Our recent communications are below for your reading pleasure.
July 2010 - Travel Update
That's our new home - she's a Big Red Bus! We are officially off and
running! We pulled out of Tucson on June 30 and began this new adventure.
Buying a Bus
On May 30th Joe and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary by buying a
sparkling red 1996 Prevost Motorcoach. Just a few days earlier we had
moved out of our house, and now we had a new project. This bus needed the
"Atkinson" touch. We spent the month of June remodeling our new home.
Thanks to all of you who lended a hand, donated furniture and oil changes,
and most of all, encouraged us.
Investing Your Talents in Guatemala
In June, Joe traveled to Guatemala to visit with the Centro Cristiano
Cultural de Guatemala and discuss their plans to become Investing Your
Talents' first project. He had an excellent experience and is anxious to
begin working with the wonderful people he met there. Their plans to start
an automotive repair business are moving forward and additional funds are
needed to get it started. Read more about IYT's Guatemala project and what
needs to be done on our website: www.investingyourtalents.org.
Joe's work with IYT continues to be an exercise in faith. This is new
territory for us, and we are so grateful to be working with such a great
ministry. We are trusting God to provide for our daily needs and to provide
for every aspect of the ministry. So far we have been amazed at how He has
provided for us! For example, we were all set to leave Tucson, and our
radiator was broke. It was going to be over $1500 to repair it. That same
day a relative that we barely know called to ask about making a donation to
help us. How God provides! We were stunned and humbled.
We are still in the process of raising monthly support for our family. If
you are interested in joining the ministry of IYT in this way, you can
donate online by visiting IYT's website at
www.investingyourtalents.org/give or by sending a check to: Investing
Your Talents, 141 E. Main Street, Rock Hill, SC,
29730. To support us, please indicate "Executive Director-Atkinson" in the
memo line.
Saying Good-Bye
We also spent a lot of time in June saying good-bye to family and friends.
Although we plan to be away from Tucson for only a year, it is difficult to
imagine daily life without them. We are praying that this trip will
strengthen our family, give us opportunities to share the Gospel, and help us
develop the ministry of IYT. There are so many opportunities for people to
be involved with missions, and we hope to share the many opportunities that
IYT offers with as many people as we can. We are really looking forward to
seeing many old friends along our journey and reconnecting with many we have
lost touch with. So, if you have not heard from us in a while, don't be
surprised if you get a call or a Facebook message!
-Travel Plan-
Our route so far has taken us to California where we visited some of Tina's
family, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and the Redwood Forest. We
are now heading into Oregon and Washington and will be returning to Arizona
for a few days in late August.
Visit our travel blog at www.atkinsonadventure.weebly.com
where Tina and Emily are doing their best to keep it up to date. Emily has
her own page, and the Bus has its own page too with pictures and additional
commentary.
After our visit to Tucson, we will be heading out again, this time toward
the east. Please email us at joe@investingyourtalents.org
or call us at (520) 730-9828 if you have any questions about IYT or just
want to get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you!
We'd love to hear from you! Please reply to this email and let us know how
you're doing!
We love you!
- Joe, Tina, Emily and Max
God has given everyone a talent.
What are you doing with yours?
Matt 25:21
running! We pulled out of Tucson on June 30 and began this new adventure.
Buying a Bus
On May 30th Joe and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary by buying a
sparkling red 1996 Prevost Motorcoach. Just a few days earlier we had
moved out of our house, and now we had a new project. This bus needed the
"Atkinson" touch. We spent the month of June remodeling our new home.
Thanks to all of you who lended a hand, donated furniture and oil changes,
and most of all, encouraged us.
Investing Your Talents in Guatemala
In June, Joe traveled to Guatemala to visit with the Centro Cristiano
Cultural de Guatemala and discuss their plans to become Investing Your
Talents' first project. He had an excellent experience and is anxious to
begin working with the wonderful people he met there. Their plans to start
an automotive repair business are moving forward and additional funds are
needed to get it started. Read more about IYT's Guatemala project and what
needs to be done on our website: www.investingyourtalents.org.
Joe's work with IYT continues to be an exercise in faith. This is new
territory for us, and we are so grateful to be working with such a great
ministry. We are trusting God to provide for our daily needs and to provide
for every aspect of the ministry. So far we have been amazed at how He has
provided for us! For example, we were all set to leave Tucson, and our
radiator was broke. It was going to be over $1500 to repair it. That same
day a relative that we barely know called to ask about making a donation to
help us. How God provides! We were stunned and humbled.
We are still in the process of raising monthly support for our family. If
you are interested in joining the ministry of IYT in this way, you can
donate online by visiting IYT's website at
www.investingyourtalents.org/give or by sending a check to: Investing
Your Talents, 141 E. Main Street, Rock Hill, SC,
29730. To support us, please indicate "Executive Director-Atkinson" in the
memo line.
Saying Good-Bye
We also spent a lot of time in June saying good-bye to family and friends.
Although we plan to be away from Tucson for only a year, it is difficult to
imagine daily life without them. We are praying that this trip will
strengthen our family, give us opportunities to share the Gospel, and help us
develop the ministry of IYT. There are so many opportunities for people to
be involved with missions, and we hope to share the many opportunities that
IYT offers with as many people as we can. We are really looking forward to
seeing many old friends along our journey and reconnecting with many we have
lost touch with. So, if you have not heard from us in a while, don't be
surprised if you get a call or a Facebook message!
