Why be a missionary?

I was backing up and digging through some old files on my hard drive when I came across some old video files. Along with many other attempts to be cool; I made this little audiovisual presentation in early 2006 with Windows Movie Maker to show at my first presentations to raise support to move to Latin America. That was nearly 3 years ago. Technology has changed,even over the last three years...but the message hasn't! It is simple, but take a look!

Our first Christmas away from family

This Christmas is the first time that Heidi and I have not traveled to visit either of our families and stayed here in Panama.  First off, as much as I miss snow, it was quite amazing to play two-hand touch football on Christmas eve and then outdoor basketball today in 100 degree weather.  Back home in Iowa, we would have been stuck inside in the air conditioning--but that 100 degree weather just felt a little warmer than usual to me.

Well, the Christmas events that did take place here in Panama were very wonderful and helped to alleviate the sadness of not being with our own immediate family.  We have some amazing friends here in Panama that feel like a second family.

Here are a few photos covering the events of the last few days:

 

 

 

  We have been so blessed to be surrounded with mission team members and friends here in Panama!

Heidi and I pray that you had a very blessed Christmas and hope that you will bring in the New Year remembering the Joy that comes in the finished work of Christ!

FELIZ NAVIDAD y PROSPERO ANO NUEVO

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!

This year marks the 50th birthday of Anthony Ray Heisterkamp, born December 21st, 1958.  He is a dad, friend, missionary, businessman, family guy.  I am very blessed to have been raised by him and my mom.

I have been privileged to be apart of 26.5 years of my dad's 50 years on this earth.  I have seen my dad in times of prosperity and when times were tough, when he was sick and when he was healthy, in church and in business, with family and with friends.  He has been my role model, the one that I asked millions of questions about millions of things.  He and my mom provided for my sisters and me all of our lives and continue to bless us to this day.

Dad, as you always told the three of us kids, I will tell you now, "I am proud of you, for who you are and for who you are becoming."  Here's to the next 50 years, may they be fruitful and to the Glory of God, our Father in Heaven.

We love you so much!  Happy Birthday!

Love, Jon and Heidi

One of my favorite Christmas cartoons ever!

For your Christmas viewing pleasure! Doesn't it just take you back to lying on your living room floor a view days before Christmas and there is a blizzard outside? I have fond memories of Disney's Christmas programs from back in the day! Enjoy!

Wonderful Christmas Concert in Panama

 

The video in this post is of the Christmas Concert that each Lutheran congregation here in Panama participated in.  Thanks to James Neuendorf, our communications specialist here in Latin America, I was able to catch a glimpse of what it would have been like to attend the Christmas concert--and now so can you!  Enjoy!

 

Letter concerning Christmas

The following is a letter that I received last Christmas from a family member.  I wanted to share it with you all!

Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a Nativity scene on YOUR OWN FRONT LAWN. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?  Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love-- and remember-- I LOVE YOU, JESUS

Gift Ideas for Little Helly

Hi everyone! I wanted to write a quick note asking for suggestions on what kind of gift you think Heidi and I should get for our new God-daughter, Helly, who I wrote about here in November. She is two years old and the youngest of two girls. I will take ideas in the comments section and then I will let you all know what we decide to get for her in a post before I leave for Peru on January 10th. Multiple votes for a certain gift will give weight to what we decide to give, but I am looking for an original gift idea. If anyone is interested in making a gift that we could buy from you--give me a proposal and I will let you know!

Jesus and Santa

50,000 shoes in 50 days--Only 18 days left

Some of you may have heard about Soles4Souls and what many bloggers are trying to accomplish in a 50 day time period. With only 18 days left nearly 10,000 shoes have been donated! There is still a long way to go!

• The person who donates the most shoes this week will win an autographed Amy Grant guitar (silent auction style)
• With every pair of shoes you donate you’re entered for a chance to hand deliver your shoes in person on a Soles4Souls trip to Mexico.
• If you donate $25 (10 pairs of shoes) or more you will receive a free jar of “Save My Sole” foot cream compliments of sponsor, Underology.
• There is a 1-for-2 match going right now. That means that if 1000 shoes are donated by 11:59 pm on December 13, a sponsor will donate an additional 500 shoes!

Will you join Heidi and I in giving to this worthy cause? Spend less on gifts--give more to people in need! Go to http://www.50000shoes.com/.

With Thankful Hearts We Praise Him

Praise God this Thanksgiving!  We give Him praise with hands and thankful hearts lifted high!  Join Heidi and I in singing praises to the King for all that He has done for us. We are all so blessed!

 

Some things that I am most thankful for this day:

My salvation that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ

Family--those that are near and far

Great friends

A God-given purpose in life

Health

and the fact that there is love in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  We love youall and give thanks to God that you are part of our lives!

Love,

Jon and Heidi

Interesting Statistics on My generation of Christians

Here is one of the blogs that I had wanted to post last week but due to the business of the seminars I was participating in I was unable to write much!

I have been reading the book UnChristian authored by David Kinnaman with research completed by the Barna Group, a very well known and respectable research organization.

