It's been a while since I've written, so here goes the catch up: This has been a busy season at LAM and within our immediate as well as extended family.
My father had spinal surgery a few months ago following a very difficult year of severe back pain due to crushed disks that resulted in multiple extended hospital stays, a 5 week stay with us in Miami to provide care and then finally getting him set up in an assisted care facility back in CA. Since the surgery he's doing much better overall though there are many difficult decisions ahead. Please continue praying for wisdom on how to provide long-distance care for him as well as my mom at this point in their lives. Also, we ask that you would pray for the financial ability to visit both sets of family in CA and Chile in the coming year.
At home we are nearing the end of remodeling due to flood damage this past January. It's been a long, exhausting haul but we have been back sleeping in our bedroom for over a month now and are in the home stretch with re-tiling the shower and installing shelves, closets etc.
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| Jeremy and Nico Help Out |
At LAM there's never a dull moment. Over the past year the "alliance team" (those who navigate the details of partnering with Latin ministries our missionaries servealong side of as well as the sending / supporting churches in N. America) has expanded from myself and the president to a desperately needed six person team. It's been a labor of love in clarifying work flow, job descriptions and seeing longawaited projects begin to take flight. Part of this is a brand new branch of Alliances to help develop and coordinate Short-Term Team (STT) efforts. We are approaching this in the same way LAM approaches long-term missionary assignments, with our primary concern being that potential team opportunities are developed to assist a Latin ministry's long-term vision, mission and goals. From that perspective we work on equipping a N. American team that meets the immediate and long term needs of the Latin ministry. Please be praying for this new team to work together well as we move forward.
Last month I had the opportunity to travel to San Jose Costa Rica where LAM is hosted a summit of LAM Alliance Ministry leaders and Latin missionaries. (That's LAM missionaries who are Latin as opposed to Gringo).
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| LAM: An Amazing Heritage of LATIN Missionaries and Ministries |
To quote LAM president Steve Johnson: "There will be just over 40 of us gathered to help us discern His [God's] unique and ongoing place for us in the future of Latin America…In particular, we place a high value on the voice of our Latin leaders and missionaries. After all, they have their fingers directly on the pulse of how God is moving in Latin America. For this reason, we will gather for a "conversatorio" -- a large round table to deal with several key questions that will inform the leadership of LAM as we look to God's role for us in the future alongside the Latin American Church. The forty men and women who will be there include current missionaries, retirees, and a former LAM president. They hail from Mexico, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, the U.S. and even Cyprus. They areprofessional missiologists, theologians, pastors, student leaders, as well as leaders in many areas of integral mission. Of the 40 participants, only five will be "gringos," and we will try to speak softly so that others may speak up."
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| Lunch with Elizabeth Sendek (Biblical Seminary of Colombia) & Victor Rodriguez (Christ for Miami) |
This was an amazing time! Unprecedented in the history of the mission and a re-affirmation as to why Claudia and I originally decided to join LAM, and what continues to make LAM distinct to this day. It is a mission focused not on "going to" Latin America but on "going WITH" Latinos in what the Lord has called them to do in Latin America and the rest of the world. There are immense complications in working this way as opposed to simply directing specific project efforts from North America, but the fruit was so amazingly evident during these meetings that I was all the more convinced that the Lord continues to go before us.
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| Claudia and her Home School co-op class |
Please be praying for the work ahead, there is more than any of us can handle in our own strength, but we know that would doom us to failure anyway.
I ask you also to pray for the Abegg family health, energy and finances as we step into another year of Home Schooling and Claudia tutoring for Classical Conversations (home-school co-op). We have some financial recovering to do following the home repairs and are confronting a slow, debilitating decrease in support that has occurred over the past year as churches and supporters navigate tighter finances.
Please consider joining our financial support team by using the links below, or if you would be lead to give a special gift during this time.
Thank you and God bless!
Online giving: http://www.lam.org/missionaries/abegg
Printable donation link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZR3KoboDB_uHW-N_IRmLCNQ0XCfgPgBu6Y6p08GMOa0/edit
In His Hands / En Sus manos;
Office: 305-884-8400 x225
