Another Update . . .

As of today we have moved a little bit close to reaching the support goal for the year. Only need $9000 committed. I'm am continuing to trust that God can, and will provide. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Verse of the day: 1 Timothy 4:12 - "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

How you can help.

I still need a significant amount of financial support in order to reach my goal for the year, as stated in the previous post. If you would like to partner with me financially for the year, I'd love to talk with you about that. Email me at jonah.burke@uscm.org. Also, you can visit the following website: http://give.ccci.org/give/View/0620841. This is the website with my giving account. Last, but not least, you can also help by telling others about this and forwarding this website to them. Thank you all, very much, for your help!

One step at a time.

Today we moved another step closer to reaching the support goal for the year. I am now up to 72%. Only $9,500 more to go! The end is in sight and I know that God can pull through. Nothing is impossible. If you read this, pass it on to someone else (forward the link: http://burkehouse.blogspot.com). Your help is invaluable. Thanks!

Final week of support raising.

Yesterday, I spoke at my home church, here in York. I was really nervous to give my talk, but God showed up and pulled me through. The response was good and it was great speaking with some of the individuals after the service. A love offering was taken and I received $1500 from that. The church said that they would match the offering, up to $2000, so that will significantly help in my support raising. Praise God for that! And thank you all for your prayers.

Please continue to pray with me this week, as my support raising deadline is approaching. The deadline is this coming Saturday, August 1st. As of today, I am approximately 68% of the way to reaching my support goal for the year. I still need just about $11,000. I know that God has placed me in this position for a reason and that he has a sovereign plan for my life. I will continue to trust him to provide and guide. Sometimes, God asks us to give up the plans that we make for ourselves and trust in his plan for our lives. He will never ask you to give up your faith and hope, though! Keep trusting in him!

One of my favorite songs (at the moment): "Breaking My Fall" - Jeremy Camp

So easily I fall, So easily you reach your hand out
Quickly will I drown, Know the pulls of all my reason
So easily will I feel, So easily will your peace surpass me
Quickly will I trust in anything I think is worthy

How many times you make the waves calm down
So I wont be afraid now?

'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I supposed to do?
'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I suppose to do?

How precious are your thoughts?
And many of them, You think about me
Faithful are your ways, I always feel your grace abound me
Quickly will I call, quickly will you answer my cry
Carefully will you bring everything I need in my life

How many a times you make the waves calm down
So I wont be afraid now?

'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I supposed to do?
'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I supposed to do?

This narrow road I'm walking
This world will try to draw
Your Word will help me fight it
With You I'll face it all

'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I supposed to do?
'Cause I saw you breaking my, breaking my fall
What am I supposed to do?

Support Update

Short and to the point . . . As of today I am right around 55% of the way to reaching my support goal for the year. The deadline is drawing near, August 1st, but I am seeing God provide every day. The goal is within reach and I am trusting God fully to provide. This Sunday, 7/26, I will be speaking at my home church here in York. I am trusting God to use this opportunity to bring in significant support.

I ask that you all please join with me in prayer during these last few days. Every day, starting today and ending on August 1st, partner with me in prayer as we finish the race that has been set out before us. It is amazing what is possible when rooted in prayer! Just reading today, Mark 11:22-24 "Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

I'd love to hear about what God has been doing in your life this summer. Feel free to drop me an email: jonah.burke@uscm.org. Or also if you'd like to hear more about what God has been doing in my life. Thank you all for your prayers!! We're almost there!

Market Commons - Myrtle Beach, SC

At the Market Commons down in Myrtle Beach. Pretty cool place. Restaurants, shops, nice big lake, walking trail with exercise stations, and cool interactive games along the trail.

Let's keep going . . .

This morning I just passed the 50% mark of my support raising! We're getting there. It's cool to see how God continues to provide, even when time is running out and things seem bleak.

I was sitting down with the youth pastor of my church here in York the other day and we were talking about how sometimes we are placed in situations that seem impossible so that God can show us just how big, powerful, and loving He really is. Sometimes we are placed in these situations to get us to step back and realize that, "Hey, I can't do this on my own." These times point us to rely fully, 100%, on God to pull through for us. Right now, I'm in one of those situations. My support raising deadline is August 1st. I still have 48% of my support to raise for the year. The easy thing to do is throw in the towel and give up. It is much hard to give it up completely to God and say, "I'm giving up the control of this situation to you, God. I am trusting that you have a plan for my life and will lead me through this."

