August Update - We're ready for you, Honduras!

It's a little bittersweet to say this, but here goes… 

Hasta Luego amigos y familiares!  

In other words, it's time to say "See You Later" to our friends and family here in the U.S.

God has answered our every prayer – in His perfect timing, including securing a wonderful new home for our dog! – and we are officially scheduled to fly to Honduras on Tuesday, Aug. 9 to start our 4-year commitment with World Gospel Outreach. 🙌 

Once we are in Honduras, we’ll start language school, begin home-schooling the boys, and spend time immersing ourselves in the culture to prepare for the start of our service at Rancho Ebenezer children’s ministry. We won’t officially be at the Ranch full-time until early 2023, but we will be able to help with planning Serve Team dates for late Fall and beyond - please let us know if you are interested in coming down! 

We will not have cell service, but will be accessible via email, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp … Please keep in touch!  

Our emails are: 

Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org 

Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

If you would like to support our ministry financially, please visit wgoreach.org/nelson to make a secure online contribution. Or contributions can be mailed to World Gospel Outreach, Preference Nelson Family, PMB 250, 6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

We thank God for all our family and friends who have prayed for us or partnered with us in some way to help us get to this point! We are looking forward to having stories to share with you soon of how God is working in and through us to increase our faith and showcase His greatness!  

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We were amazingly blessed with the opportunity to spend much of July traveling and seeing our friends and family in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Here are some of the pictures and special moments from our "See Ya Later" travels... 

Seeing dear friends Meaghan and Stephan, new baby Griffin, and pal Emmett in Port Orange, FL:

Visiting Grandmomma Jane (Kris's Aunt Jane) in Daytona/Ormond Beach:

Enjoying a day on the St. Johns River with friends Robert and Angela in Palatka, FL:

 

Visiting Aunt Cindy, Uncle Earl and cousin Dylan and family in Sumter, SC. Cousins make the best friends! 

 

Hanging out with cousin Amy and family, Aunt Lynn, and cousin Kimberly and family in Winder, GA. Even more cousins to make memories with! 

 

Visiting the Georgia Aquarium with Kris's Aunt Pat and Uncle Don: 

Lunch and visit with cousins Eddie and Martha in Fayetteville, GA: 

One of our farewell meals with local family - Steve's parents Maureen and Danny, and Aunt Kathryn: 

The final stretch!!

Hello friends! 

After a whirlwind couple of months of raising support and making preparations, we are overjoyed to report that we are now in the home stretch of our journey to starting our commitment at Rancho Ebenezer... Our flight to Honduras is officially booked for Tuesday, Aug. 9! 

The absolutely best part about the last few months has been seeing God go before us. We anticipated that He would do the heavy lifting, and He did not disappoint! We are thankful for everyone who has lifted us up in prayer and/or become a financial supporter of our ministry. Aug. 9 will mark the start of our 4-year-commitment. Thank you all for partnering with us and our amazing God as we seek to follow His leading in our lives.  

This weekend we will be speaking at First City Church, our church in Pensacola. The lead pastor Taran and his wife Jessie are good friends and played a big role in inspiring us to follow God's calling in our lives and become foster parents. Taran will be interviewing us during their 10 am service, which will also be available online at their YouTube page. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through us as we share our story. 

With just a few weeks left before we leave, we hope to take advantage of any and every opportunity to see our friends and family. From 7/17 to 7/27 we'll be traveling and seeing family and friends in East Florida, South Carolina and George. From 7/27 to 8/9 we'll be in the Pensacola/Pace area, and on 7/29 and 8/6-7 we will be in Panama City. We have two official "send-offs" scheduled - at our church in Pensacola (First City Church) on 7/31 and our church in Panama City (Lynn Haven United Methodist) on 8/7.

If you are in any of the areas where we'll be and would like to see us before we take off, please let us know and we'll see if we can make schedules work. Email me at kris.nelson@wgomission.org or Steve at steve.nelson@wgomission.org.

All glory to God... and a recent picture. 😃 God bless you all! 

July 2022 update - we are getting closer!

