Abegg Family & Ministry News Catch Up

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.

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). 

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."

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. 

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;

Kevin S. Abegg

Latin America Mission

Director, North American Alliances

Office: 305-884-8400 x225

Missions Partnership links

Move forward in Faith, Remembering What God Has Done

We're getting ready for Board Meetings here at LAM this Th. and Fri. That means I need to prepare to show what I've done over the past 6 months and project into the next 6 months to a year what I will be doing. Sometimes the work pause for these meetings twice a year appears to come at a very inconvenient time,  and I'm tempted to think that I could better use my energy for the demands on my desk, in my inbox and that blinking light on my phone. However, I have found that the preparations this past week have forced me to remember what God has done, consider what He is doing and make sure that I and the things I am responsible for are ready to follow Him in the future. Israel often forgot what God had done, which made it nearly impossible to see what he was doing in their present. I'm reminded that one of the principal reasons I was drawn to missions in the first place is having a daily focus on ministry and a reminder of the Great Commission at hand.  This still holds true, even if that ministry is an e-mail, a missionary contract or any one of a hundred mundane tasks I need to perform, and that must happen to lay the groundwork for more "fulfilling" conversations or events that I so enjoy. Those "that's why I'm here!" moments. 

I wanted to share with you something that one Dr. Allen Yeh, one of our Spearhead attendees recently wrote regarding his missions experience. I found it very encouraging and I hope that you, wherever you happen to be or what the Lord has you doing, will find it encouraging as well: 

"One reflection I had: without doing something meaningful in life, life seems pointless. Yes I enjoy entertainment, but if I were the richest person in the world and just had endless entertainment, I think I'd grow frustrated with the emptiness of it all. If I were a workaholic, there is definitely meaning to be had in one's work, but work is also necessary for money and as such sometimes feels mercenary. When I do ministry, especially when I do missions (fulfilling the Great Commission), I feel like I'm part of something greater, something more than just about me, something that is of God and for God and for others. May my life never just be work and vacation alone, that endless vicious cycle which is known as the rat race! When we do ministry for God and neighbor (otherwise known as the Two Great Commandments), that's where it's really at."

Dr. Allen Yeh

Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Missiology

Biola University's Cook School of Intercultural Studies

Founder & Chairman of the World Christianity consultation at the Evangelical Theological Society

I hope your day goes well and that you are able to serve wherever the Lord has you. God bless!

In His Hands / En Sus manos;

Kevin S. Abegg

Latin America Mission

Director, North American Alliances

Missions Partnership links

Walking in Faith. Certain of the Destination

Lets start with ministry first...

Things are moving at Latin America Mission, and I have a HUGE praise. Grace Kim joined the team a few weeks ago for a year long internship as Assistant to North American Alliances (my department working with North American churches and their relationships with our Latin partners).  It's been well over a year since my previous assistant Heather Braden deployed to her current assignment in Honduras, so Grace's presence is a direct answer to prayer. With her help we've been able to pursue the necessary US Treasury and Office of Foreign Assets Control licensing to operate more freely in Cuba (something that's very close to my heart).  We've also made great leaps in coordinating communication with North American Churches and responding to many of the needs of LAM's missionaries. Please keep Grace in your prayers as she settles into Miami and prepares to spend two months this summer with LAM's Spearhead program in Mexico city (and then return to keep helping me!!!)

...Speaking of Mexico City: I and 5 other Miami Service Office staff had the blessing of traveling to Mexico to assist with and take part in our yearly retreat for Mexico missionaries. We were at a very comfortable retreat center though I didn't get to enjoy the pools even once. However the worship, teachings and many, many conversations with the missionary families were enjoyable and extremely fruitful in terms of my efforts to assist them and their sending churches. Please pray that the connections and assignments I returned with will be work well and be accomplished without many "speed bumps".

...Speaking of Sending Churches: A new team is forming that will be the backbone of LAM's upcoming Short Term Team program. There has been much discussion as to the benefit and cost of the thousands of Short Term Teams that go from US churches to overseas sights every year. LAM is about partnership. Long term partnership, so it's not an oxymoron to say that we have a Long Term focus for Short Term Teams. The first part of this "team" is a Latino who works with our existing International Alliance partners, those ministries that we have been working with for years (some of them nearing 100 years!). With his help, these partners will set and drive the agenda for any teams coming from North America in order to ensure that the teams fit in with the long term plan and vision of the Latin ministry and there is the possibility of a long term relationship between the N. American and Latin American ministries. I like to think that Claudia (Chile) and my (US) marriage exemplifies in many ways what we are working toward. A relationship that has a Kingdom vision for all that is produced.  The second part of this team is a North American with extensive experience in leading teams and relating with US churches. He will be working with sending churches with the goal of not only assisting in the sending process but the coaching and discipling each church's understanding of the Great Commission and how their missions programs fit into the overall vision and mission of the church.  The third part will be an "in office" (Miami Service Office) assistant to coordinate everything Short Term.  Please pray for this process and for wisdom and I oversee getting everything in place and moving forward.

