All posts by The Nemec Family

Our names are Stephen, Caryl, and Ryleigh Nemec. We are missionaries with Christian Missionary Technical Services (CMTS). CMTS is a support ministry located in Pennsylvania. CMTS was started in 1982 by Nancy and Andy Merrick. The ministry has three main focuses: 1)Technical Support, 2) Training and dicsipleship, 3) Incouraging others to get into missions. If you would like more info about CMTS, please visit cmtsministries.com. We started working for the ministry July of 2009. When Stephen was laid off from his job as a tool maker, because of the economic problems, we saw it as God's way of showing us it was time for something new. After quite a bit of searching, we were able to learn about CMTS and found it was a fantastic match for our skill sets. Some of Stephen's jobs have included: small machine shop projects, operating equipment, being equipment mechanic, maintaining and fixing heavy trucks, helping to clean the property, and lots of other little things. Currently his job is the intern shop manager for the auto shop. In all these jobs, Stephen is usually given a couple young guys to work with him as part of CMTS discipleship program. Caryl has acted as the directors secretary, incharge of producing and distrubuting the ministries quarterly newsletter. She has worked with some of the loaner vehicles. She also is a mom who homeschools thier daughter.In the near future Caryl will be focusing more on promotion, event planning (Open House, Christmas Parties) and public relations. CMTS owns property not only in PA but also in Mexico and Belize. We have frequently had the opportunity of traveling to Mexico for a couple weeks and Belize for two monthes. While in serving in those locations, we have helped to work on the ministries projects, work with local churches & ministries, bring supplies down with us to distribute to churches & ministries, and building relationships with locals. If anyone reading this has interest in going on one of these trips, please contact us or the ministry. CMTS is a faith based ministry. What that means is that on every level of the ministries existence, the ministry and staff is funded by churches, family, friends, and even at times total strangers. God prompts people to support the ministry through prayer, vehicle & item donations, and financial gifts. Please feel free to contact us for more info about us or the ministry.

September

At CMTS

September was a very good month at the ministry. Right now the bank and township are negotiating the terms for the line of credit needed for the building project to continue. We have planted grass on the areas completed by Dave as mentioned last month. At this point winter is coming too soon for footers to be poured this year, but if all the township stuff is done by spring, who knows? We need to keep reminding ourselves that God has all this under control. He

 

will move the bank and township to get this done when it’s appropriate.

The summer rush is over and the rush to get items and vehicles ready for Belize has begun. Already we have one tractor trailer with a shipping container backed up to the loading dock ready to be packed and checked over.

Nick VanWert is a staff member who took about a year off. He used that time to save money to get married and raise support to work at the ministry again full time. At the end of October he is getting married and will be back at the ministry soon after. We are all very excited for him and the new team on staff!

Some of the aforementioned people from last month are still in the process of checking into coming on staff. Please continue to pray for them and other people to come out to CMTS as staff or short-term volunteers.

About 98 missionaries as singles and families have used the loaner car program this year.

In Our Lives

Last month we traveled to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, for a week with Caryl’s family at the beach. We got to do a bunch of cool stuff, like clamming, fishing, hanging out at the beach and pool, and visiting Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers museum, an aquarium, and the lost colony site on Roanoke Island. It was a good time.

The adoption situation with Dean is continuing in a good direction.  Please pray for wisdom for everyone involved. Our sending church, Cornerstone Evangelical Free in Easton, PA, is starting a ministry to encourage believers to get into the foster and/or adoption scene. The Bible is very clear about the sick, poor, imprisoned, widows, and orphans. Now we don’t believe that God calls every family to adopt or foster. But we do believe that God calls all of us to be aware of the hurting people in our world; pray and help where you can. Kind of like we as a family have never gone into a prison to teach a Bible study. We thi

 

nk the people who do have a very important job given by God that needs constant prayer and support by the rest of us. Please pray for Cornerstone with this new ministry, and for us to figure out how to get involved.

 

If anyone else is interested in knowing more about foster/adoption and our story with Dean, contact us.

