Missionary Spotlight | The DeWitt Family

Meet Scott and Jonna DeWitt, their daughter Madison, and their son Mason. Scott came on staff in 2006 as the Director of Spiritual Outreach after serving as a youth minister in Illinois for twelve years. In 2014, he moved his family to Del Rio, Texas to serve as the Acuña Field Director. INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT 1. Tell a little bit about yourself and where you're from. I grew up in Southern Indiana, and my wife is from Western Pennsylvania. We met at Johnson University in Knoxville, TN and were married in 1992. We served in youth ministry together before we were married and knew that God had called us to a life of ministry. We were privileged to work with one part-time ministry in Kentucky and two full-time ministries in Illinois prior to our work with Casas por Cristo. Those experiences and people will forever be a part of our lives. 2. What made you choose to serve at Casas por Cristo? We brought our youth group on several Casas trips. On one of these trips in 2005 our bus broke down. As a result, Jonna, Dave, one of our youth sponsors, and I stayed behind to get the bus fixed and to drive it home. At the time I had just joined the board and was getting more involved with Casas. I enjoyed the work and loved the people and mission of the ministry. We were able to spend a couple days with the Casas staff and later that summer were asked to consider coming to Casas as the Director of Spiritual Outreach. After speaking with mentors and praying lots, we knew this was an open door God had placed in our path, one we couldn't refuse no matter how hard it was to leave our church family in Illinois. We committed in September 2005 and through many gifts and prayers were able to move our family to El Paso the summer of 2006. 3. How have you seen God through your ministry at Casas por Cristo? God continually amazes us everyday. The blessings and strength he has given us to be able to continue with Casas are amazing. It is not to say the devil hasn't worked hard to stop it, but our God has carried us through it all and continues to open doors for us to walk through. The opportunities that our family has to build with people and for families is a true blessing to us. Seeing the love of God poured into a home and a family fills our hearts to overflowing. Who else can say that they get to see God come alive in the people they serve? 4. What has been your biggest challenge so far? Well, a challenge is something that is hard to overcome. We have to say challenges are there all the time. Being so far away from relatives, being away from the kids and Jonna, raising support, being weary and tired from weeks of consecutive builds, the weight of an entire department and now location on my shoulders are all challenges, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. These struggles have strengthened my love for God, family, and the ministry of serving others. 5. What are some things people can pray for on your behalf? We covet prayers for strength, courage, and boldness to serve in the times we are weary or overcome with tiredness. We would love prayers for our family structure as our children are getting older and things are changing with teenagers that are involved in so much. Most of all, pray for people to come and serve with us to reach those that have physical needs and burdens.

DONATE SUBSCRIBE TO SCOTT'S NEWSLETTER 915.778.0046 | questions@casasporcristo.org | casasporcristo.org

Missionary Spotlight | The Kirklins

Meet Justin and Julie Kirklin, their son Eli, and their daughter Emily. Justin has faithfully filled many roles at Casas por Cristo since he came on staff in 2009. He currently serves as the Field Director of our newest location, the Dominican Republic. INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN 1. Tell a little bit about yourself and where you're from. We are the Kirklins. We are from Michigan and have been privileged to serve with Casas por Cristo these last 8 years. Julie and I met in college and fell in love through missions trips with the college ministry that we attended. Julie used to lead half of the build process herself before the little ones arrived. Our son Eli loves to build like his daddy. Emily is already trying to speak Spanish. We love the Dominican Republic and all of the new friends and family we have made here. 2. What made you choose to serve at Casas por Cristo? Our desire to bring hope to families in need and to kindle a fire for missions in others drew us to Casas. After participating in several trips to serve with Casas, and after I completed two summer internships, the Lord opened an opportunity for us to serve full time. It has been a wonderful ministry to be a part of, and we feel so blessed that God has given us such a gift in life. 3. How have you seen God through your ministry at Casas por Cristo? First and most important, we have seen so many individuals and families come to faith in Jesus Christ through the opportunities our partnering pastors have had through building. More recently, we are part of a Dominican church that is in partnership with Casas and have been able to see the effect Casas has on a church participating in the program. Our church has doubled in size over the last year through the opportunities to share the love of God through the building of homes in our community. It's been amazing! 4. What has been your biggest challenge so far? Adjusting to a new country and culture has been the biggest challenge. We learned quickly that the comforts, ease of life, and amenities we had in the US were a privilege, not a right. Things don't come as easy or comfortable as they used to, and there was an adjustment period for us. We are still learning and adjusting, but we are enjoying our Dominican life! 5. What are some things people can pray for on your behalf? Pray for growth. There is a never ending amount of need here. The only thing standing in the way of meeting the need is the amount of groups we can get to come to meet those needs. Pray for more churches and groups to discover the opportunity to serve with Casas por Cristo and to find a home serving with us in the Dominican Republic.

DONATE SUBSCRIBE TO JUSTIN'S NEWSLETTER 915.778.0046 | questions@casasporcristo.org | casasporcristo.org

Dominican Republic Update

Dominican Republic Update GOD IS MOVING IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Casas por Cristo built its first home in the Dominican Republic in February of this year. Now, after building twenty homes, our pastors have seen tremendous growth in their churches in the amount of... 40 first time believers 78 new church members 1,000+ opportunities to share the Gospel with individuals While numbers are not of primary importance, they do represent individual lives that have been impacted by the love and grace of Jesus Christ through your partnership with us and our partnership with the local church. That is what we are all about.

