Today I worked on a promotional video for FBC Mountain Park.  There will be a series of three videos, one of me, one of Ashley and one of my partner Bennett Ekandem.  I shot video at Willow Branch and at Kensington Station.  The kids were really cute and I got some terrific shots.  You can’t beat kids singing, “The BIBLE, yes that’s the book for me!”

I enjoyed visiting with Terry Earl, Susan Coker and Bennett Ekandem at Willow Branch.  They are three prayer warriors and I know they made a big difference in my recovery.

I’ve enjoyed working on my new computer.  I still have some programs to add, mainly for editing photos and videos. I don’t have to edit what I shot today so I’m not under pressure to get it installed too fast.

We were hoping to visit Jesse today.  Everything takes so long to get set up.  I got some really good information from a partner at 12 Stone Church today.  I’ll follow up on her suggestions asap.

I had a meeting with the house adjuster contractor today.  He looked through the house and overall seemed pretty optimistic about  getting it back in good condition. It all comes down to tomorrow when the insurance people give us the go ahead that they will or won’t cover the house damage.  Please pray that they will come to a positive decision for us.

I’ve been able to keep my hands completely unwrapped today! It is miraculous how fast my hands have healed!  I was in Grady Hospital’s Burn Unit exactly two weeks ago today.  That was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life.  Morphine did nothing for that!

It’s been raining buckets today!  My rain gauge said we got over an inch last night.  Awesome!  Temperatures are supposed really drop soon.  I hope it doesn’t freeze and hurt the trees.

I’m feeling a lot better today.  I really appreciate your prayers.

If you’d like to write Jesse a note you can contact him at:  Jesse Cummins, ID#9935 7554, Gwinnett Detention Center, 2900 University Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043.  Thanks for helping with this!

Love!

Worked on admin stuff today.

I finished up my financial report for my treasurer.  It was kind of a hassle because of having to use other people’s computers, but I got it done!

Most of my time was spent setting up my new computer.  I had really good insurance with my old computer from Best Buy.  When I had the last problem with it (a fried motherboard because of the fire) they gave me a credit to get another one.  So I’m typing on my new machine: a  Sony Vaio.  God is good!  It’s a beautiful machine.  I’m still getting it set up with the programs I need.  It runs Vista so most of the software I had doesn’t work.  Plus all the installation disks I had were destroyed in the fire.  It’ll work out over time!

I’m still kinda sick.  I feel weak.  This is the first time I’ve been sick in nearly 2 years!  The fire and emotional turmoil must have weakened my immune system.

It was a beautiful day.  Wish I’d felt good enough to run.  It’s what I call Nakuru weather.  I was raised in equatorial Africa but at nearly 7,.000 feet! Spring time weather all year round.  No winter, no summer.  Perfecto!

I talked with Jesse’s lawyer.  He’s being put into the general housing units and out of the Mental Health unit. The lawyer assures me that he’s safe, but it’s still scary for me.  LORD, put a shield of protection around my little boy.  Keep him safe from evil men.  AMEN.

I know I’ve said it before, but I really appreciate your prayers and concern for my family!

They’ve finished drying out the house so hopefully we’ll be able to start rebuilding soon.  We get a final word on the insurance coverage on Wednesday.  Please pray for that too.

Love,

Tim

Today, Kathy, Ashley and I went to First Baptist Church Conyers. I spoke to the Jr. High class. They were very responsive. We look forward to getting them mobilized this summer! Pray for those kids.

Yesterday we had a fantastic time at Azalea Mission with the team from Peachtree Corners Baptist Church. They did a terrific job with the kids. It was such a blessing to see so many kids having fun.

Kathy and I went to see Jesse last night. He’s doing a LOT better! Thank God for his healing touch. He is so sorry for what he did. He’s looking forward to helping us with the rebuilding process. I know that the hundreds of people that are praying for our family have made the difference! Thanks for your concern! Here are some pictures we took with Jesse a few days before the fire. He was helping the kids at the mission.

I’ll be going back to Conyers this evening for the missions conference. Keep praying for me. I’m still sick and it takes a lot out of me. I had a good rest this afternoon.

Thanks again for your concern and love for our family!!

Well, I’m back.

After literally the worst week in my life.

My hands have healed enough to type. In fact all my physical injuries are healing at a miraculous rate. My heart is still breaking over my son. If all goes well we’ll be able to see Jesse tomorrow evening. Please pray for that. He’s being held in the Mental Health unit. My brother in law tells me that that place is actually one of the best in Atlanta if you’re not in a private hospital, so that made me feel a little better.

