Friday, May 22, 2009

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.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

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.