The book takes a look at what my generation and a few younger than me really think about Christianity. The findings overwhelmingly point to the fact that many Christians don't practice what they preach.  While looking down on non-Christians, intentionally or not, we are putting on a face of holiness that is false.  We look like hypocrites.  As Biblical Christians with sound doctrine we should hold to a certain view and practice that is contrary to the world.  We preach this daily in our churches and mission fields.  The statistics below will show, though, that many young Christians believe things to be morally acceptable that the Bible explicitly condemns and tells us to abstain from.

This isn't a big surprise, and could be easily written off by Christians who say that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  This is the truth that we are all sinners.  But the problem enters in when we condemn non-Christians for doing the same things we do.  Instead of pointing fingers and pretending to be holy, we should be showing how we have failed in our sin to those in similar situations, but how God has saved us and wiped our slate clean to live a new life for Him.The new life we have is a transformed life in relationship with Him.  This research should cause us to take a step back and look at how we as Christians treat non-Christians; as well as evaluate how we are living--as examples of Christ or not.

		Christians 23-41yrs old	Christians 42+yrs old
		Percentage that believe each is morally acceptable
Cohabitation		59%	33%
Gambling		58%	38%
Sexual Thoughts/fantasies about someone		57%	35%
Sex outside of marriage		44%	23%
Using profanity		37%	17%
Getting Drunk		35%	13%
Looking at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behavior		33%	19%
having an abortion		32%	27%
having a sexual relationship with someone of the same sex		28%	13%
using drugs not prescribed to you		16%	8%
allowing f-word on broadcast television		7%	6%

Peru Mission Events/Being a God-parent

I haven't really written on my blog in about 14 days, but I have like 5 different topics that I want to write about over the next week so get ready!

Today, I want to tell you about this beautiful child pictured with me above. Her name is Helly and she is the youngest daughter of Elvis, a man I told many of you about this summer when I was home on furlough. Elvis was a very hard man when I first met him, angry, upset, and on his own. At the beginning, the times that I was able to talk with him he had usually drank too much liquor beforehand. Or it was about how many bags of cement we could carry down the road to our work site. One time it seemed that he even wanted to pick a fight with me. After a few weeks of working with Elvis, though, I began to see him change. He wasn't as hard-hearted towards me or anyone else in the group. He was smiling; and I hadn't seen him drunk...maybe even using restraint. Either he was just trusting us as people coming to serve him, or he was being changed by the Holy Spirit. I think it was both!

It is hard to stay in touch with Elvis because, well, communication isn't so good in their area--and there is a lack of technology. But each time that I've returned to Lucumo, we basically pick up where we left off.

So what does this all have to do with Helly? The last time I was in Lucumo was November 4th and 5th with Pastor Jorge Groh and Anthony Diliberto. On November 5th Helly was baptized along with her older sister Karol. Elvis asked me if Heidi and I would be Helly's sponsors, or God-parents, and I, of course, accepted! It is such an amazingly beautiful journey that God is letting us be apart of in Lucumo and Peru. A story that is about Him. That's what happens when God brings you into life with him--He gives us a role in the greatest story ever told--His Story.

Yes, it is an honor to be sponsors now of two young and beautiful little girls; Allison and Helly.

But we don't take this lightly. I've been thinking about this lately. A God-parent is called to be a witness of Christ to the children they sponsor, to be their prayer warriors and to use every opportunity they have to teach them about Jesus and what He has done for us. Being a God-parent is not just a title that you get to wear, or an honor that friends and family give each other to say that they really do like you; it's a responsibility. When someone asks you to be a sponsor, they are asking you to be their second. That if they should pass on you will be responsible for their child's spiritual growth, to teach them all you know about Jesus and the Scriptures.

If you are a sponsor, I challenge you to look at what that means for you. Are you praying for that child daily? Are you preoccupied with his/her spiritual growth? Please don't take it lightly!

Technorati Tags: Allison,Helly,Baptism,Sponsors,God-Parents,Peru,Lucumo,LCMS World Mission,Conversion

Advent Conspiracy--The meaning of Christmas

Take a look at this video. It sure make us think about how much we take for granted...

Now what? We can't claim ignorance anymore. We really do spend $450,000,000,000 on Christmas every year! What a waste. Gifts are great, but come on! Worship Jesus, love Him, and love others!

If you are interested in helping with AIDS and Clean Water, one place you can check out is www.bloodwatermission.org.

How can we serve?

Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Unity

What do these four words have in common? What type of action do they require of people who want to exemplify them? Can one exist without the other, or does one have to exist for the other three to happen?

These are some of the question that I am trying to answer after reading Tom Morris's book, "If Aristotle Ran General Motors." This book was a required reading for my Applied Business Ethics class for my MBA, but once I opened it up, it wasn't hard to read the whole book in one sitting. (I still have to write the paper that corresponds with the reading, but my blog seems to be more important at this moment...lol) Since then, I've gone back through it and wanted to put some of Morris's points out there to see what the rest of you think.

