Blowing Up the Front Yard

We just got back inside from the Fourth of July bomb show at the Clouse house. This year we moved up from a 1/4 stick of dynamite to a 1/2 stick - there are now decent -sized craters in the front yard and Sharon's metal mixing bowl disintegrated entirely. My new brother-in-law, Pat, took over the lighting duties this year. No one was hurt and we again had the best display in the area.

Sunday morning at church I realized that the worship pastor is the older brother of a friend of mine (Katie Bryan) from Truman. We talked about her for a while and then he asked me if I was planning on doing a song for a fundraising concert this friday at the church. The church (Cornerstone Baptist in Lee's Summit) is raising money to build a house on a mission trip later this year. When I agreed, he said, "Great, we'll give you about twenty minutes."

So, if your in the KC area, come to the concert Friday night at 7pm at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lee's Summit. I'm a little nervous (it's been 3 or 4 years since I've done the whole one-man-show thing), so a few friendly faces would be great to see.

I'm typing this on our new Apple Powerbook. Rachael and I were a little nervous when we bought it because it's the most expensive thing we've bought since we've been married, and we're not used to actually being able to afford things.

I spent about a week in Colorado at St. Malo retreat center just outside Estes Park. The building in the background it the retreat center where we stayed and in the foreground is the chapel of St. Malo. We were there for the CA Staff Forum, where campus ministers get together for a time of renewal, learning and sharing. It was nice to see all my friends from the Northeast and get to meet the guys and gals from the Northwest. It was especially nice to get to know the Southwest crew who I'll be working nearby when Rachael and I move to Tucson in May.

Ryan and I got a chance to talk about the church plant/campus ministry. I shared some concerns and we got the opportunity to talk them through. Rachael and I are both a little worried about Tucson venture. Not arriving until a year after most of the team makes us nervous, especially in light of our last semester at Truman.

Ed Marcelle was the speaker and brought a camera crew who are making a set of DVDs for new church planters to help them learn from others. We stayed with Ed when we visited Albany a couple years ago and it was great to reconnect with each other.

Ed is working with Kim Cahill (the Campus Minister at SUNY-Albany) to create a campus/church hybrid similar to what we are doing in Tucson. I look forward to learning from each other as we move along in ministry.

When I arrived home, Rachael asked me to help out at Giant Step (daycare for physically and mentally handicapped children) for awhile as they had a teacher walk out on them. So, now I am working with toddlers. A few of the people who work there are amazed that a guy would actually play with the kids, sit down with them, read books for them, etc. I guess their experience with guys is that men don't like kids. It's nice to change people's preconceived notions.

I'm writing to Rehoboth (actually Jeremy to give to Rehoboth) about starting to support our ministry again. They suddenly stopped and we don't know why. Please pray for me as I will be meeting with potential supporters over the next few weeks.

I still need to find about 75 more supporters. If you know of anyone who might be interested in supporting new ministries like ours, please introduce us, or send me their info.

Blessings,
Tim