NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Hello everyone!

I know I am always saying thank you, but I hope it never gets old because I am so very thankful for all of you.  We had an amazing trip, with only one small hitch and it was not related to a crying baby!

Okay, so I will do my best to just give the highlights, but sometimes I’m not very good at that, so if you’re not interested feel free to just scan this one ’cause we’ve got a lot to cover!

We left as scheduled from OKC airport.  My (Kellee’s) parents, sister and brother-in-law, and Doug’s dad were there to see us off.  We ALL did surprisingly well.  Only a few tears.  I think we’d all cried leading up to that day, so we were trying to keep our happy faces on for Kees.  He was very emotional, clingy, & possibly teething before we left, I think he knew something was going on.  So we had all agreed to try not to focus on good-bye, but focus on our new adventure.  The first leg of our trip was the worst out of the 4 as far as Kees was concerned.  He was a bit fussy and unsatisfied, but it was very short lived and then he slept.  We landed in Houston and that’s when it got interesting.

We had to catch a tram, get our tickets transferred, and then wait to board, or so we thought.  We got to the ticket counter by our gate only to find out that somehow they had forgot to book Kees on the flight.  He’s under 2, so he doesn’t need a seat, but you still have to pay a small fee.  We’re still not sure how he did not get book, and why nothing was said to us in OKC, but everything happens for a reason.  Doug specifically mentioned over the phone each time he was making arrangements that we would have a baby with us, he even mentioned to me that we had to pay a small fee for him to fly.  We had an hour once we landed and spent every bit of that and then some at the ticket booth trying to get it worked out.  They finally agreed to let him fly, but we’d have to pay for him again, $83.  No big deal, we didn’t pay any overages, we’re carrying lot of cash to open our new bank account in Chiang Mai, but wait they’ll only accept credit cards.  Doug and I have gone back and forth about whether or not to have a credit card, after our experience in Houston perhaps we’ll get one for situations such as these.  But as always, God is in control.  We may not know the rhyme or reason, but he does.  There was a group there waiting with us that just happened to be missionaries as well, with a group called Pioneers.  One of them was having trouble with his paperwork.  If they had gotten on no problems, we’d still be in Houston.  They’re friend agreed to purchase Kees’s ticket and we just paid her cash. PRAISE the LORD!  I can’t help but feel remorse for the couple who was left behind.  I don’t know their first names, I just know they are the Coopers headed to Indonesia.  I’ve been praying for them!  They had to stay behind in Houston and are hoping to get everything in order and fly out soon, they hopefully already have.  God used their “waiting” to end ours.  I hope they know that God will get them there in just the right time. I’ve been praying they will have a divine appointment on their flight or in an airport that they would not have otherwise had.

After we finally were rushed on to the plane, we breathed a small sigh of relief, but to be honest I still worried about what would happen in Singapore.  The lady and the desk and then the man that whisked us to the plane both indicated we might have trouble there.  The lady mentioned we should have round-trip tickets and they might make us purchase them once we got there.  The man said we’d probably have to go through customs.  My comfort was GOD and knowing we had a three hour lay over once we got to Singapore.  Before we got to Singapore we had a scheduled stop in Moscow to refuel. We thought we’d be staying on the plane, but we actually had to get off and go through a check point, then basically got right back on without a hitch!

We landed in Singapore and went straight to transfers.  We braced ourselves for another stressful “Houston” type experience.  And wouldn’t you know, none of those fears became a reality.  They switched us over no problem.  We were even able to get on facebook and give a quick update.

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for, the final flight and landing!  That dream I talked about is REAL.  Thailand is beautiful, beyond my imagination.  I cried as we were landing, I actually thought to myself, “Even if we crash land at least I got to see Thailand before I die.”  I wish I could describe the beauty here.  I have some video footage of our flights and landing in Thailand, but I’ll let Doug edit them together in the next few days.

As always God has taught me so much.  I was thinking of missionaries who have gone before us on boats, truly leaving there families behind with no facebook to keep in touch.  For a while I felt sorry for all they lacked back in those days, but then I realized something.  They may have been lacking in many ways, but they were never lacking in FAITH.  My faith may never be tested like their was, but it will never be as strong either.  Isn’t God good?  He was good then, and he’s so good now!

More to come, but I hear Kees is up–2:30 am our time, but he also went to bet 10 1/2 hours ago, so I think we’re getting there!!!

Keep praying, we love you, your prayers have been answered already!

I simply cannot believe this is FINALLY happening.

