100 missionaries walk into a room...The Abegg Love Letter

The Abegg Love Letter To those who have been called, who are LOVED by God the Father and KEPT by Jesus Christ; MERCY, PEACE and LOVE  be yours in abundance.       -Jude 1:1 Our Cup Overfloweth (so does our plate, our bowl and I think we've lost the napkin...) As part of the UWM Regional Leader's role for Central America and the Caribbean, Claudia and I have decided to take advantage of the boys reducedstudies this summer (there's no rest for the homeschooler!) and relocate the family to San Jose, Costa Rica for three months to engage with partner ministries and many of the missionaries we're overseeing.  In just a few weeks we'll land in San Jose and travel 4 hrs. directly to the regional missionary conference on the Pacific cost. We're looking forward to this time as I've been overseeing the conference planning team since January which is an amazing amount of work, but a blessing to connect with such a stellar team helping pull it together! Pray that as a team we'll finish well and that the nearly 100 participants can be encouraged and refreshed by the teaching, prayer, worship and connecting with missionaries from all over the region.  During these next few months (as Jeremy and Nico take Spanish classes) we'll be focused on how to better partner with ministries such as children's homes, human trafficking rescue, medical clinics, schools, Bible colleges, seminaries, camps, missionary sending organizations and more. We'll be meeting with missionaries who are working with all of these organizations as we simultaneously consider future plans, goals and directions for the region as a whole. Quite frankly, it's a lot, so please pray that we use our time wisely not only for ministry but also to find opportunities for the family to enjoy the unique place where we'll be working. As we begin this 3 month intensive WE NEED SOME HELP. We have amazingly faithful supporters that enable us to minister, assist partner ministries, provide training on Human Trafficking and care for fellow missionaries.  We run a very tight budget covering everything from housing to food to the boys' education, wanting to steward well what our supporters sacrificially give and ultimately God provides.  For the next 3 months we'll be ADDING AN EXTRA $800 / MONTH to our budget for rent & other expenses in Costa Rica. We're asking if there would be any existing supporters who would be willing to increase their support, or new supporters who have been following & praying for us that are willing to jump on for May, June & July? If so, please let us know and simply use the support information at the bottom of this letter. Thank You! And Thank you additionally for your Prayers! Combating Sex Trafficking in Miami, Central America & the Caribbean Though our focus is primarily the Caribbean and Central America, in January I took part in an Anti Sex Trafficking presentation and panel discussionaimed at educating the city government of Miami Lakes. It was a hopeful step as our church, Palm Vista, seeks to work with city and local businesses to take a stand for those being abused in this horrible way. Similarly, on 4/27, I'll conduct a training for another church that is sending a team to Jamaica for the purpose of equipping local governments, children's homes and other churches. It's an exciting opportunity in a nation struggling with the "disappearance" of children and a significant problem with sex tourism. Pray for our family as we spend May, June & July in Central America engaging churches and partner ministries in the region on Human Trafficking (many are still unaware that it exists right in their own backyard).  Miami Lakes Government Presentation   &   Our Father's Kingdom Training Projects with Partner Ministries Back in September Hurricane Irma affected much of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. One of the casualties was a shed used by partner ministry Glory House of Miami to store some of their clients (trafficking survivors) belongings. With funding from Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church (thank you!!!) and the help of numerous workers, we finally got a new and improved shed with 3x the storage and 100x the hurricane resistance.  Glory House has recently opened a drop in center for victims in what can be considered "trafficking central" for Miami between the business district, tourism, concert & sports stadiums and one of the most impoverished areas of the city.   Starting next year we'll be working closely with Glory House and UWM interns coming to South Florida for in-depth training and discipleship in anti-trafficking.  Pray as we work together with partner ministries like Glory House to reach this city and into Central America & the Caribbean with hope for survivors.  My thanks to these and multiple others who helped bring this project to completion! We enjoyed an International Easter celebration with our neighbors the Schmatjens and 6 international students from China. Most had never been in a North American home, or attended a church service, so it was a great day of new experiences as we celebrated Christ's Resurrection together! Leading up to Easter I had the opportunity to tag team teach a 6 week course on World Missions with one of our Pastors, Al Pino. "A Light to the Nations" coveres theory, history and many current trends or practices in missions. I encourage you to take a moment and listen to the series online. Thank you to all of those who continue to make our ministry possible through your prayer and giving! How to Join Our Team: Our work is 100% supported through prayer and tax deductible donations.   Prayer Team  Send us a note and let us know you want in!   Give Online visit our UWM-Missionary Support Page (http://uwm.org/missionaries/27521/) Give via US Mail  Mail a check with an accompanying note stating "For the Abegg Family" to: 205 Regency Executive Park Dr Suite 430, Charlotte, NC 28217   Give Via Phone Simply phone United World Mission at 800-825-5896 and talk to the very helpful people there! Keep in Touch With Us:  Kevin's Facebook Claudia's Facebook UWM's Facebook Abegg Family Blog Kevin's Email UWM's Website Share What We're Doing With Others: Share Tweet Forward Share Equipping Saints for the Work of Ministry and Building up the Body of Christ to See Captives Set Free!