Truth

The first (or base) universal dimension of human experience that Morris mentions is our intellectual dimension, which aims us at truth. We all need knowledge and to have ideas just as much as we need to have food, air and water. We need truth so that our minds are nourished just as our bodies are nourished by the food that we eat.

I wrote about truth in an earlier post here. I was looking at truth asking the question is there ever a time when you shouldn't tell the whole truth, or when it is okay to lie. Or how do you tell the truth when it might be very hurtful.

Here are some quotes from the book about truth that might hit home for you:

"We should cultivate an environment in which people are not afraid to tell us the truth."

"Too many workers and managers are reluctant to pass on a hard truth to the person they report to, because they are working in a corporate culture where it's not clear what the value of truth is."

"I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed" --Marcus Aurelius

While this book was written for the business person, I see how these quotes are very important to our everyday lives, in our churches, in non-profits, in politics, in mission-agencies, and in our families. We are so hung up on keeping "the peace", avoiding conflict, and/or making sure everyone is happy that we end up hiding the truth. If we were able to tell the truth without fear, think how many problems and difficulties we could avoid.

Goodness

As Mr. Morris writes about goodness he is talking about ethics and morality and what they all imply. He also writes about how our culture has failed at being good and why. Here are some of his points:

"Ethics is not primarily about the big things [ie: abortion, homosexuality, social injustice, euthanasia]; it's not the sole preserve of mind-bending dilemmas and difficult cases. It's mostly about everyday matters like how we treat the people around us and how we conduct ourselves. If we don't get it right in the little things, we're unlikely to get it right in the big things."

"The best portion of a good man's life: His little, nameless, unremembered acts of Kindness and of Love."--William Woodsworth

"A moral crisis seems to have enveloped all sectors of American-Life [not just Wall Street or in abortion clinics]. If you have any doubt, take your car to a mechanic, talk to a contractor about building a house, ask around town for a lawyer you can trust, shop for an used car, or even a new car...brackets are my comments

Apparently, the only guidelines for conduct widely in all these contexts are:

1. Look out for number one

2. Whatever you do, don't get caught

And for those who are ethically sensitive and altruistic:

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS"

We as Americans have become so wrapped up in short-term thinking and our immediate gratification. I too struggle with this, I'm not just condemning without pointing the finger at myself. Morris says that in the type of climate where short-term thinking dominates, "urgency easily pushes out the important."

Some of the questions I wrote in the margins of my book when I read about this were:

"Why do we have to be so short-term results focused? Why do we need instant gratification? When did we change from being Long-Term focused to short-term and self-centered?"

Morris wrote that when we think about the consequences of our actions we tend to think only of the immediate effects--we don't look far ahead.

Two questions that I want to take away from this reading and continue to ask myself anytime I have to make a decision:

1. What impact will my decisions and my behavior have on the people closest to me over the long-run?

2. And what sort of person am I becoming, long-term, by the decisions I make?

This book has invoked a lot of thought over the last week, and helped me to start aligning all the garbled thoughts I've had about ethics, morality, decisions I've made, and the decisions I still have to make. I feel a little bit more liberated to take my time in decision-making. That's a good feeling.

Reference

Morris, T. (1997). If Aristotle ran general motors: the new soul of business. New York, NY: Owl Books Henry Holt and Company, LLC

I miss my woman!

I love you Heidi!

VOTE

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to make something clear after my previous post; please vote!

I was writing about my struggle with deciding which candidate to vote for if I only looked at the concern for the life or death of another human being. I was running through the different options that one might have if they only voted based on those two issues; war and abortion. I realize there is more to the current state of our country than those two issues.

Voting has serious implications about what we say we believe vs. what we really believe. We must exercise this freedom to choose, not just for the sake of choosing, but so that we can know ourselves better. We can say what we believe out loud as much as we want, but until we act on what we are saying, it's just a bunch of fluff. When we vote we start to follow through on our beliefs and it's a first step in the direction of acting out what we believe.

I will be voting when I receive my absentee ballot!

Lesser of two evils?

I hate war. I hate that we kill babies. These are two major issues for me. If these two issues were what I based my vote on how can I decide who I would vote for in this election? (I say would, because SD hasn't sent me my absentee ballot yet, and I doubt it will get here in time.) Would I be justifiying death and murder by voting for either side?

Do I desensitize myself to the situation and vote based off of other issues?

Or do I pick the one that will kill less people?

Here are some stats on the death toll due to the Iraq war (http://icasualties.org/oif/) :

4187 Americans Killed
176 UK killed
138 Other
4501=total Coalition death toll in Iraq in 5 1/2 years

Here are some stats on deaths due to abortion (http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10123) :

3,288 Americans Killed per day
23,016 Americans Killed per week
1.2 million Americans killed per year

The numbers are overwhelming. If you wanted to kill less people, I guess you would vote for the candidate that says he would overturn abortion. But I don't think I can handle knowing that I am responsible for one death through my vote. Maybe I would vote for the anti-abortion candidate, because at least our servicemen these days made a conscience choice (a service-focused choice at that) to do what they do and babies don't have any choice or protection when it comes to abortion.