God has been so good to us.  We often feel overwhelmed by where he has taken us on this journey.  We’ve got only 5 days left till we leave.  Can you believe it?  I think it’s snuck up on all of us, but it’s taken so long too.  It’s such a paradox.  How can it feel so long, but be coming up so soon?

For so long, this was a far off dream.  Something we’d talk about with stars in our eyes.  That far off dream becomes our reality in just 5 days.  I’m thrilled.  And yet, with most things, we tend to idealize our dreams, believing things will finally be perfect once our dreams become realities.  You’ve got to be careful with that.  This week, knowing that this is REAL, has started to scare me a little bit. Like, wow, it’s been really fun talking about this, but now we have to actually do this, and it’s gonna be hard.  We are very close with our family and rely on them for so much.  That support system will be shifted in a big way.  We know they are still supporting us in what ways they can, but it will be very different.

A fabulous lady in our church sings a song I love called “He’ll Do it Again” (lyrics below).  I remember when I first heard it I didn’t really get it.  I guess I’d just somehow avoided going through really hard times.  But now, when I hear it, it has such depth of meaning for me because I know God really has gotten me through.  I can see where he’s brought me and where I’ve been in the past.  I am not naive enough to believe everything will be “sticky rice and mango” once we get to Thailand.  But I’m not stuck in fear, not even too stressed about the impending toddler-like state I’ll be putting myself into.  Yep, just like a toddler, we’ll be frustrated with our lack of communication skills.  We won’t be able to run to the store and get what we want, we’ll have to figure out how to get a tuk-tuk and try to do mental math to figure out new currency.  We’ll be laughed at and have people stop us in the street to touch Kees’s hair or pinch his white face.  We’ll fall flat on our face far more than we ever have here in our culture.  But you know what?  God will do it again.  He’ll get us through just like he always has.  So glad we aren’t going into this alone.

I woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.  I’d had a nightmare about being in Thailand and not being able to say anything.  I felt a rush of panic and then I quickly calmed down because I know God will be there.  No matter what happens, he’s there.  He can’t be taken away. Even if Doug and Kees soar past me in language and I feel helpless and alone, I know I NEVER am, God’s always there!  My job is to seek him daily and rely on him.

So the current prayer requests are:  That 32 hours flight starting November 22 @ 1:30 pm, and our hearts and attitudes–that we’d be tuned in to HIM and never try to figure it out on our own.  Pray that our relationship with God will always be priority one in our lives and families.  We’re praying for you too!  We are committed to giving back through prayer as much as possible, so never hesitate to email us with your requests.

Like always, I’d like to say thank you to all our supporters.  We know God has put each of you in our lives with great purpose and we love you dearly.  We absolutely have been humbled by your commitments to God, to us, and to HIS current & future ministry to those we will meet in Thailand.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Just know, that we love you and could never come close to thanking you enough.

Lyrics to “He’ll Do it Again”

VERSE 1
You may be down and feel like God
Has somehow forgotten
That you are faced with circumstances
You can’t get through
But now it seems that there’s no way out
And you’re going under
God’s proven time and time again
He’ll take care of you

CHORUS
And He’ll do it again
He’ll do it again
If you’ll just take a look
At where you are now
And where you’ve been
Well hasn’t He always come through for you
He’s the same now as then
You may not know how
You may not know when
But He’ll do it again

VERSE 2
God knows the things you’re going through
And He knows how you’re hurting
You see he knows just how you’re heart
Has been broken in two
But He’s the God of the stars, of the sun and the sea
And He is your Father
You see He can calm the storm
And He’ll find some way to fix it for you

CHORUS

BRIDGE
Oh He’s still God and He will not fail you
Oh He’s still God and He will not change
Know, Know that He’s God and He’s fighting for you
Yes, just like Moses, just like Daniel,
And just like Shadrach and Meshach, Abednego

You may not know how
You may not know when
But I know that He’ll do it again
He’ll do it again, again

We’ve sent out a Prayer Letter that you can view at:

www.ministryupdates.org/tomlinson

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Also you can follow us on Facebook for more news and pics:

www.facebook.com/tomlinsonstothailand

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Many of you have heard or read on here, that Doug, Kees, and I were in a car wreck last week.  It was interesting to say the least.  We had just finished speaking at “The Call” in Henryetta on Saturday night and were heading to Webbers Falls to share an update with my sister’s church on Sunday morning.  It was late.  We made a couple of stops on our way.  We were about 15 minutes from Webbers Falls when Doug saw a huge piece of plastic in the road.  I’m still not sure exactly what it was.  Doug swerved to miss the obstruction in the road and lost control of the car.