Thanksgiving is coming soon. We are in charge of our church’s Thanksgiving ministry again. Last year went fantastic with the help of a great team of helpers and volunteers. Please pray that through the hard work people in the community of Phillipsburg and Easton will see the love of Christ through all of us.

Please continue to pray for us in the area of promotion. Not only for CMTS as a whole but also for us as a family. We need to keep everyone informed in the Christian community about the great resources available for ministry. Everyone from the local pastor to the missionary in the bush.

Thanks for all the prayers and support,

The Nemecs

IMG_1039

August

AT CMTS
Andy’s trip to beliez last month want fantastic. There is a building at the CMTS property there that we are in the middle of erecting. On this trip a small group from the states met Andy there. The group and helped him pour the floor on the inside of the building and work on getting steel beams in place for the roof. The huge cement truck we sent down last year worked fantastic. To pour a floor like that would of taken a large group a week or more to mix by hand. With a group of 6-7 people Andy poured the floor in two days! Now that we learned to use it and worked out the bugs other churches and ministries will be able to use it for there projects. Andys trip to the border to investigate the changes in import rules went well also. We have started to talk and plan for the next Beliez trip this January. It looks like it may be a smaller trip this year. Please pray for wisdom as to what to send down and prayer for volunteers to drive down and work with us.
There is a number of people and families that are considering coming out on staff here at the mission. So please pray for wisdom for them and us. We need help and God seems to be sending it.
A man named Dave has been helping with the building project. He is a Retired Teacher from the suburbs of Philly. His family is very active in the heavy equipment and construction business. He owns a small John Deere Bull Dozer and brought it over to CMTS to work on the building site. He knows how to read the blueprints and is very good at operating machinery. Over the last two weeks he has completed a lot of the work. Please pray that God continues to send people like Dave here to help get this done.

GetAttachment-1.aspx

In Our Lives
Ryleigh is into her second week of school, its going great. She has a lot of work but is enjoying learning. This school expects a lot from the students and that is what Ryleigh needed. A challenge! She started this new school with her friend Amy who is new as well. So God provided them both a friend to enter the regular school atmosphere together. We just continue to pray for Gods provisions each month for her school.
Everyone else is doing great, nothing really new at the moment. Please continue to pray for Dean and his pending adoption. We will soon have a date for Orphans court. We will share that date and news as soon as we find out! Also for continuing wisdom with our house in NJ and weather we should sell it. On September 20th we are going to the Outer Banks with Caryls family for vacation. Please pray for safety traveling. Caryl has started up the women’s bible study at CMTS again. PLease pray for guidance and the continued unity and fellowship of the group. As a last request please pray that God gives us more opportunities to share the ministry with Churches in the area. Thank you for your prayers and Support,
The Nemec’s

July


At CMTS
The Annual CMTS open house went fantastic. This year was the largest attendance that we have seen in the 5 years we have been on staff. It’s hard to get a exact number, but based on our estimates there was over 700 people who attended. The weather was perfect, food was excellent, rides and games went well, and the music was lively. The car show was small but very well enjoyed by the car owners and event attendees. The winning car was a 1975 Chevy Camaro. In total about 20 cars and trucks showed up. We have full intentions of doing the car show every year from now on. We would like to thank all the friends and family who came out to enjoy the day and/or to help run the events. Without the help from everyone the open house would be very difficult to host.

This August Andy is going to Belize for a couple weeks with a small team to get some stuff done at the CMTS property there. Please pray for safe travel and that the team works well and accomplishes a lot. Some of the import rules for Belize have changed, so Andy will be spending time at the border finding out what we need to do from now on to get supplies and equipment i

 

nto the country.

The building project here in Bernville is still going well. Please pray that God will send help to get the earth work done ASAP so we can get the footers poured. There is a gentleman from Delaware named Lamare who is interested in coming on staff to help with the building project. Interestingly his company built the shop here at the ministry 30-plus years ago. He is retired now but has a very strong desire to serve God by helping CMTS get these buildings up.