But still, I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that whichever way I vote I will have someone's blood on my hands...

Maybe I wouldn't vote, even if I had an absentee ballot. I don't believe either of the candidates will make any real change. Why do we think we can put all of our trust in one man or woman to revolutionize our country? When are people going to stand up and get things done together? When will we reach out and help that person we know who is going to lose their home? When will we reach out and help that pregnant, single-mother, so that she doesn't have an abortion? When will we start, as real people, to really help others?

Maybe voting is just a way for me to be an active participant in this difficult, moral, and ethical process? Maybe it will encourage me to be an advocate for life, no matter the situation?

What we need is to refocus our attention and trust in the One True God and our Savior Jesus. We need mercy from God. We need to turn to Him and He will lead us; and not our selfish, self-preserving desires. Let's get on our knees in prayer for our families, our neigbors, our nation, and our world.

A call to give Him Glory

Let us give Him glory in all that we do; for He is the Most High!

Catalyst--Together

Well, I wrote last week how I was really excited about the Catalyst leadership conference that Heidi and I attended in Atlanta.  If you read the blog I posted last week you know that God was doing something and showing me his love. 

Throughout the conference the speakers just spoke to the heart of the matter.  I learned so much from experts on leadership and heard from some great Christian leaders as well.  Over the last week, God has really identified for me that I struggle the most with pride and what others think of me.  It's idolatry to always worry what others think of you...Heidi has been telling me this for a long time, but I guess I never really heard her.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to to stop considering others, this is still very important.  For me though, it's like every decision I make I have to go through a list of people to make sure that no one will find fault with me.  When really, it's okay if someone sees fault in me.  It's going to be a tough road to get over this...but with God's grace and forgiveness I know I will get through it. 

Catalyst really challenged me, with 12,400 other Christian leaders from EVERY denomination, to embrace change in our lives; it's how God pulls us through the process of sanctification.  He is a Holy God and ALL of his ways are righteous.

I pray for God's direction in your life and that you wouldn't resist when He is calling you to change.  I pray that God will open our hearts to receive His grace and direction.

Happy Birthday Allison!!!

Happy Birthday to our one and only niece! We hope you enjoyed your second birthday and can't wait to see you again! Love, Jon andHeidi

I'm Broken AND Put Back Together

I am on an airplane from Santiago, Dominican Republic on my way to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference.  I have a stop over in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Heidi and I will be meeting up to attend the conference that will cover a bunch of different things, from Passion, Influence, Justice, Community in the context of being young leaders.  I will write more about this later, but know that we are very excited about this opportunity to learn from others in the Kingdom.

But what I really want to write about is how God has touched my heart today.  When I sat down on the plane I turned on my iPod and the first song was by Hillsong, "For who you are".  The chorus is:

I will worship you for who you are

I will worship you for who you are

I will worship you for who you are, Jesus

Standing here in your presence

Thinking of all the good things you have done...

Holy, Righteous, Faithful to the end

Savior, Healer, Redeemer and Friend

and during this chorus I started to ask myself if I was worshiping Jesus, in my life, for who he is and I just started to break down and cry.  He is all those things in the song, and more. But he only needs to be one of them for me to honor him, a Holy Savior. Have I honored Him?  It's a good thing my seat is in the last row and I'm by myself. I don't cry much.

I sat there convicted.  All the things I've said or done in the last few weeks have been done with pride.  Not the good kind of pride either.  Gosh, why do I have to struggle with my flesh so much!  I'm crying out in my heart to God that I am sorry.  Sorry for not acknowledging His "omni"-presence, for blatantly ignoring His presence.  Sorry that I've lost focus of His Cross, even as I'm telling others to focus on it! 

He's saying back to me through His word, "I Forgive You". God loves me.  He loves all His children dearly and wants them to confess.  He will take care of it; he already has, actually, with the blood of Jesus.  He changes our hearts.  He is changing mine.  Praise be to God.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:1-5

Important Questions

I have been struggling along with some of our friends here in Panama over truth the last few months.  I think I have always felt that truth was more important than anything else, and sacrificing truth for the greater good wasn't really a concept that could exist.  I have been challenged over the last months and wanted to pose the question to all of you that read my blog.  I am thinking in more of a Evangelism, Bible-understanding point of view, but please feel free to answer the questions I pose with world examples as well.  Also, the questions may seem simple but to me they are very deep and pivotal to how we live our lives day to day.  Please answer with care.

What is more important?

Telling truth vs. keeping the peace

Telling truth vs. maintaining hope (possibly false hope)

Telling the truth vs. Getting people in the door however you can with the intention of telling the truth later. (evangelism idea, but can be applied elsewhere, like politics)

When does telling the truth become an UN-loving thing to do?  I believe truth is absolute.  Do you?  Is truth the end or the means?  Where do you find truth?  In God's word?  Inside yourself?  What's your foundation of truth?

I would love to have as many responses to this blog as possible!

