Perspective…10 years!!
Have you ever looked at the mountains in the distance? At first it looks like there’s only one lone gigantic mound of rocks and trees. The closer you get the more you realize that there’s a whole bunch more!!! The peaks become too numerous to count. What you thought you were getting into has become an entirely different setting. The lone peak has now become a mountain range stretching hundreds of miles and rising thousands of feet above the plains! (We spent 14 yrs in Lubbock! Now you know why I’m fascinated by mountains!)
10 Years ago Rick @ Janie started Timothy International. Janie left the classroom and Rick left the pulpit to start a missions agency. We thought we had only one mountain in the distance but…through the next 10 yrs. God has shown us an entire mountain range! My how the landscape has changed! We started in one country, Africa. We are currently helping send 25 missionaries into 13 countries on 5 continents! God is currently challenging us to continue to grow. T.I. has become a missionary sending agency. We started out simply going to missionaries as the Lord led us. We gave prayer, encouraging words, and little money to help them sustain their call to minister as Jesus had directed them. With your faithful support both prayerfully and financially, we have grown to the numbers you just read. And there’s more! For 10 yrs. T.I. has been contained in our home. We have sought to be faithful with the finances you have given us so we have always maintained the office in our house. We also host a lot of missionaries and pastors in our home as well and we have really enjoyed doing it. A pastor in Lubbock came to me when we were thinking about starting T.I. and gave me this scripture from Isa. 54 “do not hold back, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right and to the left…”
We are hearing these words again! The work we need to accomplish has outgrown the office in our home. The other day there were four of us working in one 13×13 room that contains 3 filing cabinets, 2 printers, 3 desks w/ chairs, office supply closet and phones. It has turned hectic at times to say the least. Whoever gets the phone call usually leaves the room in order to hear the conversation. This is not a complaint it’s simply sharing with you a need. We need to office in another location, one that is large enough to handle the growth the Lord is giving us. Would you pray with us and even consider helping us raise support for the new office? Maybe you could share this need with some of your friends who might be willing to join our team as we grow into more nations on more continents. It’s going to take approximately $15,000/yr.
That’s a big stretch for us and we don’t want to diminish our missionary support to do it, which means raising more money for the office.
We have never been alone, God has given us such a faithful team!!! You have carried us in your prayers through many difficulties and hardships. You have enabled us to feed, clothe, preach, teach and build. We’ve learned over the years that the reward for hard work in the kingdom of God is more work. But who wants to slack off from the greatest opportunity in our lives? Please pray about how, or who you could contact to help us grow. Please accept our thanks for all you sacrifice and hard work for the King!