-Travel Plan-
Our route so far has taken us to California where we visited some of Tina's
family, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and the Redwood Forest. We
are now heading into Oregon and Washington and will be returning to Arizona
for a few days in late August.
Visit our travel blog at www.atkinsonadventure.weebly.com
where Tina and Emily are doing their best to keep it up to date. Emily has
her own page, and the Bus has its own page too with pictures and additional
commentary.
After our visit to Tucson, we will be heading out again, this time toward
the east. Please email us at joe@investingyourtalents.org
or call us at (520) 730-9828 if you have any questions about IYT or just
want to get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you!
We'd love to hear from you! Please reply to this email and let us know how
you're doing!
We love you!
- Joe, Tina, Emily and Max
God has given everyone a talent.
What are you doing with yours?
Matt 25:21
April 2010 - Our First Newsletter Goes Out
Rumor has it...
Usually people don’t like to start a conversation this way, but in our case, we don’t mind at all. It means you have probably heard that something is “up” with the Atkinsons, and it saves us the look of shock that inevitably comes across the faces of those that have no idea!
We entered the new year with “Begin again in 2010” in our minds, and it has never been more meaningful. We believe that God has been working a plan in our lives over the past few years, calling us to work full time in ministry. Some of you have not been shocked by this, which is somewhat reaffirming for us. So after much prayer and contemplation we are making some changes and embarking on our biggest adventure yet!
As 2009 came to a close, so did 37 years of Atkinson cabinets. As we sold off the final pieces of equipment last week, it was bittersweet. How thankful we are for a legacy of hard work and faithfulness that was handed down to us by the Atkinson family! We are so grateful for parents that love and support us in all that we do.
Investing Your TalentsThrough a good friend, Joe learned about a non-profit organization called Investing Your Talents (IYT). IYT aims to help start businesses in other countries to assist low-income communities while generating revenue for ministry. This “business as missions” model enables a ministry to reduce their reliance on North American funding, and is crucial to the success of foreign mission work in today’s economy. See our website at http://investingyourtalents.orgAs Executive Director of IYT, Joe will be seeking out donors, matching business needs with resources, and recruiting business mentors, We see this as a great opportunity that will combine our business expertise and ministry experience to help advance the Kingdom.
What's Next?
Over the next year we’ll be taking some short term trips to evaluate potential projects in addition to traveling around the US to make connections with people who are interested in getting involved with IYT as donors, mentors, and prayer supporters. To make this work for our family we’ll be home-schooling Emily and Max beginning in September so we can travel together. We pray that God will use this time to draw us closer to Him and to each other. We are selling our house and will hopefully close escrow in May, but Tucson, with all of our extended family and friends, will continue to be our home base.
Join Us!
Please join us in thanking and praising God for this amazing opportunity. Email us at joe@investingyourtalents.org or call us at (520) 730-9828 if you’d like to hear more about IYT and how you can get involved. We are starting our work with IYT relying on God's provision for our family, and we would be so encouraged by your support of our ministry, To donate, please follow this link: www.investingyourtalents.org/give.html
We’ll be keeping in touch through newsletters and a blog, so look for more updates from us!
Joe, Tina, Emily and Max
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" Matt 6:20
Usually people don’t like to start a conversation this way, but in our case, we don’t mind at all. It means you have probably heard that something is “up” with the Atkinsons, and it saves us the look of shock that inevitably comes across the faces of those that have no idea!
We entered the new year with “Begin again in 2010” in our minds, and it has never been more meaningful. We believe that God has been working a plan in our lives over the past few years, calling us to work full time in ministry. Some of you have not been shocked by this, which is somewhat reaffirming for us. So after much prayer and contemplation we are making some changes and embarking on our biggest adventure yet!
As 2009 came to a close, so did 37 years of Atkinson cabinets. As we sold off the final pieces of equipment last week, it was bittersweet. How thankful we are for a legacy of hard work and faithfulness that was handed down to us by the Atkinson family! We are so grateful for parents that love and support us in all that we do.
Investing Your TalentsThrough a good friend, Joe learned about a non-profit organization called Investing Your Talents (IYT). IYT aims to help start businesses in other countries to assist low-income communities while generating revenue for ministry. This “business as missions” model enables a ministry to reduce their reliance on North American funding, and is crucial to the success of foreign mission work in today’s economy. See our website at http://investingyourtalents.orgAs Executive Director of IYT, Joe will be seeking out donors, matching business needs with resources, and recruiting business mentors, We see this as a great opportunity that will combine our business expertise and ministry experience to help advance the Kingdom.
What's Next?
Over the next year we’ll be taking some short term trips to evaluate potential projects in addition to traveling around the US to make connections with people who are interested in getting involved with IYT as donors, mentors, and prayer supporters. To make this work for our family we’ll be home-schooling Emily and Max beginning in September so we can travel together. We pray that God will use this time to draw us closer to Him and to each other. We are selling our house and will hopefully close escrow in May, but Tucson, with all of our extended family and friends, will continue to be our home base.
Join Us!
Please join us in thanking and praising God for this amazing opportunity. Email us at joe@investingyourtalents.org or call us at (520) 730-9828 if you’d like to hear more about IYT and how you can get involved. We are starting our work with IYT relying on God's provision for our family, and we would be so encouraged by your support of our ministry, To donate, please follow this link: www.investingyourtalents.org/give.html
We’ll be keeping in touch through newsletters and a blog, so look for more updates from us!
Joe, Tina, Emily and Max
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" Matt 6:20