In Christ,

 

Jon

First Time Back Since June

Well, here I am back in Peru for the first since we finished up the Water Project in June.  I am currently in Lima, but will be heading to Lucumo and Lunahuana tomorrow morning sometime.  I find myself anxious and happy at the same time to be reunited with the friends I came to know and love while I was here working the whole month of June.  Due to the limited ability to communicate and lack of those same types of communication tools, the times I have been able to get in touch with the people of Lucumo have been few and far between.  They know we are arriving there tomorrow to see them and talk about the future!  Such an exciting time to see what God has done over the last few months.  I pray that he will give us (Jorge, Olga and Me) the words necessary to encourage them in the faith.

Lord, you allowed for many people to be touched by your Word in June, both Peruvian and Americans.  I ask that you would bless our time together this week and that we will find amazing ways to serve you together as we continue down this road.  I thank you for bringing Anthony into the team and I pray that you will guide his time of preparation in Panama over the next few months.  Lord, use us to your benefit, to share your gospel without leaving anything out.  Let us be beacons of your truth. Amen!

Amazed

I hope that you will take the time to watch the videos that I posted below. There are 5 clips that are about 10 minutes long. Start with the post that has 3 clips in it and then move up to the post with two clips.

We watched this the other night during a Bible Study and it's just amazing how involved and concerned for our lives that God is. He has created us and the whole universe. I especially love the 3rd video in the first post about our conception and creation. So amazing.

We've really messed up, we humans, and don't deserve the love and grace that he pours out on us. We think we are so big in our own lives and we do whatever we can to lift ourselves up and get what we want, while in the whole scheme of things, we are these puny little nothings. We think that we can save the world...we think we can change the order of things in this life on our own. We are such a silly people.

We are totally at the disposal of God. He could crush us in a second. But he won't. He crushed someone else in our place; His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we don't have to bare the weight of God's wrath, because we repent of our sins and believe in him as our Savior. Where are you in the grand scheme of things?

Second Set of Videos

Watch these!

Coordination and Planning

It's been a week or two since I last blogged so I am writing as I think of things this time around.  Since we returned to Panama from furlough many things have taken place.

One of the major accomplishments is the near completion of the Regional Mission office in Panama City.  The only step left is to install some small office divisions to give privacy to some of our staff.  We have a newly set up conference room where we will be able to hold Regional Team meetings and conferences with our partner churches and other organizations.  I have to say that I am proud of the work.  I will have to post more pictures at a later date!

Another big thing in my agenda lately is planning the first Latin American and Caribbean missionary retreat since 2004.  We will be hosting all of our LCMS WM Missionaries and alliance (partner church) missionaries in Panama, December 1st-6th.  We will have 4 full days of worship, fellowship, and plenty of information sharing.  There will also be plenty of time to relax and rejuvenate and just be with God, as we all know ministry, unfortunately,  sometimes gets in the way of that.  Many of you probably don't know this but most of our missionaries are on their own in their host country.  Granted our missionaries have great relationships and are integrated into the life of the local church where they work, but contact between missionaries on a regular basis can be very miniscule and at times we may feel very isolated and alone.  A regional retreat like this is meant to make each of us aware that we are not alone in our work and that many others are going through the same things. 

So I have been busy planning this event, from the hotel to the transportation, to the food, to making sure everyone has their tickets purchased.  I am really enjoying doing all of this coordination...I think I inherited this trait from my father. :-)

Well, I will sign off for now!  Give praise to Him from whom all blessings flow!

In Christ,

Jon

Here we are painting what is now the conference room in the regional office.  It took a good three coats to cover the once bright green walls.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!! I wish we could be home to celebrate this day with you! I love you so much and I am so thankful you are my mom! Have a great day!

Where do they stand?

I'm usually quiet on political matters but I can't help but point out Obama's political-ness when answering questions pertaining to faith and things like abortion. Here is a link to a blog that reviews the discussion held by Rick Warren with McCain and Obama...Pro-Choice or Pro-human rights? Which would you choose?

I am a moderate and believe in things like Social Justice and helping the poor. I don't like big business without some sort of social governance, but I am in favor of a government that helps small companies succeed. But when it comes down to it, the Bible, ethics, and basic human rights are what shape my decision when it comes to abortion. Places like Planned Parenthood don't give an opportunity for that human life to continue living, they don't expound to the woman the blessings of adoption or give help to the woman that decides to keep the baby...they only way planned parenthood stays in business is by women continuing to get abortions. It's come full circle--what probably was intended as a way to help women out has become dependent on women continuing to have abortions to keep their business going.

I don't think enough is being done by either side to end abortion and promote abstinence until marriage or to make raising a child any easier on single mothers, and that is what needs to change. No life is worth more than any other, we are all created equal and should be given an equal chance to live.

This issue just shows us how depraved our world has become. We just keep becoming more desensitized to death, murder, extreme poverty, and other sinful acts that it doesn't even phase us. What was once seen as freeing (as in getting away from the rules) is now what condemns us.

