A Trust for Paraguay Missions
by Dan Leeman, J.D.
Ten years ago, Linda Caldwell read an article in her hometown newspaper about a two week STEM (Short-Term Evangelical Missions) trip to Paraguay taken by a teen-aged boy. Thinking he might be interested, she showed it to her husband, Bob, who remembers, “The Lord set it in my heart very strongly to find out more about Mission Betania del Paraguay.”
Partners on the Home Front
Mission Betania del Paraguay is under JUMIB, Bethany's GlobeServe Partner in Brazil. In October 1997, after many months of communication with Benides and Anie Bergamo, a missionary family that serves in Paraguay with JUMIB, Bob and a friend went to work with them for two months. During that trip, while fishing on the Paraguay River, Benides shared a dream he had experienced of a man coming to him and working with him to establish a ministry from a big boat. Out of that, the Paraguay River Ministry was born, and Bob and Linda have worked with the Bergamos ever since, supporting the mission and the river ministry as much as possible; while continuing their pastoral ministry in Nebraska..
Creative Ways to Give
To ensure that their support for the Paraguay field will continue for a long time, the Caldwells recently used Bethany’s estate design services to create a revocable trust of several hundred thousand dollars. Income from the trust first benefits Bob and Linda, then educational needs of their heirs, and then the Paraguay mission field. Also, 10 percent of all income from the trust is directed to Bethany International Ministries for Paraguay missions. Thus, the Caldwell trust helps the Great Commission now, and will later help to keep on funding the Lord’s work in Paraguay.
Bethany’s estate design service has worked with the Caldwells and their own attorney to set up the revocable trust, and it is a good example of how Bethany International works to help Bethany missionaries and their families achieve self-support needs through estate gifts and other donations.
President/CEO Dave Hicks says, “As Advancement does its work, helping our Bethany missionaries is a top priority. Friends of Bethany, like the Caldwells, are deciding how to use estate assets to fund the Great Commission.”
For information on how revocable trusts or other estate design services may help you fulfill your stewardship goals and help a specific Bethany missionary, see bethanygift.org or call toll-free 877-JESUS-4-1 (877-537-8741).
To Delight God's Heart and Extend His Kingdom
Alumni Stories
Ron & Jennifer: Serving in South America »