Gallants in Cambodia II

Preparing for the pastors’ meeting was quite a job, but the result, the unity and fellowship that was felt by our pastors was a special moment, and worth all of the work. Here you are seeing our District Superintendent Kimsan presiding over one of the meetings.


On the agenda was the election of a new District Board of Administration member. Here you are seeing our present students counting the ballots.


Here you are seeing Pastor Reksmey cast his ballot and it being accepted by Channa. Interestingly enough, Pastor Reksmey won this election and became a member of the DBA.


A special event that took place at this conference was the installation of our new WBI President, Pastor Vandy. In this picture, you are seeing Tim giving greetings to those who attended the ceremony.


As part of the installation ceremony, we lit candles that represented the Light of God and the ideals of the Bible School. Here you are seeing Teacher Rotha lighting one of the candles.


Teacher Adam Nash, GO-Net Missionary from the Dakota District, also participated in the ceremony by lighting a candle.


Here you are seeing the installation of Pastor Vandy, the ceremony being conducted by former WBI President Greg Fernandez with the aid of translation by Pastor Titus.


Several days following his installation as WBI President, we celebrated the engagement of Pastor Vandy with Teacher Tess, the missionary from the Philippines who served with him in Kratie.


We were honored to serve as the proxy parents of the groom, accepting the ceremonial plate of fruit from the bride.


Here you are seeing the entire wedding party posing for a picture (L-R Tiffany, Tim, Pastor Vandy, Tess, Resie and Greg Fernandez)


An official picture of the new couple.

Gallants in Cambodia I

Travelling to Cambodia was quite a bit different this time. Not only were we travelling with Baby Katie, but we were also trying to get all of her gear to Cambodia, and as we learned in the United States, when you travel with children, they need a lot of gear.


After arriving and setting up our house, we were invited to go to the birthday celebration of our District Superintendent’s youngest daughter. It was a great evening of fellowship. The picture above is of the birthday girl Chamreoun and the Gallant Trio.


An all-night prayer vigil was held at the WBI in the following week. Prayers were offered up for the WBI, the National Church, the missionaries and leaders, and for the country of Cambodia. Here you are seeing our students, who led the service, praying for Cambodia.


Tim was asked to preach at Good News Wesleyan, the Khmer church where we regularly attended when we lived in town. Here you are seeing Tiffany and Katie with several of the women from the church.


Pastor Greg and Resie moved from their house on the Bible School campus to a home that is closer to the school of their oldest daughter Aleeyah. Before sleeping in the house on the first night, we held a prayer service, praying for God’s protection and blessing for the house.

Gallant TEAM Tour- Update VI

Following our return from the Dakota District, we spent several days in Marion, IN where we visited with our friends and family. Here you are seeing Katie showing her new talent of pretending to drink water from a straw.


One of those father/daughter moments.

It was great to reconnect with our nieces and nephews after we had been on the road for two months. Here you are seeing Tiffany with her niece Gracie.

After arriving back in Ohio, we spent an evening with the entire family. It was great to talk to everyone and share pictures from our travels out west.

In preparing for pictures with her cousins, Katie tried on the dress that she would be wearing. She was quite pleased with the way that it flowed around her, and she was more than happy to pose for this picture.

Katie continues to be given her bath in the sink, a quick and handy way to get clean after a long day. She is most fascinated by the way that the water magically comes out of the faucet, and she loves to run her hands through the stream.

For her last checkup with her doctor, Katie decided to try out his medical equipment. "Can you hear me now?"

In our travels up to Michigan to visit a church, we had the opportunity to take Katie swimming for the first time in a big pool. Here you are seeing Mommy and Daughter, two bathing beauties, posing for a quick picture.

In our travels, it is always great to get back to Indianapolis to visit our adopted parents, Greg and Cathy. Here you are seeing our family portrait.

Katie is now sitting at the table with the rest of us, with the assistance of a chair and daddy's belt. She loves to be able to read her books, pound with her rattles, and of course, to eat right along with the rest of us.

It is always great when the kids help you with the laundry.

In our packing of our things before we head out to Cambodia, we found this plastic tub, which conveniently was Katie-sized, and she loved playing in it.

