This post is out of order. It is a quick look into life on the road with six kids in a camper. To read the story from the beginning, scroll to the bottom of the second page.
….Well we are nearing the end of our first loop. It is hard to believe that we have been on the road for 6 months now. And I will admit, although it has been a good trip, I’m getting tired. The hardest part has been when we get ready to leave one place and head off once again to a new destination. The fear of the unknown. But God has always been faithful, He has always supplied our needs. Like the time we were going through Wisconsin and did not have a church lined up, so we asked God to show us where to stop and worship as we headed across the state. We not only came to a church in time for service, the pastor was interested in creation and wanted us to do a seminar the next time we are in the area. They had a covered lunch after service and asked us to stay. While eating someone asked how life went on the road, how I managed to do laundry …. and long story short, we ended up spending not just the afternoon but the night too (camper in their driveway) with our new friends. I got all the laundry done, they took us to tour a corn maze and a dairy farm. The next morning we came back to the farm and toured the cheese factory….. it was a wonderful refreshing stop.
Although we had a lot of car and camper problems in Michigan, it happened at the perfect place, and Ward Sparks was able to help with it all. (He and Elaine were also willing to put us up for the week instead of just the planned night.) I do not remember how much I have already covered in previous letters, but our 2 churches in New York went well. We were pleasantly surprised to find New York to be wooded hills and farmlands. We had a great few days with our neighbors who moved to New Jersey, and helped them to find a church which they are now attending.
We did 2 seminars in Virginia and toured a lot of historical sites. Had a wonderful week with the Childs family in NC and are now with our friends Karen and Steve. We were glad to be here with them as they
renewed their vows after 25 years of marriage. We will be near Knoxville this Wednesday and then head to SC before coming to GA.
Can’t wait to see you all there!
Praise: Hannah now looks at the audience and sings!!! thank you so much for praying about this!!
Praise: Although some days Jonny still throws a fit over reading, the fits are getting fewer and farther between!
Praise: no more van trouble
Praise: things are lining up in GA
Prayer: For our calendar to fill while in Florida
Prayer: wisdom and direction as we line up the next loop, and start to look at where to relocate
Prayer: continued traveling mercies and good health
This blog marks the end of being full time with our creation ministry. If you want to read the story from the beginning, scroll down to the end of the second page and read up.
As of November 2016, Brian is now a full-time employee of Samaritan Ministries International.With the new job we have now moved to Illinois.Although he is now fully employed, we will still be able to carry on the creation ministry – though more part time. For instance, part of his responsibilities at SMI is to be a representative at homeschool conventions across the country.Sometimes Carla will be able to go along and have a creation/educational booth as well; they would also be available to speak at the conventions.Since Conventions end on Saturday, Sunday would be available for seminars before heading for home.In December Brian spoke on creation at a pastor’s conference in Kentucky while also representing SMI at the conference. Also he will have 1 week per year that can be dedicated to mission trips or ministry work. During that week, we hope to annually put together a creation based nature center.Like the one we did at the Springs Camp in Michigan before moving to Illinois (see our nature center page for more info) .So it maybe part-time but we will still take every available opportunity to share the truth of God’s Word through the avenue of creation.
We have settled back into our home routine. School is rapping up for the year; it is so good to see the light at the end of another year completed. Bekah and Hannah spent 2 weeks in south Michigan with my brother (Bekah watched his 3 girls while he was at work and his wife, Lisa, went to Georgia for a week of treatments at a headache clinic) We praise God that Lisa was able to get the help she needed and the 5 cousins had a wonderful 2 weeks together.
James was hired at a local manufacturing plant. He actually had 4 other job offers! This night job Monday-Thursday has lots of variety and there are many new skills that he will be learning.Please pray that he will be a witness and have a godly testimony.
We are about ready for the homeschool convention (May 14-16) It will be a very busy weekend. We will share our “Myth Buster” program Friday night and our “Creation to the Cross” program Saturday morning. We will also be running both the educational and creation booths. We pray we will make many contacts and even line up local seminars for this summer and fall.Added to the weekend Jeremiah will have his 14th birthday on the 15th and Josiah will turn 16 on the 19th.
June 6th will be Bekah’s big day. We will have her graduation ceremony at Cornerstone Bapt.Please pray for her as she finishes school and makes plans for next year.
