Slideshow: Spring New England Trip, III

We are back in Spartanburg, SC, after 4,738 miles and 48 sequential days of traveling. We thank the Lord for the safety He gave us and the friends we made. Here's the third installment of pictures from this trip.

Celebrating our Heritage: Boston

Last Friday (May 16) Pastor John Beals of Immanuel Baptist Church took us and Brian and Johanna Hanson on a walking tour of Boston. We saw Park Street Church, John Cotton’s grave, the site of the former shoe shop (now a Staples store!) where Moody was converted, John Winthrop’s grave, Mary Chilton’s grave (passenger on the Mayflower), the graveyard where Increase Mather and Cotton Mather are buried (didn’t see the actual gravestones). We also saw sites associated with Paul Revere (house, the church where lanterns were hung and his grave), the tomb of John Hancock and the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”). Boston is chocked full of history, both national and religious. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour, though our feet were a bit weary by the end. And do you want to know what was Micaiah and Miriam’s favorite event of the day? The subway ride in and back out of town!

A Brief Immersion Into French

This past week we were privileged to spend three days with our friends Jean and Sherley Rousseau, missionary church-planters in St-Hyacinthe, Québec. It was our first time to visit Québec, and it was an odd sensation to be in a French-speaking culture on this side of the ocean. I was able to do door-to-door distribution one morning and to preach in French at the Wednesday night service of l’Église Baptiste Maranatha. Preaching in French was a special treat for me since I had not done it in more than two years. The Rousseaus were incredibly kind to us and even drove us to Québec City for an afternoon tour! Click here for more pictures of our visit.

Celebrating Our Heritage: Missionary Rock

On Monday, May 5th, we stopped in at Andover, Massachusetts to see the former site of Andover Seminary. We walked down Chapel Lane, and ¾ of the way around the circle at the end is a little path leading into the woods. We followed it for a few hundred feet and came upon “Missionary Rock,” a marker erected in 1910 to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the founding of the American Society for Foreign Mission.

The marker reads:

In the “Missionary Woods” once extending to this spot,
the first missionary students of Andover Seminary
walked and talked one hundred years ago. And on
this secluded knoll met to pray.
In memory of these men
ADONIRAM JUDSON SAMUEL NOTT SAMUEL J. MILLS
SAMUEL NEWELL GORDON HALL JAMES RICHARDS
LUTHER RICE
Whose consecrated purpose to carry the Gospel to
the heathen world led to the formation of the first
American Society for Foreign Missions.
In recognition of the two hundred and forty-eight
missionaries trained in Andover Seminary, and
in gratitude to Almighty God, this stone is set up
in the centennial year of the American Board.
1910

May/June Prayer Update

Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,

When I sat down to write our last prayer update, I was sitting in Massachusetts after having been as far south as Florida and as far north as Maine. Well, guess what? I’m back in Massachusetts, and since I last wrote, I’ve been back down to Florida and back up to within miles of the Maine border. I’m definitely not the guy who should write “Ten Ways to Achieve the Ideal Travel Schedule while on Deputation.” However, the fact is that when the rubber meets the road (which it has done for more than 10,000 miles in the last three months), one goes where churches are willing to seriously consider partnering with you in ministry. We have been well cared for by the churches we’ve visited and have genuinely enjoyed our travels. We have had one minor accident which reminded us how fragile life is and how good God has been to protect us from harm. We are also very grateful to Brian and Johanna Hanson (my sister and brother-in-law), whose home has become our northeastern headquarters.

The Ubiquitous Question

When we visit any church, the two most frequently asked questions are, “When do you hope to leave for France?” and “How much of your needed support have you been promised?” The answer to the first is inseparably tied to the answer to the second. As much as we would like to leave for France tomorrow, the inescapable reality is that we can’t do it alone, but only as part of a team. On a human level, a missionary has a hard sale to make: he has to convince the people of a church to give their hard-earned money to a family they hardly know to go to a people-group they’ve never met to accomplish a mission they’ll never see! It’s almost as hard as trying to sell life insurance to teenagers! However, the Lord has been impressing on us the fact that it’s not going to be our charming personalities, our cool PowerPoint effects, or my beautiful balding head that’s going to raise our support. It’s going to be His gracious work of laying on other hearts the same burden He has placed on ours and then enabling them to participate. (Did I successfully avoid the questions? No? You still want answers? Well, we would love to leave for France next spring, and we presently have been promised a little more than 10% of the needed funds.)

Invitation

We are presently halfway through a 49-day trip up to New England. We will return to South Carolina on May 20 just in time for a picnic/reunion with the EMU family. On Sunday, June 8, I hope to be officially ordained to the Gospel ministry by my sending church (presuming that I successfully pass the questioning on the day before). My pastor, Ken Casillas, will be presiding over the occasion, and my brother Bob will be coming down from Illinois to preach. You are all invited to attend what will be, I’m sure, a very memorable occasion in our lives. Please pray for me as I finish up the last section in my doctrinal statement in preparation for the ordination.

We especially want to thank the many who have prayed for us and encouraged us by showing interest in and enthusiasm for our mission of Proclaiming the Hope of the Gospel in France. We have been repeatedly overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of God’s people to us.

Gratefully yours,

Tim for the family

Slideshow: Spring New England Trip, II

Here are a few more pictures of our travels in New England.