For those of us who believe in Jesus as the only way to salvation and truly believe what the Bible teaches about how we should react to poverty, homosexuality, abortion, sexual immorality, and adultery (affairs, sex out of marriage, pornography); we must stand firm against it while teaching others the Biblical truth about what we should all be doing to counteract them. God loves all of us, all of us sinners, and wants us to come to repentance and a knowledge of His truth and saving Grace through Jesus. Without repentance we remain lost sheep...

Human rights does not mean we all have freedom to do what we want, it means there are certain privileges that are available to each human life, like laws that protect that life.

Great Furlough--Back to Panama

Well after a good 6 week stint back in the USA, Heidi and I have returned to Panama. We arrived back to our home here on August 1st, sometime that evening after getting our luggage. The road construction in Panama has advanced quite a bit over the last two months, and you could tell by the traffic. It will be great when that's all finished!

Furlough was a great time for both Heidi and I. It was extremely busy and we were on the road most of the time visiting many churches. However, we did get to visit with family some. Since we've returned to Panama we've allowed some time to get back into the swing of things. I'm back to finishing up the office move with a few final touches. I will also be getting two apartments ready for 3 more missionaries that will be arriving to Panama in September (a couple and a single guy). We are looking forward to having them here!

As for now, we are enjoying being back in our home and catching up with all of our friends/co-workers for Christ. We will keep you posted! Blessings in Christ!

Week 4 Project Finished!!!

Greetings from the USA! Heidi and I just arrived last night to Minneapolis and will be heading on furlough this afternoon. Saturday morning I was in Lima, Peru preparing to go back to Panama after finishing the project in Lucumo! WE FINISHED! The Bocatoma wall took the full 4 weeks to complete, but we are so thankful to the Lord that HE did it!
I want to give a special thanks to the group that came in the 4th week, they were dedicated to getting the wall finished before they left.
Over the weekend the water canal should have been opened up again by the people of Lucumo and water should now be running to their faucets and irrigation systems!
I am also very encouraged about the relationship that was built over the last four weeks and the change that occurred in the people of Lucumo! The last night I was there I had a conversation about the future relationship we will have with Lucumo, and the leaders were very excited and asking for someone to come and teach them the Bible. These people are thirsting for the Word of God. They've seen the love of God through the actions of the 4 groups that came down to work with them on this project, but now they want to know why. They want to understand the Hope that we have in Christ. I can assure you that we are in a deep search for the right person to come and teach the word to these people. I am SO encouraged by the people of Lucumo, they surprised me with their requests for teachers and preachers, God is Amazing. Here is a video of that shows the work from beginning to end!

Week 3--Much Advancement--Week 4 Working Hard

Greetings! I know this is a little late but this post is to talk about what we accomplished during the 3rd week of the bocatoma project in Lucumo, Peru. The group that came down for this week consisted of members from two churches: Prince of Peace in Palatine, IL and Concordia in Conover, NC. In total there were 17 members that traveled down to Lima on June 8th...they were and are the largest group I received for this project. With coordinators, drivers, foremans and the men from Lucumo, we had between 23-33 people working on the project at any given time. We put in some late nights pouring concrete mix. This group was quite different from the other groups, not just because of their size, but because there were so many youth that came down to work. I could tell that it was a great experience for them to get out of their box and see some of the REAL world.

What you see in the picture above is me and Kaleb Unverfehrt mixing cement with aggregate and rocks, by hand...I'm still breathing and finding concrete mix all over me :). This mix was to pour the first portion of the almost 3 foot wide wall that we are constructing to divert the water into the irrigation canal.

We advanced the project quite well during the third week mostly because of the number of people we had on site. We proved that if we had a body we could put it to work!

This group's devotional time was based around Ecclesiastes and I have to admit I have not spent a whole lot of time studying Ecclesiastes; but I have to agree that there is nothing better than going to bed after a long days work and not having the energy to worry or think about anything. We enjoyed the toils of our labor so much that we went to bed most nights by 9 pm. And the sleep was very necessary since we were putting in long hours in very physical labor.

It was also great to have Heidi with me for the week! It was nice to know she was close by and I could steal a kiss or a hug in between wheelbarrels! It was comforting to know she was safe with me! :)
I am currently back in Panama for a few days, but I will be heading to Peru again on Thursday morning to wrap up this weeks group. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and safely! Ask God to give the group strength to finish the project this week!

Here are a few more pictures:

Ladies working hard!

I told you we put those wheelbarrels to good use, right Landon?!

My hands are still dirty...

And in case you don't believe how hard core this group was, here is a picture of them picking out their live Guinea Pigs to eat the next night for dinner:

Week 2 Done

Hello everyone! This blog is going to be a little shorter since I haven't had much time today to sit down at the computer...even though it's the only time of the week that I have internet availability. We have finished the second week of the "bocatoma" project and all seems to be going well. We are a little behind due to some materials not showing up on time, but we are making up ground. According to the foreman of the project he thinks we will finish with some time to spare...let's pray for that!

