WILSON FAMILY MISSIONS- JULY '18 UPDATE

Greetings from Quito, Ecuador! 

Today is our first day of Summer vacation...PRAISE THE LORD!  We had such a great year, but are so ready for a break.  A lot of great things have happened since I last wrote and I'd like to share a little with you all. 

MINISTRY UPDATES:
This year I began a new ministry at the school, called Deep Discipleship, for our Christian students who were hungry to go deeper.  As a school, we really didn't have anything official to focus on the spiritual growth of our Christian students and I felt it was important to offer something to them during the school hours.  The Lord opened the door for me to have 4 different groups (2 MS & 2 HS), made up of around 6-7 students in each group once a week during the school day.  (What a miracle that was because their schedules can be very difficult.)  These were probably my favorite times of the week because I was with a group of students who chose to be there and who were hungry to grow in their relationship with the Lord.  We really focused on what it means to be a follower of Christ vs just a fan.  All I can say, it was challenging and convicting to us all.  Some of the comments I got from students about Deep Discipleship were, "This is my favorite time of the week!"; "I can't believe we get to do something like this during the school day!"; "When I come into this room, I just feel peace!" What an amazing privilege to invest into and grow in relationship with these students. 

As most of you know, I coached the Varsity Basketball Team this year.  At the end of February, we had our big tournament, which was extremely exciting.  With the crowd shouting and cheering and a tie game with about 8 seconds left, the boys came out and gave their all and beat Americano (considered the best team in our conference) on a buzzer beater to win the championship.  That was such an amazing experience.  I really enjoyed my time coaching this year and the close relationship with my players.  I learned and grew a lot, as did the players on the team.  My ultimate desire is that they will come to know Jesus and serve Him with great passion.  Though the Lord has closed the door for me to continue coaching next year and is leading me into other things, I will always hold these last 2 years of coaching close to my heart.  It was an amazing experience and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity. 

I also had the great privilege to continue building our Student Worship Band at the school.  Last year was made up of mostly seniors, but this year we had 3 Seniors, 1 Junior and 4 Sophmores.  Boy did it start off rough, but it was so amazing to see their growth throughout the year.  They lead our chapels all year, but by April they were really playing well.  They lead a few All Worship Chapels for both Elementary and Secondary in May and played for our Baccalaureate Service just a few weeks ago.  A few of our integral pieces graduated, but we should still have a great core for next year as we continue to build. 

The first week of March was our 2nd Semester Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) and what a powerful week it was.  We had an AMAZING worship team come and lead from South Bend, IN.  Do you recognize anyone? 

The last few Summers we have had the opportunity to do worship nights together, which lead to them coming to minister here in Ecuador.  We lead worship twice a day, had a worship night open to the public and spent time investing into the Student Worship Band.  It was an amazing week of ministry and a blessing to us as a family to spend time with people we love!  (Thank you guys for coming!  I love you and am so grateful for your sacrifice and investment.)   

We also had an AMAZING group of young, passionate, on fire alumni who came back to the school because they felt the Lord calling them to return and minister at their alma mater.  Such a blessing and testimony of God's love and power! 
God moved powerfully in the hearts and lives of many students through our times of worship and ministry.  We saw students physically healed and delivered from demonic oppression and many came away knowing that God was real and that He loved them.  There was definitely some push back from some of the things that were happening, but through it all, I know God was in it, He was glorified and was revealing Himself in a powerful way. 

Those are a lot of the major ministry highlights!  It was a great year and am so thankful to the Lord! 

PERSONAL UPDATES:
Carolina, the kids and I are doing great. 

Carolina had a really good year teaching and coaching volleyball and she will continue coaching again next year.  She is still on her club volleyball team and she really enjoys that.  (She's still playing really well, too!)  She really wants to finish her Master's degree from Bethel (which she can do online), so we are looking into that.  She only has 12 more credits to get her Master's, but it is about $8,000, so please pray for wisdom and financial resources to do that. 