The Abeggs -Anti-Human Trafficking & Central America Strategies

The Abegg Love Letter To those who have been called, who are LOVED by God the Father and KEPT by Jesus Christ; MERCY, PEACE and LOVE  be yours in abundance.       -Jude 1:1 Strategy & Vision Mission Fields Becoming Mission Partnerships In December I spent one week meeting with partner ministries in Costa Rica, the birthplace of Latin America Mission nearly 100 years ago. The mission vision carried all that time, and which is now part of United World Mission is to "Come Alongside the Latin Church", not taking the lead as "those who know", but neither following sheepishly assuming nothing to offer.  The vision is to struggle through and labor together as equal partners, capitalizing on the strengths of each and growing in our areas of weakness.    During my visit, the director of a particularly vibrant christian school took me by surprise in telling me very directly how he believed UWM could help academies like theirs avoid hazards he saw US institutions falling into in not equipping Christian students for the demands of the world.  He saw a weakness in the US of not training students to think critically, debate logically or live Biblically, and he wanted to know what we had learned from our struggles.   As we continued conversing we came to the conclusion that yes, there were many things to be gleaned from the US, but that there were many like minded ministries throughout Latin America confronting the same issues, and working to identify uniquely Latin solutions. Helping these ministries come together to share their own collective wisdom on how to respond to cultural change as Christ centered institutions would produce more immediate fruit than any non-Latin context. And with that we started discussing the framework for just such a trial event this summer! Please pray for our Latin ministry partners as they work together to keep the Gospel in the forefront of cultural change despite challenges of a rapidly secularizing society that often celebrates US worldly directions without recognizing the disastrous consequences.  Pray for the UWM missionaries Claudia and I are re-engaging with. Those serving alongside and within these ministry partners in order to see the Gospel permeate and growing in the contexts of education, health care, children at risk, women's ministries, sex trafficking, theological education and entire denominations. Pray for our family as we anticipate and prepare for a 3 month assignment in Costa Rica this summer. Pray for our planned times of working with, connect to and "coming alongside" these partner ministries and UWM Missionaries in multiple ways.   Anti Sex Trafficking During my December visit to Costa Rica, I made a point of asking ministries that dealt with at risk children, women's care and medical provision in impoverished in impoverished areas if they were aware of any anti-sex trafficking education. I received a resounding "no".  Apart from Rahab Ministries in San Jose (the organization that inspired Claudia and I to learn about sex trafficking), most even believed it was not an issue in Costa Rica.  This unfortunately couldn't be further from the truth. Costa Rica and other countries such as Panama, Mexico and Colombia have a "perfect storm" of poverty and wealth, illegal immigration and mass tourism colliding in such a way for this vice to grow unchecked. Domestic trafficking flourishes when impoverished populations are un-informed of the dangers and readily accessible to wealthier populations known for tourism, sporting events and business conferences ...not so different from Miami where we've served these last three years!  We are thankful to already have a few partner organizations in Central America ready to train other ministries in a gospel oriented approach to trafficking awareness and healing for survivors. Pray that as we come along side these partner organizations we would be able to multiply their efforts through UWM's network of associate ministries and missionaries for the good of all these countries. Pray for the networking and anti-trafficking training we are in the process of planning as part of our work in Costa Rica this summer. Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom as we then consider plans for other countries throughout Central America and the Caribbean.    Run Against Trafficking! If you've been following us on Facebook (and please do) you saw a number of exciting events in January which was International Human Trafficking Awareness Month.  Last weekend four dear friends dedicated months of preparation and a lot of hard work to raise support for all of the Anti-Trafficking work we've shared above and much more! Marcos & Becky Gonzalez, Melinda Bush and Kirsten Bjorkman managed to raise $1,800 to assist with our work in Central America this summer! They, along with each and every person that sponsored their runs will be helping us bring care and training to Central American Partner Ministries and UWM missionaries.  Training that will literally save lives and help identify victims so that they can become "survivors".  The Abegg family, and those we seek to serve, thank every one of you for your generosity and partnership in this fight!   Hear & See What We're Doing! Claudia put the best of our two faces forward for Human Trafficking Awareness month (January) by hosting a series of Facebook Live Events to educate people on Human trafficking. Check out her last Live Post on "Methods Traffickers Use" as well as the rest of her posts on her Facebook Page! For those who missed it last year, Kevin was a guest on the podcast "Forget Me Not, Stories of Hurt, Hope and Activism". Listen Online or as a Podcast to hear why we believe the Gospel is the needed response to Human Trafficking.  Thank you to all of those who continue to make our ministry possible through your prayer and giving! How to Join Our Team: Our work is 100% supported through prayer and tax deductible donations.   Prayer Team  Send us a note and let us know you want in!   Give Online visit our UWM-Missionary Support Page (http://uwm.org/missionaries/27521/) Give via US Mail  Mail a check with an accompanying note stating "For the Abegg Family" to: 205 Regency Executive Park Dr Suite 430, Charlotte, NC 28217   Give Via Phone Simply phone United World Mission at 800-825-5896 and talk to the very helpful people there! Kevin's Facebook Claudia's Facebook UWM's Facebook Abegg Family Blog Kevin's Email UWM's Website Equipping Saints for the Work of Ministry and Building up the Body of Christ to See Captives Set Free! Share What We're Doing With Others! Share Tweet Forward Share