Our Lives

The week we spent in the VBS program at Royersford Bible Fellowship Church was fantastic. We taught 4 classes all five days of the event. In a nutshell we spoke to the children about the importance of us all being missionaries where God puts us. We also showed how God uses all kinds of skills to support missions, like our very unique part at CMTS. We thank God for the opportunity to speak at the VBS program and pray for more opportunities like it.

Dean is doing great, healthy and happy. Please continue to pray for his mother and that if it’s God’s will for us to adopt him it will be a smooth process.

Ryleigh got to go to French Creek Bible Camp. It’s a great time for her to

 

get away and enjoy the woods with friends her age. The camp is about 45 minutes from our house outside Birdsboro, PA. This is the same camp that Caryl’s parents sent her to when she was a child. Please pray that Ryleigh has fun and is challenged in her faith while at French Creek. This next school year Ryleigh will be attending Kings Academy. Thank you for all your prayers and helpful suggestions. God has cut a very clear path for her to walk.

Stephen is doing some diesel conversions in the shop to send to Belize this January. The one he is in the middle of now is putting a small Isuzu 2.2 diesel into a 98 Isuzu Rodeo. When that’s done he has a Ford 15-passenger van that needs a 5.9 Cummins diesel put into it. With some parts and time both should be done by January. This next month is the final dentist appointment to take care of his tooth issues. Thank you to everyone who has helped out with this issue. Please pray that the last appointment will go smoothly and God will provide for the remaining balance.

Caryl was very busy last month setting up the open house and getting all the paperwork done for Ryleigh’s school as well as the yearly paperwork for being an adoptive/foster family. Caryl is looking forward to seeing how God will provide for Ryleigh to stay in school. It’s always amazing to see God at work.

We also would like to ask for prayer for a friend Nate’ who recentl

 

y lost her husband Bob. He lost his battle to cancer last week. Bob left behind his wife Nate’ and her daughter Franki.

Thanks for all the prayers and support,

GetAttachment.aspx

The Nemecs

Who has your reins?

Why does learning have to be so painful sometimes? Well,  I realized alot about myslef this year and I’m ready to share that now, kinda. I realized I have such a rebelious spirit! Not something I wanted to face or share with anyone else! My revelation began last November.

I was told Belize was not an option for us for some reason. I didnt like that answer, I really enjoyed Belize and wanted to go back to start a womens Bible study. Another thing, the Foster to Adoption process was taking FOREVER! anything that could be delayed would be and it was so frustrating. I kept asking God to hurry things up because I do not like waiting. Not only that but Ryleigh was court ordered to spend 4 WEEKS in Seattle Washington with her birth father. I was pretty depressed and not really understanding what God was doing here. So I grabbed back those reins of my life from Him as I was frustrated and wanted to do things my way since His were not going the way I wanted them to. My daily life became so self focused and absorbed. I started picking on everything about myself. I couldnt stop Ryleigh from being forced to spend 4 weeks on the other side of the country with a stranger. I hated the fact that I didnt look like those super models on TV and I wasn’t this perfect homeschool mom with it all together. I even starting changing my woredrob. I picked on my art and my gifts, they were usless and unusable.I lied to myself saying my friends really dont like me and just put up with me. I spiralled into a totally self loathing place. I wasn’t good enough for anything or anyone!

Now, I did pull away from my daily devos but i was still doing them sparatically. Well one morning I was reading my devos and it was Exodus. I was thinking :”Man! those Isrealites  knew the truth but they continued to turn from God. How ridiculous after seeing so many miracles and being taken care of by the creator first hand!” Then it dawned on me , I was just like those Isrealites. I knew the truth and saw miracles and still did what I wanted and didnt trust God would take care of situations that were out of my control. How ignorant & hipocritical I was judging those Isrealites when I too had similar struggles. I didnt hear from God for a while reguarding Ryleigh being force to leave over the summer. I didnt build a golden calf but I took my eyes off of Jesus and focused them elsewhere. Isn’t that the same thing?