I had quite the week...last Saturday morning around 3 Am I woke up with a fever and pain all over. It quickly got worse and I had chills and sweats...I had gotten some sort of bacteria from something I ate at a very popular restuarant...called Tony Roma's. Don't worry, I won't be going back there again. Unfortunately the bacteria then gave me some other unwanted to side affects that caused me to get dehydrated. On Monday I could hardly move and was in quite a bit of stomach pain...so I was taken to the local clinic in Lunahuana. It's the clinic where the locals go to get health care. While I was a bit nervous about the state of the facilities and the cleanliness, the nurses did a good job taking care of me and keeping the IV going. I was there for 8 hours after getting two IVS and some medications. All in all I felt better and I'm still recuperating now. My energy seems to be back at normal levels. Not bad for a $12 trip to the emergency room; including IV and prescription medications!

I leave you with a picture of the past week that shows some of the progress we made. If you'd like to see more, please check out my picasaweb. http://picasaweb.google.com/jon.heisterkamp.

Week 1 done--Three to go

Hello from Lima! Here I am back in Lima for the weekend; last night I dropped off the first group that came down to start work on the "bocatoma" or water/dam/irrigation project. The picture you see to the left is what the Bocatoma looked like before we came. We are dismantling this makeshift dam to replace it with a long-term concrete one that will not need to be rebuilt every year. It will increase the water pressure to the local village; allowing farmers to adequately water their crops and provide sufficient drinking, cooking and bathing water for this small town of 250 called Lucumo.

According to our rough calculations, the group came to the conclusion that we had moved roughly 30 tons of materials 1/4 of a mile; either on our backs and shoulders or in wheelbarrels. Due to the lack of infrastructure in the area there is no way to get a large dump truck down to where we are working so everything must be moved by hand. So not only did we carry a lot of weight we also walked almost 5-6 miles each day carrying those same materials; and that's not stretching the truth.

By the end of the week, Friday, we had most of the old structure dismantled and we used the pieces to start constructing a bridge so that we can get the materials across the river where all the work will take place. It's such a complicated process, but it will be very worth it. We will be making life a lot easier and less complicated for the people of Lucumo by the time this project is finished. Below see a picture of the makeshift bridge in process:



I will continue to post weekly about the progress we are making on the project when I come back to Lima on Friday evenings. Please keep me and the groups in your prayers during this great time of service and work for our brothers and sisters in Lucumo. May the Lord allow us not only to give the people in Lucumo water to quench thirst, but may He give us His words, His hands, and His feet, that He will quench the eternal thirst that all of us have...

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! PRAYER NEEDED!

Hello all! I am writing to you from Lima, Peru; where I'm preparing to pick up the first group to work on building a new irrigation system for the town of Lucomo. We will be working hard for the next 4 weeks to get the dam built before June 20, 2008. Which is the day that last volunteer group of the States goes home. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY! Pray for safety, pray for good weather, pray for patience, pray for mercy, pray for cooperation, pray for energy and health, and so much more. Pray that the Lord protect us from any harm physical or spiritual. The Devil doesn't want us to be where we are going to express God's love and share the Gospel. Pray that we will be firm in His Word that Christ might shine through us. Without him, we are nobody, but with HIM we become his hands and feet. Lord, please use us to express your love for the people of Lucomo! Give us your words to tell them what they need to hear! Lord send your Spirit on Lucomo and Lunahuana...I pray...grant us your peace...

Good Evening

Just so you all know in my last blog I wasn't trying to complain about being tired. I am very blessed to be apart of the work here and I have enjoyed coordinating the different events that are happening and those events that are going to happen. I'm pretty sure this is what I was called to do.

Today was a very good day as I was able to paint some of the rooms upstairs in our office. I look forward to finishing the painting this week!

Again, please pray that God will give me patience and allow me to show his mercy to those I come in contact with daily.

Good Morning

According to what I've been hearing from you all back in the States, it seems that spring has sprung. At least, it's not snowing anymore right?

I'm just sitting here drinking my cup of coffee and listening to all the parrots and parakeets that live in the tree outside our front door sing. I love waking up to them...I don't think Heidi likes them in the morning, but we definitely enjoy them throughout the day! I will have to post pictures some time. Our camera, even our nice one, doesn't seem to do the bird justice since they are up so high in the tree. I will need to look into getting a new lense soon for bird-watching pictures. Do any of you own those binoculars that take pictures? I think I saw it in Skymall. That would be an awesome thing to have.

Well, let me fill you all in on what's been going on here in Panama over the last few weeks. We decided to move our mission office to a larger locale the beginning of the month. We were using a smaller two bedroom apartment as our office until now. Since we are creating a more regional mission office/center, we have now moved to a larger 4 bedroom house that is two stories. It has been a very big move and a long process at that. Who knew that coordinating so many people to do the move, run electrical wiring, telephone lines, network cables, and doing basic updates would be so tiring? I can say that I am exhausted. And I still have another week or so of work to have the office in full operating order! Don't get me wrong I've enjoyed doing the work and I like being with the different people that come into our office on a daily basis to help us get set up. As I see little projects come to completion I get a sense of satisfaction, I sure hope that I have a BIG sense of satisfaction when the whole office is completely up and running. Still, when I get home at night, all I want to do is sleep.