As United World Mission Regional Leaders for Central America and the Caribbean, we get to work with UWM Missionaries and Partner Ministries throughout this part of the world in many disciplines, including Human Trafficking Education and Prevention.

We are always looking for resources to help people understand this horrific and prevalent crime, and are including below one created by the University of New England's School of Social Work. Although the information is a few years old (by many counts human trafficking is now the #2 on the list of illegal trade commodities), it's presents some eye opening data.

Thank you for the encouragement and support we receive from so many of you. 

Please consider joining our team by visiting our UWM Missionary Page.

Thank you for the encouragement and support we receive from so many of you. 

Please consider joining our team by visiting our UWM Missionary Page.

Anti Human Trafficking Year End Gift Opportunity

The Abegg Love Letter To those who have been called, who are LOVED by God the Father and KEPT by Jesus Christ; MERCY, PEACE and LOVE  be yours in abundance.       -Jude 1:1 Happy New Year from the Abegg Family and those we seek to serve Please Pray and Consider Our Partnership Needs for the Coming Year As Claudia and I begin serving as United World Mission Regional Leaders for Central America and the Caribbean, we are tasked with caring for missionaries, working with amazing partner ministries and developing a strategic plan that includes equipping the region in the battle against sex trafficking.  In our region alone, United World Mission has nearly 40 partner ministries(local ministries we work along side of, do projects with or have missionaries assigned to) and over 40 missionary families! Of these, many are potential "first responders" to sex trafficking victims be that women's ministries, orphanages, schools, clinics, hospitals and entire church denominations.  HOWEVER very few have even a basic understanding of sex trafficking which, like in the US, "hides in plane sight" because most people do not know what to look for!    Here's where you come in:   Your partnership will enable us to visit, assist, train and care for missionaries and the ministries they work with throughout our region. In order to do so we need to increase our monthly support by $1200/month for the coming year. All donations are tax deductible, and are investments in saving and restoring lives through the Gospel!   So here's what we are seeking to meet this need: 6 new supporters (or current supporter increase) at $100/month 6 new supporters (or current supporter increase) at $50/month 12 new supporters (or current supporter increase) at $25/month Our family is currently planning on moving to Central America for 3 months (May - July) as an intensive time of connecting, extending care and providing training. In faith we've started to lay plans for these three months and beyond. As we embark on this new mission, please consider joining us by using the links below or simply contacting me! From the Abegg Family to yours, we express our gratitude  And we wish you A Very Blessed New Year! Thank you to all of those who continue to make our ministry possible through your prayer and giving! How to Join Our Team: Our work is 100% supported through prayer and tax deductible donations.   Prayer Team  Send us a note and let us know you want in!   Give Online visit our UWM-Missionary Support Page (http://uwm.org/missionaries/27521/) Give via US Mail  Mail a check with an accompanying note stating "For the Abegg Family" to: 205 Regency Executive Park Dr Suite 430, Charlotte, NC 28217   Give Via Phone Simply phone United World Mission at 800-825-5896  and talk to the very helpful people there! Kevin's Facebook Claudia's Facebook UWM's Facebook Abegg Blog (Previous News) Kevin's Email UWM's Website Equipping Servants for Ministry and Building up the Body of Christ to See Captives Set Free! Share What We're Doing With Others! Share Tweet Forward Share