Greeting from Indonesia, where we are enjoying a warm, rainy, tropical Christmas.  We occasionally dream of a white Christmas, but then we remember the lost mittens, the 45 minutes of getting five children bundled up before going outside, and the muddy footprints on the carpet when we have to turn right back around and undo it all   In Actuality it is NOT the WHITE we are missing as much as we are missing YOU, our loved ones.  Maybe next year you can plan to head over here and visit us to find out what a tropical Christmas is all about . . .but don’t forget your sunglasses and flip flops!

This year we are all alone for Christmas.  Greg’s folks and siblings are all scattered about, and none were able to join us.  It is quite an adjustment from the last three Christmases, when we were surrounded by family.  Still we are determined to enjoy the birthday of the King, and are taking the time to really study and learn about the promise of the coming Savior, and how God fulfilled that promise through Christ.

On the ministry front things are looking very favorable for us moving into Buru around September of 2010.  We are starting to think about the things we will need to have in place to make that happen.  We are praying about trading in our car for a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get in and out of the village, the modifications that will need to be made to the house where we will be living, and solar panels and/or other sources of electricity.  There is a lot to think about and plan for and we appreciate your prayers as we prepare for this move.

The kids are doing great.  We just put on a Christmas program with all the other home-school Mks and threw a “birthday party” for Jesus afterward, complete with huge cake, (see the picture above).  Now we are on vacation until January 4th and everyone, especially the teacher, is enjoying the break and getting caught up on things that slide a bit while school is in session.

We are planning a team meeting in late February to plan the logistics of having four out of five of our team families living interior by the end of 2010.  This would be such a boost to the ministry among the Buru people.  As you know, one on one discipleship is such an important part of growth in their understanding of Scripture.  Please pray for the finances for our entire family to be able to make this trip to the meeting.  If the finances are not there Greg will be going alone, but we are praying that the whole family will be able to participate because of the important decisions to be made that will impact our family.

We love to hear from you, and to know how we can pray for you and yours.  We pray that you each have a blessed Christmas and New Year.

In Him;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate, Hannah, Grace, Katie, and Caleb

Greg made it home late the day before yesterday. He surprised us by flying home 3 days early, since the boat he was going to travel home on was put in dry dock. We were all thrilled to see him, but Caleb was BEYOND thrilled, and followed him around all day yesterday asking for the motorbike rides he missed so much.

The trip was very profitable, starting out with a week long translation seminar which he attended with our co-worker Herman. Followed by a trip into one of the villages we minister in. He was able to spiritually minister to and encourage the people there, as well as work on some more physical needs like radio repair, and checking on the progress of the road construction that is happening on the island that could, someday soon, be a huge blessing to our ministry.

Speaking of transportation, there is a good chance our region may have a Kodiak airplane by late 2010! This means we would be able to move into the village a year earlier than previously thought! We are very excited about this possibility. Please pray that it will all work out according to God’s perfect timing.

You can be praying for Greg’s health, he isn’t all out sick, but one ear is completely plugged and he isn’t hearing out of it and he is having sinus problems, we would like to nip it in the bud before it escalates to all out sickness, so pray he is able to catch up on the sleep and good nutrition he has forfeited in the last few weeks.

Things at home are going well, we have had an abundance of rain this last week and our well is now full again (we didn’t even have to take the lid off so the rain could fall in, as 5 year old Katie suggested We survived all the little crisis’ that inevitably come while Greg is away, and are finishing the 1st quarter of our school year on Friday, with everyone (even mom/Mrs. B) still enjoying school!

We appreciate each of you so much. Thank you for your continued encouragement, support, and prayers. We love to hear what is happening in your lives, and how we can pray and rejoice with you. Thank you for partnering with us to reach the Buru people for Christ!

I intended to write an update a few weeks ago, letting you know that we made it home safely from our trip to get our Visa’s renewed.  Well, we did make it home safely, and actually a trip that I was dreading turned out to be just what our family needed after a busy summer of painting our house and keeping up with our other responsibilities!  The kids were great travelers with a little help from anti-motion pills .  We frequently stopped at beaches along the way, and once we arrived in Central Sulawesi our paperwork was completed ahead of schedule with no problems.  We also had the opportunity to see and meet other missionaries that we had either never met, or hadn’t seen in a while.  I was even able to visit quite a bit with other homeschooling moms, and hopefully encourage them a bit.  We made the trip home in two long days rather than the three it took to get down there.  Somehow receiving news that our dog had puppies encouraged the kids to need less breaks and to “keep on keeping on”.  So now the kids and I are set with visa’s for another year and Greg has a 5 year visa!

