American Exports

What happened to good, wholesome American exports?

Matthew 18:5-7
"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!"

Remember, we have a representative government. We cannot lay the blame on "them". Are you making your voice heard to those representing YOU?

Cuba in the News

For your Prayer List: Cuban church leader on trial over 'offensive behavior'

A prominent church leader will be put on trial on Monday in what members of his organization say is a government campaign to silence and discredit him. Rev Robert Rodriguez, pastor of the Los Pinos Nuevos de Sagua la Grande Church and the National President of the Interdenominational Fellowship of Evangelical Pastors and Ministers in Cuba, and his son, pastor Eric Gabriel Rodriguez del Toro, have been accused of “offensive behavior” by a neighbor, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The neighbor has allegedly carried out a campaign of harassment, with the apparent support of local government officials, against the families for a number of years. Prosecutors are requesting that Pastor Rodriguez be given a one-year prison sentence… For the full article please see: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/cuban.church.leader.on.trial.over.offensive.behaviour/22214.htm

Chile Trip Rundown

Please see previous posts for more pictures and video from the trip!

Our Chile trip came to an end only a few days before Christmas. We were so blessed to be able to spend time with Claudia’s side of the family as well as many of our Chilean friends and ministry partners whom we haven’t seen in four years! Abuelo (Grandpa) & the tias (Aunts) finally met Nicholas as we had Bar-B-Q’s in the spring air and got our exercise by walking to all the familiar places. It’s hard to be away from family for such extensive periods of time and we are praying that the Lord provides us with a way to visit them more often or have them visit us.

While in Rancagua we attended Claudia’s church “Renuevo” and had meals with many of our dear old friends. It’s exciting to see the growth of the church as well as their seriousness of solid Biblical teaching. Pastor Juan continues to be the solid humble servant I learned from during my four years there and Pastor Roberto’s passion for missions and furthering the Gospel once again encouraged Claudia and my hearts.

About half way through our time in Chile, tia Alejandra graciously loaned us her car so we could travel to Pichilemu where I had worked with a church for four years and we began our married life together. We visited our friends at El Faro church which grew out of the one we took part in planting back in ’96. Pablo Martinez was one of the kids in my youth group so many years back, and now he’s one of the associate pastors. How time flies!

We were a little concerned that Jeremy and Nicholas would be overwhelmed with the travel and all the people we visited, especially since it would go way beyond the basic Spanish they now have. Thankfully though they loved their time there and are quick to tell anyone about our afternoon catching crabs on the beach in Pichilemu. Claudia and I are so pleased to see that the trip wasn’t a burden but a joy for them and that they’re ready to back to visit any time the Lord allows.

Our return trip offered us a three day layover in Lima, Peru. Christina, Claudia’s youngest sister works for the Sheraton in Chile, and was able to get us a price at the Sheraton in Lima that beat any of the deals I could find. The boys thought the guy who opened the door every time we got near it was pretty funny: “He’s like the doorman on Curious George!”. A nice hotel with a pool was a very welcome blessing and offered us a few days of good rest before returning home.

We returned with a deeper understanding and appreciation of how the Lord has lead us over the years and been so merciful to our family in the midst of many transitions and living “in between” two cultures. Thank you to those who assisted us on this trip, you truly blessed our whole family as well as our extended family in Chile and the ministries we were able to reconnect with. May the Lord bless you in all you do this coming year.

Should you be lead to assist with some of the involved costs, please see our support information at the top of the blog on how to do so.

Thank you!

Colombia Conference and Recursos Pastorales

Colombia Conference
As I mentioned in my last letter, our turnaround between my Colombia trip and Chile was very short, but in the coming weeks I will be corresponding with our attendees in order to see how they are implementing what they received and even explore if and how it would be possible to bring the conference directly to them in Cuba. Please pray for the timing of this as well as how the Lord would or would not have me involved in the years to come.