The kids had a great year.  Both are taking piano lessons and were involved with the after school basketball program a few times a week.  Joaquin LOVES basketball and plays a lot.  It's hard because he is not exposed to the same level of basketball that we have in the US, but he works hard and really enjoys it.  Milena really took off with her reading.  At the beginning of the year, she just wasn't that interested and then something clicked and now she is doing amazing!  She was also in the after school ballet program and she did such a great job.  She has a gift to dance and she loves it so much.  Of her 3 dances she did for her recital, her creative dance to a powerful worship song was my favorite.  It was anointed. 

I have been doing well.  I'm really praying about next steps for here in Ecuador.  I had the opportunity to go to a ministry/leadership conference in Lima, Peru back in May.  I met up with Sebastian Mora, my really good friend from Chile and we had a great time together.  While I was there, the Lord really began to speak to me and place some specific things on my heart for our next steps here in Ecuador.  I am really wanting to discern the Lord's plan and timing of it all. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:
- I was challenged recently by something Dante Gebel said when visiting our church recently.  He said, "If you're doing something that you can do without the Holy Spirit, you haven't discovered your divine calling." and "God never calls us to something beyond what we can handle.  He will give us the capacity to do whatever He calls us to do!  God does not have a plan B for your life!"  Before ever coming to Ecuador, I specifically felt from the Lord that my time at AAI was the entry point, not the end point.  Please pray that God will reveal clearly to both Carolina and I the next steps that He has for us here and that we will have the courage and trust to obey His plan and calling.

- One of the biggest sources of struggle for us is looking ahead and asking, "how long can we do this financially?"  We don't want to be driven by finances in what we do or do not do, but we also know finances are an important part of living and ministry.  We are blessed and God has provided our every need.  God is so faithful.  Many of you are faithful supporters of us financially and we are SO grateful.  We could not be here without you.  With that said, please pray for God to show us how we can generate more income. 

- I recently formed a Chaplaincy Team to help advance our ministry efforts at the school for next year.  I'm really excited about it.  Please pray that God will guide us and lead us to make a greater impact on our staff and students as we pray, plan and prepare for greater ministry next school year. 

- Finally, we are traveling back to South Bend tomorrow night.  We are so excited to be back home with everyone and so looking forward to just having some down time.  Please pray for our safety and travel. 

To close, thank you all for your love, prayer and financial support.  As I said before, we couldn't do this without you.  You are part of God's Kingdom work here in Ecuador.  We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you, be gracious unto you and give you peace!


          Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin and Milena

WILSON FAMILY MISSIONS- JAN '18 UPDATE

Greetings and Happy New Year to you all from Quito, Ecuador!  

I want to start by saying how good and faithful the Lord is.  We’ve seen His continued provision and faithfulness even in times when I haven’t felt worthy of it.  God is moving in the hearts and lives of many of our students here at AAI and I’m so excited to see what He is going to do starting here in 2018. 

PERSONAL UPDATES:

Carolina is doing well overall.  It was a really rough start for her and all the teachers in Elementary this year, but they are handling everything like champions.  She is part of a club volleyball team, but hasn’t played the last few months due to a bad hamstring pull.  Pray she gets better soon.  She really loves playing, and having that outlet is really good for her. 

Joaquin and Milena are doing great.  They love their teachers and being here at the school.  They are both currently in basketball after school and taking piano lessons, so they are keeping quite busy. 

For myself, it’s been somewhat of a roller coaster at times, but I keep moving forward knowing that God is good and He is working in and through me.  I am keeping really busy these days because I’m the head Varsity Basketball Coach.  Our season goes to the end of Feb.  It’s a great opportunity for ministry and I love the group of guys, though it can definitely be a big challenge at times. 

MINISTRY UPDATES:

In September we started classes and the first few days we had Welcome Week.  One of the days we invited some alumni to come share as a panel.  To sum it up, it was a powerful time for both students and staff to hear all that God was doing in their lives.  Most of them wanted very little to do with the Lord while they were here, but now they are on fire for God!  It’s such an affirmation that there are seeds being planted and watered for the kingdom here at AAI. 