We took a trip to the Columbus Zoo with Tiffany's family. You might remember the day that we went because it was the only day in July that it rained a great amount. However, we were prepared for the day, and Katie had a good time holding the umbrella so that she and Mommy did not get too wet.

Here you are seeing Tiffany and her mother posing for a picture.

Gallant TEAM Tour- Update V

This is a picture of our car as we travelled to South Dakota. The picture does not truly do justice to the sheer amount of things that we needed for living out of our car for over two months. The most common question for strangers who saw our car, such as a drive through worker was... "are you moving?"


It is always humbling to see your name up on the church's sign, giving the reminder that the only reason that this young couple from Ohio even gets the opportunity to share with a church is because of God's Call and His blessing of the ministry.


During our time in Mitchell, SD, we had many speaking engagements at the church and the Christian school. Here you are seeing Tiffany as she shares with a class about the dress in Cambodia.



Tim got a thrill when he was given the chance to give a short message during the halftime of the youth groups flag football night. It was so much fun being in the pressbox. Watch out, John Madden.


For the close of the mission conference, the church constructed a Khmer village to give the people a taste of what it is like to live in Cambodia. Here you are seeing Tiffany explaining about the homes and family lives of the Khmer people.

With the help of a "clean shaven" member of the church, Tim explained the lives and cultural importance of Buddhist monks in Cambodia.

The children did a great job in participating in all of the village scenarios, including the section on games where they tried their hardest to crack the Cambodian "pinata". Each effort was cheered on by the nearly 250 church members who attended the event.

After our busy time in Mitchell, we tried to catch up on some emails and computer work. Here you are seeing our newest office worker showing Tim exactly how the job was supposed to be done.

Amazingly, Katie, in addition to her knowledge of computers, has a great grasp of Old Testament scripture, and she was more than happy to held Daddy with his studies.

After sharing with Watertown Wesleyan, we travelled across the state for a time of ministry in Prairie City, SD. It was very encouraging to us to have the church members come out on a Tuesday evening, during a very busy time in the planting season. Here you are seeing Tiffany talk about learning the Khmer culture.

In Prairie City, after a storm passed by, we were able to take this amazing photo of the rainbow. Never before have we seen both sides of the rainbow, a testimony to the perfect timing and the extremely flat prairie land.

After Prairie City, we travelled back to Aberdeen, SD, where we shared at a Thursday evening missions service. Here you are seeing Tim sharing with the congregation.

It is always great to share with people as they come to look at the materials on our display table, and it is especially great to talk to young people who are interested in foreign cultures and the ministry in Cambodia.

As part of the missions service, we cooked a traditional Cambodian dinner, ginger chicken. It was great to see how the people reacted to the very strong flavored cuisine.

During the time of sharing with the congregation, we were blessed to have a church member watch Katie as we shared.

After our time in Aberdeen, we travelled up to Bismarck, ND to meet with Pastor Ritchie. It was in Bismarck that we snapped this picture of Katie.

After our time in Bismarck, we travelled up to Williston, ND. In our travels, we drove through the badlands, where this picture was taken on a small turnoff in the middle of the state park.

After Williston, we drove to the small community of Johnson Corners, where we shared at a Sunday evening service and then again at the Christian school. Here you are seeing a picture of Tim sharing about the transportation, and especially the cyclos that you find in the city of Phnom Penh.

Here is a picture of our display table, a display that Tiffany so expertly set up so many times during our time of home ministries.

Here you are seeing Tiffany and Katie posing with Pastor's wife, Pricilla.

After Johnson Corners, we had a Monday evening service in Miles City, MT. In the picture you see Pastor Tom and the many people who came out for a dessert social and missions spotlight.

For our next speaking engagement, we traveled to Joliet, where we met with Pastor Sam and his wife Diane. On one evening, we gathered together around a campfire, where Sam and Diane demonstrated the amazing invention of the "redneck wieny roaster", which is a rake that has been converted into a cooking implement.

During our time in Joliet, Pastor and his wife took us on a trip through Yellowstone. It has always been our dream to be able to tour the park, and it truly lived up to its reputation. Here you are seeing us posing as a family with Yellowstone Falls behind us.

