The Abegg Love Letters

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

As Missionaries with United World Mission, we serve in Latin America to provide support & training to missionaries on the field. We work with Latin Partner Ministries that focus on everything from theological education to medical care, from children’s homes to retirement homes. Our goal is to come along side organizations & amplify their impact for good and the Gospel.

Friday, November 20, 2015

The Abeggs Love Letter: Prayer -Vision & Restoration of Sex Trafficking Survivors

The Abegg's
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

Providing Healing & Hope to
Victims of Sex Trafficking

Discernment

"Make me to know
your ways,O Lord;
Teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth
and teach me,
for you are the God
of my salvation;
for you I wait
all the day long."

Psalm 25

Since our last update we've continued to have a renewed sense of energy & vigor, seeing the Lord's hand at work and anticipating good for the future. Also, we've seen a few very generous gifts on behalf of donors helping to keep our full time focus on survivors of Human Sex Trafficking, as well as education to prevent further abuse. Thank you to those who have stepped up! For those of you who have our ministry on their hearts, we are still in need both intercessors and financial supporters to keep us going. We are seeking the Lord's direction, in part through His provision for the family. We believe that He not only provides for our needs, but at times directs us through His provision. See below for a CALL TO JOIN US IN PRAYER DURING THE NEXT WEEK as we seek His guidance.

Join Us
in the Battle:

If you'd like to make a gift or become a regular supporter please visit our UWM-Missionary Support Page. (Note, once you click "give" you'll have to choose "Personnel -International & US" in the first dropdown and then "Abegg, Kevin & Claudia" in the second). Or you can mail checks with accompanying note "For the Abegg Family" to 205 Regency Executive Park Dr Suite 430, Charlotte, NC 28217. The final super easy way is to simply phone United World Mission at 800-825-5896 and talk to the very helpful people there!

For Our Current Supporters

With the transition of LAM into UWM, there have been some complications in updating credit cards for monthly giving. If you have not been receiving your monthly receipt, or you've had changes to your credit card in the last year, pleaseconfirm (either online or via phone # above) that your gifts are still going through and that they are designated: Missionary - "Abegg, Kevin & Claudia - 27521". Thank you for your support and assistance!

Join Us for a Week of Intercession & Seeking the Lord

The Abegg Family will be taking the days leading up to Thanksgiving to praise & thank the Lord for all He's done, and to seek His direction for the coming months. This is a discernment time, and we hope to emerge with a sense of God's specific direction. Please join us in prayer in the following areas:

Finances:

As a family we believe we are not to acquire debt. At this point we have none, however Kevin is taking on side carpentry jobs to keep us out of debt. Please pray for the Lord's provision, as well as His direction in how to honor him with our time and service as well as our finances. This includes savings for anticipated expenses as the boys grow older, we need to travel to visit family and emergency occurrences.

Ministry Focus:

We are excited about the work at the Life of Freedom Center and how Kevin's Operations and Logistical abilities are helping the organization grow. Our concerns about finances however, and our study progress out of "burnout" have made us ask the Lord if there needs to be a change.

Family Faith, Spiritual Growth & Desired Stability:

As a ministry focused family we are always seeking the Lord's guidance for next steps and provision in every area of life. With Jeremy and Nico as pre-teens, this is an important time in their spiritual, social and overall development which brings concerns to any parents. We are immensely blessed to have the boys we do with the hearts God has given them, however we strongly desire a time of peace and stability where we know we can maintain a focus for the next few years (something that hasn't been present for nearly 3 years now). Please pray for the Lord's leading in every aspect to a season of focused work & ministry and family stability.

Introducing for your pleasure (and prayer) the LoF Staff!

Pray for Our Staff and the Work They Make Possible

The LoF center continues to grow with staff and interns interested in using their God given gifts. Our goal is to make it easy for anyone to use their talents for good and God's glory. Those listed below assist in many ways, including coordinating student and other volunteers who help us provide for those in need of healing.

Jorge Veitia -Executive Director:

Pray for wisdom, and an ability to discern what the Lord would call the LoF Center to do and to wait on doing. To know how to wisely respond to the demands & requests of federal, state and local authorities as they deal with the epidemic of Human Sex Trafficking from a decidedly non christian and often overly political perspective. To continue building the Center in a what the honors the Lord and cares for His children.

Join us in praying for wisdom & discernment in all we do individually and as an organization.

Kevin Abegg -Director of Operations:

See the rest of this Newsletter for the Abegg Family.

Vini -Alternative Break Coordinator:

Pray for Vini's ability to communicate with the churches, student groups and organizations that desire to come to Miami for our in-dept training on Human Sex Trafficking. Pray for diligence and strength as a volunteer who is also studying full time with a heart for ministry!

Elizabeth -Sharing 1 Love Coordinator:

Pray for Elizabeth as she continues to learn how to keep everyone on track for the LoF Center's outreach and education events. She is also the administrative assistant at Crossbridge Church in Miami Springs, providing an anchor for S1L events in the region notorious for being a triangle of human trafficking!

