Justin and Becky Burt Just another weblog 
The last time I was in town I bought some nail polish with the intent of sharing it with my tribal buddies. I thought it would be fun to sit and paint nails together. When my friend Engelina came I thought I asked if she wanted to paint her nails and she said yea. So I brought out the polish and told her to pick a color. She picked a color and then I realized that she was going to take it home so I tried to explain that they were mine and I would paint hers. Somewhere in communicating all that she ended up taking 2 bottles of nail polish home and then when my friend Matinda came over Engelina gave the other 2 bottles of nail polish to her. I was shocked but just had to laugh. I thought for sure that at least I had communicated that those last 2 colors were MINE but apparently NOT. They left all excited with the gift of the day from Becky but then my other friend Nonsilla comes over and sees my cool blue fingernails and asks if she can paint hers too. I had to say sorry I accidentally gave all my nail polish away in one of those language mishaps. So me and my blue nails would really appreciate your prayers as we press on in language study that I can learn how to communicate well with the Morop so that one day they will CLEARLY UNDERSTAND the gospel!
Nail Polish by Becky Burt
Sitting with Nona by Becky Burt
Somedays I have to force myself out of the house but I do knowing it is necessary even when the feelings are lacking. So out I went to my friend who was sitting on the porch of her house. As I approached the porch I was dreading sitting in that awkward silence but was greeted with a smile that warmed my heart because I do consider her one of my “real” friends here as appose to some of the others that see me as the lady that gives us stuff. Anyhow, I sat down and just then some other girls came with their fishing spears and a couple even had goggles. So yeah it was cool we all went down to the river and I got to watch them fish. I didn’t dare get in because it is like the Kern River one wrong step and you are never seen again. YIKES!!! Anyhow for now I watched them all jump across the rocks to the spot they fish and they caught two tiny fish. There method of fishing that day was to stand and put their head in the water and catching fish with their hands or spear. I was impressed and ended up having a great time sitting with Nona after all. The Lord intervened like He so often does, I just have to take that step of faith and He will do the rest.
Think you have a stressful job?
Today we were talking with our medical worker, Yohanes, about how things were going as our helper. He informed us that he enjoyed helping us, but the older people of the village told him that if he was the one giving them the medicine and they died, they would kill him with their arrows. Yohanes told them that he is only explaining to them how to take the medicine and it is Becky and I who are the ones choosing which medicine they take. We told Yohanes that it was going to take a long, long time before he was the one who would choose which medicine they should take. He first need to learn
The Beginning of the End
While we were training with NTM, we were often told the importance of beginning to hand things of to the tribal people as soon as possible. So this week we began the process of training our first two medical workers. While this might be a slow process, I believe it is a vital part of our church plant to show the people that the things we as missionaries do, they themselves are capable of doing. One day they will be the ones teaching in the church and hopefully one day take over translating so that they can have a complete Bible as we do. Each step with take time, a lot of patience, and a willing heart, but if we show them from the beginning that they are capable, there is a greater chance of success later on.
The Morop People
Well, we have been in Papua for three months now! Life has had many ups and downs since our arrival here. I have had a tooth pulled, Derek has had a concussion, Becky has finally recovered from pneumonia and her fear of rats thanks to our two new cats, Ethan has started first grade, and we have officially joined the Morop Team! That is right, we are part of a tribal team!
When we arrived in Papua, we began communication with Jim and Joy Elliott who are currently studying language in a Morop village. After about a month of communication via email, they invited us in for a first hand look at their work and get to meet them face to face. After our visit, we (us and the Elliott’s) committed two weeks to pray and think about us joining the Morop Team. So after two weeks, we both felt that the Lord would have us join their team.
So now what? So now we prepare to move into that Morop village on January 27, 2009! We are blessed to be able to move into a home that has already been build by some previous missionaries. So that will speed up the process of moving in. There are some minor projects that need to be done to the home, but nothing major. Because the home has been sitting empty a while, some of the major appliances are no longer working. Please be praying with us that the Lord would provide the finances for us to purchase all that is needed for us to move in.
To read more, click here.
Pursuing Morop
Seven years after starting the training with NTM have we finally found a tribe to serve in?
Maybe! We enjoyed our time in Morop, but we have decided, along with the Elliott’s, to committ the next two weeks to pray about this decision. If we both feel the Lord leading us to join the Morop work, we will be moving in sometime in the middle of January. While we are excited about this direction, it will be a lot to get ready for in such a short time. Please be praying with us during these next two weeks.
Adjustments
Please be praying for us a adjust to our new surrounding to Papua, Indonesia. We will be writing more in the coming days at web.me.com/justin_burt. Thanks again for your prayer and support.
A Typical Day for Us
Life here is not fancy just a routine like yours but still an important part in expanding the reach of the gospel to Indonesia since language learning is one of the many steps necessary to accomplish before being ready to begin tribal church planting.
A typical day for us begins at 6, (this week to give Derek his medicine that he has to have every 6 hours around the clock for 7 days). Next Ethan wakes and gets ready for school. At 6:50 we are out the door walking to school in the cool morning air with a couple of the neighbor ladies and their kids. We arrive at school and stay to play and visit a while with the other mothers several of who are chasing after their kids holding a bowl of rice shoveling it into their children’s mouths. After our visit Derek and I head for home as Ethan begins his time in full language immersion. On that note he is doing exceptional in language right now and has a best friend named Fadley. So thanks for your prayers!
As that is going on Justin has already began his language study for the day with a tutor that comes to our house at 7. He is there for an hour or 2 and then Justin is out to be with men in the neighborhood until lunch. Derek and I run errands together or play and then get Ethan from school at 10. After walking home we play and just let Ethan unwind from school. We eat lunch together and Justin is off once again to study and comes home mid afternoon for another tutoring session. In the afternoons the boys and I are out in the neighborhood building relationships after I finish homeschooling Ethan. We eat dinner and hang out as a family until the boys go to sleep after which Justin studies more and I catch up on email or watch tv and then off to bed because it all starts again tomorrow.
That is a typical day here…how about with you?
email your response: justin_burt@ntm.org
The Future
I’m sure you have all had moments in your life where you think it would be best for you to do one thing and yet that might not be what turns out. Well we are in one of those places at the moment…we are almost done with language here and will be moving to Papua in the future but what is up in the air is when. There are a couple of conferences that we have to go to in Papua at the end of June but Justin will not know if he is finished language study until a week before that time…our hopes is that we will go there and stay but it is one of those uncertain times at the moment so we would appreciate you all standing behind us in prayer as Justin gets evaluated in June that he would pass with flying colors so we can go and begin allocating to our tribal ministry.
Derek’s Health
What a week it has been…Derek has been sick with Hand foot and mouth then the common cold and finally he had amoebic dysentery, yes all in the SAME WEEK. The doctor has put him on a prescription so he is doing much better. Thanks for your prayers they have truly gotten us through.