Caleb & Karly Holschen Newsletter (Winter 2024)

Greetings In The Name Of The Lord!

God is good! He has blessed me abundantly in the months since my last letter, and I am incredibly grateful to be able to share it all with you.

First of all, is the elephant in the room (or elephant in the letter?): This letter is not from Caleb Holschen, the bachelor, but rather from Mr. and Mrs. Caleb and Karly Holschen. On November 18th, 2023, Karly and I joined together in the holy union of marriage. God was so gracious in providing the perfect setting for our special day. For most of the prior week, there had been torrential downpours all across central Florida; we almost had to postpone our rehearsal the day before on account of the rain. But, when I arrived at the venue that morning to prepare for the 10:30 AM ceremony, the ground was dry, the sky was perfectly lit, and magic was in the air. There were a couple hitches in the preparation and execution of the ceremony, but with our friends and family helping out, it got all sorted so I did not even know about the issues until after the fact. I was playing pool with my groomsmen and having a good time while everyone was bringing Karly all the problems. She was able to work with our helpers and get it all sorted moments before the ceremony started. We were so blessed to have such a perfect day surrounded by friends and family and thank God that He shone His favor on us.

After the ceremony, we stayed the night at the hotel across the street from the venue and woke up bright and early at five o’clock in the morning to catch our bus to the Miami Airport. About an hour in, the bus broke down. The driver called for a replacement bus,
but the company sent a mechanic instead, who spent the better part of an hour and a half fixing the bus before we got underway again. This delay caused us to be very late to our check in at the airport. God was still watching out for us, though, and the security checkpoint ushered us to a special line to get through and make it to our flight to Cartagena, Colombia, on time. Having such a beautiful and exotic honeymoon location was another great blessing. Several months prior, we were gifted a voucher for a vacation agency that was able to cover almost the entire cost of our four day stay in South America. While in Cartagena, we were able to see the historic Spanish Inquisition city and experience the lively, tightly-packed streets and markets the city had to offer. In the evenings, we were able to sit out on our room’s balcony and watch the sunset together in the balmy Colombian air. It was a very relaxing time, and it would be difficult to overstate how much we appreciated the generous gift and how much God provided for us.

Upon our return on Thanksgiving day, we had a couple of weeks to settle into married life. I had saved my vacation days to use for this time so we would not have to return to work immediately. Those weeks flew by, though, and ended with a hasty two-day moving effort to clean out Karly’s old apartment and my old trailer home in order to move into a new one before leaving to spend Christmas in Houston with Karly’s family. Our time in Houston was very busy, but also rewarding. We spent time with various family members and Karly caught up with old friends. I am very fortunate to be able to name myself among their family now. It was over before we knew it, and we left mid-morning New Year’s Eve to make the 17 hour trip back home. We stopped at a gas station in northern Florida to watch the ball drop on Karly’s phone, then made it home at a modest three o’clock AM.

Since then, we have been unpacking and learning how to navigate our marriage through the mess of boxes. Teen Missions’ office opened on the 3rd, where we both hit the ground running with our various responsibilities. I am continuing my work in the Finance Department, as well as IT work and updating our phone system. Karly was placed into split departments: Legacy Lakes Retreat Center, and International Operations. She is helping in the kitchen along with helping keep the rooms clean for the various retreats and conferences that come through, and she is organizing and packing supplies to send to our bases around the world. On top of all of that, she is also helping organize and promote our annual Tough Gator Mud Run on May 4th. It is a busy few jobs that have kept her on her feet, but she is enjoying the challenge and working environment.

Here are some specific ways you can pray for us in this new year:

That we can grow in our relationships with each other and God

That God would open people’s hearts to support us financially. We are close to our final goal, but still a few hundred dollars a month away from full support.

That we would be able to serve God diligently and effectively wherever we are and in whatever we do

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for us and our ministry. None of what Karly and I are doing would be possible without it.

May God bless you richly in this new year of 2024!

-Caleb and Karly Holschen

Proverbs 31:10

2 Thessalonians 3:16