Here you are seeing a picture of Pastor Sam and Diane. On a personal note, there are many people who remark that it must be very difficult to always be travelling around, speaking to churches, especially with a young child. However, it is our experience that we are uniquely blessed by God because we get the opportunity to meet families like Sam and Diane, pastors all across the country, and be encouraged through their fellowship and their care. Pastor Sam and Diane took time out of their schedules to take us to Yellowstone, and that is just one of the many blessings that we have received on our travels.

After our time in Montana, we travelled Southwest to visit a friend of ours who lives in Riverton, WY. It was in Riverton that we took this picture of Katie who was showing her newfound enjoyment in rice cereal.

Katie in her carseat, where she has spent many hours of her short life.

A smile really lights up a room.

This is a picture of Tiffany and Bonnie, a friend of ours who lives in Sturgis, SD. We first met Bonnie and her husband, Pastor Dwight, when we were in the Dakota District in 2005, and we grew to be close friends.


Bonnie and Tiffany share a passion for cardmaking, a passion that Tiffany shared with Katie as they worked together to make many beautiful cards.

This picture taken by Bonnie, shows a proud Daddy/photographer taking many pictures of wife and daughter, pictures that of a normal activity made special by the enjoyment that new parents get in experiencing life with their child.

This picture shows Katie as she first experiences baby food, green beans to be precise, and the face that she gave Mommy really let us know what she thought of the flavor.

For our visit to Pastor Dwight and Bonnie's home, Bonnie brought out the baby carraige for Katie, giving her a place to play and relax as Tiffany and Bonnie worked to make cards together.

Tiffany and the ladies hard at work.

On a Saturday evening, we drove to Custer, SD, and we saw this buffalo grazing by the road, a sight that you don't normaly see as you travel to a church.

After the service in Custer, we had time to sit down and talk with the members of the church, sharing more about Cambodia, hearing about their lives in South Dakota, and sharing the joys of our young daughter.

Feeling trapped?

After many miles and days on the road, Katie was happy to have the car pointed towards home.

Gallant TEAM Tour- Update IV

At the end of March, after our many travels through New York, we were priveleged to be able to share with one of our supporting churches near Akron, OH. Here you are seeing Tiffany and Katie posing with Pastor Perry's daughter, Trinity.


During the potluck after the service, Tiffany was presented with a special gift by one of the ladies from the church. She gave Tiffany a necklace that had been hand formed from an antique spoon, a necklace that this lady said she wanted to give to Tiffany as a gift.


Here you are seeing Pastor Perry and his family. We were very blessed to spend a weekend with them, talking about their many adventures in parenting and ministry.

Following the break over Easter where we were able to just worship at our home church in Bluffton, OH, we travelled to Roanoke, Virginia, to speak to the brothers and sisters at Emmanuel Wesleyan. What is great about this opportunity was that this was the first time that we were able to share at this church, even though they have been on our support team for three years. They took us on as missionaries, right at the end of our TEAM building phase in 2006, allowing us to begin our ministry in Cambodia. Here you are seeing Tim posing with Pastor Joe, the missions and family ministry pastor.


Pastor Joe and the ladies at the church organized something very special for Tiffany and Katie. They wanted to celebrate Katie's birth with a baby shower, focusing on raising the money that will be needed in Cambodia to buy several needed items for Katie. It was such a blessing to be a part of this celebration and to have these special people really take us in as part of the church family.


Here you are seeing the guest of honor at the baby shower, sound asleep with Connie.


Katie and Connie grew quite close to each other during the several nights that we were in Roanoke, VA, and it was a blessing, as it always is, to have people love on and care for our daughter as adopted aunts, uncles and grandparents.


During our travels to Roanoke, we made a detour to visit Tiffany's brother Joe who serves at the Marine base in North Carolina. This was the first time that we had seen Joe since he left for NC in January, and it was great to see him and show how much Katie has grown since he last saw her.


Because we were down by the ocean, we spent an afternoon walking on a beach, enjoying the sunshine and the moments together. Here you are seeing brother and sister laughing and joking together as they walked with Katie.