It’s ironic because Doug and I had just been talking about how God’s focus is not our future ministry, but on conforming us to the image of His son.  It’s the same plan he has for all of us as believers.  He puts things in our lives or allows things in order to shape us and mold us into His image.  Through that process of coming to terms with His plan for us, we had agreed that, no matter what, we knew God was interested in shaping us and using us to glorify his name. We’d had this revelation a few weeks back.  We’d been driving at the time, and even said, “If we died in a car wreck tonight, it’s okay, it’s all a part of His plan, and he will use it!”  I love literature, and I have always loved foreshadowing, this makes me happy.

So, as we were in the throws of our wreck, the car spinning out of control, I reached out to Doug and said, “It’s okay, we’re okay.”  My mental state was NOT we’re going to walk away from this unharmed.  My mental state was, “Whatever happens, we’re okay, God’s in control.”  I was at complete peace!  As soon as Doug regained control and we were safely planted in the grass on the side of the road, I wondered, what does God have planned now?

Two truckers stopped to help us.  They traded horror stories about seeing car crashes and other people lose control. The first trucker that stopped said he just knew we were going to flip the car.  I grabbed two of our prayer (picture) cards out of the car and gave them to each of the drivers.  I told them that we were planning to go to Thailand to be missionaries and God must still have work for us to do because he had allowed us to walk away from this accident unharmed.  One of them said, “Someone was sure watching over you!”  As we drove away, I prayed for these men.  I prayed that God would use this encounter to either strengthen their faith in Him or be part of his pursuit of them.  In my own life, God has typically used a series of events and a progressive revelation of himself when he teaches me something.  It’s not just one thing, it’s the sum of many things.  I pray that seeing God’s hand protect us will be part of an “ah-ha” moment for those two truckers.

One interesting thing that one of the truckers shared with us was this: he said, “Whatever you do, don’t swerve. No matter what you see coming, you may be tempted to swerve and slam on the breaks, but don’t do it, just keep going straight ahead.  It’s the best thing.”  Obviously he was talking about driving.  But, tonight, on my way home from a bible study, God used that phrase along with a few other things to point me to Him.

It was dark, I was driving, and I saw an opossum scurry into my path.  The trucker’s words jumped into my mind, “Don’t swerve”.  So I let my foot off the gas and kept going straight ahead.  And wouldn’t you know it, I killed the poor thing, but I kept control of the car.  And let me tell you, if I’d lost control it might have turned out worse than last time.  The ditch was much deeper, and I was driving– not cool, calm, level-headed Doug.  Isn’t it funny how God sends a test, so we’ll learn from it.  I was only a passenger the first time around.  The second time, I was driving, but I remembered the lesson I had learned and it kept me out of harms way.

As I continued down the road, I thought about how God had protected me.  How God used past events to prepare me for what was to come.  At the time, we did the best we knew how to do, we swerved, but God protected us and used it to teach us a valuable driving lesson.  I also learned a valuable spiritual lesson.

God has a path laid out for us.  There will be “bumps” in the road.  He doesn’t want us to swerve, he wants us to hit those challenges head on.  It may seem counterproductive, but it’s really the best thing.  I heard on the radio, that Jesus’s ministry was two fold.  It was the payment he made on the cross, but leading up to that, his ministry was always the person in front of him.  He didn’t view people as obstacles or things in his way.  It would have been easy for him to zone in on the ultimate price he would pay on calvary.  But he didn’t.  He ministered to whoever was in his path.  Take the woman at the well for instance.  Frankly, I think most of us would see her as an irritation and someone we would not want to associate with.  Not Jesus.  He took the time to minister to her.   Even though his future ministry was so great and so vital, he never lost sight of the ministry right in front of his face.  He never swerved to the left or the right to avoid the PEOPLE in his path.  Neither should we.  What ministry does God have for us today?

My challenge to you is: “Take your foot off the gas, don’t swerve, keep looking straight ahead! Don’t miss the opportunities God has placed in your path.”

My prayer is that you will have a blessed day, that you will keep your eyes on Jesus, and always be aware of the ministry opportunities right in front of you.

P.S. I am fully aware of the analogy breakdown…I killed the opossum.  I am in no way suggesting you should plow people over with your car.  There are lots of cool parallels, but no analogy is ever perfect.  This disclaimer is for my sister and Doug who pay close attention to details.

