Daryl's Ordination

Daryl sought to be ordained by a panel of pastors before we leave for the mission field.  This process is quite consuming and very labor intensive.  Daryl studied, read, and prayed a lot before sitting before a panel of eight men who asked him Biblical questions.  At the end of the questioning, we were dismissed to the hallway while they deliberated.  When we came back into the room, they informed us of their decision to ordain Daryl as a pastor.

The following Wednesday, was Daryl's ordination ceremony.  John Clagett gave a charge to the church and Rob Decker gave a charge to Daryl using 2 Timothy 2:3-4.  The men on the panel prayed over Daryl and encouraged him as he continues the process to full time missions.

Those on the panel include several pastors from our church: Rob Decker, Lead Pastor, Shean Phillips, Young Adults Pastor, Jared Hoots, High School Youth Pastor, Tim Gerber, Children's Pastor, and Dick Lockheart, Care Ministries Director.  Other panel members include John Clagett, former pastor and Bible professor, Chris Byrne, Senior Pastor of New Friendship Baptist, and Scott Wilkinson, Senior Pastor of Summer Oaks Presbyterian.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



Farewell Piney Grove Elementary

 

For the past 5 years, I have been teaching 5th grade at Piney Grove Elementary School.  PGES has been in my life since I was young, having attending the school during 1st and 2nd grade (my 2nd grade teacher later became my coworker).  While in college, I interned with Mrs. Debby Pegram in Kindergarten, then student taught with Mrs. Suzanne Brookshire in 5th grade.  After graduating college, WSFCS went on a hiring freeze which forced me to look for a job in surrounding counties.  After teaching in Davidson County Schools for a year, I ran back to PGES with the hiring freeze was lifted and found myself fortunate enough to teach 5th grade with the friends I had made while student teaching.  The past 8 years have been very memorable as it has been during these years that I have been engaged, married, and later adopted all 3 children while being a part of the Piney Grove family.  When we entered the process to go to the mission field, I knew the day would come when I would have to say farewell to these friends and the memories we've shared together.  Piney Grove will truly hold a special place in my heart.

 

My 5th grade family (left to right): Suzanne Brookshire, Natalie Rempe, Teresa Sweeney, and Jessica Medley.  Those not pictured because they've moved on to other grade levels or schools: Elaine Laws and Jamie Lloyd.

June 2013 Newsletter

Wow-wee!  A lot has happened since we last sent out a newsletter.  Our first big piece of news (and a huge praise) is that our house sold!  God’s timing was absolutely perfect during this trying time but He once again taught us to wait on Him.  Before we had even received an offer on the house, Leah had already given her notice at work that she would not be returning to teach in the fall.  Not sure how we would pay our mortgage with only one income, God intervened and provided for us!  Please rejoice with us.  We’ve had our house on the market for about 2.5 years!

In April, we attended our 2 week Appointee Orientation Training, in Colorado and we left with our hearts full and our to-do list a mile long!  Those 2 weeks were spent fellowshipping with other new missionary appointees, learning about WorldVenture, preparing our speech for the New Missionary Celebration Service, learning about the next steps in our adventure to the mission field, and worshipping God while receiving encouraging words from staff, team mates, and friends.

We’ve prepared a small presentation that we would love to share with you.  If you are interested in hearing more about how you can partner with us on this journey, send us an email or visit our website.  We love talking about what God is doing in our lives and how others can come along side of us to experience God’s goodness every step of the way.

Daryl, Leah, Gabriel, Eden, and Silas Burnette

DLBurnette@worldventure.net
www.worldventure.com/DLBurnette

Prayer Requests:
1. Please be in prayer for Daryl as he prepares for the ordination process in early July.  He will be ordained at Triad Baptist Church in Kernersville on July 10th.
2. Please pray for God to help us transition to full time missions work.
3. Please pray for the rest of our Mozambique team both on the field and those on home assignment.

Praises:
1. Our house sold!
2. We had a safe trip to Colorado for trainings
3. Leah's job has ended as a teacher.
4. God has provided 3% of our monthly support!

FAQs
Q1: What’s next?
A: We are very busy planning, studying, reading, and preparing for full time missions.  This includes many trainings, readings, and fund-raising.  We are taking a 10 day trip to Mozambique, in August, to meet other team members, explore school options for the kids, see ministry to children-at-risk first hand, and confirm God’s calling in our lives.

Q2: When are you leaving?
A: When God is ready.  While in Colorado for our trainings, we received our budget and we are relying on God to supply all of our needs.