...Speaking of moving: Last I reported on my dad he was with us here in Miami. Since then I've flown back to CA with him and he's settled in a care home not 10 minutes from my parents house. Unfortunately he had another bout of the same intestinal infection that hit him while in Miami, landing him once again in the hospital for 10 days. Thankfully he's on the upswing and back at the home. Please continue praying for all the changes that my sister Lana and I are attempting to walk them trough in order to simply their lives and be able to enjoy the years they have ahead.

...Speaking of "ahead": (Not really sure how that segway works but anyway...) Claudia and the kids keep plugging away at Home School with Claudia teaching at the weekly co-op "Classical Conversations". There doing well, but with the house still upside down from our flood (see previous blog entry) and the plans to remodel the damaged areas, we're anticipating added stress in the coming months. Please pray for peace, patience and wisdom as we have this work done.

Overall the past three months have been challenging on many fronts. We rejoice in seeing the Lord's hand is many, many ways. We do also ask for prayer for endurance and wise balance between responsibilities of family (immediate and extended), work, church, home repairs etc. Many times it has seemed overwhelming aside from the hope and promises we find in Scripture and the presence of our Lord.

Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support making the work we do possible. God bless!

In His Hands / En Sus manos;

Kevin S. Abegg

Latin America Mission

Director, North American Alliances

Office: 305-884-8400 x225

Missions Partnership links

Our work, family and ministry is supported through prayer support and financial donations from those who believe in the work God as called us to. Please consider joining our team by contacting us or visiting our missionary page.

I meant "Whirlpool" not "Whirlwind"...

I know God is teaching us to trust and rest in Him. I'm sure there are countless other things He's teaching us, but for right now I can clearly identify "trusting in Him"...Faith...as a theme.

Not two hours after my last "whirlwind" post, we were literally in the whirlpool (and I'm not talking about a hot tub!). Claudia had taken a few hours to go out with the boys and do some grocery shopping, leaving my dad resting in bed. He's continuing to do better and slowly regain his strength to the point that he was able to get into his electric scooter and make his way to the bathroom. I've added some support bars to the master bath for him for stability sake, so he managed to take care of what he needed and return to bed, but did't realize that not only had the sewer clogged, but the flush handle on the toilet was stuck down and continued running for at least the next two hours. If a toilet fills a 3 gallon tank in less than one minute, that makes at least 360 gallons of water pumped into the master bath, closet and bedroom before it was discovered by Claudia when she returned home. 360 gallons is the same amount of water dropped from firefighting helicopters when fighting a forest fire! So I can confidently report that there are currently no fires in our home at this point!

The sheetrock walls had already sucked up a fair amount of water, rippling and changing color up to 12" from the floor. Little geysers squirted from the laminate floor boards as we walked around surveying various cardboard boxes filled with books, files and photos pulled out of the office to make room for a hospital bed. Claudia had beat me home by 10 minutes and I found her sitting in shock surrounded by our new bedroom pool, but what I saw in her was grief accompanied by a solid conviction of God's promised love and care in all situations. Some of her first words were: "God has allows this for a reason." I couldn't have been any prouder (or more in love) with her than I was at that moment, & she was right...this could have happened at any time during the previous week. The sewer clogging, the toilet getting stuck running (it never does that) and nobody being home to find it. What that purpose exactly is, we don't yet know, but according to James 1, He will at least use this to continue us on our road to maturity in Him. We are getting the opportunity to share this conviction with and minister to my dad who obviously feels guilty, but just helping him see this from an eternal perspective alleviates much of this.

So, we've already torn out the flooring, have drilled holes in the walls and have dehumidifiers and blowers running 24/7 to make sure no mould takes hold. Then it's waiting on insurance (there's been a lot of that lately) and see how to do the repairs. We were hoping to remodel the bathroom & closet in the next few years...I guess our timeline was a little further out than Gods!