Many of you have read Doug’s note, “Overwhelmed by His Goodness”, if you haven’t, go check it out.  He shared a little about what God has been teaching us lately.  The last note I posted was about the first half of our road trip.  The second half of our trip was spent in Wisconsin with some good friends and church family.  We were able to spend some one-on-one time with different individuals, it seems as though each conversation was one piece of the puzzle.  We finished out our trip with an overnight visit to the missionary training center in Roach, MO.  We visited with old friends and teachers.  Again, God used each conversation to add another segment leading to an awesome “Ah-ha” moment on the way home.

But it wasn’t just this trip that God used, he’s been gradually adding to the “BIG” picture for 6 years (of our marriage) and even before that.  So what is the end result?  I used to think it was: THAILAND.  But now I know that just isn’t true.  The fact is: God is using all these things to conform us to the image of his son.  Read Romans 8!  God wants to not only conform us to the image of his son, but he wants to use us to draw others to himself.  And the end goal is not a future ministry that we’ve been working toward.  The end goal is that we all keep our eyes on Him and allow our experiences to be used to make us more like him.

Over the years, I’ve heard many things that have stuck with me.  One from bible school, care of Thomas Freeman, was, and I’m paraphrasing here: “Your love of the people or the country may get you to the mission field, but it won’t keep you there.  The only thing that will allow you to continue in ministry is your relationship with Christ.”  I’ve never doubted the truth in this statement, but it is just now becoming my own, if that makes sense.  I think it all depends on what you’re committed to.  For instance, if we begin this ministry fully committed to translation…at some point we will fail.  If I am fully committed to learning language, at some point I will fail.  The fact is: my commitment level doesn’t really matter, what matters is what I am committed to.  As human beings in a fallen world we can never fully commit to anything because one of two things will happen: we will fail or the object of our commitment will fail.  How many times have missionaries been fully committed to a field and then been forced to leave for whatever reason.  This type of upheaval can leave you wondering, but again, if your commitment is not to people or things, but to Christ, then these things fade into the background.

Today I feel bold.  I feel committed, not to a human goal I can see, but to a God who NEVER fails.  Right now, that means Oklahoma.  In about 7 weeks that means Thailand.  That’s where God has me.  But my commitment is not to people, things, places, or even family, but to God himself.  And as long as my commitment, focus, and passion are placed correctly on Him, the details are none of my concern.  That’s why we must be careful to say: “We will serve in Thailand, as long as God allows us to be there.”  We hope that’s 30 years or more, but we should never presume to know God’s full plan for our lives.  He gives us the next step or two, but wants us to have the faith to follow him no matter what.  I pray we all seek Him in everything.

Just wanted to share about what God has been doing in my heart lately. As you know Kellee and I have been preparing to move to Thailand to be missionaries. We’ve spent years pursuing this venture and felt we were as prepared as we could be, that is as far as we could prepare ourselves. 2 years in Bible college, 2 years in missions training, for both of us. But the Lord was preparing our hearts and conforming us to the image of His Son through schooling and also through all of the events that He has allowed to take place in our lives to this point. It started for me when I was 14. After I heard the good news that Jesus Christ died in my place to pay for my sins, reconciling me to my God and Creator through faith in Him, my heartfelt desire has been to give my life back to Him to use for His service in whatever capacity that may be. Through reading the Bible, learning more about who He was and His will for my life, hearing His voice speak from the inspired pages, I have continually felt a strong leading by His Spirit to follow Him to the ends of the earth, to a place where people have not heard of the love of their Creator, a people with no hope. Saying yes to God and stepping out in faith and living by His provision has led us both to this place, less than 2 months away from getting on a plane, to share our lives with the people of Thailand and the love with which God has shown us. We have prayed and have seen God confirming His leading every step of the way and have not lacked His provision when we have remained faithful to Him. Now we ask you to join with us in prayer and faith in trusting the Lord to provide the remaining necessary funds that we need to support what He wants to do through us in Thailand. We found out yesterday that our mission leadership, NTM, would like to see our support level at 50% before we get on that plane. While we have our tickets purchased and enough money for start up costs, our percent from monthly donors is currently at around only 20%. We can get to Thailand, but there is no way we can keep up with our monthly budget with what we have coming in. In spite of this news, and the seemingly insurmountable task ahead of us, Kellee and I have never been more at peace and confident in our gracious Heavenly Father. Our hearts our so full of His love! He has taken our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances and put them where they need to be, on Him. We shared and sang His praises the whole way home from MO to OK last night in pure unity. How is this possible? Why aren’t we afraid? What if our support doesn’t go up? These are questions we asked ourselves and amazingly God had spoken to each of us in the same way, it doesn’t matter as long as we are in Him. Romans 8 came to us among other truths from Scripture, God uses all things to work together for our good. And what is our good? To be conformed to the image of Christ! This has given us a renewed perspective, no matter what happens, that we want to be like Jesus above all else. To know Him, to love Him, to share Him and His love with everyone we know and meet. If God provides a few of His cattle on a thousand hills and we have the resources to go, we’ll share Him in Thailand. If not, we’ll share Him in Oklahoma or wherever else He leads us. We are just overjoyed to know Him and to be pursued by Him in such a way that we are in this place spiritually now. If all He wanted to do in all of our journey thus far was to bring us to this point, we are humbled and thankful that He has cared so much for us to take us here. Who am I to be born in a place to have God’s Word in my language and the people around me that have pointed me to Him? How can such an awesome God think so much of me as Psalm 139 says? I cry out to You O Lord, if You are willing and still sending, take us to those who need to hear of Your love in another language. I know You care for them as much as You care for me.

