By Mary Owen
Dennis and Jean Kilishek can’t get enough of retired life.
“It’s a joy to get up each morning to spend watching what new mercies the Lord will provide,” the Grants Pass couple agrees.
“We’re snowbirds, and we got tired of sitting around in RV parks wondering what to do next,” said Charles Estey, who travels year-long with his wife, Naomi, maintaining a mailing address in Colton, Ore.
Bob and Robin Genung, leave their Nevada City, Calif. home for several months each year to visit various places in North America as do David and Vaal Eckenroth from Yucca Valley, Calif.; and Mike and Karen Greenslate from Ventura, Calif.
So what do these couples have in common?
All are retired, financially independent, avid RVers and Christians looking to help others via a unique non-denominational ministry: Mobile Missionary Assistance Program.
MMAP, based in Calimesa, Calif., offers them an opportunity to share their skills and talents, combining travel and great fellowship with the biblical call to serve, they agree.
“Our motto is ‘To Travel with the Son,’” said Charles Estey, coordinator for this particular team of MMAPers. “We work on construction projects at Christian churches, camps, rescue missions, orphanages and other places. Ladies don’t have to work, but they can help if they want to.”
On the team’s receiving end is the Christian Renewal Center, an interdenominational retreat center near Silver Falls State Park. During their stay, the MMAPers worked to erect a split-rail fence around the camp’s pond, strip and repaint a picket fence, dismantle an old trailer on the premises and even make new curtains for four of the cabins.
From morning devotions until just before dinner, the team works seven hours a day, four days a week for three weeks to finish their projects. Each MMAPer pays $20 in dues and commits to four projects a year.
“They serve with such a heart for the Lord,” said Tim Hansen, CRC’s executive director. “They’re making their retirement count!”
Hansen very much appreciates the hard work the MMAPers give to CRC.
“We are truly blessed by them,” he said. “And they’re blessed by serving us.”
The Esteys began their journey in 2004 when a fellow snowbird, a term for retirees who typically spend a large portion of winter in warmer locales, turned them on to MMAP.
“Our first job was in March in San Bernardino,” said Charles, a former jet aircraft technician. “To date, we’ve completed 34 projects.”
The Esteys love smaller projects, such as those carried out at CRC, and interacting with other Christians. Full-time, they serve on eight projects a year, traveling from place to place in their recreational vehicle.
To get their feet wet, the Genungs bought a fifth-wheel in 2003 and buddied with a MMAPer on a project at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. They were hooked and joined the organization a year later.
“The challenges of all the various projects keep us young,” said Bob, a former tool-and-die maker who, with his wife, has completed 23 projects. On one project, he said his team was made up of “a dental surgeon, telephone repairman, rocket scientist and me – a building inspector.”
MMAPers, he said, work hard to “meet the needs of all the facilities we serve.”
The Kilisheks met a MMAP couple while traveling more than a decade ago with the Air Stream Club.
“We were hosting at a state park in Montana,” Dennis said. “A man walked up to us, gave us a MMAP brochure and said, ‘Do this instead.’”
They took his advice and have since completed more than 60 projects, including their favorite: helping an African-American congregation in Louisiana to rebuild their burned-down church.
“They didn’t think white folks would help,” Jean said. “It really broke down racial barriers.”
The Eckenroths joined in 1990 and love feeling fulfilled by MMAP work.
“It strengthens my own faith,” said David, a retired haberdasher, of the service they give each year.
“The added benefit is we get tor travel to places we may never have visited.”
“We’d rather be working with fellow Christians here than a week in the secular world.”
The Greenslates are the newest MMAPers, having joined only a year ago. CRC is their fourth project.
The couple loves working with other Christians and plans to continue with MMAP next year. When work is done, MMAPers enjoy game nights, potlucks, visits to nearby sites and the camaraderie of other Christians. They also get a few tax breaks on their federal and state returns, but as Charles Estey pointed out, “Not as many as we used to.”
“Financially, it’s a lose-lose proposition,” Dennis Kilishek said.
“But our rewards are out of this world!” Mike Greenslate added.
For information on MMAP, visit www.mmap.org.
