting there.
Our son built a website for the Littleton church. I urge you to visit the site. The address is: littletonnhchurchofchrist.org. I have several biblical articles posted and will continue adding more.
Traveling
There is a member of the church who works in the Littleton Post Office, who lives and worships in Vermont. His congregation had a special singing one Saturday afternoon and Weezie and I attended to get acquainted with Christians in the area. That congregation is about an hour and a half from Littleton.
Danny Campbell is the preacher for the Manchester, NH church and David Rollert preaches for the Lakes Region church in Tilton, NH. Once a month, those two men along with Mac and me meet at one of the cities to spend time discussing our works and studying some particular topic. It is a blessing to have these meetings each month!
Attendance
The Sunday morning attendance in Littleton averaged 10 for the month of February. The good news is that we are having three or more non-Christians attend each Sunday. The church in Lancaster averaged nine each Sunday in February. Their Wednesday night attendance averaged five for the Bible study this month. We averaged seven in our Thursday night Bible study in Littleton. Four of us the worship service and Bible classes in both congregations.
Thank You and Personal Information
For those who did not know, Weezie and I moved from Colorado because Weezie was on oxygen 24/7 for about two years. Her doctor said it would be better for Weezie if we moved to a lower elevation. That is what got all the work in Littleton started. Since moving here, she does not need to be on oxygen, and she has more energy and endurance.
There is no way we can put into words what your support means to us. “Thank you” seems so trite, but we want you to know that it comes from deep in our hearts and is said as sincerely as possible. We want to do what we can to deserve your support.
Your Missionaries in NH,
Wayne and Weezie Burger