Once we got home I jumped into preparing for the new school year, and we started on August 10th.  I have six students this year,  one Kindergartener, one 2nd grader, a third grader, 4th grader and two 5th graders!  August also brought a whirlwind of birthdays (Nate turned 11 and Hannah, 9) and Greg and I also celebrated our 12th anniversary.  It was busy and fun month, but I am sure you can understand why we are just now getting a letter out

Greg has been busy with recording and editing material to be used for analyzing our tribal language, as well as dealing with our well that went dry, and a testy water pump.  He is planning a trip interior in the middle of the month and will be gone for 3 weeks or so.  Pray for him, his traveling mercies, and for me as I am home with more than a full plate.

Thank you so much for your prayers for us, for your encouragement and for your partnership in reaching the Buru people for Christ.

In Him;
Greg and Pam Berglund

It hasn’t been too long since our last update, but we have some new developments and would love your prayers for us during the next couple of weeks.

On the ministry front:  One of the families on our team is headed back into the tribe today along with one of the young men who came out for our regional missions conference and some small engine repair training.  Please pray for their traveling mercies.  They will be on boats and in transit for the next week.  They are leaving their 12 year old son here in town to go to school, but are blessed to have his aunt and uncle living with him keeping an eye out for him.  This is a real answer to prayer for them.

I (Pam) am gearing up for school to start, I will have two extra kids this year so we have been spending alot of time planning and rearranging and figuring out how we are going to fit 6 desks and chairs in the little space (half of our family room) that we use for school.  It will be tight, and eventually we hope to add on a classroom, but for now we will make it work.  Please pray for the kids and I as we start school the 2nd week in August.  I will have 6 students in 5 different grades, so I am going to be very busy along with being a wife and mom

Caleb had his second birthday last week!  He is a healthy 32 pounds.  He is talking up a storm too, starting to put phrases together, in three languages.  I feel so blessed.  I know I should “get over it” but every little milestone he crosses I just praise God for what He has brought him through.  That image of him lying in the hospital with Doctors working to get his heart started and get him breathing again are forever burned into my mind, and it somehow makes him sweeter and cuter than he already is .  I included a few pictures below of Caleb and Katie on the boat Greg made for Caleb for his birthday, and of Caleb and his birthday cake.  Please don’t laugh at the cake.  Remember it is very hot and “melty” here, and there is no such thing as ready-made frosting or icing!

We finished painting the inside of our house, along with staining all the windows, doors and ceilings!  It was a huge job but it looks so bright and fresh in here.  The kids are enjoying their new “themed” rooms.  Things seem to snowball when you are working on finishing a house, and Greg has been more than patient when he hears the words, “We might as well do . . . . while we are at it”  But I think we are all ready for a break now!

Now for the main reason I am writing this little update!  It is time again for our visa renewals.  Greg will be getting a 5 year renewal this time, and the rest of us will be getting a one year renewal. This means we will all have to take a trip to the center of the island we are on in order to process our paperwork.  This is a LONG, grueling 3 day trip by car.  We are trying to think of it as a road trip, mini-vacation, since we haven’t done much in the way of vacation lately, but the truth is I am scared to death of the thought of 5 whiny, tired, car sick kids stuck in the car for 3 days of narrow, windy,  less that ideal roads (with no rest areas, playgrounds, and McDonalds to break up the trip).  So pray for us if the Lord brings us to mind.  (Especially that mommy can keep a positive out look on things, and we can face this as an adventure rather than a trial   But also that the kids won’t get carsick.  Nate, especially, gets car sick just driving into town.  We should be gone about two weeks (a week of travel and a week there doing paperwork.)  Please also pray for the finances for this trip, along with the expenses of renewing 7 visas.  Greg’s will be like paying for 5 years of visa’s all at once!

Thanks you so much for taking the time to read this update, and for continuing to hold us up in prayer.  We appreciate each of you so much, your friendship, support, and especially your prayers!

