SUBJECT: Kaikan Looses Three Missionary Daughters

AUTHOR: David Gates, his wife Becky, and four of their five children - Lina, Trina, Carlos, and Kristopher, work together with Becky's sister and family, the Burgdorffs, in a medical aviation program in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

DATE: July 13, 1997

Most of the time the news to report is positive and optimistic. This time, however, we experienced a sad event.

Final Concert: Heidi, Katrina, Kara, Lina & Kristen

After being in Kaikan for nearly a year, three of our daughters have headed for the States to continue their studies. Lina and Katrina Gates and their cousin Heidi Burgdorff, names with which you are very familiar if you have been reading their stories on this web page, left on Monday morning for Tennessee where they will be attending Laurelbrook School, small industrial boarding Academy located up in the mountains of Dayton near Chattanooga.

Not only will we family members miss them terribly, but also the Kaikan church family as well. During the last week in Kaikan, the junior church choir put on a concert by singing all the songs that these girls had taught them. The Gates and Burgdorff girls also

Gates, Burgdorff, and Duerksen families before takeoff

put on a concert of their own. There was hardly a dry eye in the congregation. Each of the department directors had a few words of farewell, ending with Captain Peters, the leader of our village. Even he had a hard time talking. According to the Captain, the impact these girls have had on the youth and children of Kaikan has been wonderful. He challenged them to finish their education and return to serve in Kaikan once again.

The week before they left, the Kaikan Pathfinders decided to have a special trip to the local waterfalls to spend the day. Everyone had so much fun swimming, taking turns to see who could hold their head under the water the longest, and playing

Last Pathfinder hike to waterfalls

games organized by our newest volunteer, Leif Aaen. On the way back to Kaikan, Heidi and Lina took the canoe back together one last time, and many of the boys and myself, swam back beside the large village canoe for the last mile or so of river.

Before they left home, we had a special dedicatory family service in which we all knelt together as a family with the three girls in the center. Both we fathers, Ted and I, had special prayers of dedication in which our daughters were handed over to the Lord for his care and protection, and in which their lives were given over to His service. Immediately after our prayers, their maternal grandfather, Dale Duerksen, placed his hands on them and prayed a special blessing prayer. Available to all children of all families, God will lovingly surround our children with his special care if we ask him to. Let us not forget to hold up our children before the Lord each day.

The Last Canoe Trip

Each of the girls was flown out to Georgetown with their luggage on a separate trip due to the size of the plane. The return flight was made into Paruima with our district pastor and his family, one at a time, so no leg of the trip was wasted. Lina was the first to fly out, followed by Heidi, and Katrina. As a special going-away supper, I took the three girls out to eat at KFC, where they enjoyed (for the first time in many months) french fries, corn on the cobb, blueberry pies, and ice cream. It was a very special moment, and they deserved it.

At 3:00 am Monday morning, the three checked in their two duffle bags, and carried their backpacks to the waiting room where left them. It was a difficult experience indeed to send our girls off by themselves for the first time. We will miss them so much.

Boarding for Miami: "Le wi go"

Thanks you Heidi, Lina and Trina for the special memories you left behind. We will be sure to keep in touch by amateur radio phone patch. Feel free to write mission stories for our web page, and keep looking for new features, such as sound and video features which will bring Kaikan back to life for you as you study in Laurelbrook. As always, remember you are in the Service of the King of Kings.

With Love,

Your Father and Uncle David

You may write to David at: gates@andrews.edu

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Last Updated: July 15, 1997