In the months since I shared our first newsletter thanking you for your support of Word and Spirit, we have been blessed to travel to Orlando, Asheville, and Panama. We have also been home in Louisville, where Tim taught two separate courses for YWAM Louisville.
It is an honor to have the ability to travel and teach young men and women who are hungry to grow in their ability to communicate the most important message more effectively. I am blessed that my job has allowed me to work remotely while Tim teaches, and I have had the privilege of working from various locations while experiencing such gracious and generous hospitality.
Teaching students at YWAM Asheville
Remarkable Encounters
A Military Base, a Drama, and Thirty Years of Ministry
While in Panama, Tim had two remarkable encounters. During his own YWAM outreach 35 years ago in El Salvador, his team performed a gospel drama called “Toymaker and Son” inside a military base. What he learned while in Panama was extraordinary: an officer who witnessed that performance came to Christ that day. That officer followed the Lord into ministry and has faithfully served as a pastor for many years now. A Bible study that was started at the same time continues to this day! We never know what impact we are making in the moment. Perhaps not until eternity will we fully know what God has done, so keep on serving!
A Reunion on the Amazon
During our time in Panama, Tim reconnected with a leader from Colombia named Jaime, a friend he had not seen in three decades. Jaime told us a story that moved us deeply. He told of teaching 50 pastors in a remote area in the Amazon. When he asked the pastors to hold up their Bibles, only one person responded. He then learned that this pastor was the only one who owned a Bible! Since then, he has dedicated himself to equipping pastors in the Amazon with their own Bibles and solid biblical training. He invited Tim to join him in a pastor’s conference in the Amazon next year.
Students and leaders at YWAM Asheville
Tim & Marlene in Panama City, Panama at the Americas Conference
Upcoming Travel & Ministry Engagements
Five YWAM bases have expressed interest in having Tim come teach, and a number of other doors have opened as well. We are grateful for each opportunity and ask for your prayers as Tim prepares for each context.
LOCATION / MINISTRY
ROLE / TYPE
5 YWAM Bases
Teaching & Ministry
Amazon, Colombia
Indigenous Pastors’ Conference
Christ the King, Pinecrest Family Camp, MO
Ministry
Mumbai, India — Seminary
Teaching Opportunity
Equipping students in the School of Transformational Leadership in Orlando, Florida
YWAM Louisville
Praying before teaching at YWAM Asheville
How You Can Partner With Us
HOW TO PRAY WITH USPray for open doors across all five YWAM bases and for Tim’s preparation for each ministry context.Pray for the Amazon pastors’ conference in Colombia and the indigenous communities Jaime serves.Pray for Tim’s visa process for India and for the men training for pastoral ministry in an increasingly hostile environment.
Financial Partnership
Word & Spirit Collective is made possible by friends and partners who invest financially in this mission. Thank you to those who are supporting us!
If you feel led to help make this travel possible and support the work of equipping the Body of Christ, we would be so thankful.
Personal Note from Tim
It is hard for me to fully communicate just how much joy we have experienced as we have traveled and invested in this generation of young people. Contrary to what you hear in the media, God is doing something extraordinary in this generation. We have seen it up close and personally and are thrilled to have even a small part in it. We are so excited for the ministry opportunities that the future holds. Thank you so much for partnering with us for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. May the Lord bless you back many times over!
I also want to share that this season of serving as Teaching Pastor at New Life Church feels very much like a new chapter, one that the Lord has graciously opened for us. For years as a Senior Pastor, the demands of leading a local church simply did not allow the margin to travel and teach beyond our own congregation. This new role at New Life has opened a door I did not expect: the opportunity to speak into the lives of coming generations — young men and women hungry for the Word and for a faith that holds. That is something that fills me with genuine joy. I am so happy for what God is doing through this chapter, and we receive it with open and grateful hands.
With Grateful Hearts
We are humbled by your love and partnership. We do not take that lightly. Thank you for believing in this calling alongside us.