In Him;
Greg and Pam Berglund

Wow, when I look back to the last time we sent out an update . . . where does the time go?  Whatever happened to the lazy days of Summer?  We have been going at breakneck speed since we wrapped up classes at the beginning of this month.  First of all our whole team was out in town for our regional missions conference.  We had a neat time of sharing together with other tribes and developing churches.  We included tribal church leaders this time, and it was extra special to see them share their testimonies, trials, and vision with leaders of other tribes.   It is so neat to see first hand, and all in one place, the fruit of NTM and our ministry here in Central Indonesia.  To know that those men would not have even know the name of Jesus, and would still be locked in darkness and sin, was it not for people willing to go to remote locations and share the good news. Thank you for those that prayed to me (Pam) as I taught the children.  We had a great time together.  One little guy suggested we do a kid’s conference every year, regardless of what the adults are doing

After the conference we jumped right into finishing projects that have been needing to be done for a while.  Our plans this summer are to paint and stain the whole house; walls, doors, and windows, inside and out.  It is a big, messy project but we are already loving the bright rooms . . .Grey concrete walls become tiring after a while, and our wood doors and windows were getting eaten by termites.  So Greg is busy with that, as well as his regular ministry responsibilities, and I am busy planning for how I am going to beautify the rooms as the guys finish the hard part.

I am also giving Standardized tests to all the children in our region who need to take them this year.  This is time consuming and requires a bit of scheduling, but to be honest, I am loving playing the role of “pro

Greetings from sunny HOT Indonesia. We can hardly believe we have been back for over a year now! We are really feeling comfortable in our little house. I was encouraged the other day when we walked outside very early for our morning walk and Gracie took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and said, "I love the smell of morning here." It reminded me that this place is working it’s way into my children’s hearts just like Bozeman and Sacramento have worked their way into my heart. The smell after a rain in Sacramento, the piney scent of a hike in the woods in Bozeman. I wonder how heaven will smell?

Greg left just this morning for 2 weeks in our village. He is in a plane as we speak, flying over the ocean, and tomorrow or the next day will be continuing on by boat , and finally by foot, to our village. He has quite a "to do " list in the next two weeks, and is already noticing how God is arranging it for him to have blocks of uninterrupted (hiking) time with the people he needs time to visit with. All the same, we would appreciate your prayers for his safety and that his time would be well spent and God directed!

We have a big praise, that in the near future could usher in a whole new stage of our ministry; Our Region now has a flight program complete with helicopter! Greg is in the process of trying to purchase and ship fuel to our village so he and the pilot can make a test run sometime this summer. This current helicopter is not large enough to make regular trips to our location (It is quite far from town where the helicoper is operating from, over lots of open ocean) but they are testing the possibility of it being an option in the cases of emergency. Down the road in the next year or so we are praying they can trade this helicopter in on a larger one that would enable us to move right into the tribe! Please pray for Greg as he meets with officials to try to arrange for the purchase and shipping of the fuel we need to have in place at reasonable prices. This may seem like a baby step toward our goal of moving interior, but it is one that has been very long in coming and we are feeling very blessed to see it finally happening.

The kids and I are holding down the fort at home. We are down to our last six weeks of school (yippee) and I am also busy planning and preparing for the kids part of a conference we are having at the beginning of June. This will be the first time I have organized a kid’s program in the Indonesian language, and while my day-to-day language is at an OK level, the idea of teaching and functioning solely in Indonesian is a little frightening, so please pray for me. It is really a good opportunity for growth in the area of language . . . but sometimes growth is painful and makes us look and feel foolish

I want to take a minute to thank each of you again for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry. Your notes of encouragement are a real blessing to me, especially when Greg is away. I also love to hear what is going on in your lives, how we can pray for you, rejoice with you, etc. Thank you for the sacrifices you make that enable us to be a part of reaching the Buru people for Christ.

Love;
Pam (for Greg, Nate, Hannah, Grace, Katie, and Caleb)

It has been a little while since our last update, 6 weeks, and life has been moving along at a steady and busy pace.

It has been about a month since Greg returned from interior. His visit was very productive. He was able to spend valuable time with each of our teammates individually as well as with the team as a whole. He was also able to bring back new materials for the translation work. Now he is spending his days “processing” that material, and we have also been busy doing some family/marriage counseling.

We are very encouraged that one of the church leaders from our village has moved down to the coast to provide housing and oversight to the village children that are living there in order to attend school. They are also teaching weekly Bible lessons to these kids. This is a huge ministry, as there are 18 or 19 children on the coast going to school, and it is really neat to see these new believers putting their faith in action and ministering to these kids and their families.