In September, I started promoting what I’m calling “Deep Discipleship” groups, a voluntary Discipleship group for students who are hungry to go deeper in their walk with Jesus.  I put out the invite and had 20+ students sign up.  The trick was to find times in their schedule that would work.  My goal was to gather them together once a week during their study hall.  The office thought I was nuts because the schedules are so different and complex.  I got their schedules and prepared myself for a long day to figure it all out, but only after about 10 minutes I had 4 different groups organized with the same study halls.  So, I currently have 4 Deep Discipleship Groups (2 groups of 6 and 2 groups of 7) that I meet with every week and I love it.  It’s by far the area of ministry I’m enjoying the most this year because I’m ministering to groups of students who want to be there…who want to go deeper with Jesus. 

In October, we had a powerful Spiritual Emphasis Week.  We had a guest speaker, a local youth pastor, come speak to the kids and many were impacted.  Many students came confessing some deep-rooted spiritual issues in their lives and we had the opportunity to minister to them and see many set free, particularly in the area of depression and suicidal thoughts. 

Our Chapel and DNA Program (Discipleship, Nuturing and Accountability) is going well overall.  We are following a set curriculum this year, taking students through 8 Core Roots of Discipleship.  It’s really a great program, but it’s also very tough because all students are required to be in a group and many are totally uninterested in the things of God.  But like the alumni shared, seeds are being planted.  We don’t trust in what we see, but in the work of the Holy Spirit who brings light and life to even the hardest of hearts. 

In December, my parents came and we had such an amazing time.  My mom and dad both had the opportunity to minister to everyone here at the school (Christmas Assembly, 8^th Grade Christmas Celebration, Deep Discipleship Groups, MS & HS Chapel Services).  It was such a blessing! 

Also, as we do every year, we try to do something fun.  This year we all took the train to see the volcanoes.  It was such an amazing trip.  We had great weather and could see everything so clearly.  Christmas and New Year’s was a lot of fun, though it rained hard on New Year’s Eve.  As always though, we had an amazing time. 

I sincerely recognize how blessed we are to get to spend that amount of time with them.  Some teachers here haven’t seen their families in a few years and when they do, it’s for a week at most.  Having them here with us is so special, meaningful and fun for all of us. 

Coming up the first week of March, we have our 2^nd SEW.  I’m so excited that a group from South Bend is coming to lead the worship that week (The Skagg’s family, Taylor Urban, Chad and Tony…part of the group from when we do the Worship Night’s back in South Bend when we’re home).  I’m expectant for God to do some big things in the lives of students and staff that week. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-       We are thinking a lot about the future.  We really want and need to know what God’s will is for us long term.  Are we to continue here at AAI, start a ministry here in Quito or does God want to lead us somewhere else? 

-       In thinking about the future, we know God is our provider and he will provide for our every need, but we also recognize that we are not able to prepare for the future financially based on our current income/circumstances.  We are especially thinking about college for the kids.  We are praying for God’s wisdom & creativity for how we can make money…through a business, rental property, etc either here or in the US.  Please pray for us regarding these things. 

-       Pray for my basketball team.  Most on the team are not believers.  I’d love to see God do a great work in their hearts and lives this season. 

-       Pray for our teachers, students and leadership.  We desperately need an awakening and revival here at this school. 

-       Pray for our upcoming SEW and for our DNA and Deep Discipleship Groups. 

-       Pray for our family and our marriage.  Pray that Jesus would be the center of everything we do and desire as a family. 

To close up, thank you all for your love, prayer and financial support.  We truly couldn’t be here and do this without it.  You guys are part of God’s work here in Ecuador.  We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  Lord bless you all!

                                                           Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin and Milena

WILSON FAMILY MISSIONS: May Update

Greetings from Ecuador!  

I want to start off by saying "thank you" to everyone who was praying for me and the AAI SEW (Spiritual Emphasis Week) last week.  It was a long, but fruitful week.  Here is a quick overview of SEW:

Sometime last year I heard a series by Andy Stanley called, "Who Needs God", addressing some key areas why people are walking away from God.  I was really excited about doing this series with my students because the vast majority want nothing to do with God and my prayer was that the mix of apologetics and the gospel would open their eyes and hearts to the truth of God, Jesus and His Word. I loved his approach and some of his content, thus I decided to take some of his ideas and make it my own.  The really tough part was that I had never prepared nor preached for a whole week.  That's pretty much all I did for the 2-3 weeks prior.  I was also in charge of worship & the follow up discussion questions, so it was a lot of fun, but also a very crazy few weeks.  