So there it is, I pray that whoever is reading this will one day experience what we are experiencing. To feel God’s love and presence in such a real way. To have peace beyond what we can make sense out of. We ask you to pray that we will remain filled and fulfilled in Him, to be bold in our conversations, and that God will be glorified in our lives and in this situation. We’d love to talk face to face with each one of you or by phone or however we can, so feel free to call us or email us or whatever. To God be the glory!

405-706-2511 Doug

405-706-2512 Kellee

www.ntm.org/doug_tomlinson

dougandkellee@gmail.com

Timing!

If you haven’t heard, we received the final necessary document from Thailand, so all that’s left is sending it to the Thai consulate in DC.

Here’s the prayer request:

We need to buy plane tickets.  However, our missionary connections in Thailand have two windows in which we can come.  It’s either early October or late November.  Obviously our first choice is early October.  Our current monthly support level, unfortunately, would not make that possible.  Please pray that our monthly support would go up in the next month, allowing us to go sooner rather than later.  We are fully aware that all things will come together in HIS timing.  If we end up having to wait, please pray that we would be patient and faithful in ALL things.

Thank you so much to our current financial supporters and all those who faithfully pray for us out there.  We CANNOT do this without the help of God’s wonderful people.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So technically I stole this quote from my cousin Matt’s blog, but I LOVE it, so I thought I’d run with it. I’ll get around to it after some much needed “webbing”. That’s how they say women talk, not in a straight line, but all around the main topic. So, what I’m saying is: I’ll get to it, hold your horses.

Doug and I have recently been chatting more extensively about how much monthly support we feel would be enough for us to get on a plane. New Tribes has a recommended amount that we can use as a guideline, but frankly, most missionaries get by with half of what the recommended amount is. We feel completely comfortable to get by with less, but we have heard from some dear friends of ours that we should not rush over, but take the time needed to get the necessary funds, to be able to get away every now to re-charge. The day to day stress of learning a whole new language and culture can really take its toll and it’s not smart to add financial struggles to the mix.

It’s hard for us to know how to mesh all of these concerns. We want to trust that God will provide. We have full faith in his plan and will for our life and we know he can and will provide for that. Some days, I say, “As long as we have enough for plane tickets and the visas are here, lets do it!” Other days I say, “As long as we have enough for plane tickets, the visas are here, and we have at least 50% support, then we’ll go.”

Jesus’s disciples left their jobs and followed. They trusted his provision. In our culture, it seems so “stupid” to get on a plane with very little guarantees. But it’s what many men and women of faith have done.

All this to say: We don’t know all the answers. But God does.

If you currently support us and are wondering what the plan is: We are still waiting on the second confirmation letters that will allow us to finalize the paperwork. Our monthly support is still low, but it is steadily climbing. We have at least 5 more speaking engagements in the next two months and still try daily to set more dates. We greatly appreciate the commitment you have made to reaching Thailand. We know sacrifices have been made on your part and we can never thank you enough.

Beyond that, we can’t say for sure. The current plan is to leave around October 15th, but we will be praying for God’s direction and timing in all of this. We are praying he will open and close doors so that we will know without a doubt what he has for us.

