Prayer

Simple and straight forward: WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS

Some of you have been praying for the Abegg family for years. Thank you…a true, from the bottom of the heart, THANK YOU! We receive support in numerous ways including monthly monetary donations, emotional support through letters, phone calls or e-mails, and spiritual support through prayer and intercession. Right now I want to emphasize the importance of these prayers and ask each of you to pray and petition the Lord in a few specific ways:

For the MSO (Miami Service Office) where we serve with LAM:

• Software transition and the finance department: The MSO is responsible for receiving and receipting all gifts for all missionaries as well as any projects they or their associate ministry are doing. On any given month one family may receive 20 to 50 gifts of varying amounts. Multiply this by 100 and you have only the missionary part of the equation without considering the hundreds of associate ministries we serve. This must all be sent internationally and again, receipted. The software we were using has been on it’s last legs, so a month ago we began the training and supposedly “seamless” transition. Unfortunately the seam has come unraveled in Grand Canyon proportions essentially paralyzing that department and taxing the IT department in unprecedented ways. Yet even in this, God provided. By His design, Rob Johnson was visiting from Phoenix for a few days, and one of his many expertise is in assisting with problematic software transitions. He came for a few days but stayed a month. We are still not fully out of the woods, but we can see daylight. Please pray and intercede for the transition process to come to completion and the ability for the finance department to then catch up on all receipts (if you’ve given toward our account recently and have not received a receipt, please know that it will be generated and sent out soon).

• Helping Missionaries stay on the field: The downturn in the economy has hit nearly everyone hard, but missionaries have had an especially difficult time as partnering families or churches face their own struggles and need to lower their support. This however becomes an extremely problematic situation when a faithfully serving missionary family must contemplate returning home for lack of support. In order to prevent this we at the MSO are helping missionaries communicate better through websites, social networking sites and even Youtube. Yet the software problems I mentioned above have slowed these efforts in many ways. Please pray and intercede for the missionaries in general (ourselves included) as they seek to keep their support at a level that will keep them on the field. Also pray that the work of those at the MSO would be fruitful in our attempts to assist them.

For the Abegg Family:

• We recently received news that one of our main supporting churches is going through the tough times I described above resulting in lowering our support by about $400/month. We fully understand their reasons and know it was a difficult decision to make. We are praying for all of our supporters, be they families, individuals or churches and appreciate immensely the sacrificial giving in allowing us to serve the many Latin ministries we are involved with. Right now we realistically need to replace that support as well as others who have had to lower or discontinue their gifts over the past year. Please pray and intercede for supporters and churches that are suffering financially, and for others to “step into the gap” and help us cover the monthly needs in order to keep serving the church throughout Latin America. If you would like to consider partnering with us you can easily do so through online donations or a printable donation form.

Link to a Printable Donation Form. (click link for mail in donation form)

Link to Online Donation page (click link for online credit/debit card

Thank you for your prayers. We know the Lord will answer and we pray He blesses you as well.

"On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

2 Corinthians 1:10-12

Roof Repaired! (Room flooded)

Many of you know that we’ve had struggles with our roof for a long time. We discovered a few years ago that the reason our AC ran 24/7 during the summer in order to “cool” the house to 85 degrees was that our solid, cement slab ceiling/roof had no insulation between the cement and the black asphalt roof. You know how a black car heats up in the sun? Yep, that was our house with the ceiling running a 95degree fever all summer! Then during the rainy season (spring & summer) we consistently had 6” of standing water that the tree frogs loved to fill with millions of pollywogs. Eventually our roof lake started leaking into the house little by little, so after three years, multiple estimates, one refinancing, various gifts (thank you to those who helped in this way!) and a no interest loan from a dear friend, we were able to re-roof almost before the rainy season. I say almost because while Claudia was in Costa Rica for her dental work (see CR trip post), the boys and I came home one evening to their bedroom ankle deep in water, requiring the gutting of everything. Their furniture and most of their belongings were salvageable but the floor had to go down to the cement slab, which we discovered was not covered by insurance due to a previous claim for minor flooding in the same area which was applied to the roof repair. For now the boys have rubber matting and a throw rug, but thankfully no more water entry after two years of buckets!

For the roof we used a company that does “spray on foam roofing” see: http://www.coolroof.biz which provides insulation and a solid, rubberized membrane that covers the entire roof (before & after below).

As I said, we were blessed by a friend with a no interest loan to complete the roof job, but our desire is to return the remaining amount of $4000 as soon as possible and then complete repairs to the boys room. If you would like to assist in this way through a tax deductible donation, please see our support page:

Link to a Printable Donation Form. (click link for mail in donation form)
Link to Online Donation page (click link for online credit/debit card

Thank you for your prayers and the many ways you have and continue to assist us over the years.

God bless!

Partnerships, LAM and Missions to the World

A few weeks ago LAM president Steve Johnson and I had the opportunity to attend a Cross Global Link Conference in Chicago which proved to be very encouraging and challenging at the same time. The conference was entitled “Becoming Globally Friendly” and focused on the changing face of world missions including how a traditional North American missions approach much change to remain relevant and continue impacting the world with the Gospel.

On a personal note, I was very encouraged to see that I am not alone in what I have been wrestling with over the past few years concerning the role of church & parachurch organizations (such as LAM) in world evangelism and missions. There was a general understanding that parachurch organizations have unintentionally damaged the N. American missions by removing much of the care of missionaries from the hands of the sending church and we must now encourage, and in some cases show the church how to re-engage in their own missions calling beyond simply being a financial engine for the missions movement. The local church MUST be both the foundation as well as the goal of missions (evangelism must lead to long term discipleship in a local body), and parachurch organizations must assist in this role, not take it over completely. (For more thoughts on this see my other poorly maintained blog: MISsionUNDERSTANDINGS).

On another level Steve and I came away very encouraged that the Lord has prepared Latin America Mission for an already underway historical change in world missions movements. For over a century North American missions has consisted of the sending of missionaries FROM North America TO the rest of the world, but now countries that were traditionally seen as the mission field have a strong enough church to not only evangelize their own country, but send their own missionaries to other countries as well. In the ‘70s LAM was lead to make the difficult decision of turning over all of their individual ministries, projects and even property that had been managed from North America to Latin ministries. This was unthinkable at the time, but exemplified LAM's vision of partnership WITH and not OVER ministries in Latin America. Since that time our practice has been to place missionaries under Latin leadership and to provide assistance to Latin ministries as they request it. It’s not as clean, simple and concise as simply having one focus be that children at risk or seminary education, but it’s empowered the church in these countries to take ownership of their individual call to proclaim the gospel, care for the needy and strengthen the church.

In the first session of the conference, Steve and I were blessed to hear the speaker name LAM as a ministry that has been doing for decades what many other ministries are now trying to figure out how to do, partnering with the international, indigenous church. As I survey the ministries department and consider the many, long term partnerships we currently have, I’m excited to consider the possibilities for the future. We have been able to walk along side many of these ministries for over 40 years and now we have the opportunity to assist them as they continue ministering to those within arms reach, but also lift their eyes up beyond their boarders and consider where the Lord would lead them next.

Please pray for LAM, the Miami Service Office where I am assigned and specifically the Ministries Department I oversee. Because of all of you who pray for us and assist us financially, I am able to serve many, many others throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean and parts of North America as they further the Gospel. Your prayers and gifts are literally touching and encouraging hundreds of ministries in the Spanish & Portugese speaking countries, and now, little by little from there to the rest of the world.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support!

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Luke 10:2

• Link to a Printable Donation Form. (click link for mail in donation form)
• Link to Online Donation page (click link for online credit/debit card