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know this . . . God does love you, very much. He will never give up on you, so don't give up on him. He will see you through every hard time, and the good ones too. Today, right now, is the perfect time to give up whatever you are going through to God. Time to "let go, let God." A good visual for this: go get a small paper bag and write "God" on the side. Whenever you have a situation/problem/issue write it on an index card and place it in the bag. This signifies, to yourself, that you are giving whatever it is up to God. Give it up to him in prayer, as well, and thank him for taking care of your problems. He will pull through for you.

About my summer: Things are going great! This summer has been extremely busy, but cool. I've been able to enjoy my self along the way, which is good. Myrtle Beach was a lot of fun! Too bad vacations are kinda over for now, ha. Oh well . . . Still a few more fun things left before summer is officially over! Hope summer is great for you all as well. Stay fly and keep doing what you do. Rock on!

A Mid-Summer Night's Update

Hey Everybody,

Been a little while since I've written, so I just wanted to catch you all up on what's been going on in my life lately. This summer has been incredible so far. Best way I can say it is, "Incredible." Ha. It has been unlike any summer I've been through so far on several different levels. Let's start on the ground level and work our way up . . .

This summer has been a great opportunity for God to work in my life. I have been learning so much about me, my faith, and who God is and how he works. Sometimes the hard way . . . but he is teaching and guiding me. One of the biggest things I have been wrestling with is trusting God completely. Every day is a new opportunity for us to place our worries and cares in God's hands and let him work them out for us. Unfortunately, many of us (myself included) get so caught up in our circumstances and what we can do that we don't ever give God the chance or the room to carry our load. I have noticed that many times my doubts and fears cloud my view of him. Through the course of this summer, I have been able to experience the freedom and peace that comes from placing my life (completely . . . meaning everything) in his hands. Trust me, it's worth it. Just let go, and let God.

I have also been learning what it looks like to be a more godly man. Where have all the men gone? Our world has such a twisted idea of what a man looks like. It's pretty sad . . . God has been using my situations and people in my life to break down the images I thought a man should look like. This has been tough at times because I feel like I've been doing a pretty good job at living out a godly life. I've been living as a godly man, right? It's hard to lay down my pride (our pride, as men) and humble ourselves. The thing is . . . yes, I have been striving to live a godly life, but it is a constant/continual pursuit. As long as we are human and on earth there is no finish line. There is no "Congratulations, you have now reach the status of godly man." No . . . Christ set the example, and it is one that we will never fully live up to. No matter how hard we strive. God has blessed me by bringing a beautiful, young woman into my life. God has been using this young woman, whom I am dating, to help me understand more about what it means to live as a godly man. Pretty cool! Ha.

Moving onto the good ol' area of support raising . . . ha. Well, it's still going. I am slightly over the half-way point. The process of raising support is still slower than I was hoping, but I am continuing to trust God to provide. Good news . . . I am now over 1/3 of the way to reaching my support goal!! It has been amazing to see how God continues to provide. Last weekend I had the opportunity to sit down with a few individuals and share a little bit of my life with them and they shared their lives with me. It was so encouraging to hear about what God has been doing in some of these individual's lives. Sometimes we feel it is so hard to see/feel God working in the world around us, but if we would only take a moment to slow down and be still, we would see God's hand at work. Yesterday was the first day of my last full month of support raising. The next few weeks are the final "push" for gathering contacts to partner with me financially in this ministry. Sometimes when the chips are down and our situation seems almost impossible, that is when God says, "Cool . . . my turn to run the show and amaze you." Keep trusting God to provide, no matter what you're going through. He hears our prayers. No prayer is ever uttered in vain. That's reassuring. Isn't it? Thank you, Lord.

Well, I hope summer is going well for you all. I'm praying for you. I hope that you will all continue to partner with me in prayer as well, as my support raising deadline is surely approaching. Thank you for all of your support! God bless!

And Happy 4th of July! Be smart and safe. And have a great holiday weekend. Myrtle Beach is calling my name for a few days, ha. A week with most of my family and Kearston. Sounds good to me. Catch you all when I get back . . . Peace.