Daily Topics:

Day 1: 

Atheism 2.0- an update on what atheism believes and teaches.  The big idea was "you can't walk away from something (ie, God) without walking towards something else (ie, atheism)."  

Day 2: 

For the Bible Tells Me So- The big question was "do we believe or not believe just because the Bible tells us so?"  I explained that it's both.  I explained that Christianity doesn't exist because of the Bible any more than we exist because of our birth certificate.  The Bible was the result of something that happened.  I also shared with them some key apologetics and why we can rely on the Bible as truth and as the inspired word of God.  

Day 3:

gods of the no-testament- People walk away from God or don't believe because of wrong thinking and wrong understanding of who God is.  I addressed aspects of God's nature and character that just are not accurate, like "If God exists, then good people should not suffer."  I asked them, "Where did you get that idea?  Who told you that?  Because that's not in the Bible."  I also shared key scriptures and testimonies of who God really is.

Day 4:

Good or God- I showed a short message by John Bevere addressing how there are things deemed good in the world's culture that are bad/sin to God and God's Kingdom Culture.  The message is a "recalibration" message of turning our hearts back to God.  (if you'd like to watch his message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH8a_MShSTA&t=2s

I gave an altar call at the end and about 30 students came up wanting to completely dedicate their lives to the Lord.  

Day 5:

Testimonies & Final Discussion followed up by a big Ice Cream Social. (I bought tons of ice cream and toppings to make ice cream sundaes.  It was a fun way to close out SEW.)

The amazing part of this week was not seeing incredible transformations from atheism to being sold out for Jesus, but seeing and hearing testimonies of students who were heading towards atheism and now are heading towards faith in God.  There were so many who doubted God's existence and the Bible's validity day 1, but by the end they had made a turn towards God.  My prayer is that the work that God began in their hearts will continue to grow & develop.  

Please keep praying for these students.  You don't know them and I honestly don't know all who were touched by the Lord, but He does.  Pray that the seeds planted will grow deep into their hearts, leading them to surrender their lives and put their complete faith in Christ Jesus. 

For us as a family, we're doing really well.  The school year ends at the end of June, so everyone is anxious for the year to be over.  It's been a really hard rainy winter, so much so that the school has flooded a few times.  That was not fun!  It's only been in the last few days that we haven't had a daily downpour.  Praying that "El Nino" has come to an end.

  

Carolina and I had the opportunity to get away on Monday & Tuesday.  We had such a wonderful time together.  It was greatly needed.  The kids are doing well.  They are both growing in piano and doing well in school.  Joaquin's bday is next Friday, so he'll be turning 10.  Can't believe he's going to be in the double digits.  

Well, that's about it for now.  Here are a few prayer requests:

1.  Hunger and desire for more of God's presence.  Ministry is not a replacement for intimacy with Christ.  Complacency has had its way and it's time for that to end.  We need Him and everyone at the school needs Him.  

2.  Family & Marriage!  The enemy is always looking to infiltrate and destroy marriages & families.  Please pray for us and the families at AAI.  We need God's covering, strength and protection.  

3.  Physical Injuries!  Carolina has really hurt her shoulder playing volleyball and needs to get checked out.  I have a partially torn meniscus in my left knee that apparently needs surgery.  I also slipped and fell recently and really hurt my right knee and ankle.  I need to get an MRI on that knee now because I'm in a lot of pain.  It even hurts when I drive.  So, please pray for our healing and if we need surgery, that God will provide the finances to cover that.    

4.  Finances!  God is blessing us and meeting all our needs, but we are just getting by.  God is faithful and we know He is our provider.  We also know God uses the body of Christ to fulfill His purposes. Please prayerfully consider partnering with us both financially and in prayer.  

We want to give a huge 'THANK YOU' to everyone who already supports us financially and/or in prayer.  We are so blessed and grateful.  You are a big part in enabling us to stay on the mission field.  May the Lord richly bless you all!!!  

Love to you all,

Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin & Milena  

  

WILSON FAMILY MISSIONS: MARCH UPDATE

Greetings from Quito, Ecuador!