DONATE REGISTER FOR A TRIP 800.819.8014 | questions@casasporcristo.org | casasporcristo.org

A New Mission

Guest post by Janette Roth:

Thoughts on changing roles from Casas por Cristo staff member to mother of two and her new role in ministry.

A little over a year ago, Jason and I became pregnant. I was excited thinking about taking our baby across the border into México and having him or her beside us as we led teams. I had hoped that Casas would let me continue to work there part time in the office, because I love working. I love being productive, seeing things get accomplished, and having something in my life that’s “mine." My work. My name attached to my title. I enjoyed being a partial bread-winner, and I liked feeling like I was contributing something to this home, financially. I didn’t necessarily love the actually process of building a home, but I LOVED building relationships with the teams and the families for whom we were building. That was the best part of all!

And then, at our 8-week appointment, a routine ultrasound surprised us when there was not one baby, but TWO! That changed everything. I knew immediately that I couldn’t work part-time with two babies who would require my attention and care. I couldn’t be on a worksite, helping with the build, with two babies strapped to me. That little ultrasound changed everything. At the time, Casas had to cut staff because of the decline in the number of houses we were building, and I reluctantly, with tears in my eyes, submitted my letter saying I would take a voluntary lay-off. I was just 13 weeks pregnant when I completed my last day in the office. I spent the majority of my pregnancy slightly bored with life as a homemaker. I still wanted my life to matter for God, for the Kingdom, and to be honest….for me.

The babies arrived late November, and the first two months were a whirlwind of exhaustion. I felt like I was in survival mode, and if I was able to take a shower and get 3 consecutive hours of sleep, then I felt accomplished for the day. But once the babies fell into a better routine, the reality of life as a mom really set in. I spent my time changing diapers….no longer changing lives across the border. I heard someone at church refer to me as “the twin’s mom”…and that’s when I realized I was losing my name and was becoming the adjective used to describe me. There were moments at home when the boys would smile, or cuddle with me, and all felt right with the world. But there were just as many moments when I would hear Jason speak of something happening at Casas, and my heart broke a little that I felt trapped in the walls of our home, caring for babies who we felt were still too young to take their first trip to México.

I’m sure there are moms who are reading this, silently chastising me for not just loving every single minute of being a mommy, but I would be lying if I said that every minute was glamorous and everything I had hoped it would be. Jason and I set out to make one baby. God decided to give us two, so although we were along for the ride, it’s not exactly what we envisioned when we said, “let’s try to have a baby.” Sometimes I get sad at everything I had to give up in order to care for these boys, while Jason gets to continue being “Jason” to people outside of this home. And the first time the staff got together for a “staff” photo, while I stayed to the side with the babies, I got tears in my eyes. It was like seeing part of a family that I wasn’t as close to anymore. I used to lead teams in México, and now I’m “Jason’s wife and the twin’s mom”…and someone whom I’m sure new people have a hard time imagining could once drywall a room as well as any guy and could stucco like a whiz.

BUT- in May, we finally felt our boys were old enough to venture to México. Their first “build” was on home 4,000. As we approached the worksite, our very white babies with the blue eyes drew the mother and grandmother of the family, and they stayed near those boys all day. They held them, played with them, and opened their old, pallet home to them for their naps. They looked for old toys for them to play with and used their blankets on the ground to protect them from the hot sand. While we hovered over those boys, we chatted. Without being distracted by the need to lead a team, I had uninterrupted time with the women in this family to talk about our children, our families, and later, Jesus. Being a mom is important in México, and with these two boys, I was in the “club." These women could now understand me better, and just having those boys present opened doors to conversations and relationships that had previously been difficult to crack. I feel like the ministry Jason and I can have is so much more enhanced now. And two babies? Well, people just seem to come out of the woodwork to see TWO babies! The attention they garner is just more of an opportunity for conversations to be had.

And on the flipside of that, my heart was melty as I saw my boys being passed from one family member to the next. My boys will be raised on a mission field with people who look different and speak differently than them. They will be raised with children from another culture. They will be raised seeing their daddy pouring himself into service and their mommy speaking another language as she interacts with the families. My children will not know a time when loving through actions and words is not a part of every day life. They will get to see the love of Christ played out in a very real way all the time. Service will be normal for them. I love that.

 

I think, ultimately, that being a mom is all about sacrifice. I can see now just how many things I’ve had to surrender in order to raise these babies that God has blessed us with. I don’t love that I’m slowly losing my “name” or that a majority of my day is spent changing diapers. I may miss being able to go to work or feeling like I’m contributing financially to my family. But in the overall scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. If these are the things I need to sacrifice in order to raise two young men who will chose to love Jesus and use their lives as living testaments to Him, then anything I’m giving up now will be worth it. I have two mission fields now. One in México and one in our little house on Nashville Ave.

But if you see me, feel free to refer to me as Janette.