So where’s the quote? Doug and I have been talking about our financial situation and wondering where to go from here. When I say you can’t judge a movie by it’s trailer or a book by it’s cover it is in regards to our current financial supporters. Almost all of our supporters are people we least expected. People we thought couldn’t afford it or we haven’t talked to in a long time. Family members starting over, looking for jobs themselves. Elderly ladies pinching pennies to get by. Churches struggling to pay their bills. Retirees expressing regret that it isn’t more. Complete strangers writing out large checks at a church we’ve only visited once.

In our small human minds, we think the wealthy are most able to give. In God’s mind, a willing heart is the best place to start. We are truly touched and blessed by our family and dear friends who sacrifice so that the name of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to the least reached people of Thailand.

Love you all!

And to our supporters, never apologize for the size of your gift, we recognize the sacrifices you make, every little bit counts…God will multiply.

Happy Summer, everybody! Enjoying the heat?

Like always, we are busy, busy, busy! At last count I believe we’ve spoken at 9 churches over the last few months. It is always such an honor and a privilege to be able to be with God’s people wherever they might be. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming. We are always surprised by how nicely we are received. We are not so much surprised that people are nice, but surprised because we know we don’t deserve it. We are always so humbled by the encouragement. So to all our church families out there we would like to say a BIG “Thank You!!!”.

In May we celebrated Kees’s first birthday. I cannot for the life of me figure out where the time has gone. He is such a big boy. We have loved every minute with our little man. Each day gets better and better. We are so blessed to have him. My mom keeps telling me how spoiled we are with him. He is so easy going and is truly a good boy. So we may have to stop having kids while we’re ahead. I think God gave us a flexible easy-going baby, knowing how hectic and changing our lives are. I keep thinking, when we get to Thailand things will settle down. But I know that’s probably not true. Fact of the matter is, our lives will pretty much always be in transition. This is the life we have chosen. It is difficult at times, but we know it is what God wants for us. I keep thinking about how,

This world is not my home I’m just a passing through. My treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

So, despite, the ever-changing nature of our lives, we always have that permanent place with the Father to look forward to. We have a permanent dwelling place with him. As Christians we should keep our eye on that “prize” and always share with others about that REAL eternity that is at hand. It might be exciting for us as believers, but for those who are unsure or have not heard, its an unknown void. Let’s do our part to fill that void with the good news of Christ!

In the month of June, we had the opportunity to speak at our home church in Paden where we are also living. We made a Thai dinner including sticky rice and Thai tea. After we ate, we did our mission presentation and added a new feature! One night when I was having trouble falling asleep, I was praying and thinking about our little family. Doug is such a great husband and father, so much so that I feel like the weakest link, so to speak. Well, the “weakest link” reference led me to think about a chain…and how it would take a really long chain to reach from here to Thailand. But I like the picture that provides. Doug and I are just two links in a VERY long chain. We’re just two VERY small members of the team. It will take a large team to get us there. We have been so blessed with our teammates (that’s you!). So, at our presentation, I had everyone write their name on a piece of paper, so I could make a chain, to remind us of all the people praying and supporting us as we go! We plan to continue to add to this chain in the next few months, if you would like to add your name, just let us know. The chain consists of prayer partners, encouragers, financial supporters, and my personal favorite: a Dr. Pepper supplier! Let us know how you would like to be a part. We would love more prayer partners, people willing to email us scripture or words of encouragement, individuals who would sacrifice a small monthly donation, maybe you’d like to come help us build a tribal house in 3 years or so and you want to start saving for that plane ticket! Be creative, everyone is welcome on our team. We need you!

Also, in June, we had 2 weeks of VBS, that we were able to help out with. We were surprised and blessed that both churches decided to donate their offerings to our ministry. At my sister’s church, we were able to get up and share with the kids about our future ministry in Thailand and how the money would be used. One little boy, made me tear up when he told me, “I don’t have very much money, but I really want to give you everything I have.” Later, he handed me two crumpled dollar bills, all the money he had. Not gonna lie, I teared up. I am always amazed how God uses all kinds of people to bless us and keep us going when we need it most. It reminds me of the widow with the two mites in Mark 12: 41-44. Just like her, this boy gave all he had. I’ve had so many people apologize to me that they can only give X amount, and I always tell them it adds up and God blesses EVERY gift. So, thanks again, to all our fabulous supporters who sacrifice in big and small ways, so that others who have no hope, can hear the gospel message.

To God be the glory

The Tomlinsons