For starters, it's been a pretty cold & rainy year here in Quito.  Obviously "cold" has no comparison to our South Bend winters.  It's really like our Spring, but that is bad weather for these parts (thank you El Niño).  Anyways, we are doing well.  It's been a very interesting year for us as a family and school.  Carolina coached volleyball in the Fall and then I coached basketball from November to the end of February, which completely changed our schedules (particularly as a family).  We had a lot of fun coaching and were able to build some strong relationships with those students.  I'm praying for increased opportunities to share the gospel and love of Jesus with them.  As a school, there are a lot of transitions.  Our current director is leaving at the end of this year, along with many teachers in Elementary & Secondary. Nothing bad happened, it's just one of those years where there's a lot of changes.  Preparing for next year and responding to all the new requirements by the Ministry of Education this year, it has been quite the year.

Carolina is doing really well with teaching and leading the Spanish Department.  It was pretty rough in the beginning, but now she's got a good handle on everything.  She's playing a lot of volleyball with a club team, so she's really enjoying that.  Joaquin and Milena are both doing well.  They are both taking piano lessons.  Joaquin is playing a lot of basketball and is pretty passionate about it.  He has also started taking drum lessons, which is pretty cool.  Milena is taking gymnastics as well and really enjoys that.  They are doing well in their classes and it's fun to see them grow & develop.  I am doing well overall.  It's been a challenging year and somewhat disappointing in different areas.  We always dream big and usually want to see those dreams fulfilled immediately, but that's not the reality.  I just need to keep close to the fire and trust that God is moving in the lives of those we touch.  Our job is to plant and water, but it's God's job to bring forth the growth.

Prayer Points:
1.  Right now I'm teaching about the Kingdom of God in my chapels.  I'm really praying that students and staff will be provoked to pursue the Kingdom of God and his righteousness personally.  We all know it's a journey, but as in any journey, there's a starting point and I'm praying and believing every individual will take that journey with Jesus.  Pray for breakthrough and open hearts & minds.

2.  We need a fresh fire and hunger for God's presence & face (as a school and family)

3.  That God will bring the right person to lead this school as the new director in this new season.  We need a strong, godly man with a desire & passion for God's presence above all else.

4.  God's guidance, direction and discernment as we begin planning for the next school year.

5.  Salvation for Carolina's family and for my father-in-laws healing (from emphysema).

Thank you so much for all your love, prayer and financial support enabling us to serve the Lord here in Ecuador.  You are greatly loved and appreciated.

With much love,

Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin & Milena

PS...we're coming home for a few weeks this Summer, so we hope to see you.  I'm working on putting together another worship night.  I will let you all know when that is arranged.  Lord bless!

WILSON FAMILY MISSIONS DEC UPDATE

Merry Christmas everyone!  Praying for an incredible time with family and friends as we all fix our eyes on Jesus, the true reason for celebrating Christmas!  May the Lord richly bless each and every one of you!

It’s been a few months since our last update, so I wanted to take some time to fill you in on what’s been going on for us here in Ecuador and how you can pray for us moving forward. 

In October we had our Spiritual Emphasis Week, with my good friend Sebastian Mora from Chile.  God really showed up powerfully way in many different ways. 

1.     All the places we usually use for our SEW’s were unavailable, so the idea came up to get a big tent.  The vision the Lord placed on my heart this year was to “create environments to help staff and students experience & encounter God’s presence!”  So, the tent idea seemed like a great fit to that vision, only the school didn’t have the money to rent anything, which meant I had to raise the money.  As I explored the possibilities, I discovered it was not going to be cheap.  Some quotes were $3-4K for the week, but thankfully we found someone who would do it for  $1,500 and because of the support of many people and 2 churches in particular, we were able to cover the whole thing!  GOD IS SO GOOD & FAITHFUL! 

2.     My friend Sebastian was able to come and God used him in many ways.  It was exciting to see the progression from day 1 to day 4 of SEW.  There was a continual increase of the presence of the Holy Spirit and many students had a powerful encounter with Him.  Many signed up wanting to be discipled and go deeper with God.  What an amazing week.  Here is the link to watch the SEW Highlight Video!       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GLRb7z9EP4

In November I began meeting with students who wanted to be discipled.  It’s been difficult because students forget to come or others have backed out of wanting to meet.  Sometimes it is difficult for us to come back from a powerful encounter with God because we think everything will just happen on its own, which does not happen.  It can be very easy to settle back into “normal day-to-day life”.  I’m glad to say though that I have around 12 high school students who meet with me every Monday during lunch, but only 1 in middle school.  I’m praying and believing for good things to happen in our times together.   

