Abegg Love Letters - Dominican Republic & Team Updates!

To those who have been called, who are LOVED by God the Father and KEPT by Jesus Christ; MERCY, PEACE & LOVE  be yours in abundance.       -Jude 1:1 What's Ahead... Team To Cañas The Abegg family is headed back to Costa Rica! This time it's only for a couple of weeks instead of 3 months like last year, and we'll be taking twelve team-mates as a Short Term Team to assist the Gortmaker family in Cañas near the Pacific Coast. We'll be doing physical labor at "Campamento Rio Naranjo", a VERY RUSTIC camp that originally belonged to Latin America Mission and was given to the AIBC denomination (an LAM partner ministry). The Gortmakers are working hard to get the camp to...let's say less rustic standards, but even amidst the cleaning and updating process they are running a pastoral training program to assist the many undereducated pastors in the region. During two consecutive weekends, we'll be working with a local AIBC Chruch. Pastor Johnny of Iglesia Sion recently lost his wife to cancer, a grave loss to the family and to the whole church. One of his wife Ania's ministries was leading the children's program, leaving the church without a strong direction or leadership in this area. We'll be running a Vacation Bible School but at the same time providing training for some of the Church members to carry on the program into the future.  Every team-mate is required to raise "Prayer Support". Think of this as military "air support" to the troops on the ground. Would you join us and "cover us in prayer"? Via these links you can read Jeremy's and Nico'sown prayer support letters, so please join in and cover us during this time, keeping our team's work, travel and witness, as well as the Gortmakers, Pastor Johnny and the members of Iglesia Sion in your prayers. We will also be meeting with other missionaries and ministries trying to make the most of our short visit. We look forward to sharing with you upon our return. Regional Leaders Meetings Following our time with the team in Costa Rica, Claudia and I will proceed directly (no passing go and no $200) to Charlotte, NC, arriving one day late for UWM's leadership meetings. All of the Regional Leaders, Partnership Coordinators, and many of the Missions Mobilizers as well as Member Care personnel will come together to share, learn and strategize for the coming year. If last year's meetings are any indicator, this will be an intense but immensely profitable time. Please pray for this time. For the Lord's guidance and the leadership team's discernment, and that everything that we wrestle with in these meetings will ultimately translate to extending the Kingdom and more people coming to know Christ or being better equipped for ministry.  A Time for Rest After the conference & almost 4 weeks away, we get to return home. We've blocked out the following week for rest and recuperation, though Jeremy will be charging off to Northern Florida as staff for Cival Air Patrol's Summer Encampment while Nico, Claudia and I actually rest.  Thank you for your prayers and encouragement for our family! Top: Jeremy & Nico in their Civil Air Patrol Uniforms. Middle: Jeremy in "Battle Dress Uniform" during last years encampment. Bottom: UWM's Leaders Conference 2018 What's Behind... The Dominican Republic During Claudia and my 6 day trip we spent a lot of time reviewing years of ministry in the region, the victories and challenges the Macky family (UWM missionaries) have faced along the way, and the significant "next steps" in the coming year as their team grows. We visited churches and ministry sights around Jarabacoa, some doing well while others wrestling with everything from no power (the electrical line from the street was stolen from the "El Montaña"... (For more on this trip, please visit our BLOG)...   Human Trafficking in Central and South America Like so much of Central America, the Dominican Republic is subject to the horrors of Human Trafficking. There are a few organizations making inroads and working to educate, but often, unfortunately, bring a US paradigm into a country that simply does not have the resources of the US. As we've connected with national ministries, I'm convinced that as with evangelism and church planting, we need to COME ALONG SIDE existing ministries and further equip them. (For more on this and exciting news about an intern, please visit our BLOG)...   FAMILY UPDATES So I turned 50 in April...yeah, that happened. However, that's just one day older than when I was 49, and one day closer to living forever. (Again...for more on this and other family news, please visit our BLOG)... Support Update We are still $400/month below our needed support level (perhaps because I haven't stopped to report enough)... We're praying and counting on: 1 commitment of $200/month 1 commitment of $100/month 2 commitments of $50/month Please pray for this last $400/month to be covered. Pray for those who make up our support team, be they prayer or financial supporters, to be blessed and guided by the Holy Spirit in all they do.  If you want to join our team as intercessors or financial supporters, or just need to know how to do it, please contact me or use the info at the bottom. Join Our Team Prayer Team  Send us a note and let us know you're an intercessor and want our intercessors updates! Give Online UWM-Missionary Support Page   Give via US Mail  Mail check with accompanying note stating: "For the Abegg Family" to: 205 Regency Executive Park Dr. Suite 430, Charlotte, NC 28217   Give Via Phone Dial 800-825-5896 and talk to a very helpful person!   Copyright © 2019 United World Mission, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you requested to be kept informed on the Abegg family and their ministry to those trapped in human trafficking.