A Day in the Park with Family

Today we were able to spend the day playing with the kids' birthfamily.  It's always a lot of fun for the kids to see their siblings and birthmom. 

 Silas and his sister, Ty

 Silas and Rachel

 We got to meet the kids' half brother, Anthony, for the first time today.  He's 14 years old and is almost finished with his first year of high school.

 He is really good with kids.  He jumped right in and started playing with his brothers and sister.  He's quiet but a lot of fun.

 Anthony is helping Gabe ride Junior's bike.

Gabe, Anthony, and Junior

The End of Spring

This year, Gabe and Eden have been in Puggles which is the 2 year old Awana class at our church.  They have loved going to Puggles on Sunday night and they will miss their teachers, Ms. Misy, Ms. Amanda, and Ms. Tammy.

 

 

This time of the year also signifies the end of their first year of preschool.  They had "Beach Days" at the end of the year to celebrate the fun they've had and to take advantage of the warm weather.

 

 

 Their preschool year ended with a spring program.  Gabe and Eden painted bowties and hair bows to wear while singing patriotic songs.



We were very blessed to have the twins in a class this year that celebrated adoption non-traditional families.  In addition to having their cousins, Abram and Lila Ruth, in their class we met Malachi and Nolan who are also adopted.



Silas is 18 months old!

 Silas James, 18 months old

Height: 32.6 inches 53rd%tile
Weight: 30lbs 14ozs 100th%tile
Favorite Food: All types of fruit
Favorite Book: "Click Clack Moo" or "Farm: Learning Tabs Book"
Favorite Toy: A John Deere tractor
Favorite Animal: Cow

What Silas has learned:
Silas is a quick learner and he wants to do everything his big brother and sister can do.  He knows most of his body parts and can tell you the noises a dog, chicken, bee, dinosaur/alligator/lion (its' all the same) make.  He doesn't make the moo sound for a cow put his puckers up his lips like he's saying moo.  He can say Mama, Dada, Nana, Lala, bye, ball, and bird.  He has signs for more, eat, milk, tractor/car, and he loves blowing kisses.  Silas has a bit of a language delay so he's being evaluated for his speech abilities and might begin speech services.  He loves to be outside mostly riding in a car or in the gator seeing all the animals around the farm.  He loves to read (he has to be directly in front of the book), he loves to dance to music, and he loves to wrestle on the floor.  Silas is very snuggly and is a true Mama's boy.  He is truly a happy boy and he makes the most out of everything he does.

Silas loves to swim and he's learning to jump into the pool.

 

These are Silas' silent "moo" lips.

 

A true farm boy.

 

Appointee Orientation in Colorado

On April 14th, we loaded up our family, drove to Charlotte, then flew to Denver, Colorado for 2 weeks of training with our mission board, WorldVenture.  The kids were so excited to fly on an airplane although Gabe informed us that he didn't need an airplane but that he would put on his cape and fly there himself.

We learned all about the crazy and unpredictable weather of Colorado; it snowed 3 times while we were there!  On the days it didn't snow, we were able to wear a light jacket and play outside.  The altitude also affected the kids and their asthma; we ended up taking Eden to the ER so she could receive more breathing treatments and a prescription steroid.

While we were in trainings, the kids attended "Kids' Club."  A great program geared toward Third Culture Kids.  They met a lot of kids from all over the US, they met Ted, a huge bear, who travels a lot and they learned all about the things he needs to put in his suitcase when he travels.  They were taught how to taste different foods and to politely put it down if they don't like it and they made passports and traveled all over the office to have different people stamp and sign their little booklets.

We visited the Colorado Train Museum and learned about a lot of different trains.  We also visited some new friends at their hotel and had fun swimming.

The highlight of the trip was the New Missionary Celebration Service in which all 10 new missionary units gave a 3 minutes speech about themselves and the work they will be doing.  After the speeches, we heard an encouraging message from WorldVenture's president and received certificates of appointment.

 

 Our mentors, George and Deena Jackson, traveled to Colorado for trainings and the ceremony.  We were able to spend some time with our field leader, Rodger, and we got to know new teammates, the Sass', who are heading to Malawi.

As we left Colorado we felt encouraged, reassured that this is God's plan for our family, and excited to begin the 2 year time clock to the mission field.  So what's next?  The rest of 2013 includes a 12 day trip to Mozambique, another training in Colorado, and then we really begin the journey of developing prayer and financial partners to take this journey with us.  God is good and we are blessed to be in this process.