I’ve been flooded with love. So many people have written, called or come by to show me their concern for our family. It’s very touching. In fact I’ll be talking to someone on the phone about the situation and will just start sobbing. I guess I’m just a big baby. My girls seem to bearing up a lot better than me. I guess someone has to be strong.

I thank God for Ashley keeping you guys in the loop. Sorry if the pictures were too gory. You only had to look at them. I experienced levels of pain I didn’t think existed. When they were cleaning my wounds I was just screaming. They closed the curtains around my bed and I heard the guy next to me say, “Is mine gonna hurt as bad as his?” I sure hope not Lewis. Kathy was an angel of mercy to him and me.

My heart breaks over my little boy. The evil one just attacked his mind and he had a mental breakdown. Please pray for Jesse’s healing and that one day we will see how God somehow will use this for His good.

I’m trying to keep up with all my obligations but it’s hard. I’ve got a cold now so my head hurts most of the day. I seem better this evening. I’m trying to rest and take a lot of vitamins. The doctor said I wasn’t supposed to do anything for three weeks. Can you see me sitting still for that long? About the same chance of those firemen keeping me from climbing up the ladder to put out the fire in J’s room. The firemen had to physically tie me to the guerney to keep me away. I thought he was still in there!

The evil one has raised the bar against us with this attack against Jesse. We must be in store for some amazing breakthroughs by the Holy Spirit.

I sure do love you guys so much. Thanks for praying and for your concern.

If you really want to do something special, write Jesse a note:

Jesse Cummins

ID# 9935 7554

Gwinnett Detention Center

2900 University Parkway

Lawrenceville, GA 30043.

Love you!

Still feeling really tired. Tried to get some extra rest.

I’ve been working on the videos I shot this weekend. I have them edited and compressed. I have them here!

Ashley took a great set of pictures from our Banquet on Saturday. Here are some of my favorites!

Ashley and I went to the book store. I like to look through the stacks when I’m trying to relax.

Kathy has been feeling bad all day long. She’s running a low grade fever and just feels really puny. Pray for her!

Peace.

I’ve been fighting off getting sick.  I’ve really tried to rest today.  I feel better.

Been working on my financial reports and email.  I’ll take the report over to Jon’s house tomorrow or Tuesday.

Peace.

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

Ashley and I spent the day at Perimeter Church.  They were hosting the Youth Leadership Conference led by GUIDE.  We met a few young people that were interested in our work.

Then we came back to Stone Mountain where we loaded up the car and took all the decorations over to FBC Mountain Park for our “Banquet of Love” for Whirlwind Missions.  We had some of my favorite people speak including my board, Jon Paul, Carl Barrington and Tito Ruiz.  Tito, Lester and I also played a few songs as our band Cruz!  Ashley and Kathy gave stirring testimony and Bennett spoke about his work in Clarkston.  It was fun!

I sure am tired.  But it’s a good kind of tired.

Peace.

I’m not sure how much of my history you know. Before I became a full time missionary I used to work as a Field Producer and was the Chief Photographer for WTOC-TV in Savannah. While I was there I earned 9 Associated Press awards for my work. That was fun, but the best thing was the cool people I came into contact with. One of my favorites was Blair Meeks who has been one of the top reporters in Atlanta for years. Blair is a great friend. It’s always fun to hang out with him and tell our war stories to each other.

Then I had a pre-site visit with Jimmy and Angela Samford from Virginia. We toured the International Village of Buford Highway and visited several of the missions.
We also went by N. Peachtree Baptist Church where their team will be staying in July. The time together went great and they seemed really excited about working with us later this year.

I went back home to rest for about 30 minutes before getting back into the car and driving up to Hamilton Mill. One of my favorite churches, 12 Stone Church, has a sister congregation called “The Gate.” They had a big music concert and several local artists had donated their work to be auctioned off to raise funds for missions. They chose Whirlwind to be the recipient of that donation. Sweet! I had a great time listening to the music and giving the folks a briefing on what we do in the International Community.

I left before the music was over because I have to be at Perimeter church early tomorrow to represent our ministry to a Youth Leadership conference. I’ll meet youth directors that could be interested in working with us during the summer or more often if they’re local. Should be worthwhile.

Then shoot back to Stone Mountain for our second annual Whirlwind Missions banquet. Not sure how many people will get to come. So many things going on . . .

I’ve felt like I might be getting sick. I’ve really tried to rest more. Sometimes my schedule doesn’t let me. That’s when I really depend on your prayers for me!

Pray till something happens!

Peace.

