We have felt a transition coming for about six months now but we were having a hard time getting a handle on exactly what it looked like. It became clearer when right before Christmas ESEPA, the seminary where Bob has served for the past two years as the director of administration and facilities, expressed their desire to hire a national to fill Bob's post in order to fulfill a requirement necessary to get national accreditation. The transition was planned for March 2013. Bob has had the opportunity to help them get their financial picture back together as well as planning for and laying some groundwork for future growth.
Since Christmas Bob has laid his desires before the Lord. Four of them were: to serve 1) working together as a couple, 2) working within a team, 3) living in a rural area, 4) continuing to work in missions.
We had been considering a missionary post offered to us in Nicaragua, an opportunity to teach at a Christian school in San Jose or a move to a more remote location within Costa Rica where we have made connections with a small church. We were not at peace with any of the choices and so we continued to seek God's direction. We wrote our pastoral care couple from our mission agency CTEN, Commission to Every Nation, to share our status and ask for their prayers for us in early January. They wrote us back asking us if we might consider working in pastoral care as CTEN needed one more couple to help with the work load. (We later found out that our name had been mentioned at the home office for the position during a prayer and planning time before Christmas!) As we prayed and talked about it we could see all the desires of Bob's heart fulfilled in this position.
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| Our new area of service! |
The condensed story is that after several conversations with the director of CTEN and a two day retreat set aside for prayer, we accepted an invitation to serve as a pastoral care couple for CTEN missionaries who live and serve in Africa, Europe and Western USA. B, the more conservative part of the team, felt lead during our retreat time to read the story in Judges about Gideon. Gideon was pressing grapes in the threshing floor to hide from the Midianites. God sent an angel to him saying "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior,...go...have I not sent you?" (Judges 6:11-18). And although all the details are not the same between Gideon and us, the realization that God enters situations to dispel fear and gives us the assurance that the work done will be by God's strength not ours resonated with us.
Another interesting 'detail' is that two years ago we had the opportunity to visit our son, Ryan, in Mozambique, where he was working with an NGO. We visited at Christmas so there was time to travel. Not only did we see Mozambique but also parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. B remembers reflecting to Ryan that she felt a real love for the people of Africa and their culture. The thought even passed her mind of missions there.
The pastoral care position entails one third of our time in Africa and Europe making personal visits to the 78 families under our care. The other two thirds of our time we will be in Texas at the home office involved in praying for our missionaries, recruiting and training the next wave of foot soldiers for Jesus, and maintaining contact with those in the field. We are very excited to be a part of what God is doing in Africa and Europe through our missionaries. What a blessing to see firsthand their work, to come alongside them and encourage them in any way we can.
Details are developing quickly here in Costa Rica. We will host a mission team, which we are so excited about, from Maine Street Baptist Brunswick, Maine at the end of February through early March. They will be helping in Cot de Cartago, a rural area. We will then leave the same day as they do and head to Kerrville, Texas, our eventual new home. There we will help out with New Missionary Orientation and spend time getting to know the other Staff and the surrounding area. We will then head back to Costa Rica by way of California. Our sons know we love circuitous routes! This will enable us to meet our newest grandchild, who will have made his/her entrance just a week or so earlier.We expect to get back to Costa Rica about the first of April to pack up our things, say our good-by's and leave for Maine by the 15th. There we will visit our home church, family, friends and repack our belongings we have had in storage for almost six years. By mid May we should be arriving in Texas. We will be located in Kerrville, Texas. (Our sons were quick to tell us that it doesn't come up on the map search at first as it is quite small!) It is located some 105 miles WSW of Austin and 65 miles WNW of San Antonio. For those of you who didn't get a chance to visit us in Costa Rica, here's your chance!
Like all the Pastoral Care couples at CTEN, we are support-raising missionaries though we are based in Texas and are required to raise 100% of our support.We are currently funded at 60%. Would you prayerfully consider supporting us in this amazing call of God? Do you know people or groups that would be interested in hearing our story and potentially help us prayerfully and financially to make an impact on Europe and Africa?
We appreciate your continued support for the work God has called us to serve in, knowing that it is a team effort. If you are not a current supporter would you consider joining us at this time? The contact information is included at the end of this letter.
Thank you, thank you for your prayers and encouragement, without which we could not be here.
God never ceases to surprise us in His never ending passion to see all men come to Him through Jesus Christ the Lord. May we continue to serve Him with passion, love and joy!
Support Information:
Commission To Every Nation
PO Box 291307
Kerrville, TX 78029-1307 Phone: (830) 896-8326
Toll-Free: (800) 872-5404
You may send support checks with a separate note saying that it is for the Nesbitt's