Recursos Pastorals
As the dust settles from the Colombian Conference it’s time for another round of book deliveries to Cuban Pastors via the “Recursos Pastorales” project. With this project we seek to provide Cuban pastors with doctrinally sound materials to use in caring for their churches and reaching out to their surrounding Cuban Community. Since the Cuban government only allowed a fraction of the pastors to that we had hoped for to attend the Colombia conference, one of the first shipments will be the very books we had hoped to hand deliver to them. Following this we hope to send books I am in the process of acquiring. Please pray that we would receive these books as a donation or offered to us at a substantially reduced price.

For more information on this topic please visit the Recursos Pastorales section on our webpage. Also, if you would like to help with this program, please see our donation page.

Matters of the Heart –Update on Kevin’s heart condition

Some of you may remember that I was diagnosed with “Mitral Valve Prolapse” last year, which for those of us who don’t speak medical gibberish means that the valve between the upper and lower left chambers of my heart doesn’t close properly. Evidently this is combined with an arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat which explains why Claudia is a much better dancer than I. My most recent checkup focused on extreme irregular heartbeats while I slept, which resulted in my having to do sleep apnea (pauses in breathing while sleeping) testing. The concept behind this testing is that if you are alive the next morning after having been wired like a Christmas tree all night, you become a candidate for a take home torture device that will supposedly regulate my night time breathing. In all seriousness, I give thanks to the Lord for the wisdom and discernment He has provided the doctors that are caring for me and I have every intention to follow their instructions in order to better do whatever the Lord may call me to do in the coming months and years. In the past three years I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t fall asleep tired, and the apnea could potentially be one of the contributing factors to my irregular heartbeats. Please pray for continued wisdom on the doctors’ parts and for my submission first to the Lord and then to the doctors instructions despite the initial discomfort of the machine.

Psalm 33:13-18 “From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do… No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love”.

Lessons We’ve Learned from Our Kids #11

• Nico: "I knew that, I know everything!" Daddy: "Really? Where did you learn everything you know?" Nico: "I don't know."
• Jeremy: But daddy, boys are never wrong!
• Nico, while flying to Chile: “You can hold my hand daddy so you’re not scared when we take off”.
• Nico: “I didn’t squish the bug, I was just making sure it didn’t get away!”
• General Wisdom: When planning a trip with two little boys, imagine the number of clothes you think they will need, and then double it.
• On Change: The town of Pichilemu, Chile (where Claudia and I worked when we first got married) seems a lot dustier than I remembered it now that we are here with two very curious boys.
• Logic?: Even though different types of food shouldn't touch each other on your dinner plate, it's somehow acceptable (and edible) to mix tomato juice with your ice-cream.
• Jeremy: “Why does God need our money just on Sundays and not the rest of the days?”
• Nico: “I thought my pocket would make the caterpillar warm, not squishy!”
• Jeremy: “If God wasn't born or made, and he's been alive from always, he must be really, really tired by now!”

For Previous "Lessions" please see our Lesson Plan

Larry Norman 1947 - 2008

On Dec. 31st most papers and news casts dedicate time and space to influential individuals who have passed away during the previous year. The Abegg family lost my great aunt Maja (many of you knew her from her extensive travels with my grandma "Mor-mor" who is celebrating her 95th birthday today!).

Another person that I did not see listed in any of the end of year articles will be familiar to any "Old School" Christan Rockers and possibly some new ones who apreciate those who have gone before us. Larry Norman passed away earlier this year (see: http://www.larrynorman.com/ for details). I was introduced to his music the the early 80's and then had the privelidge of meeting him a number of times at Lighthouse Christian Fellowship during my time in Santa Cruz, CA. Some of his more popular early songs were: "I Am The Six O'Clock News", "The Great American Novel", "Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?", "Without Love, You Ain't Nothing (Righteous Rocker)", and "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" which was used in the 1972 movie interpreting the rapture "A Thief in the Night".

"This life is hard and the road is long
That leads me toward the light.
Sometimes I trip and stumble in the night
My mind becomes so weary I just want to lay down.
But I got to keep on going
'Till I reach the higher ground.
Let this good life be the life I lead.
Let my faith grow like a mustard seed.
Let your love be all the love I need
To carry me all the way home."

- "All The Way Home" by Larry Norman.