Sometimes we do not like what we see happening and try to take the reins back from God. Even though it’s not suppose to be a thing we can take and give back anytime we want, God will allow it. People like me feel the need to see things for our selves. I hate to say it but I am that fire toucher. God warns of danger and I dont like being told what I can and can’t do so I grab those reins back and head for the destruction. I know each day God molds me into what He wants me to be, and I pray each day for that. I know that if I take those reins I will end up on a destructive path and I will allow Satan to fill my head with lies. I tend to ride down the road of self loathing and pride. It’s not a pretty road to be down and dont forget you are never on that road by yourself, you drag others too!  I know I was driving my husband crazy for weeks but he prayed for me as well. He tried guiding me back to the right path too.

Giving those reins to God when you become a believer are never meant to be back in our hand EVER. So take advise from a former rebel, it’s not worth it. God will allow you to do what you want but it’s not worth it.  I pray that we will all be like this: “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.” – Psalm 112:7

 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.- Psalm 37:5-6

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah -Psalm 62:8 

Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you – Psalm 86:2

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; -Proverbs 3:5

Stagecoach

What Station are you tuned into?

Every Christian goes through times of “spiritual radio fuzz”.  Over the past couple months I have felt like that. Nothing really inspiring, nothing heart moving happening, no spiritual highs, no miraculous encounters have happened. And we are just dealing with a lot of negative conversations, discouraging news , time dragging projects, and discontent. I would talk to God and say “hey I need a hand, what is going on? I have become so negative and discouraged. Why are you allowing all these events and things to take place? When is it going to turn a corner? This missions stuff is so much more difficult than I thought it would be!”

 

I am going to change trails but I will tie them together at the end…don’t worry…J

 

Well recently Stephen and my Dad installed bunny ear antennas on our 1983 32” Tube Screen TV…Totally retro! Awesome lol. Well I watch the news, weather, and even  sometimes NCIS. Really like that show but also just found out its over lol. Anyway, one day I was so put off by the TV news that I just shut it off and went over to my good ole radio  and turned on Word FM, this is what I have used for my news, weather, sermons, programs, not so much the music lol, for the past 7yrs. While I was listening to “In the Market with Janise Parchells” it dawned on me that this news was so much different than what I was hearing on TV. The TV News was barley news, full of half truths and speculation, and from only one point of view, the worlds! I realized that a lot of my negative attitude come from what I let into my ears. It sounds so silly but it’s the truth. Listening to negative news, God denying fools, and political tools, was creeping into my attitude and I did not even notice.  I do know that when I have Word FM on my radio it was encouraging, real news, uplifting, and spiritually edifying. My over all attitude was much better and much more equipped to handle the crazy encounters and shenanigans we have to deal with as missionaries.

So I realized I had to make a choice,  I can either keep on wearing the Worldly TV antenna on my life or put on the Godly Radio antenna. The messages you receive will be from one or the other. Whoever you want to reflect your attitude after is who you intently listen to. We can do all things with Christ who gives us strength, IF we allow him to tunnel his strength into our hearts through our ears. Make sure your antenna (signal to most every other person in the world besides us lol) is giving you a clear signal from God and not the world.

powerplus-cheetah-radio

Gideon..

Lately at CMTS our staff has been thinning out a little. That is a normal part of CMTS; we take in guys from Hope Rescue Mission, in Reading and America’s Keswick, in south Jersey. Sometimes those guys are in and back out quickly so it is no surprise. They are the “project people” I wrote about in the last newsletter. What I am writing about are the stable staff members, the ” Professionals”, in the last newsletter.

Well, in the last couple months, we have lost or will lose three of are most valuable people. None of these situations are bad, one is moving on to the next chapter in his family’s story, one is retirering after close to 15 years in the ministry. The last guy is taking a leave of absence to raise money at a regular job in order to get married and raise support, to come back on staff. So with already small staff the hole left by these key players left me feeling very anxious about things getting done.

I was talking to Andy about my concerns and he reminded me about Gideon in judges Chapter 7. He was struggling with similar concerns and God reminded him of this story. Gideon had over 30,000 men, which was probably not enough to defeat the Midianite forces.  The Bible says the opposing forces were like the sand on the seashore. God didn’t want the Israeli army to brag so he wanted the army thinned out. After asking all the guys scared to fight to leave they only had 10,000 men left. God said still to big. So next came the test at the river where the men lapped like dogs or cupped their hands. Only 300 men cupped their hands and the rest where relieved from duty. Then when the odds were just downright impossible, God preformed His miracle.