December has been pretty chill here at the school as we enter into Christmas break.  My parents are here now and it is such a blessing to us as a family.  They have gotten the opportunity to meet many of our friends here in Ecuador and experience some of the programs the kids are in.  Praying for a wonderful Christmas with them and all of Carolina’s family. 

Prayer Requests:

-       Please be praying for me, my family, our students and our staff to not settle, but to press into the deeper things of God. 

-       Please pray for Carolina and I as we pray about our future here at AAI.  We have 1 more year on our contract here at the school.  I see us being here in Ecuador for years to come, but we are not sure how long the Lord wants us here at AAI.  God has placed many things on my heart for ministry and we just want to discern His timing. 

-       Please pray for us to have great faith and no fear so we can step into whatever it is God has for us moving forward.  

-       Please pray for the salvation of our family members here in Ecuador. 

Thank you for your love, prayer support and financial support enabling us to serve the Lord here in Ecuador.  God is moving, but I’m hungry and expectant for so much more!   We love you all!

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Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin & Milena

Wilson Family Missions- October Update

Greetings from Ecuador! 

Well, we have completed our first month back in school here in Ecuador.  There have been many changes for everyone this year and it is taking some time to get accustomed to all the adjustments, but we’re getting there.  Schedule changes, class schedules, new government requirements, etc are all issues we’ve had to face.  The school has taken a hit financially as well, which has made the transition even harder, but God is faithful and He will see us through. 

As many of you already know, I have transitioned into the role of “chaplain” (or in my words, “campus pastor”) here at the school and I am so grateful to have this opportunity.  Carolina has been promoted to Spanish Department Head, though this has put a lot of extra work & stress on her.  But as always, she presses through and does an AMAZING job!  I’m so proud of her.  The kids are doing well and are enjoying their new classes/teachers as well. 

One of the things I’m particularly excited about is the opportunity I’ve been given to take the student worship band to the next level.  One of the new government requirements I mentioned deals with Service Projects (required to graduate).  The worship band has been approved as our Service Project, which means we will not only be leading worship in school, but also out in the community.  This is amazing and I’m excited to see what God has in store.  Please be praying for us.

We have had 2 student chapel services thus far and I felt lead to talk with them about “living a life of expectancy with God” and “Biblical Faith” as we enter into this year.   As expected, hearts are cold & desire for God seems minimal.  Honestly, this season really feels like a time of plowing the soil, but I’m really expectant for a powerful move of God this year as we faithfully plant and water. 

In 2 weeks (Oct 17-21) we have our Spiritual Emphasis Week and I’m so excited because I have my friend Sebastian Mora coming from Chile to speak to them.  If you don’t know Sebastian, he is one of my closest friends that I met while living in Argentina back in 2012.  He is an anointed man of God and I’m praying & believing for a great move of the Holy Spirit in the lives of staff & students.  If you could all please join me in prayer now through that week I’d really appreciate it. 

In regards to Spiritual Emphasis Week, I have an urgent request.  I am in need of renting a large tent to hold all our services for SEW!  All the places we’ve used in the past that can hold the number of students we have were unavailable and our chapel is just too small for everyone.  The cheapest quote I have found to rent is around $1,200 (tent & chairs) and I have no budget because of the financial situation here at the school.  SEW is coming up quickly and I want to ask if you would prayerfully consider sewing financially into it.  Many of you are so faithful into sewing into us as a family, enabling us to serve the Lord here in Ecuador.  This is just another opportunity to help sew the seeds of the gospel to the students here at AAI.  If this is something that you would like to partner with us in, please let me know and send your gift to Radiant Church.  I will need to order the tent by Friday, so please let me know ASAP.  Your partnership is so greatly appreciated!

As always, THANK YOU for all your love, prayer and support to us as a family.   We love you!

Lord bless,

Caleb, Carolina, Joaquin & Milena

Wilson Family Missions