Merry CHRISTmas

This fall Sheri traveled to several states to meet up with many friends, family and churches along the way. The years have passed so quickly. So many joys but also failures and illnesses. On this trip many prayed over her for complete healing. She is seeing healing starting in both her body and mind.

Our mission in Oaxaca is reporting great victories. Sheri will make a trip down to Oaxaca the end of January. Our board feels it is time to appoint Pastor Damian as Director and missionary to the unreached remote villages on the coast of Oaxaca. Pastor Damian,  asked us to thank you who are supporting the ministry God called him too. This ministry that God has given him is located in one of the unreached areas of Mexico. At least 15 of the missions under his direction had no other Christian church in their villages.
For instance just a few weeks ago, Raúl García from one of these villages asked Christ into his heart. This man led a very ugly life of violence and robbery. Raul’s change of life is a miracle that started when God gave him a new heart.

Another miracle is a mother of three children. She is 31 years old and has suffered many rapes, beatings and ill-treatment, but now her heart belongs to our beloved father. This is just a few of the miracles in the last couple of weeks. So our missionary Damian Cruz asked me to share with you, that without your prayers and financial support he and his team could not make the weekly trips, many hours deep into these areas going in four directions each day. They desire to continue to reach out with a lot of love for the lost, to extend the kingdom of God to these souls.

We at Agape Missions wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you very much for everything you have done for Mexico.

I, Sheri, have been thinking of how we can do something special for Damian and his family for this Christmas. If any of you feel led, let’s surprise Damian and Rosa with an extra token of our love so they can buy a few gifts for their family, especially the two youngest children for Christmas. It isn’t too late to make a contribution either through Paypal on our donate page or sending a check to the Colorado address on our donate page. If you prefer to mail a check let us know by email at agapecoastalproject@gmail.com how much to expect so we can send it down immediately. This isn’t exactly a need but a love offering to the family.

Have a wonderful celebration this Christmas of what God is doing in your life this season.

Sheri and Annie have gone full circle to Las Vegas NV. Annie flew home to Washington on Wednesday. What a wonderful adventure we had traveling around the Northwest USA meeting with friends, relatives and sharing is some churches about the mission.

Sheri planned to head out same day but got a call from Pastor Lee Shaw's wife in Arizona. Jacque told me her husband and his dad will be here in Las Vegas after their church service on Sunday and we will be discussing how we can do Webinar Bible School training for the remote pastors in our missions in Oaxaca. 

Lee's dad, Tom Shaw recently retired as a missionary to Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico and had Bible Schools especially for the remote pastors.

Garett Jackson is our director in Lachiguiri says he can monitor these classes also as he always likes having others help teach . Victor Jesus Flores who works with Pastor Damian is the teacher on our coastal missions.

 I am very excited about using this new media in Mexico to train new pastors.

Meanwhile Pastor Damian is driving to our many remote missions to bring in new members for another day of baptisms to be held at the beach mission of San Agustin. Today he is bringing down 10 people from one of the missions in the back of his small red pickup and there is heavy rain. Please pray for this trip. He brought another load down yesterday in pouring rain.

From June 2013 Baptism

It has only been a couple of months since the last baptism when 20 new converts were baptized. Another 25 plan to be baptized this Sunday. A day of celebration. God is moving in Oaxaca!!

Monday afternoon after the meeting with the Shaws, I will start driving back to Colorado in my Minnie RV. No driver for this leg of my trip. Pray God will be with me and that the weather is safe for traveling over a few mountain passes.

We need prayer partners to help pray for me (Sheri) and the mission that God has used me to work in over the last 25 years. He also sent many other teams to network with us.

 I sometimes don't understand why God chose me for this mission but He does have a plan for each of us. I've made many mistakes along the way but thank God it is His work and I am only a tiny part of who He chose for this task.

I am also grateful for the many partners who have helped through prayer, short term mission projects and the financial support. Several of our main supporters have died in the last couple of months so we are in dire need of others to take their place. You can click on the Donate logo on our webpage agape Projects donation page. You can use Paypal to help today. Be sure to mark it for the Oaxaca ministry that you can write in.

All for His glory,

Sheri Burk

Gathering of dispensary 

Villagers walking to Xanica

Unloading truck

As you have watched the news lately I'm sure you are aware of how Mexico has been hit by the effects of several hurricanes at the same time that have come from both the Atlantic and the Pacific coast and so many towns are not able to get out to buy food etc. Yes the government has made drops in some of these areas but many of our own missions still do not have food.

Damian has received some funds to give food to four of our Oaxaca mission villages. Word got out to three of these villages because he couldn't get to them and the people came either walking, an hour or more, or by mule to receive our help. 

Team members handing out food

Villagers waiting for food

Pastor Damian handing out cornmeal for tortillas

When the people came to receive, two new people found Christ as their personal Savior. When we obey the words in Matt. 25:35-46 God will use this to bring people to Himself.