A note of praise is that my sister has found a very good housing option for my dad in CA close to his doctor's office where he can be cared for up to the spinal surgery and afterwards if necessary. We are working through the paperwork now and I plan to fly him out next Friday the 17th and help get him settled. We are looking forward to having him more mobile and in better spirits this coming week prior to his return as we spend time with him outside of the hospital setting or on bed rest.

Please know that we appreciate your prayers and encouragement immensely! Thank you for your support in so many ways.

God bless!

If you would like to support our ministry with Latin America Mission or make a special donation, please visit our missionary page:
http://www.lam.org/missionaries/abegg

In His Hands / En Sus manos;

Kevin S. Abegg

Latin America Mission

Director, North American Alliances

Office: 305-884-8400 x225

Missions Partnership links

Peace within the whirlwind -update on dad and the family

These past few weeks have been VERY full, and we appreciate the prayers of all those who have been interceding on behalf of our family. During the first week of January I made an emergency trip to CA which resulted in my bringing my Dad back to Miami with me in order to physically care for him until a long term solution could be found. During our trip out he began suffering from intestinal indigestion which worsened throughout his first week at our house resulting in his hospitalization for 10 days. More than likely he contracted "C diff" during his hospitalization over Christmas and New Years. Known as a "super-bug" this is one nasty intestinal infection, which is finally responding to some very strong antibiotics. He is now home again with us but having to receive our care for all his basic necessities. 


Needless to say, our stepping into 2012 has felt much like being in the center of a whirlwind as we consider all the changes to walk through in the near future, but Claudia and I are immensely grateful for the many, many mercies of God that we have seen during this time. A few passages have ministered to us recently: 


Zeph 3:14-17
 ¹⁴ Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; 
   shout, O Israel! 
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, 
   O daughter of Jerusalem! 
¹⁵ The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; 
   he has cleared away your enemies. 
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; 
   you shall never again fear evil. 
¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: 
“Fear not, O Zion; 
   let not your hands grow weak. 
¹⁷ The LORD your God is in your midst, 
   a mighty one who will save; 
he will rejoice over you with gladness; 
   he will quiet you by his love; 
he will exult over you with loud singing.


What an amazing passage! The first 2/3 of Zephaniah explains with no vagueness that Israel is deserving of judgment and God's wrath for their willful disobedience and sin. Yet here he says that though they deserve judgment, He opts for mercy, compassion and love to the point of saying: "He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love, he will exult over you with loud singing." 


Another passage that has blessed us is Ephesians 1: 1-10. Consider Paul's view of God, Christ and the abundant blessings He has received, remembering that he penned these words from within a jail cell more than likely awaiting his execution: 


¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

   To the saints who are in Ephesus, and ^(C)are faithful in Christ Jesus:

 ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.


Again, what amazing grace has been poured out upon us. It's all God in this passage. the only thing we bring to the table is "our trespasses" (sins) in v.7. And to think of the road Paul had traveled, and his heart of gratitude though under guard and imprisoned encourages me to see my own circumstances in light of God's glory, plan and from the perspective and measure of eternity. 
We trust the Lord has a plan...a good plan for the care of my parents. We see how God is caring for my dad's heart and mind even as we seek to care for his body during this time. Thank you for your prayers on this.


There is so much more to share with regards to LAM, ministry and the immediate family, but I will save that for the near future. For now, we are tired but with our eyes fixed on Him and trusting that He is the one who provides shelter in the storm and purpose within pain. 


God bless!
-Kevin for the family.

Prayer for care of parents

Dear Friends and Partners in the Gospel;

Happy New year to each of you. We are rejoicing that Christ's mercies are "new every morning" and that we can look back at God's faithfulness in 2011 and look forward to 2012 with hope and confidence that He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is encouraging even as we continue to walk through a situation we find my family in.

I find in scripture that I am to "honor your father and mother" (ex. 20:12), and "if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (I Tim 5:8). We are also told (and Claudia and I have experienced): "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold…"(Mark 10:28-30). So as we enter a season where our parents are aging and in need of a different type of care and relationship, I find myself seeking wisdom throughout Scripture to understand how to walk out these passages and honor and care for mothers and fathers, even as our Gospel call has us living at great distances from both sets of parents.

