Caleb & Esther’s New Chapter Ahead

 

Caleb & Esther are both closely related to EAST. Caleb has served in EAST for the past nine years and Esther is an alumna who first entered EAST while still battling cancer and graduated with a Master of Divinity while her cancer went into remission. They were both singles then but now, they are married with two kids and in May, their young family will be moving to a Creative Access Country to serve for at least five years, Lord willing.

Below is a short interview with them to understand how the Lord has led them and for them to share their prayer needs. Please uphold their family in your prayers as they make the transition into the mission field. If you would like to partner them financially, do email us at admin@east.edu.sg to connect.

Here is their story…

1. What made both of you (Caleb & Esther*) together with your two young children ) decide to want to serve God in a Creative Access Country over the next five years? (*Names changed for security reasons)

When we were preparing for marriage, we had a number of exploratory conversations and times of prayer about being willing to be sent as cross cultural workers into hard places where there are far fewer followers of Christ.

We have been walking alongside with friends from the near faith for a number of years now. We felt the desire to now move out to West Asia where there are very few workers and churches and to do so when our children are still young and can adjust more easily.

As travelling long-term with young children is a new thing for us, it has been helpful for us to meet other like-minded families with cross-cultural interests during recent short trips abroad. From our observation, a number of families have made it part of their plans to travel yearly to certain places where there are humanitarian needs. Going to such needy places and experience how to be the hands and feet of Christ in helping others. We thus concluded that going abroad as a family for cross-cultural work was also possible for us.

2. What will you be doing when you are in the mission field?

We will be learning the local language in the first two years, and may gradually be involved with skills workshops and refugee care. We also have a keen interest to meet with Chinese brethren to provide any form of training that may benefit them. Such fellow labourers originating from their own creative access home country are often under-resourced.

3. How long has it taken both of you to prepare yourselves for this step of stepping out and what did the preparation involve?

We had about 1.5 years of discussion and prayer to reach this decision. Along the way, we had a month-long vision trip last May/June that helped us discern God’s leading towards cross-cultural work in this season of our lives. We also went through nine months of missions mentoring and a course in security.

4. How may we be praying for you and your family?

Please pray that God will give the volatile region of West Asia His shalom and light at this time.

Pray too that we will be mentally and spiritually well-prepared to settle there at this time and for our family to transition well to the new environment.

Thank you for your prayers which will make a life-changing impact where we will be serving.