Today I will be painting the whole upstairs of the office. We have four individual office spaces which were bedrooms before, that we will use for missionary offices. One is mine. We are painting everything white...I know boring. But the landlord only wants light pastel colors, and I don't like pastel colors....too girly. So I decided to paint white and then decorate with pictures and wall hangings.

On top of all of this, somehow I need to maintain my regular work--accounting, reports; keep up on my school work and readings, and plan for the next trip I'm going on to Peru on May 22-June 21. I really hope that I get this office done this week so that I can relax a few days and get my body and mind back on track!

Please pray for us as we finish up these important transitions. Also please ask the Lord to strengthen my mind, to give me patience and mercy so that I treat those that are working with me with respect.

Look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Blessings,

Jon

More often

Hi everyone! I know I haven't been very active on my blog, but I'm turning over a new leaf if you will. I plan to use my blog more often as a way to communicate to everyone back to the states! I am having a really hard time sending newsletters out on a regular basis, and I'm always in front of a computer. It's just taking the time to write a newsletter and format a template and all that jazz...it's hard! :-) I will still do newsletters, but writing a blog sure is a lot easier and I can post all the pictures I want without worrying about how much it will cost to print!

So you will see more frequent posts from me about how our work is going here, our spiritual lives, any hard times, good times, in the middle times that we are having. You will be plugged into our life, well at least mine for sure. I'm working on getting Heidi into blogging too. We will see how it goes!

We love you all! LIVE FOR HIM!

PS. If anyone has some tips on making your blog look cool please share!

Here and Now

So, I see a recurring message in my blogs..."wow, it's been a long time." LOl. I wonder if I will ever be a consistent blogger. It's funny because I always get so frustrated when no one else is blogging! Maybe if I would lead by example?

I'm having a hard time uploading pictures right now, otherwise I would share some funny ones. Go ahead and check out our Picasa site: picasaweb.google.com/jon.heisterkamp. We have been keeping that updated with all of our photos.

Just so you all know, things are going very well here in Panama. I have been traveling a lot lately; but now I don't have to travel for work until April 15. During the time between now and then Heidi and I will be heading to Costa Rica to visit my host family and meet my host brother's new baby boy. He should be born any day now. I will definitely post pictures of that trip.

When we get back from that trip, Emily, Chuck and Allison will be coming to Panama to visit! No one from my family has come to visit us yet in Panama so this is a momentous occassion! (disclaimer: my parents were going to come to Panama in January, but I made them go to Peru instead). It will be a lot of fun to have them here and they can see a glimpse of what life in Panama is like.

I also was approved to go on furlough this summer. So we should be back in the States in time for the White Family Reunion at Camp Okoboji; we will be in the States until the end of July. And if any of you have churches that are looking to support a missionary, we'd love it if you would pass our name along and maybe we could do a presentation during July.

Thanks for reading!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on here. I've wanted to post since I left Caracas in october, but I've just been so busy. And then we went home for Christmas to visit the famliy and I didn't even think of blogging.

So what's been going on since October? Well, I was in Peru doing some research with a team of 5 and planning out a mission trip that I will be leading starting this coming friday! My parents and their church are coming to Peru to help with some earthquake clean-up that is still left to do from the 7.6 richter scale quake that happened in August. Then I went to the Dominican Republic--on the way home from there I got sick. Must have been too much air time or something? I had a small cold, a sniffle before I left, but then my ears didn't pop when we were landing and I couldn't hear out of my left ear for almost a week. I was stuffed up, sneezy, runny nose, coughing and sore throat all through our time back in the states visiting our families, but now that we are back in Panama, I'm feeling a lot better.

I have to say that we are experiencing a little bit of culture shock this time around. Panama is very well developed country compared to most Latin American countries, but we've had a hard time adjusting to the way the medical system works here. The doctors may speak english but they don't show that they really care about you as a patient. I'll admit that we've only really had a few bad experiences with one or two doctors, so my ranting isn't fully credible. I just wanted to share that in our circumstances the two or three experiences we've had with doctors here in Panama have not been pleasant. Also, because our insurance is US based we have to pay everything upfront and then get reimbursed by filing a claim with our insurance company. I knew about this policy before we came to Panama, and I understand, but it's just another thing for me to worry about getting done. It sure would be nice if our company could get directly billed rather than me having to fill out a bunch of paper work!

Work is going well. I've been very busy with budgets and planning since we've been back home in Panama. In November I was budgeting for the next fiscal year which starts July 1, and we were planning for a pretty aggressive increase to the budget. But now I have to prepared for budget cuts during this fiscal year, because funding isn't coming in at the rate we need it to. So if you have an extra $1 send it in to LCMS World Mission!

Alright, I think this blog is long enough. I'll try to keep on top of things and write more soon! Remember...You're blessed to be a blessing!