What's Behind...Catching Up and Catching Our Breaths

My apologies for taking so long to get an update to everyone. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! 

There and Back Again: The Dominican Republic...

Rick and Becky Mackey have been assisting and equipping numerous rural churches around the Jarabacoa area of the DR for many years now. You’ve read about them in previous news letters as their team began to grow in the fall with the addition of Gil and Danna Leon, only to have the Leon’s need to return to the US for Gil to receive treatment due to a cerebral parasite. Treatment is continuing, and we continue to intercede on his and the family’s behalf as we await a solid prognosis and the ability to lay future plans. Please join us in these prayers!

During our 6 day trip we spent a lot of time reviewing years of ministry in the region, the victories and challenges the Macky’s have faced along the way, and the significant “next steps” in the coming year as their team grows. We visited churches and ministry sights around Jarabacoa, some doing well while others wrestling with everything from no power (the electrical line from the street was stolen from the “El Montaña” church the day of the Bible study we attended), to internal and denominational strife. On that item, the Church today, in any country, is not so different from what we see in the book of Acts. Check it out and rejoice that God is patient and faithful with us all!

Please pray for the Macky’s and that their growing team would be encouragers and equippers. Often the pastors of these rural churches have little more than an elementary school education, and often care for a congregation where many cannot read, making “Bible Study” a challenge, and personal discipleship a necessity in order to strengthen the church. 

Please pray for a unified Gospel centered vision and Gospel message amongst (and sometimes within) the various denominations working in the region, and repentance where needed. 

Continue to pray for the Mackey family who had anticipated having the Leons working alongside them at this point, but Gil Leon's illness (cerebral parasite) forced them to return to the US for treatment. Please continue praying for Gil and Danna as they move ahead with treatment at the National Institute for Health. Praise the Lord that they’ve been accepted to the program free of charge, but please continue interceding for his full healing. 

Human Trafficking in Central and South America

Like so much of Central America, the Dominican Republic is subject to the horrors of Human Trafficking. There are a few organizations making inroads and working to educate, but often, unfortunately, bring a US paradigm into a country that simply does not have the resources of the US. As we’ve connected with national ministries, I’m convinced that as with evangelism and church planting, we need to COME ALONG SIDE existing ministries and further equip them. Pray for wisdom as we do so. 

Claudia and I are excited to have a friend from church, Sasha Montenegro, starting an internship with us to assist in this very area of research, and helping connect existing Central American organizations to provide contextualized assistance to our partner ministries in need of anti-trafficking training. As much as Claudia and I would love to do the “hands on” training, we’re realizing that the breadth of responsibilities God has given us requires us to equip others and send them out. Please pray for Sasha and others like her as they engage this need with a Great Comission mindset. 

FAMILY

So I turned 50 in April...yeah, that happened. However, that's just one day older than when I was 49, and one day closer to living forever. If you'd like clarification on that whole living forever thing (and some encouragement) check out my post from a few years back: Turning 48...

Nico turned 14 one week after my birthday, so we are fully entrenched with two teenagers in the house, and actually... it's an immense blessing to be able to engage with both of them in a mature way on topics that were previously beyond them. Claudia and I are truly blessed! That's not to say they don't have their moments, like the day Nico sliced his finger open just as Claudia and I returned home from visiting missionaries from Cuba!

Jeremy (15) has started the S.A.T. gauntlet and through much of Claudia's research we're starting to consider what colleges (and scholarships) he'll be shooting for. For those who have gone before us, you know that's a BIG prayer request!

Pray for Claudia and I as it’s taken a long time to catch up physically and work-wise after our Dominican Republic trip, and now we're on the cusp of our next. I’m prayerfully combating a feeling of being overwhelmed. Pray for discernment in where and how to apply my time. It’s not a bad situation in that we love what we’re doing, but the to do list is so full we want to make sure our priorities are in alignment with the Holy Spirit's.

Again, Thank You for your Love, Support and Encouragement. We Truly couldn't do this without you!

How to Support our Work:

Give Online

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Support Page

Give via US Mail

 Mail check with accompanying note stating:
"For the Abegg Family" to:
205
Regency Executive Park Dr.
Suite 430,
Charlotte, NC 28217

Give Via Phone

Dial 800-825-5896 and talk to a very helpful person!

