"Why are you here?"

During our friend and supporter tour this past August, the Lord gave me this message to share with my church a couple weeks ago.  If you have 15 minutes you can see a video of the sermon at:  http://vimeo.com/channels/hncsermons#32115741

Here are the photos to go with the message:

8x13x23x4498=August 2011

August 2011 was the first month of our Home Leave from EMI.  We took this opportunity to visit friends and supporters all over the western United States.  We saw eight States, we slept in 13 beds over 23 days and traveled 4,498 miles.  What an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Our deepest thanks to all who hosted us during our trip.  You are such a blessing to us.

Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Our route, August 2 through 25, 2011.  We really don't have anything against Nevada.

Visiting Cindy's Dad and her brother's family in Central Oregon.

(I borrowed this photo from the internet since the sign went by before we got our camera out)

We stopped at local parks along the way for lunch.  Thanks for your help Garmin GPS!

Our excuse for this trip was EMI's World Staff Conference at YMCA in Estes Park, Colorado.  Isn't our Latin team a handsome bunch?

Some days required nine hours of travel.  Our kids did great "living" in the car.

We saw beautiful sights and went places we'd never been before...

...like Four Corners, the intersection of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico...

...and for all of us except Cindy, it was our first visit to the Grand Canyon.

We even drove a short bit on Route 66!

Thank you for hosting us Claud and Michele.

Thanks for hosting our presentation Uncle James and Aunt Joyce!

Thanks for hosting us Mike and Cathy!

A generous supporter made our kids dream of a trip to Disneyland possible.  Thank you!

I love Tanner's expression!

It was great to go to the beach with Uncle Jason, Aunt Becky and Cousin Ian.

Thanks for hosting us Dorman Family!

Thanks for hosting us Sarah and Tony!

Beautiful Mt. Shasta.

Thanks for hosting us Jim and Jeanne!  Thanks for entertaining our kids Jonathan!

Thank you all for your prayers that kept us safe and gave us such a fantastic trip!

Tim

Homeschooling Adventures

So we took the plunge and enrolled the kids in a private school where they have 1-1 tutoring and tailored teaching.  The teacher loves them very much and seems to be having a lot of fun teaching them.  There is no commute, no uniforms to iron or lunches to pack, and their evenings and weekends are free as they are able to finish all of their school work during the day.  The cost is next to nothing and the results have been amazing!  The kids are learning a ton and growing in character.  Where did we find such a school?  Why, we opened one ourselves, right in our own home!  You may know the popular name of such a school: "Home School".  Makes sense since it is school at home!

What do we teach?  Well, Bible, manners, and Christ-like character are at the top.  Our academic subjects include math (Saxon Math), grammar (Shurley English), spelling and penmanship (Spell to Write and Read).  For writing we do copywork, letter writing, narration, and dictation. They also write sentences for spelling and penmanship and Laura is doing expository writng in grammar.   We are doing various unit studies for history and science. We do a bunch of other things in smaller amounts, but I'll write about that at another time.

I've been taking pictures along the way, but haven't had or taken the time to post them.  I hope for this to be one of many entries on our homeschooling adventure so that is why it has a #1 after the title. 

Bird watching on our rainforest field trip.

Tanner, crowned king of the "Sentence Kingdom".

Hard at work!

Playing Indian campout.  Will be much more fun once we have our teepee made!

Studying with their Spanish tutor.

Working on their model volcano. 

Nature study on our rainforest field trip.

Fun to study outside...

Or on a bed!

Intermissions Conference 2011 - Panajachel, Guatemala

Cindy and I had the privilege of representing EMI at the 2011 Intermissions Conference in Panajachel, Guatemala.  It was a fantastic time of gathering with other missionaries from Guatemala, praising the Lord together and learning how to be effective in missions.  We were so blessed to enjoy a beautiful site for the conference, a hotel on the shores of Lake Atitlan.

Both of us at the last day of the conference

The view of Lake Atitlan from the Conference.

The EMI table at the Conference.

On the trip back to the airport, I was able to show Cindy EMI's project for Colegio Cristiano that I worked on one year ago.  The had their dedication in January and are now holding classes.  It was a pleasure to be able to show Cindy the work she supports by taking care of the home while I am gone on a project.

Both of us at the Colegio Cristiano building in El Tizate, Guatemala.

May the Lord bless you with a joy in serving Him.

Tim

La Cienega, Puerto Morelos, Mexico - EMI Project trip #6

Thanks to the Lord, a team of 12 and I were able to join Amor Ministries in Puerto Morelos, Mexico in the Yucatan Peninsula as they seek to follow the vision the Lord has given them to build a University.  They envision a University offering Spanish classes to missionaries planning to serve in Latina America.  They will also offer English classes to the locals to allow them to work in the Tourist Industry.  The Spanish school will generate revenue to offset the costs of providing a seminary to Mexican Pastors.  According to Amor, there are less than 80 PhD's in Bible Missiology in Latina America and the majority of them are over 60 years old.  Amor is called to train up the next generation of Pastors through this University.

Here are some photos from the trip.  May the Lord bless the work of EMI's volunteers and may He bless the mission to which He has called Amor Ministries.

May the Lord bless you richly as you support the work of Amor through your support for me and my family!  I love my job!

Scott Coughlin shared the vision that the Lord has given him and his wife Gayla for this project.

The Amor Ministries team that came to Mexico to help us design the project.

The hood of a rental car as a layout table.  We reviewed the site drawing just before walking the site.

A cenote typical of the project site and typical of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Walking the project site.

We visited a local church of the people who could benefit from the project we are designing.

Scott Coughlin shared a message of encouragement with the people.

The church welcomed us to their Valentine's Day celebration.

These kids could be students at the project.

We visited Rafael's office, a local architect.

Rafael helped us with questions about the project.

We visited a local hardware store where we were asked not to take anymore pictures.

Then we worked in the daytime.

And we worked in the night time.

Insect repellent was vital on this trip.

Sometimes we found opportunities to sleep.

While we were there a passing 18-wheeler ran into the telephone/internet cable.  The team nearly came apart before we restored internet.

Local sights of Mexico.

Local sights of Mexico.

On Friday we made our final presentation to the ministry.

And on Friday night we relaxed at Playa del Carmen.

The interns hung out with Pancho Via.

And we loved the Caribbean beach.