Jesse was my wingman today!
We went to the Holiday Inn in Doraville to meet with the team from County Line Baptist Church in Pucket, MS. They were kind of tired, but I helped liven them up with my best briefing of the Summer so far!
Went to my office to meet with my partners Steve from Kindom Wise and Mike Rensel from Apartment Life.
We had lunch at Toreros (mi oficina dos) then over to Highland Gardens to get the team set up in their first location. Spent time helping them gather up the kids. Always the hard part.
We ended up with a good group of spirited youngters, most of which were Bengali. Had a chance to meet some of the Bengali parents. Even got to pray for one of the wives. Her husband translated my prayer into Bengali so she could understand what I was saying.
Funny part was one of the other adults tracked us down so they could take picture of our team for the local Bengali newspaper! I think it’s funny, these Baptist kids from a tiny rural Mississippi town on the cover of anything in Bengali! I reckon they didn’t wake up in the morning thinking that was a possibility!
Met up with my partner Bayo Otiti from Nigeria at my office. Took him to get something to eat and to check on my team from First Baptist at Azalea. I was glad that they had gone home last night. They were able to get a shower and a good night’s rest. Always a good thing! The kids were enjoying the team, even in the pouring rain!
J and I got the County Line team over to their second location and set up and we came back to Stone Mountain.
My parents had two dear friends of theirs spend the day with them: Tom and Nancy Jones.
They’re also big supporters of ours and Tom invited me to be one of the speakers to the deacons at FBC Duluth, one of my best weekends this year! It was great to see them!
And of course the season premier of Burn Notice! What a great show. K and I also watched Royal Pains, another USA network show. Liked that too! “Hank” is a doctor treating the super wealthy clients in the Hamptons. It reminded me of working on the ultra rich people’s homes around the Austin area. That was a cool gig! I remember one house I worked in, the guy was a huge supporter of NASA. He had an actual moon rock in an acrylic case on his desk. Any idea how valuable that is?
This morning, my parents and out went out to the North American Mission Board for me to give a presentation on mobilizing volunteers.
They’re always a fun bunch!
I enjoy getting to share a few thoughts on how they can be more effective in getting people to help them. That’s normally THE biggest problem that we face on the mission field.
They were a good looking group!
Then we went to check on the YMCA team that was working at the Hamptons at Lenox location.
They’re a very motivated team and the kids really love them!
Then over to Azalea Place to make sure that my team from First Baptist Atlanta was doing well!
They were really having a great time with the kids and they seemed to be learning a LOT! Excellent!
Spent a lot of the afternoon hanging out with my parents. I always learn something from them!
Came home and ran my 4 mile route. Took my little Sugar Dog with me. She wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about it. Drug her most of the second mile. She does better once she knows we’re on the way home!
Kathy cooked us a delicious supper this evening. We had fun visiting with my folks tonight too. The power was back off a the mission house. That’s not good. BUT, my cable is working again for my TV! I was really getting upset because tomorrow night is the season premier of Burn Notice! Go get ’em, Michael!
Today my folks, Ashley and Jesse and I went to visit our mission teams. Also enjoyed sharing some Indian food with my parents. The owners are from Nairobi! We always enjoy speaking Swahili to them.
We started with our YMCA team at Huntington Creek.
I’ve worked with this team for a couple of years and they’ve been really great! Today was no exception. They were very enthusiastic and you could tell that the kids were really enjoying them!
Also went by to check on Ian North who lives at that complex.
He was busy working on newsletters. He took me to the parking lot to show me something. Flat tire! Bahd luck.
We worked on getting the tire off and putting on the spare. What a hassle in the Georgia heat! I parked my car in the shade so it wasn’t so bad on my folks.
We took the car over to Firestone to see about getting a new set. The ones they had were bald. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we were able to buy them a new set of tires! Can’t do missions if you can’t get to the mission!
We left Ian at the shop working on his newsletters and went to check on our team at Azalea from First Baptist Atlanta.
They were having a great time and the kids were super excited to have them there. This is a team of four adults who are sleeping at the mission! I had some hesitancy about that idea, it’s not exactly a paradise to live in! So yesterday I was really praying for them! They’re doing fine!
Went to my office at FBC Doraville to pick up the mail, then over to Clarkston to visit with Cathy Palmer and show my parents her great work with the Refugee Sewing Society. Good stuff!
Then to Willow Branch for Jesse’s guitar class with the refugee kids. Jesse is a skilled guitarist and seems to really enjoy helping the kids learn music! My parents enjoyed the tunes too!
Came home and dropped the kids off, then went over to Kroger to do the grocery shopping.
Then home and worked out on weights.
We had a fun family time today!
Kathy, Jesse, Ashley and I took my folks over to the Varsity for chili dogs and hamburgers. I like their onion rings, not a big fan of the rest of the fare. It was fun!
What’ya have? What’ya have?
Then over to the Georgia Aquarium. I’m a big nature guy, so I always enjoy seeing the wonderful things that God has cooked up!
Some of these fish look like they should come from another planet!
Getting ready to go for a 4 mile run. Still hot outside!
Had a great morning today at Clarkston International Bible Church!
I took my parents and family to celebrate the North’s commissioning!
It was a wonderful time. Ian and Ruthie made a great presentation on their ministry and Pastor Phil Kitchin gave an inspired sermon on what it means to be a missionary—follow the model of Christ!