Here at the mission the lesson is the same. God wants all the Glory for what happens around here. With a large staff it could be easy to say “look at what we did” So now with a tiny staff we are waiting n God to supply our staff needs. So please pray for a shop Manager, mechanics, and that Nick Van Wert will get the needed support to come back on staff in January.

 

 

nemec

 

 

 

Update May-Sep

Hello again! We are so sorry for not being very faithful to posting. Life has been crazy and we are still  learning to keep people updated in our lives. As a normal person we forget that as a missionary, you have people that actually care what you are doing. It seems so funny to me because this is just normal life for us.

Anyways, We did have CMTS’s  30th Year Anniversary Celebration Open House. I was such a sucess. We had about 500 people in attendence and the music and speakers were fantastic!  We hope all of you will come next year. It’s always the 3rd Saturday in July. Preparing for Open House was a huge time consumming event, so that took up most of June and July. We do want to thank all the groups that came out and helped to make that day possible. Real Life Church in Michigan, First Baptist Church in NJ, and Cornerstone E Free Church in PA. Thank you for all your time and hard work! We enjoyed serving with you.

August was a little more laid back. Ryleigh did go to two different camps. One was a week at a day camp and the second week was at an overnight camp. She had such a good time. We also started filling a container for a missionary in Ghanna. Those of you from First Baptist Church and Cornerstone E Free Church know the missionary Daniel Sappora. We are working with him to ship a 15 passanger van and supplies over to Ghanna. We also had our first opportunity to speak at our home church, CEFC! It was such a blessed time. We had a couple people interested in trips and volunteering.

Not much else I can think of that is worth writing about. The building project is doing about the same. The township is working with us a little more. We do need prayer in that area. We have all been blessed with good health. I would like to ask for prayer for parenting guidance. I am home schooling Ryleigh again this year. We belong to a homeschool group and all the kids are into the Hunger games or dark fantasy. Stephen and I are praying for guidance on how to deal with the situation. How much should we allow Ryleigh to be exposed to this or segregate. Please pray for wisdom. Thank you all for your prayers and aid. We would like to ask if you do read this blog please let us know. Sometimes I think we are writing for the sake of writing. It would be nice to know someone is actually reading this. Thank you and have a blessed week!

Joyfully,

Caryl

God of Order

Sometimes the world around us seems very crazy and disorganized. In regards to people and sin the world is disorganized, If you ignore people and sin and look only at nature, you can’t help but see order and structure. Everything from single cell organisms to the angle the earth rotates has God’s fingerprint on all of it.

In the Old testament, God set up Very specific orders on how he wanted Israel to build His tabernacle and all the sacred equipment within it. In the New testament Church government and rules are laid out very clearly. The message simple; God is thought out, organized, structured, etc, and He wants his followers to reflect his attributes.

Now I don’t believe that being behind in your dishes or lawn is sinful, but we do need to remember who the king of chaos, disunity, disorganization, etc is, Satan.

It is clear to see in churches, missions’ organization, and even families. Anytime things are a bit crazy or ill planned it gives the Devil an open door to create bigger problems. I saw this a lot in Belize. It had nothing to do with money. There some very poor ministries with good planning that are moving, and some very well off operations who run around in circles because no one knows what to do. God receives honor by us trying to be like him. God is a god of order.  So what testimony and example are we actually displaying to others with disorganization? I think we all have been to a church, big or small, where you leave confused, frustrated, or even angry. I remember hearing about a church that had a great children’s program but the leaders did not do well in the area of communication and parents got so fed up they stopped brining their children. With trying to figure out dates and times of events, when and where to pick up and drop off kids, whos week it was for snacks and no one to talk to if have question was extremely frustrating. God wants us to ATTRACT the world to Him, NOT APPAUL the world.

The problems in Belize were so big that Caryl and I even came up with a saying to help categorize it.

