Wow! It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to write on here. And my technically challenged brain was struggling to change the title of the blog page and accidentally deleted it. So all the prior blog posts are dated for today. I had to go through and add the actual publication date to each post. Sorry!
We were asked to share our story for the ministry of Construction Workers Christian Fellowship’s newsletter, and I thought, “What a perfect way to get back into blogging!” So I’m sharing that article with you now to remind you where we’ve been and where we are now. A quick update since last fall, if you will.
“You know the saying, “The best-laid plans…” We never would have dreamt we’d be where we are at this point in our lives. High school sweethearts, Kim never wanted to leave her hometown, but five years into our marriage, Mike felt the call to be a pastor. With a three-year-old in tow, we left our hometown to attend Lancaster Bible College. Thirteen years and four (more) kids later, we set off for our first field with Village Missions in upstate New York as missionary pastor, wife, and family. We served five churches in 12 years, and then God led Mike into a discipleship ministry for men recovering from addictions at Huntersfield Christian Training Center. He helped them learn the carpentry trade and find their niche to help support themselves and their families. During our time there, Kim worked as a secretary for the local lawyer. Mike has been a carpenter for over 40 years, and even as a pastor, he has used those skills.
We had always thought we’d do construction mission work traveling in our camper AFTER we retired. Yet, here we are in our 50’s raising support to go full-time with CWCf. We started living full-time in our 2010 Keystone Cougar fifth wheel a little over a year ago. It has been quite an adjustment! We grew up camping, so one would think transitioning to living in a camper would be easy. It is, but it isn’t.
We have volunteered at four different projects with CWCf so far. Two years ago, we went to Rendezvous to check out the ministry and helped at New Life Ranch in Oklahoma while we were there. Last winter, we went south and served at Camp Victory in Alabama where Mike enclosed an open horse barn and work on adding bathrooms to a girls’ cabin with the help of other RV’ers. From there we went to Camp Gilead in Florida and Mike helped put on a sheet metal roof, put siding on one of the lodges, and installed flooring in a staff house. This summer, we are at Camp Pinnacle in upstate New York helping with maintenance and small carpentry projects. Mike is excited to finally renovate a large cupola that has needed repairs for years. He was also able to help with four weeks of motorcycle camp.
What does Kim do? She has helped with painting, some office work, and lots of housekeeping. Kim is also the Administrative Assistant for CWCf’s Board and tries to keep things in order “in the cloud.” She also helps to plan the Board Retreat each year.
We look forward to when we can be full-time construction missionaries. We are at 83% of our support. We need $650/month yet to reach 93% where someone has committed to getting us to 100% support. In the meantime, we volunteer when we can, and Mike picks up carpentry jobs to supplement our savings account so we can go to the next project. We are excited to be part of this ministry and invite you to partner with us and/or become an RV’er for Christ yourself.
Hope to see you down the road with hammer in hand!”
Nomads for Christ 