The kids and I have also been keeping busy with school. Hannah arrived home from her 6 weeks with Grandma and Grandpa about 2 weeks ago. She had a great time, but we are all happy to have her home. Another missionary dad here has started teaching P.E. 3 times a week to all the homeschool children, and this has been a huge blessing to us.

We have a few things coming up down the road. Greg will be headed back into Buru in April sometime. I will also be headed to some education committee meetings at the end of April, and will be administering standardized tests to many of the kids in our region this spring. You can pray for the details of all of these things to be worked out, tickets, finances, shipping, etc.

I would like to share a short anecdote with you. Nate (age 10) came up to us the other day and said, “I am sure Jesus is coming back in the next few years”. We said, “It is possible, Nate, but the Bible says that no one knows the day or the hour for sure”. Then we showed him that verse in the Bible. He then started crying and said, “But Mom, what if He does? What about all my friends in America that don’t know Him yet? I won’t have another chance to tell them!” I explained to him that this is where Jesus wants us right now, and we need to be doing all we can do HERE to tell people about Him, and that the Lord also has people in America that He is using to do His work there. So, thank you, for doing your part there, to spread the gospel. Maybe you will unknowingly reach out to one of Nate’s friends! And thank you also for the important role you play in allowing us to be here ministering to the people of Indonesia. We appreciate you.

Prayer Requests:
1) Please continue to pray for the Buru people. There has been some threats from a neighboring village towards one of the villages we work with. Please pray that the new believers there will be able to put their faith into action and deal with this in a Godly way and without resorting to violence. Pray also for their growth in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus.

In Him;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (age 10), Hannah (Age 8), Grace (age 6), Katie (age 4) and Caleb (20 months)

P.S. Greg and I both have facebook accounts and often post pictures of the family there. If you have a facebook account and want to be our “facebook friend” let us know, or if you would just like us to send you links to the pictures when we post them let us know. We, of course, also have our website; (the link is below), where you can catch up on our latest news, contribute to our ministry, or find out what else is happening in Indonesia and other countries NTM ministers in.

At the last minute it worked out for Hannah (age to go home with Grandma and Grandpa for 6 weeks! She is having the time of her life and I know this will be a special time of growth and building relationships with Ron, Nita and Darcy, She has been gone over a week now and isn’t missing us a bit!

Just a few days after Greg’s parents and Darcy went home Greg left for the tribe. He is there safely now after several days of travel. The team is having team meetings and also working on several projects. I am only in contact with him by radio every other day, so you can pray with me that he remains safe and that their meetings and time with the Buru people are profitable and encouraging. He Plans to be there for about 3 weeks, so should be home around the end of January. Pak Simon, one of our team members, is there with him and having alot of swelling in his legs and feet, so please pray for him and also for his wife Ibu Meiti, who is also sick here in town.

The other 4 kids and I (plus one add-on child this week are holding the fort down at home. Things always seem to break down while Greg is gone, (and the spiders come out!) I have heard it is helping me to rely on God rather than Greg, . . . sigh. But you can continue to pray that the growth process in my life wouldn’t be TOO painful

We appreciate each of you so much and think and pray for you often. Please let us know how we can better pray for you and what is going on in your lives. Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement.

Pam for the whole Berglund crew

We were so blessed, relieved, and happy to find out that
Caleb’s heart is perfectly healthy. He does have a “floppy
valve” but the Doctor said that 6% of healthy children have that and it is functioning well, not leaking. He said we could have it
checked again in 2 or 3 years, but it is not necessary to check it
every year. WOW, isn’t that just what we were praying for! no
extra trips to Singapore, we can have it checked next time we are home!

A couple extra praises;

1) To my frustration, Greg’s hard-drive crashed 2 days before I left. I was frustrated to have to lug his computer, along with a
baby, with me to Singapore for repairs. Then I realized, what if it
had crashed the week after we got back? We would have had to send it, have it shipped or been without a computer for months. Plus Greg’s dad did all the running around Singapore to get it fixed for me. (thanks Dad)!

2) I found a wonderful Christian book warehouse, stuffed full of
books in Singapore! Everyone is getting new books for Christmas YIPPEE! (it really is the thing we miss most these days, fresh reading material, Libraries, etc.)

3) Darcy is already safely here and Greg’s folks will be here soon, it is going to be such a nice Christmas.

Thank you for praying for us, and especially for Caleb, the Lord has truly done a miracle in his life.

We are praying your Christmas is as blessed as our is going
to be.

In Him;
Greg and Pam, Nate, Hannah, Grace, Katie, and Caleb