Hi friends! Well, summer is flying by... We are continuing to try to soak up as much family and friend time as possible since we know it will soon be a year or longer before we are back in the States again. In June we were finally able to take the family vacation we had originally planned for 2020. In addition to all of us, Kris’s sister (Hollye) and her husband (Joey), and Steve’s mom (Maureen), joined us. We all had a great time! Additionally, we were able to take some family pictures (aren’t we cute?), participate in Vacation Bible School, celebrate Bryeten’s 8th bday (pictured below with our awesome friend Shelby) and enjoy a couple more soccer and flag football games. We are thankful for all the fun memories we have been able to make this summer so far! At this time, we are anticipating a mission start date of around August 9 (our arrival in Honduras). This date is contingent on our support-raising status as we are required to raise/fund 100 percent of our own expenses. We are praising God and so thankful to report that we are very close to having exactly what is needed for our start-up and year 1 expenses. To say we have seen an outpouring of love and support is an understatement! We are grateful for our church families at Lynn Haven UMC (Panama City) and First City Church (Pensacola), our family, and numerous friends and friends of friends who have become partners in the ministry with us through financial blessings and prayers. As we make our final preparations, we have one major prayer request to ask of you. We have a dog, Nellie, that we cannot bring with us. We have been praying and searching for a new home for her. She's not great with other dogs (other females primarily), so it's not as simple as it might be otherwise. Please pray that we will soon find the right person/family who will love her and give her a great home for the remainder of her life. She's 8 so we know this is possibly forever. Having to leave her behind is probably the hardest thing about leaving! If you or someone you know would be interested in meeting her and opening your home to her, please reach out to us! If you have any questions or if you would like to know more about coming to serve with us (short-term or long-term) at Rancho Ebenezer or with another ministry of World Gospel Outreach, please contact us! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for your past and future love and support! With Love, Steve and Kris Nelson Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

Telling Our Story!

Our "mission in the making" story is full of God being present in both the small and large details. 

This Sunday we have the opportunity to tell that story to the entire congregation of Lynn Haven United Methodist Church, where Kris has worked since 2018. We are SOOO thankful for the support of Lynn Haven UMC. We joined as members in 2019 and maintain a close connection there even though we are now living in Pensacola again. To our amazement, they suggested doing a congregation offering with a goal of significantly funding our first year in Honduras. (That's God being involved in the large details!) 

If you'd like to watch online, the links to the livestream can be found at mylhumc.net/worship. The services are scheduled to be live at 8 and 9:30 am on Sunday, June 5 or you can watch anytime thereafter. :) 

These three kiddos are super excited that we'll be back in Lynn Haven this Sunday and all of next week - we'll be attending Vacation Bible School, Chance and Bryeten will go to soccer camp, and we'll be spending time with our daughter Yese and some dear friends (including Mac's BFF Tucker and his family). Also, Bryeten will celebrate his 8th birthday! 🎂

We are looking forward to a wonderful week! Please pray for us, especially the morning of June 5, as we ask God to speak through us, for His glory and honor. 

 

June 2022 Update!

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! It is officially summer break for the kiddos. Time is moving fast. Our days lately have been filled with soccer, flag football, soaking up as much time as possible with dear friends and family in Pensacola and around the U.S., and preparing for our move to Honduras. God has been working some miracles! We are scheduled to share our story on June 5 at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church for both services. We are also scheduled to share for about 10 minutes at Northridge Church on July 10. Please be in prayer for us on those days as we are asking God to speak through us. We will post links on our blog for the livestreams of these services if you would like to watch online. :)

 
We believe we are on track to be in Honduras in August. Thank you for all of the prayers, well wishes and financial blessings! We cannot wait to get back to Rancho Ebenezer to live with, learn from and serve the amazing kids who live there (pictured left). We know that God will do some amazing things there to grow our faith and expand His Kingdom. Please continue to pray for our children (Yese, Bryeten, Chance and Mac) and for God to continue preparing our hearts for His service in Honduras.

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (Luke 9:23-24 NLT)

This verse has been on our hearts. This is a daily task to lay down our own way and pick up a difficult but more rewarding way. We feel like we are giving up our life for His sake in the process of moving to Honduras. We are also praying that all of you reading this update will seek to give up your life daily for the sake of Jesus! It won’t look the same as our story, but ask God and He will tell you how you can lay down your life for Him.

If you have any questions about our needs or if you would like to know more about coming to Rancho Ebenezer to serve and see the ministry first-hand, please email us at Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org or Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for your past and future love and support!


With Love,
Steve and Kris Nelson




At Skelton Family Reunion in Winder, GA (Kris’s Mom’s side of family)


Kris visiting with dear friend Holly, long overdue weekend together!



Enjoying games and dinner with our friends Sam and Harriet, some of our “mission mentors.”


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Contributions can be sent to:
World Gospel Outreach,
Preference Nelson Family,
PMB 250,
6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1,
Hattiesburg, MS 39402


or online at
WGOREACH.ORG/NELSON


Please consider a monthly recurring gift to help spread out your impact!

We’re ready … are you?!

Recently we announced our upcoming 4-year commitment to serve as missionaries to Honduras with World Gospel Outreach. It is our prayer to start our commitment SOON, and therefore we are aiming for Aug. 1 as our official move date. Upon arriving in Honduras we will spend a few months in language school, and then we will move to our permanent ministry home at Rancho Ebenezer, which is just outside of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Our initial missionary positions will be Serve Team Manager and Ranch Host, meaning our primary role will be to facilitate teams of short-term missionaries to serve at the Ranch and in the nearby villages. In addition, everyone at the Ranch works with the children and we expect to be actively used by God to help meet their day-to-day physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

If you have known us for a long time, you might know that our mission story started in 2014. That was the year we got married, and it was also the year that God put on our hearts to become foster parents. We became a licensed foster family in 2015 and in the years following more than 20 children shared our home. During those years we adopted two children through foster care and welcomed two children by birth. When we started the journey to become foster parents we did not expect to be called to serve overseas, however, we can now look back and see that God has been preparing us all along for this new calling. Most importantly, God has surrounded us with a village of supportive encouragers. Some of you have been part of our lives for decades, and some of you are new to our circle of friends … but all of you have been an important part in building our faith and increasing our confidence. We are confident and willing to attempt bold things for God’s glory because of His power and greatness and because of people like you who are willing to stand beside us along the way!

