Year End Offering

 

We just finished a lovely time having all our kids here for the first time in a year. It was a great time together. Unfortunately, this will be the new norm for our family since Jacob is in Germany and Levi and Alanna in Kansas City. It will be that way for at least 3 more years. I hope that you and your family enjoyed some time together this last week.

As we look back at 2025 we have seen God's faithfulness again and again. He has been with our family in all the changes and transitions, he has helped the girls grow in their schooling, the teenage boys adjust fairly well to life and school and new jobs and driving. He has been with our adult kids in their challenges and successes. God is faithful. "For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness." Psalm 33:4

We have seen God's faithful provision financially as well. However, our monthly support levels are still not at 100%. We are still short about $500 a month. We did have a bit of reserve built up to start the year but now those are dwindling and we need to rebuild them to be able to make it through 2026. 

God has been faithful in helping us build up the ministry of RNV USA as well. We have seen some progress in 2025 and we have a big vision moving forward for 2026 and beyond as well. You can read more about this here if you desire.

Another fun and exciting part of Ben's ministry is leading the missions efforts with Red Nueva Vida. Right now we are working with two Colombian families God is raising up to go as missionaries. There are some other exciting doors that God is opening as well. Ben has been working with developing processes, training and sending efforts for Red Nueva Vida.

Would you consider a year-end gift to help us continue serving the Lord in these various areas of ministry in 2026?

Any amount is helpful. You can donate here online or send a check made out to Red Nueva Vida to 7010 E Thompson Rd, Indpls, IN (Kunkel Support in memo).

Note from Levi our Son on an Upcoming Opportunity

Hey Friends,

I wanted to share about an upcoming trip that my wife, Alanna and I are going on. We will be going to Guatemala for a week to serve at a Guatemala Missionary Kids Camp, which they call "Camp Guamiski".

We currently reside in Kansas City. Alanna is a kindergarten teacher at a private school here in KC, I work full-time and study full time at Midwestern Seminary. Lord willing, I plan on graduating with my bachelors and go on to get a Masters of Divinity with hopes of moving cross-culturally to plant churches among the unreached.

Alanna and I have served at this camp a few years in the past and I attended this camp for several years as a missionary kid. This camp ministers to the missionary kids and their families. We come alongside them and have a week of gospel teaching and fun. During the span of five days, we do devotionals, prayer times, and preaching times. This helps the campers grow in their faith and have fellowship with their friends. We also do fun things like sports, games, team competitions, crafts, baking and much more!

The reason why this trip is so important and dear to my heart is the way I can relate to the kids that we minister to. As a missionary kid, you often feel like you don't fit in anywhere - in Guatemala you are an American among Guatemalans - in the US you don't feel like you relate to the American kids and their culture, you feel like and outsider. Missionary kids can relate to each other more than they can to anyone. This camp is very beneficial to these missionary kids, just as it was to me.

I would like to ask two things of you. First, would you come alongside us and our team and pray for our time in Guatemala? You can pray for fruitfulness and growth in the hearts of these missionary kids and in our hearts. Second, would you consider supporting us financially? We have our plane tickets covered but we need an additional $1,290 for things like food, lodging, ground transportation, and additional costs for the campers so that the families do not have to pay more. Any funds we get beyond this would help cover other team members.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Levi Kunkel

You can click here to give (click the drop down box and select the drop down "Guatemala 2025 - Pittman" Alanna's maiden name). Or if you don't need a tax deduction you can give to us directly on Venmo at @Alanna-Kunkel

Our Calling to Serve back in the USA

 

Calling to Serve through New Life Network in the United States:

It has been quite a year. We came back in December of last year for a year long home assignment, with the full intention of returning to Guatemala at the end of this year. But God is redirecting our steps. (In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9) We were invited by the president of our network to consider taking a role here in the USA of Country Coordinator. This is the same role I had in Guatemala. After much prayer, fasting and counsel, we decided that this was the direction that the Lord was leading us as a family. This was not an easy decision and still there are days in which we struggle with this, but we know that ultimately in this season the USA is where God wants us to serve.

Work in Guatemala:

What does this mean for the work in Guatemala? Last year, I completely transitioned out of Love Guatemala as director and that work has been going amazing under the leadership of Katy Lopez. They are going to have the largest graduating class ever this year and have a goal of 400 students next year. They finished up this year with just under 300 students. Ben is continuing to serve on the Board of Directors and giving ongoing coaching/suppport to Katy.

The work in the network has been led by Carlos Lopez in our absence and he has done a great job in leading and continuing the work and even improving it in our absence. He and the team have planted our first daughter church this year, and are preparing 3 more communities for church plants in the next couple of years. His leadership and development has helped in making the decision to stay here in the U.S. possible. Ben will continue to travel back and forth for a while to Guatemala as we take a year to transition Guatemala to the leadership of Carlos Lopez. Please pray for both Carlos and Katy and their teams and ministries!

Our New Role:

As mentioned above, Ben will continue to serve with New Life Network as a Country Coordinator. What does this mean? He will serve the existing 4 churches that we have in the USA through support and coaching. He will look for new church planters and opportunties to plant churches amongst the Latino Population. There are over 60 million Hispanics in the USA so the opportunities are enormous. The goal is to expand the work to 150 disciples in our discipleship route,  20 leaders/church planters trained, and 10 churches in the network in the USA over the next 3 years.

Ben will also serve as director of global missions for new life network. He will work to mobilize and train those within New Life Network Global. The goal is to mobilize and train 100 missionaries over the next 10 years. We hope to start at least 1 missionary training center in the next 3 years.

Family Transition:

As you can imagine this transition to live here in the USA is a challenging one, after living abroad for over 10 years. We still need to find permanent housing, vehicles, decide on education for kids etc. Please pray for these decisions and for our family as we process this big change.

Support Raising:

The role Ben has in the USA is still a role in which we will need to raise our own financial support. The cost of living in the USA is significanly higher so please pray and consider supporting our family if you can. We need to raise an additional $2500 per month for housing, insurance, vehicles, food and other ongoing monthly needs. You can set up a monthly gift here if you desire: www.rednuevavida.org/ourteam/ben or mail checks to this address: Red Nueva Vida Inc., 7010 East Thompson Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46239 (Attn: Ben Kunkel Support) 

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and support for our family! Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions: benjamin@rednuevavida.org