Mission Support Prospective

Chris and Jessica Winters

Mission Organization:

Network of International Christian Schools – NICS http://www.nics.org/

International Christian School Caracas - http://icscaracas.com/index.php

School Profile:

ICS Caracas is an International Christian School. I am so impressed with the way the teachers and administration at this school is working to educate students, present the gospel of Christ, and disciple students by giving them opportunities to make connections between faith in Christ and their daily lives. The school is small with an enrollment of 87 students representing around 20 countries around the world. I was amazed that a school in Latin America would actually have a strong representation of Korean students. The close knit community and excellent student to teacher ratio are a great setting for discipleship and ministry. The school is held accountable by the standards of NICS and is actively supported by local churches in Caracas. In fact, a Korean Church in Caracas recently donated $40,000 to assist ICS in providing long-term visas and transportation assistance to ICS faculty. I would encourage you to watch this short video to get a better idea of what ICS is all about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avsITmxMq5A . The entire faculty in encouraged to be involved in local church attendance and ministry. The school director is currently serving as interim pastor and asking us to pray for the leadership of the one international (English) church in Caracas. We are prayerfully considering supporting that ministry while also becoming involved with a local Spanish church.

Calling:

Since this past summer I have felt God's calling to move into more administrative and leadership opportunities. I began developing a vision for taking a bigger role in helping students to connect their faith with what they are doing in their daily lives. I was also drawn over the course of my graduate studies to taking a bigger role in professional and spiritual development of teachers. When I was approached by administrators at Yongsan International School about pursuing junior administrative opportunities within the school I initially thought that may be God's direction. I soon found out that would just be the beginning of what God was doing in changing my heart.

I was called to overseas missions back in 2000 when I led a group of 20 college students from Eugene, OR to serve on a 3 week trip with Food for the Hungry. Jessica had already been called to missions in college but I did not feel that calling prior to this experience. We began looking for opportunities to serve and eventually began service with NICS in 2004. We were comforted that our service in Seoul did not include having to raise support.

As we were exploring God's direction with the leadership of NICS it wasn't long before they brought up opportunities to serve in Caracas. My initial response was that the position and location were not ideal. I had many fears about taking my family to any country in Latin America. In addition I had always liked the idea of receiving a salary that would support my family without the need of any additional support. After saying I was not interested I had absolutely no peace and ended up expressing a change of heart the next morning. As things developed this process repeated as circumstances changed and I was offered a new opportunity with the same school. Ultimately the director of the school asked me to come in and teach a small 2^nd grade class and begin service with part-time administrative responsibilities. In addition they offered Jessica a position in which she chose to teach pre-school in a class that will include our 3 year old daughter.

I made a commitment during college that serves as confirmation for me as we follow God's calling in our lives. The example of Christ in ministry and service which Henri Nouwen points out in the book In The Name of Jesus has always been influential to me. In our professional lives the world presents a vision of a spiraling ascension to bigger organizations that pay larger salaries, offer an increase in numerical influence, and allow us to drive nicer cars and live in nicer homes. The example of Christ is essentially the opposite. He gave up heaven for earth and humbly sacrificed throughout his life on earth. I don't want to ever make decisions by thinking I am entitled to anything. While needing to raise support is not comfortable, it is an opportunity to place our faith in God to provide for our family according to His riches. I am thankful that his provision and faithfulness is bigger than my fear and any challenge we will face. This is a thought that will undoubtedly be tested over the coming days, weeks, and years.

Financial needs to be addressed through SIBC, YISS Faculty, and individual contributors:

Salary Provided

Total annual household income of around $22,000 with Jessica and Chris working full-time and Aetna Medical benefit (This means that we have to pay 100% of rent and only receive an airfare benefit once every 2 years.)

Flights

Annual Expense $3,000 – 8,000 (depends on exchange rate, possible ics contribution, and visa)

Vehicle

The purchase should be only a first year expense ($5000). Nate found us a 2000 Honda accord for $5000.00. This is below blue book and far below the going price in Venezuela.

Family Needs $12,000 - $18,000 annually

Rent, summer travel, clothing for next year, medical expenses

Rent $800.00 monthly ($9,600 annually) Nate is negotiating on our behalf for a annex house that is within walking distance of the school. This has been awesome because the owner actually approached Nate. Nate was surprised to find housing in our school's neighborhood for a reasonable price. $800 a month is considerably less than what this place should rent for.

Car - $5000.00 plus maintenance & fees

Communication:

We are committed to ongoing ministry updates through a monthly newsletter and a blog http://venezuelanwinters.blogspot.com/ to stay connected and partner in ministry with our entire support team. Please choose to follow this blog in the side panel.