  • Vision without organization is Chaos
  • Organization without vision is boring
  • But Vision WITH organization is feasible

 

A great example of this concept in action is in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah spent a lot of time and resources planning the rebuild of the wall around Jerusalem. With no vision he would have never tried it, with no organization he would have never succeeded and God would have did it another way. But Nehemiah had vision and organization and God got the glory. We need to be like that. Visionaries with organization. If we are not then we must team up with those who have the skills we do not so that Glory is brought to God and not misrepresentations.

Back From Belize

I assume everyone knows that we have been in Belize for the past couple months. Well that trip was so amazing, our language does not have a word for it!

January 13th2012 our team of 20 left Bernville, PA. We had two tractor trailers with containers, an RV (we drove), a flatbed tractor trailer with farming eqip, two omni buses, and a school bus, all towing a car. We drove 24 hours a day. Stephen, Joseph, and I took turns driving the RV. We only stopped for gas or the occasional breakdown. In Tennessee we had the car, we were towing, catch on fire. Stephen, Joseph and some other guys put out the fire with water bottles before the fire trucks got there and shut down highway. It was a interesting sight. The police and firefighters told us to just get it off the highway. So we  nursed the car to the net exit and found a place for all of us to pull over. Well in the dim lit parking lot we looked at the damage. The car was obvious not able to make the full trip to Belize. While this news was hitting everyone’s mind, one of the guys realized we were sitting smack next to a church! God is so cool! They invited us in for their evening service, fed us, let us freshen up and let us keep the burnt car at their facility until we could come back for it! How awesome is that?! God knows exactly what we need when we need it!

We eventually made it to the Mexico boarder. It took us 9 hours to get through customs and into Mexico soil. By that time it was dark and we stayed in a hotel. The group leaders felt it was too dangerous to cross Mexico during the dark hours of the day.

So we traveled by day and slept in parking lots or hotels at night. I personally was terrified going through Mexico. We were always being stopped by military, which would board our vehicles with MK 47’s and other big guns. I prayed so much on the ride down. When we were passing through Vera Cruz, one of the worst places in all of Mexico, I prayed and after my prayer I looked up into the sky and saw a cloud shaped like a dove. Now I know clouds are always shifting and blowing by. This cloud kept its shape the rest of the day. I knew it was God giving me comfort. I knew He was with us and protecting us. The rest of the trip I enjoyed the beauty of southern Mexico and the culture. You really don’t know if you trust until you are in the midst of it. I trusted with Gods help.

We made it Belize in a total of 10 days. It took us 13 hours to get across the boarded because of corruption. Only the buses, and the RV got through. The two container trucks were not allowed in for another two weeks and thousands of dollars later.

The first couple weeks there were a struggle. Getting use to hot hot weather and living in a jungle without electricity, and sometimes water. We used the RV bathroom in the other RV. There were bugs, mutant mosquitoes, and large carnivores outside at night so we learned to stay inside after dark. But the people and culture are absolutely beautiful. We were outside of Beuna Vista Village, a Spanish speaking village.  But Belize is a mixture of Spanish, African, and Europeans. The three major languages are Creole English, Spanish, and Garafani. The cultures all get along beautifully. So friendly and welcoming, yet so poor and lost.

Stephen was used by God as the site mechanic, fix it guy, taxi driver, voice of reason, and much more. He made strong relationships with some of our neighbors.

Ryleigh and I were the only females on the trip. I cooked 3 meals a day for the VERY hungry group. Lol. I also was the person to go to town and buy items for the kitchen or worksite. I schooled Ryleigh and also taught art classes in the villages.  I made good friends with the ladies in the village. I was invited many times into their homes, which was a neat experience learning to cook like them. Ryleigh traveled with another ministry who had a mobile library. She loved giving away books and reading to children. She helped Stephen and me, and also made friends with all the kids she met. There were always kids showing up to play with Ryleigh.

There are so many details that I can’t fit in the newsletter. It was an amazing trip. We saw and felt God work in so many ways. I personally learned so much. Things that I thought I had a handle on God  brought to my attention that I didn’t. We hope to share with you all soon the adventures of Belize.