Damian leaves tomorrow to head back to five more of our mission villages to distribute food who have no way to receive help. I am asking any of you who would be willing to help to go to the Donate today logo and give what God puts on your heart so we can meet this emergency. You don't have to have a Paypal account to give. It is secure. This way we will know how much is coming in immediately and not have to wait for a check to reach Arizona and be processed. After you put in your gift a screen will come up and you can designate your giving to go to the Oaxaca villages or just say Pastor Damian so it goes to the correct disaster relief. This isn't very clear on the donate page but you can add it at the end.

Sheri is On The Road Again!

I will try to make this somewhat short. Can Sheri really do that? I'll try. 
 Since I last sent an update I met my daughter and her husband in Grand Junction and she helped me drive to Las Vegas, NV for a small family reunion. Then I stayed a couple of extra days to pick up my friend Annie who has been to Oaxaca and we headed in my RV from there to Reno NV where we are right now. No we have stayed away from the casinos. I don't like anything to do with that life style. Plus I can't afford to lose even a roll of nickels. hehe 

 We are supposed to head up into Oregon tomorrow passing through part of our Federal Parks and enjoying our great USA. Have many friends in the Portland area and hope to see some of you around there. Some of you I haven't seen since you baby sat my kids years ago. Since I have the RV and a service dog we won't be a problem as we bring our hotel and restaurant with us. Please let me know if we can get together with some of you, for old time sake.  

​Later hope to stop and see a cousin in Eugene where I took some of my linguistic training to translate the Bible into an indigenous language and then over to Coos Bay to see my Aunt Betty and many friends between there and​ Myrtle Point. 

 Later will travel down I-5 to California. Hope to see friends in Redding, CA. Need to end up in Squaw Valley California on the 13th of October to share what is happening in Oaxaca Mexico and our ministry. From there maybe on to Bakersfield to see a friend from Oaxaca days and Hemet to see my boys and Great grandchildren before heading back to Colorado. 

I'm now living south of Grand Junction, a long ways from the flooding north of Denver where my daughter was born. Devastating for these who have lost loved ones and homes. Our prayers go out to so many. Sheri Burk

The Completed Sea Wall

                            San Agustín Mission
  This new sea wall should hold back most Tsunami type waves. That is Sheri standing between the Palapa and the sea. Pastor Damian is sitting on the wall near the kitchen.

A clip of Hurricane Barabara

Here is a short clip of when the hurricane hit our beach. It wiped out our retaining wall and carved a cave under the floor of the Palapa. A lot of work ahead of us.

Start of repairs to Palapa Mission church

 They first need to shore up the foundation. The sea carved a huge area underneath the floor. When this is finished we will need to build a huge sea wall. You can help by sharing this site with your friends and by donating funds by going to our web page on the donate page. Thanks for whatever you can do especially your prayers.
donate If you use paypal be sure to state that the funds are for the repair of the Palapa.

Sunday June 9th our coastal mission in San Agustín had a baptism event for people who lived in our remote villages. 20 new converts were baptized.

This had been planned before Hurricane Barbara struck our beach a  couple of weeks ago. We were unable to put on the event at the Mission Palapa as the storm did a lot of damage to the land and also the Palapa. 

Here is a unedited video that Pastor Damian's son sent us this last Saturday.



Today Pastor  Damian is evaluating the problem and seeing what needs to be done and getting bids on materials. Our newest team member Jacoby Scarbrough will be coming down June 20th and he will do what he can to help.

Sheri Burk is also heading down on the 16th of June for six weeks to see what is happening at our missions. Her health has been so so but her doctors says she can go! While there she will also head up to Lachiguiri for Pastor Israel's son Esteban's high school graduation. Esteban was born at Sheri's Arizona home about 18 years ago. This will be a surprise as they have no idea she will be in the country.

I have mentioned our need to replace my vehicles in Mexico. We have had most of them for many years and they were used vehicles to begin with. Each has over 300,000 miles on them and over the last couple of months one thing after another has gone bad on each of them. They are at the point where it isn't cost effective to keep putting more money into them.

Several friends and churches have responded We are hoping for a vehicle to take deep into the mountains and villages every week for Pastor Damian and his team. A 4X4 as the roads are horrendous.

Damian went yesterday to Oaxaca City to look for a vehicle as there isn't one that meets our needs at this price. Just spoke with him and they are very expensive there. He is now headed down to Salina Cruz as he has friends there who are mechanics. Would love to have several thousand dollars more so we can buy one that will last as long as our older vehicles did.

I do want to thank all of you who have given toward this vehicle and ask for prayers that God will help us to find the right vehicle for this purpose at a good price.

Praise God for caring people who believe in Pastor Damian and his work among 14 village missions among some of the poorest people in Oaxaca Mexico.

We especially ask for your prayers and thank you for the support to keep this outreach going.