I made a short presentation at the end of the service and presented them with their certificates from the North American Mission Board. Very exciting stuff!
We had lunch together at Piccadilly along with Kathy’s brother Bill and his friend Deborah and our nephew Jason.
Also got to see good friends from FBC Mountain Park, the Cox and Mayfields! Awesome!
Came home and soaked up some rays and worked out on weights.
My cable/internet isn’t working well. Fortunately, my wifi picks up a neighbor’s signal so I have some ability to work.
On Friday I had a fun time with a partner of mine from Garland, Texas: Mark Hill. I’ve worked with Mark a couple of times in the past. He’s a great guy and a very talented musician!
He’s bringing his youth choir for a mission trip to our area in July. I enjoyed showing him around the International Village.
There are SO many cool things to see here. It was extra special because I also got to show my mom, Peggy Cummins, around as well! And of course it’s always good to have my wingman Jesse with us!
Today I took both my parents and Jesse over to Azalea Mission to check on the kids.
I was also making sure that the mission was set up and ready to go for my first team of the summer, First Baptist Atlanta.
The FBA team is planning on living at the mission!
I also had fun getting to see my team from ACCCN today! They came over for a pre-site visit to get to know the kids a bit before they come back in two weeks.
The kids are SO excited to have “the teams” back in town!
This afternoon I got some new tires put on my car. They were really slick.
Then ran my 4 mile route. Still not too hot!
Spent some time with my folks over at the mission house this evening before coming back to finish up my homework.
Ashley had a scary thing happen to her this afternoon. She ate something that she was allergic to, she’s still not sure exactly what it was. I called her to see if she could pick me up from the tire place, when she told me she had this reaction and actually had her throat start to close on her! J and I immediately went to Walgreens to pick up some Benadryl and took it straight home to her. That seemed to help her a LOT. She’s fine and her usual perky self now! Amen for that!
It was wonderful to spend time with my parents during this momentous time in their life: my dad’s retirement! The church had a big send off for him! I was so glad that Ashley made the trip with us!
Fun to also reconnect with my brother Jim and his family!
And to see friends from days gone by, Rollin Hooper and Joe Dickey!
I love the Texas country side!
Especially with Ashley!
We never know how much time we’ll have on this planet, nor when we’ll see our friends again. My dad got word today that one of his dear friends had died. Very sad.
Jesse had a little cavity that got filled this morning. No big deal.
We then picked up Ian and Ruthie and took them to eat Mexican food. Always good!
Ruthie had a job that afternoon, so we dropped her off and then Ian and Jesse and I went to Best Buy to recon cameras. We really like the little cameras that we have, but sometimes you need something that has an external microphone input so you can have a LOT better audio. When we’re interviewing people for big projects the audio is a big deal. So it’s important to do the research since it’s an investment that will last about 5 years normally.
I’ve gotten tremendous use out of the last Sony Handicam we bought. This will be a huge upgrade from what I’ve used for the last 8 years.
We dropped Ian at his house, went to check on the office and then went to Azalea to have a little Ice Cream party for the kids! Lots of fun!
I told them I’d be gone for a week. Ashley and I leave for Texas Thursday morning. They weren’t happy about that! But it’s the first week off from school so they’re pretty excited!
J and I went over to Lowes to pick up a new lawnmower.
We put it together and then Jesse helped me mow while I picked up sticks and cleaned up. Sure is great to have some help!
Lowes had some beautiful flowers!
I’m headed over to a couple of partner’s houses in a few minutes. Then I’ll focus on getting packed for the trip. Fun!
Today Jesse and I hauled the big boxes of English as Second Language books to my partners Eduardo & Sheila Zamora at Huntington Ridge.
My good friends at Perimeter Church gave me some terrific material. The Zamoras were SO happy! We also took them a bunch of chairs for the mission. The complex is giving us another apartment to work out of for the adult classes. Awesome!
Ian and Ruthie North met us over at H. Ridge. I continue to build links between partners. Glad that’s working out!
We went over to Best Buy to look for some equipment we needed. Needed another charger and battery. I also treated Ian and Jesse to yogurt!
Dropped off Ian at Huntington Creek and picked up my small PA system that my partner at Adelaide Park needs for this weekend.
We saw a large military plane fly at very high altitude this afternoon. Left the weirdest con trails, very, very thin.
Then J and I went to Azalea to check on the kids and have them help us with the labeling of the newsletters.
They always enjoy that. Especially, because I treat them with boxes of doughnuts afterwards. The kids like all the cool stamps and stickers and like being part of the team too!
I took Jesse over to Willow Branch to teach his guitar class. I was exhausted and crashed out in the car, then worked on email on my iPhone.
Came home and anticipated mowing the lawn. I got it started and immediately conked out. I don’t have much luck with lawnmowers. I’m lucky to get three years of use out of one. Of course I buy the really cheap ones, so I probably get what I pay for.
Looks like my car won’t be fixed for a couple of days. So it’ll sit at my mechanic’s place while Ashley and I are gone to Texas.
We got the newsletter printed up. I put all the letters in together this evening. Jesse and Kathy will mail them next week. I have a system as to when the letters to out. Not too early, not too late. . . . .just right! About three days before the end of the month generally. Groovy!
And now, Stoooory Tim! One of the weirdest traditions in Madagascar: Famadiana–speaking to the dead!