Jeremy's Prayer Letter for PVCC 2019 Costa Rica Missions Trip

Jeremy Abegg

2019 PVCC Costa Rica Missions Trip

5/8/2019

Hello Everyone!

As some of few know, last year I had the privilege of taking three months over the summer to live in Costa Rica and work there with my family as missionaries. My father and mother are currently the UWM (United World Mission) Regional Leaders of Central America and the Caribbean. When my parents accepted the position of regional leaders, we got to spend three months in Costa Rica which is where many of the missionaries in the region are located. During our time there, we visited fellow missionaries as well as partner ministries that are furthering God's good work. While we spent our time there, my family was able to visit old friends from the mission field as well as make many new ones in the region. Though we had to adjust to the culture and learn how to function well in a different environment, the time my family spent there serving God's people was priceless.

One of the families that we got to visit was the Gortemakers, a family of seven working alongside a church in Canñas (pronounced Can-yas), Costa Rica. They are also restoring a run-down camp to be used to equip pastors from all over Costa Rica with sound theology. However, right now this camp is in no condition to house anything except fire ants and scorpions! That is why a team from Palm Vista Community Church (my church) will be traveling to Costa Rica to serve the church in Cañas as well as the Gortmakers. Along with the physical labor at the camp, our team will also host a vacation bible school for the kids, and train people from the church to run a children's ministry during the adult's service on Sundays.

There is, of course, one important item that is needed to make this whole trip work; prayer. None of this can work without God's people praying for provision as well as protection. That is exactly what I'm asking you to do. I ask that during your devotionals or throughout the day, you pray for the safety of the team as we travel and work there. Also, I ask that you would pray for me personally and my limited Spanish, and that God would use me to further the spread of the Gospel even though I do not speak the language well yet.

The purpose of sending this team to Costa Rica is not so that we can do some manual labor and leave feeling like we have fulfilled our service duties. NO! It is ultimately to share the Gospel with those who may not have the opportunity to hear it, whether we do it or help equip others to share. Though you may not have the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica and physically help us in the work the team will be doing, your prayers aid us in witnessing to others and being good witnesses in our labors. So I ask that you take my request for prayer seriously and that you see it as an opportunity to serve the people of God without having to travel to another country.

Please let me know if I can count on you, and if you use the app "What'sApp" and would like to receive updates while we're there, please send me your phone number and let me know. Otherwise, I'll send an update once I'm back.

For more on our family's work as missionaries please visit: www.abeggloveletters.blogspot.com

Also, if you want to know how or three months in Costa Rica went, please visit:

https://youtu.be/PomFLTzTuBU

Thank you so much!

Jeremy P. Abegg

Costa Rica Missons Trip (Nicholas Abegg)

Hello Friends And Family!!!

I am sending you this to ask for prayer because as some of you may know I am going on a missions trip to Costa Rica in a week. We will be taking a team with us and working in one of the places we visited last year where my parents supervise UWM missionaries, the Gortmaker Family.

For mission trips it is always good to have a prayer support team who is joining us in the battle. We're going to be working on an old camp that's being used as a training center for pastors to study theology.  Many of these pastors have never had the chance to study and be prepared to pastor, yet they're in charge of small churches all over the countryside. Some of them only have a 6th grade education, so to be able to get trained is a huge blessing.

So, I'm asking you to be my and the team's prayer covering! All I ask is to pray for me daily as we get ready (now) and while we're gone May 23 - June 10. Our family will be there one week before the rest of the team comes since we need to meet with UWM missionaries and different ministries and get ready for the team to arrive June 1st. We will be 16 people in total.

The main things I ask for prayer for are:

1. That I would have faith and trust in my God that even though I may not be the best person for a specific job, I will completely try and work to do the best I can no matter what.
2. That I would Have Kindness and Grace with everyone. We will not be in a comfortable environment physically and spiritually, so I want to have kindness and grace in everything and with those who are around me.
3. Health, Safety and Unity for the team as we work together physically at the camp, run a VBS at a local church and train teachers while we run their Children's Church on the last Sunday. (It's a 4 hr. service!!!)

Thank you so much for praying for me. prayer can move mountains!

John 14:13-14

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Acts 9:40

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

If you would like to get updates while we're away, we will send them via "What'sApp".  So if you have that app and would like to receive updates, please send me your phone number and you'll be invited to the group. Thanks!

Once again thank you all so much for praying for me I love you all and will send a report once we're back!

For more on our family's work as missionaries please visit: www.abeggloveletters.blogspot.com

And you can see our video from Costa Rica last year at: Abegg's in Costa Rica 2018

- Nicholas Abegg-Guzman