The Sunday following our time in Roanoke, we travelled back to Indiana where we were scheduled to share at Hartford City Wesleyan. On Saturday evening, we met with the mission committee for a dinner and fellowship. Here you are seeing Tim talking with Roger at the fellowship. We grew quite close to Roger and his family during our time at Hartford City, telling stories, talking about our kids, and sharing a wonderful afternoon together.


Here you are seeing Tiffany at the dinner table with some of the people from the church. It was a great time to have an informal time of Questions and Answers, talking about our lives in Cambodia and God's ministry through the National Church and the WBI.


Here you are seeing Pastor Tom and his wife Kara with Katie. It is always great to be reunited with friends that we met during our initial fundraising travels, hearing about how God has blessed the ministry and their own lives.


This final picture is of the youth pastor and Katie, giving a High-5 to each other as we were getting ready to leave the church after speaking at their PM missions service. It was a great missions conference, and we appreciate having this church on our ministry TEAM.

Gallant TEAM Tour- Update III

This is a picture that was taken from the front of the church in Avon Wesleyan, showing the brothers and sisters who attend that church in New York.

At Avon Wesleyan Church, we were able to share during the three morning services. We love sharing in churches, not only because we get to tell about what God is doing in Cambodia, but because we get to talk one-on-one with our supporters and prayer warriors. Here you are seeing Tiffany talking to one of our prayer supporters after the service.


Katie also plays a big part in our times of sharing with the churches. Here you are seeing her with one of our supporters, Marcia, after the service. Marcia really loved being able to see Katie as she had been praying for her and Tiffany all throughout the pregnancy.


A special part of speaking to churches is staying with families from the congregation. Here you are seeing Duane and Darci and their daughters, Jill and Beth. We had a great time sharing with them, playing games, and spending time with this wonderful godly family.


The travelling gets to all of us, especially Katie. Here you are seeing her take a nap on Tim’s arm after a long day of being on the road.


We had the opportunity to visit one of our financial partners in East Aurora, NY, and we spent the afternoon with her and her granddaughter who is posing in this picture with Katie. It was great to see how the two babies reached for each other and looked at each other while we visited with Bonnie and heard about her family’s life since we last saw her in 2005.


Following our time in Avon, we travelled to Wallace Wesleyan to speak to the church and visit our friends Pastor Bill and Kathleen Spencer. Their church has really grown over the past years, and it was great to see how many people came out for a missions service and supper on a Friday night.


It was great to be able to introduce Katie to our friends and hear how God has been working in their lives and through their church. We were quite amazed that after three years of being on the field, it was like we just picked right back up from the last time that we saw each other. It was a blessed time for all of us.


The following night we were back in Buffalo at Big Tree Wesleyan which is in the suburb of Blasdell. We spoke at the Best Years Fellowship dinner that was also focused on missions. Here you are seeing Tiffany setting up the display table before the service.


Here you are seeing Tiffany and one of our prayer supporters talking to Katie as the dinner got underway.


One of the fun times of the night was the opportunity that we had to share a pot of Cambodian tea that we had made for the dinner. Some of the people really enjoyed this new kind of tea, but others did not really care for the exotic smells and flavors that came from the pot that Tiffany was sharing.


It is amazing to witness how God continues to move in the hearts of the people with whom we share. Here you are seeing a woman pledge to be a part of our prayer support team, praying for the ministry weekly. What a blessing it is to have so many people playing a part in the ministry through the powerful weapon of prayer.


After a late drive from Buffalo to Forestville, NY, we woke up early to speak at Forestville Wesleyan, otherwise known as “the little church on the hill...” It was a great day to be a part of the family of God as we not only had the chance to share with this wonderful church that has supported us faithfully over the past years, but we had the chance to see how they love Katie and want to spend time with her, as can be seen in the above picture.


Pastor Bruce, shown above, and his wife Pastor Patti, conspired with Tim to throw an impromptu birthday party for Tiffany. Tiffany’s birthday fell on the day that we were to share at the church, so we gathered together afterwards to share further about Cambodia and have a meal together, celebrating Tiffany’s birthday.


Along with Tiffany’s birthday, the church also presented us with gifts for Katie. Katie had a great time of being passed around from person to person, actually falling asleep with the lady pictured above, waking up to pose for this picture in the light shining through the window.