With our acceptance to WGO, we are now in the support-raising stage. We are ready to GO and we’re now at the point where we humbly ask, Are you ready to help SEND us?

There are many ways you can send/support us and ultimately we know God is going to provide for all of our needs. The biggest way to support us is through your prayers. We especially request prayer for our children who will be joining us in Honduras (Bryeten, Chance and Mac) and for our daughter Yese who is staying in the States to continue college. Another way to support us is to share with your church, family or friends about WGO and/or host a gathering of friends to allow us the opportunity to share about the ministry. And lastly, financial support through a recurring monthly donation or any other financial gift would be an incredible blessing. Contributions can be made online at wgoreach.org/nelson or mailed to World Gospel Outreach, Preference Nelson Family, PMB 250, 6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1, Hattiesburg, MS 39402.

If you have any questions about our needs or if you would like to know more about coming to Rancho Ebenezer to serve and see the ministry first-hand, please email us at Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org or Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org.

From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for your past and future love and support!

With Love,
Steve and Kris

We said yes!

 A few weeks ago, Steve, Bryeten, Chance, Mac and I went to Honduras to visit Rancho Ebenezer, a children’s services community outside of the capital city, Tegucigalpa. It was an incredible trip and we were warmly welcomed by the existing team of World Gospel Outreach and the children who live at the Ranch. Below are some of the pictures from the week… As you can see, Honduras has no shortage of beautiful views in addition to the warm and friendly people!

This exploratory trip helped us see clearly that our family ministry is supposed to expand to Honduras. God has opened every door and window! 😃 Unbelievably, we can look back at our lives and see how every experience, opportunity and relationship has enabled us to develop gifts and talents that God intends to use for His work and glory there. We are excited about how we will be able to contribute to the ministry and also about the opportunities that life at the Ranch will offer us (there's a Christ-centered, bilingual K-6 school on the Ranch that our children will attend and have I mentioned the incredible weather and great hiking?!) I will write more soon about what we will be doing in ministry there, but hint, hint... we'll be inviting you to come! We are thrilled that our boys will be able to be active participants in the ministry, as well. 

So where are we in the process? Well, during our psychological assessment feedback session last week we were told that we are approved as candidates for ministry (they essentially told us that we're just crazy enough, but also sane enough for ministry, haha). This week we officially accepted WGO’s invitation to join the team for a minimum of four years serving at Rancho Ebenezer. There is still a final background check, but we expect to soon be starting our support-raising process. We are believing fully that God wants us in Honduras ASAP … so we trust that He is going to continue to amaze us completely and equip us with an incredible prayer and support team to stand behind us. More on this soon. 💛

Our souls are alive with hope and trust in God and eager anticipation for beginning our ministry in Honduras very soon. 

Thank you for reading this update! If you want to connect with us for more details, please email us at ktsn.gal@gmail.com.

With love,
Kris, Steve and the boys

Hiking around the Ranch :)

Making new friends at lunchtime!

Some of the family-style houses at Rancho Ebenezer

View while traveling up the mountain to the Ranch

The wonderful Glenda who cared for the boys while Steve and I had interviews and meetings.

Beautiful Skarleth who was one of several teenage girls who pretty much adopted our family for the week. They were all so sweet to the kids. In the background is Rancho Ebenezer, the K-6 school on property. 

Another view from one of the higher points of the Ranch property. The big house in the center is Casa Grande which serves as lodging for short-term mission teams that come to do work at the Ranch and in nearby villages. No teams since COVID really (but we plan to be part of changing that!)

Deep in conversation with one of our table buds, Elmer. 

We enjoyed a game night with Ben and Leah, who have been serving at the Ranch for 5 years and have been immeasurably used by God to impact the lives of all the kids at the Ranch. They are incredible! 

Anytime is a good time for some fútbol! (There is an actual field, and a concrete pad used for playing as well)

This Farmer's Market went on forever! Fresh produce is available literally everywhere in the city and in the villages near the Ranch. 

Olman and Bryeten :) - the start of a wonderful friendship! 

We ended the week with a couple of tourist days in Tegucigalpa and were blessed to be able to meet the president of WGO and his wife and spend time with some of the missionaries who serve with the WGO evangelism/medical outreach programs in Tegucigalpa. Amazing programs and incredible people!