Iliana -Hope Tote Coordinator:

Pray for Iliana as she coordinated donations to the LoF Center of "Hope Totes" as well as their delivery to first responders serving survivors of Human Sex Trafficking. Like our other volunteers, she has a full plate aside from her volunteer work with us, as she works full time and continues her legal studies on top of it all! Please pray for some recent physical infirmities she's been suffering as well.

Sandy -Assistant to Executive Director and All Around Help:

Sandy came to us stating "let me know what needs to be done and I'll do it"! What an amazing offer! Please pray for her as she helps with many of the administrative needs, keeping track of signups at many of the events we attend and simply freeing much of the rest of the staff to focus on other areas.

Patrick Halsall -General IT Assistance

(and tech thing I just don't understand): Patrick helps us with various web components, Contact Resource Management programs and all sorts of techno mumbo-jumbo I don't even know how to articulate. With a full time job, we are so appreciative of his assistance!

All of our Mentors and Case Managers:

These trained and dedicated individuals provide the hands on care to those who are coming out of sex trafficking situations. This is often thankless and heart wrenching work as survivors deal with extreme trauma, mistrust and fear. Please be praying for our case managers and mentors as they carry out the front line battles to save those wounded deeply!

The Numerous Volunteers:

The LoF Center receives multiple volunteers who assist a few hours each month in everything from outreach to organizing clothing and information. We thank God for people like this and pray for blessing on them, their families and those they serve.

See for Yourself!

For more on the LoF Center's programs, come and lend a hand as a volunteer or visit our online resources no matter where you are:

our blog with a little bit of everything.
outreach program "Sharing One Love" to educate and increase the impact
online education with "LoF Center Bootcamp" where you can be trained online from anywhere.
C onnect page where there's even ways to help out from Timbuktu or San Francisco!
Alternative Breaks to Miami for a week of in depth training and hands on experience.

Please Share What We're Doing!

Forward

Follow & Like Us!

Kevin's Facebook

Abegg Family Blog

LoF Center's Facebook

LoF Center's Webpage

Thank you for your prayerful support! -Kevin, Claudia, Jeremy and Nicholas Abegg

Friday, October 16, 2015

Abegg E.L.L. Moving ahead & requesting prayer

The Abegg's
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

Providing Healing & Hope to
Victims of Sex Trafficking

"What is this you're doing..?"

Most people can't see burnout coming. God was merciful on us to point it out!

Since our last update we've received many encouraging notes and found we're in unfortunate but blessed company with a number of friends. We also see God's mercy in providing care for our family just as he did in Moses' case of burnout when Jethro saw he was overdoing it. (Exodus 18).

As a family, we managed to get away for a much needed week's break to pray, read, fish, bodysurf, and simply rest. It was wonderfully healing, and a good start in determining to not over-extending ourselves, recognizing we are weak vessels in mighty hands and need to operate on God's strength to accomplish His goals in His timing.

As Moses took Jethro's advice, we're making changes to function in a healthy way, both at the LoF Center and in all areas of our lives. We're growing in fully trusting the Lord, because He is trustworthy and tells us: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Pet. 5:6)

Mental health through fishing as a family: a few great bites but nothing for the frying pan!

We've seen God's care and now ask you to join us in seeking His provision:

Finances:

Missionary support covers the family's daily needs (food, housing, transportation, emergencies, etc.) Please pray for provision in this area and for trusting hearts, as well as wisdom to know if/when other steps must be taken. It's been nearly 5 years since I needed to divide my time between ministry and carpentry to subsidize income, but that may be the next step. We are trusting the Lord to give us discernment. Please pray with us for those who can to join our support team. You can learn more at our UWM support page.

Intercession:

This has been a very difficult time in many ways, so we're asking those who are intercessors to "step into the gap" and cover our family and work with their prayers. Your intercession in multiple arenas is of vital importance to us. If you'd like to receive our separate, more detailed prayer requests for this purpose, please let us know and we will send you more details.

A Few Facts

The majority of Sex Trafficking Victims within US boarders are US citizens.
Human Trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal industry in the world surpassing arms sales & second only to drugs.
Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.
12-14 years old = average age of victims trafficked into prostitution.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimated that 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported to them were likely sex trafficking victims.

*more info at http://www.polarisproject.org

2015 & Beyond:
LoF Center's Next Steps

As we review 2015 thus far and look towards winter, we thank God for all He's accomplished.

The LoF center continues to grow with staff and interns interested in using their God given gifts. Our goal is to make it easy for anyone to use their talents for good and God's glory. As we work through a period of review, evaluation and planning, please be praying with us.

Physical, mental and spiritual health are our goals for the sex trafficking survivors receiving care through the LoF Center and our partners. Our education and training programs for churches & other organizations are designed to impact but also be replicated with the hope of exponential training. We're seeing this in many areas, but want to be sure our time and efforts are stewarded in the best way possible. It's for that reason we pause, consider what the Lord has done and seek Him for future guidance.