It was UT–University of Tim day, so I had both my kids with me today! GREAT!

Jesse drove. He’s getting a little cocky with his driving, and he doesn’t really have the experience to back it up. Plus, my son has never been wrong in his life. So that can cause me extra stress. Overall he did ok.

We met up with our team from Perimeter Christian School at Azalea. They gave the mission a thorough scrubbing and organizing. It looks really great. They also decorated the place with valentine and gave out bags of candy. The kids loved it!

I was supposed to have an assignment with a youth pastor from VA, but his flight got canceled due to weather. Bahd luck. So I meet with them tomorrow. That’s supposed to be my day off. C’est la vie, Baby.

We ate lunch at the PDK Airport off of Clairmont in Chamblee. It was perfect weather and the steady line of planes landing and taking off was super cool. Makes me want to get back into flying trikes.

We enjoyed the bookstore for an hour or so.

I took Jouvens and a car title over to Ernest who was waiting for us at the Sandy Springs Police station. We got to the door of the station at 4:55pm. The place was supposed to close at 5pm. We told them that it wasn’t 5pm–we still had 5 minutes. They said, “See you tomorrow.” Locked the door behind them, looked at us and laughed! Not exactly the best way to get good public relations.

We spent the rest of the day at Azalea with the kids. I went down to Miriam’s house to install their printer, but no one was at home.

We had fun making valentines with the kids. Ashley was with me so that was a special treat. She just jumps right in and does the whole thing. Sweet.
Most of my time was spent driving over to the cop shop in Sandy Springs. Jouvens is with me. He’s like a son to me. I ask him, “SO, Jouvens. Got big plans with Makayla this evening, valentines and all . . . ?”
“Think I should do something, Mr. Tim?”
“Are you kidding me, boy? You lost your mind? You better do SOMETHING!”
“Really?”
“Yes, really, Jouvens. You better make some kind of hand written card. They like those best. And something with chocolate would also be good.”

He just nodded his head. We got back to the mission and he wrote out a really good poem and decorated it with Ashley’s help. We made a bag of candy (from the Perimeter team), I made an origami butterfly for him out of Japanese paper and he attached his note. I think she’ll be happy.

I’m tired.

Peace.

I had a fun lunch with Drew Grubbs today. I’ve really missed hanging out with him. It was good to get together. We talked about our work and how we generate interns to staff our mission sites. It’s a great system and gives young people a chance to really make a difference and do missions. Google Youth Outreach United for more info!

I know I’ve talked to you about my brothers Tito and Lester Ruiz. I had a blast jamming with them. Lester was awesome on the drums and Tito was wailing on the keyboards and had terrific vocals. We worked up several new songs. I thought we sounded great. I put my guitar in the stand and then caught my foot in the guitar cord. It pulled the guitar forward and cracked the neck.

There have been times in my life if I had seen that happen I would have done the complete freak out. I was just like, “Yeah, it cracked. I’ll get it fixed.” NBD. My guitar repair guy is John Marshall of the Fret Shop. He runs a school for aspiring luthiers. These guys are world class. Literally. Last guy I met over there was from S. Africa. So I know my guitar is going to come out ok.

Checked the kids at the mission. Helped Mustek figure out ratios. I also alerted Jouvens that we have a team from Perimeter Christian School coming to help clean up the mission Thursday morning.

From Azalea I met up with Ashley and we went to Taco Prisa. I dig their Huevos Rancheros–with the salsa verde, baby!

Then over to Peachtree Corners Baptist Church where Ashley and I met with their Missions Committee. They are some of my favorites. I shared with them a strategy for mobilizing volunteers and Ashley talked with them about Kensington Station.

Peace.

I met with new friends and old friends today! I brought my Uncle Harold and Phyllis Cummins to the mission at Willow Branch in Clarkston.

We enjoyed a delicious meal at Madina on Memorial Drive with Terry Earl and the Cummins.

Then back to Willow Branch to put in a light in one of our apartments. Mike Fountain and Pastor Jackie from Sweetwater Baptist Church helped us with that. Amber and her two children help us at the mission at Willow Branch. They are a huge help!

Mr. Meredith and his wife are teaching kids about music. They are learning how to play the violin. They took the kids to the symphony in January. What a trip they had!

I didn’t get out of Clarkston until after 4pm. I got to 78 and realized by the time I got to Chamblee it would be time to come home. I called over to Jouvens and Bubba my on site directors at Azalea. I’ve got a good team there. They are my second generation young men. They used to be in my mission… Now they run it when I’m not there. Groovy.

Need to run. I’ll do 4 miles.

Peace.