Ministry Focus - Our Ministry - Good News Mission
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Ministry

 

 

 The mission getting a new paint job this past October! 

Part One ~ How It All Began!

Although I realize that this blog is much more than a ministry blog, I realized that unless you read our prayer letters, you don't necessarily know what we do here at Good News Mission.

Good News Mission was started about 12 years ago when two couples felt that the Lord was calling them to begin a ministry to the low income housing folks that live in our small town. They heard that an old "mom and pop" grocery store with a house attached was going up for auction right across the street from the housing authority office so that went to a local doctor and asked if he would be willing to bid on it. He agreed, won the bid, and the ministry began in the attached house until the store front could be remodeled. 

Sarah and I began helping them out about six months after they opened. At that time the ministry consisted of a breakfast on Sunday morning followed by a Bible Study. Usually the kids and adults were seperated into age groups. They also began a clothes closet in the basement that was opened before and after the meal and Bible study. Sarah and I soon began a Kid's Bible Club on Tuesday Evenings to compliment the Sunday morning studies.

After about two years, the store front was finally remodeled enough for the services to be moved into it, and the ministry was large enough to need a full time director. Sarah and I had been working as full time missionaries working at Cedar Lake Camp, but the time was right for us to leave serving at that ministry and begin working full time at Good News Mission. 

~To be continued next week with ~ Good News Mission Over the Years.

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Apology and Some New Thru 30 Notes
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Bible Reading & Devotions

Sorry you all. I've focused more on my Blogspot (shhhh...you know, the other blog) today, so I haven't gotten anything written on this one. I was going to answer one of Redhead Riter's "Tell the Truth Thursday" questions, but the MckLinky was already closed so I couldn't add a post to it. Oh well. Maybe next time. 

I did, however, catch up a little (still not totally caught up) on my New Thru 30 reading and posted some notes. Click here for the link. Talk to you all agian tomorrow.

 

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Thursday's Child - A Day Late
Topic: Compassion International

The other day we had great surprise of getting not one but two letters from Marcelo. Here is one of them:

Dear Tim and Family,

Hello. I greet you with much love. I thank you for the letters that you send me, they are beautiful. I want to tell you that it has been raining these weeks and sunny at the same time. It was a fresh weather. Also here at the CDI student center there was a Bible contest and my class won the prize and we were very happy and we shared the prize. I wanted to ask you, do you have Bible contests in your country? Answering your questions, I do have many friends, they are called Raphael, Joel, Carlos and Beymar. They are very good friends because we are together in the good and bad times. I am doing well in school and at home. I will always pray for you. I say goodbye with many hugs and kisses. May the Lord bless you.

Love You,

Marcelo

It is always a joy to get a letter from Marcelo. I am so glad that the $32 a month that we send helps him and his family. Even more so, I am glad for the love that we can give to him and the love that he gives back. Really, I think that he is more of a blessing to us than we are to him.

Our friend Kees, told us of a time where he was visiting La Paz, the same city that Marcelo lives in. As he was entering his hotel one night, he saw three of four boys begging for money. They looked bedraggled and hungry, so he invited them to the hotel restaurant for some food. They were so appreciative. Kees often wonders what happened to them afterward. There are so many kids to help, but Compassion can only take so many. Kees told me one time that Compassion only can take the worst of the worst of the applications.

The worst of the worst. Is that Marcelo? Would Marcelo have ended up on the street like those boys?

 

 

It makes me think of Mwende, our Christmas child. She still hasn't found a sponsor. If I cannot find one for her by the end of the month, then her profile will go back to Compassion so that they can find one for her. Would you continue praying for her? I would love to be the one to find a sponsor for her. If you would like more information on Mwende, please let me know. You can leave a comment below, or send an email to me at tink38570@yahoo.com. Thanks for praying.

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Tuesday's Toolbox - This Week's Item - A Pet
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Blog Carnivals!

Why am I incredulous? Well, if we didn't need something else in our lives, we decided to take over the care of a dog. Yes, we now have a pure breed Miniature Pinscher. He belonged to one of Sarah's ladies who just had a new baby. It is still a puppy, only five months old, so it is still trainable. He didn't come with papers, because the owner really didn't care about them, but he is at least as close to being pure breed as you can get. In fact he looks exactly like this dog found on a Miniature Pinscher (Min Pin) web site:

Except, the breeder bobbed the tail of "Jojo" before he gave it to our friend, so Jojo has a short tail, not a long one like the one in the picture.

What makes life even more interesting is Jojo's (I call him Joseph ~ Jojo just doesn't fit a male dog) temperament. Here is what the American Kennel Club website said about the behavior of this small breed:

The Miniature Pinscher can really spice up a person’s life. This dog is small, but he doesn’t know it! He’s quick and active, with a lively curiosity. They are good family companions and look out for their family, bravely challenging intruders with their bold, insistent bark. The "Min Pin" will be happiest with a family that treats him like a standard-sized dog. He may be stubborn, but he’s also smart.

Sound familiar? Quick, active, curious, bold...sounds like characteristics of a couple of my children. As a matter of fact, Joseph fits right in with our family, down to the name that begins with a J. Whatever would possess us to want an active addition to our family?

Well, anyway, a dog can be a great learning tool in the home. John Allen is learning how to train him. Already, within the week that we have had Joseph, he has taught him how to sit. Here is a list of things that I am hoping a pet will teach our boys.

• Responsibility - We told the boys before we got the dog, that they were going to have to be responsible for him. We would buy the food for now, but they would have to feed him, take him out, clean up any messes he made, etc. They have really risen to the challenge. I am really pleased.
• Training Skills - As I said, John Allen is learning how to train him and has done a good job at it.
• Patience - As John Allen trains Joseph, he is learning patience. It is not an easy task to train any animal.
• Reading Skills - We have done a little reading up on Min Pins, but I am hoping to check some books out of the library so that the boys can learn more about this unique breed of dog.  
• Journals - I am going to have the boys keep a journal and a record of how much time they spend training him and the progress that he makes.
  
• Money Management - Eventually I would like to turn the food and supply purchasing over to the boys (or at least John Allen). We would give him an allowance to purchase things that he would need, and John Allen would have to keep track of the spending etc.
• Math - The Money Management would also involve math skills.
• Spelling, Report Writing, Lapbooking, etc. ~ the above items are just the beginning. Those are things that homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers can do. If you are a homeschooler, you could research the breed, write reports, use it as science, spelling, language...you name it! The sky is the limit.

Along with our mostly outdoor cats, including some strays that have adopted us, we have quite a menagerie, and some excellent learning material. We are really excited about getting Jojo. The boys have been asking for a dog for a long time, and we only decided to take him if the friend who gave him to us promised to dog-sit when we needed her to. But, it looks like Jojo~Joseph is here to stay. He has definitely become part of our family. We'll keep you posted on how he's doing and what we're learning about him.

Don't forget to click here to visit the rest of this week's Tuesday's Toolbox entries!

 

 

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I'm Still Working on it - New Thru 30 Challenge!
Mood:  rushed
Topic: Bible Reading & Devotions
No, I haven't forgotten. I plan on posting more notes tonight. I am a little behind on my reading, but my main thing is that I'm behind on my note posts. I'm still working on it, and I'm still praying for all of you who have taken the challenge as well.

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