I began writing this as I was flying to CA last night on short notice. My dad has been suffering with extreme spinal pain due to two crushed disks that result in pinched nerves. Up until the middle of December this has been managed with pain medication, but due to the side effects (confusion, instability etc…) he unintentionally over medicated himself and had to spend most of that week and a few days beyond Christmas in ICU. My father is a strong willed individual, and managed to have himself released from the hospital against the doctor's recommendations. He is a candidate for spinal surgery which would possibly alleviate the majority of nerve pain, but he could lose his candidacy if he does further damage, or rejects the Doctor's current care. My mom is not doing well herself, and cannot manage his medications, so after his hospital "escape", we convinced him to stay in a care home run by family friends, but by New Years Eve he once again removed himself and was back in their 3 story, split level home filled with stares he simply cannot navigate. The day after his return home, it was obvious that his being there was an unhealthy situation for both of my parents.  My sister has been attending doctor's appointments and attempting to manage things to the best of her ability from her home two hours away in Sacramento, but we must come up with a different, short term solution leading up to the surgery, as well as a long term solution post surgery.

There is much more to this situation than I cannot share here, but I do ask for your prayers in the following areas:

• Wisdom, grace, patience and discernment for myself as I work with my parents on many fronts including finances, properties, living arrangements, care leading up to a possible spinal surgery and long term care thereafter.
• The physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health of both parents.
• It is every one's desire (save my dad's) that he come back to Miami with me at least up until his potential surgery. Pray that the glimpses of compromise I've seen will open up to a willingness to do so.
• My ability to care for my parents while I'm here, yet cover my own family back at home, manage the demands at work (my boss has been extremely gracious in providing me time away from the office, yet there are multiple things that I cannot simply "drop").
• For rest in the midst of a difficult time. We are all emotionally taxed which has manifested itself in physical exhaustion.

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and love both for my immediate family as well as my parents.  Please understand that this is obviously a sensitive issue for my parents, so for those of you near them, unless already involved, please do not feel the need to initiate with them but please do intercede for us all. I am grateful to have numerous "advisers" assisting me with regards to medical care, property and long term care. Thank you for your understanding and once again, we so value your prayers.

In His Hands / En Sus manos;

Kevin S. Abegg

Forward Motion!!!

It was almost two years ago that I accepted the assignment of developing LAM’s North American Alliance department in order to work with, assist and develop resources for missionary sending and supporting churches, but that was immediately sidetracked when I had to take over and re-structure our International Alliances Department. I am 100% certain that this was by God’s design and it gave me a spectacular overview and introduction to all of our international ministries, equipping me to advise North American Church’s on how to intelligently work with Latin partners.  As recently as two months ago the banner of International Alliance Director was definitively handed to a co-laborer, finally liberating me to peruse what I’ve been chomping at the bit to work on. The only question was where to begin...

Well the conference I attended last week was a huge encouragement in this direction. The "Interchange" Conference put on by Catalyst Services focused on coaching in the context of partnership development, training mentors of future missionaries and conflict resolution between missionaries, churches and missions agencies. If it's a surprise to you that there's conflict involved in CHRISTIAN missions, so sorry!  Actually, this conference touched most of the areas I have been, and am currently working in spanning our international alliances, the missionaries that work there and the churches that send these missionaries out. I also had the spectacular opportunity to learn from others that facing similar challenges as LAM, and those who are a few years ahead of us in developing their own North American focus and can help me avoid many of the pitfalls they have had to learn from. 

All in all, it was a VERY encouraging time for where I believe the Lord is leading LAM, and our role in assisting North American churches and Christian ministries assess, or re-think how their particular vision and calling at home, relates to the commandment of "GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS...". 

Please be praying for me as I work to create a master plan for this department even as I continue to work with many of the churches that have partnered with us over the years. I have already been blessed in being able to take part in re-connecting churches with Latin ministries they had lost contact with, mediate various issues between missionaries and their sending churches and assist numerous churches as they work through a re-structuring of their missions program. I feel like a kid in a candy store (or myself at Outdoor World) in what I believe the coming year may hold, but I also see an OVERWHELMING amount of work, and for this I need your prayers as well. Please pray for wisdom, endurance, discernment and the Lord's provision of an assistant (a supported missionary would help keep costs down) who could help me keep up on all that needs to be done. 

Thank you for your prayer and financial support as we enter into this new year. Check out or new web page, and please consider making an end of the year gift via:

• Online giving page: Abegg Online Donations
• Printable Mail in: Abegg Printable Donation slip

God bless and Merry Christmas!

Valley Forge at Sunset on my way back to Philadelphia.