Pastor Bruce and Pastor Patti, along with their son, welcomed us into their house, their church, and into their lives. We stayed up late talking with them, woke up to a breakfast featuring Pastor Bruce making Carmel Macchiato Coffees for us, and prayed with them for our travels back to Ohio. We really appreciate this great family and all the ones that we have met in our travels.

Gallant TEAM Tour- Update II

At the end of February, we shared at a historic church for us; the first church where we ever shared as “official” Wesleyan Missionaries, New Life Wesleyan Church in Cleveland, OH. That church has stood behind us, supporting us and praying for us over the past years, and we feel lucky to have them on our TEAM of supporters. Here you are seeing Tiffany posing with Jim and Rosalea, two of our prayer warriors who told us that they pray for us each night during their evening devotions. That is a testimony that warms our hearts and gives power to the mission.


Here you are seeing Shelly posing with Little Katie. When we first came to New Life Wesleyan, we stayed with Shelly and her family. It was great to see her family again, remember how “green” we were when we first came to their church and relating the many lessons and ministry experiences that we had while we were in Cambodia.


Several weeks later, we were part of the mission conference at Athens Wesleyan Church in Pennsylvania. The first event of the conference was a family night, full of games, food and times for the congregation to meet the missionaries. Here you are seeing Tiffany, Heather ( a missionary to the Karis people) and one of the emcees for the evening talking after the program.


As said before, the night was filled with fun and games. Here you are seeing Tim and several other men working to eat stacks of Saltine crackers. As you might know, a mouthful of Saltine crackers can really clog up your mouth, and the winner was the person who could first whistle a tune after eating their stack of crackers. It was a difficult task, but Tim was able to come in close second.


During the conference, we were able to share 3 different times to different groups from the church, walking them through our experiences in Cambodia with language and culture learning, but also sharing the story of God’s great work at the Wesleyan Bible Institute and the National Church of Cambodia. Here you see Tim and Tiffany sharing with one of the groups.


The conference was also a great time to meet new friends, continuing to build our TEAM of supporters and prayer warriors, and sharing in the beautiful nature of the Body of Christ.


This picture was taken at the Saturday morning Ladies’ Brunch where Tiffany was asked to share about the culture and ministry in Cambodia. An expected trend has begun in our travels. People are very glad to see us, but we are only the sideshow when it comes to their desire to meet Little Katie. We feel privileged to have so many people praying for her, even from her conception, and the lady pictured here has been one of those prayer warriors and was so happy to be able to meet and hold Katie during the brunch.


Here you are seeing a picture of the three missionary ladies who shared at the brunch. Heather (Karis People), Tiffany, and Robin (Haiti).


Along the course of our travels throughout New York and Pennsylvania, we had the opportunity to meet with friends and supporters that we have not met with in several years. Here you are seeing Pastor Bill Jones and his family, friends of ours from Ohio who are now pastoring a church in Scranton, PA. It was so great to see their new ministry there and to be able to spend time with these old friends, hearing about how God is blessing their lives and their ministry.


Of course, because it is us, we have to include several pictures of Katie for all of you to enjoy. Katie, more than most other children her age, has been a traveler, always moving to a new place and meeting new people. During her travels, she is forced to spend a great amount of time in her car seat, so we have a little friend who hangs in front of her when we drive. Her little friend is a tiny stuffed tiger who makes a jingling sound when she smacks him, which is one of Katie’s favorite pastimes. Here you are seeing Katie performing her own rendition of the classic nursery rhyme, “einey meeny miney mo, catch a tiger by the… tail?” Well, it works for her anyway.


She is growing each and every day, becoming more aware of her surroundings, getting ready to roll over, and making each and every person she meets “ooh and ahh” over her. Here you are seeing Katie being weighed in when she was 11 weeks old, tipping the scale at 11 lbs. 3 oz.


She is a joy to each and every person that she meets, including our adopted parents in Fishers, IN Greg and Cathy. We had to come down for a meeting at GP, and we were able to spend an evening with these two, and they were able to spend time with Katie, whom they had not seen since she was just 3 weeks old.