Bekah’s graduation went very well.It was a day she will always remember.
Rebekah Jean Estell 2015 Graduate
The reception hall was beautiful, all the songs, verses, and speeches went well. We had a wonderful visit with family most of whom stayed a week and were here to also see Hannah and Jeremiah’s baptism. Jame’s summer factory job went very well. He gave his 2 week notice in order to come on the summer loop with us, and they said “When you get back give us a call.” They wanted him back even if only for 3 weeks before leaving again for college.
We had a wonderful week of family camp in Kentucky. I had 40-50 children for 6 hours of teaching and 3 hours of crafts!! Thankfully the heat wave broke and we had cooler weather. Sunday we shared during the 9:30 Sunday school hour at Grace Community Church in Marietta.
It was so good to see so many friends while we were on our 3 week loop. It was a good trip, but it was filled with some mighty hard goodbyes.Our seminar at Grace went very well, thank you all so much for your prayers. We are now safely back at home and hope to stay in Michigan and the surrounding states from now till December. (except for a quick trip to take James and Bekah to college in West Virginia)
This year holds many changes with James and Bekah at College. We will still carry on with the creation seminars – we will just stay local.I am hoping one of our local things will be putting together a creation based nature center or creation room at a school, church or camp. I am so wanting to paint murals and make more ark models,build a larger Mt St Helens model…Our storage room is full of cool fossils just waiting to be put on display… I thought by now we would be settled on our own land building a nature center…. but all in God’s timing. (sidenote- as many of you all know, Brian and I had to wait 8 years before God blessed us with children. There was many a day I thought I would never get to be a Mom. Now I’m glad we had to wait so long- or most of them would all be grown now!
Greetings from the Estell Family,
We hope you all are having a blessed summer, ours has gone way too fast. James and Bekah are ordering books and packing for college. We leave Saturday morning. As we take this leap of faith, I have been reminded of when we left our home in Georgia (5 years ago) with only a few churches in Florida and 2 weeks of camp in Utah on our itinerary. But, God was faithful to fill our schedule as we traveled. Looking back the schedule not only stayed full but every need was met. God even threw in a surprise vacation beyond our wildest dreams – 2 weeks in Hawaii !! Yes, our whole lives has been learning to walk by faith, trusting God to hold our hand, supply our needs, and show the way. Some days I do OK, then there are those in which I frantically dog-paddle. (If you want to read the details of the journey, just keep scrolling on our blog )
We have a few other things going on, which if you think of it, we would appreciate your prayers:
We will be reassigning parts in the seminars now that Bekah and James will be at college
We are starting the process of joining Continental Baptist Mission – mainly they build and plant churches, we will plant creation museums at churches, camps, schools…
And of course school will start back first of Sept. It will be different only having 4 to teach this year.
Itinerary:
Aug 16 Sunday First Baptist Church of Calumet, MI (Sunday School, AM service)
Aug 15-21 Family camp at Gitche Gumee Bible Camp Eagle River, MI (missionary speaker)
Aug 32 Sunday Flat Branch Bapt. Church Arnett, WV (evening service)
Things are beginning to line up for the fall, here is what we have going so far:
Sept 28 Monday Homeschool seminar, creation and educational – math and reading – Lapeer, MI
Oct 11 Sunday Lake Bapt.
God’s blessings were clearly seen this year as He opened door after door of opportunities to share the truth of His Word. He kept us safe as we traveled over 21,000 miles through 22 states including a week tour of New England (as a family we have now been in 48 states – only Alaska and Nevada to go!) Two incredible opportunities were sharing with the retired New Tribe Missionaries in Sanford, FL and sharing with the staff at Samaritan Ministries (The Christian healthcare sharing organization in Peoria, IL.). December was spent in Florida where we not only had several seminars, but were also able to do the Christmas musical with several other homeschooling families.We returned home just in time for a white Christmas. This year we shared at 34 churches, plus various group homes, camps, schools, homeschool groups, and even a public day care. We now have a presentation suitable for public schools. It does not mention God, creation, the world wide flood, or even evolution. It only brings up questions like; “How could horseshoe crabs have been around for millions of years and not changed?” Then we show lots of other examples of living fossils and ask the same question. “Where did all the mud come from which quickly buried the huge dinosaurs before they rotted away?” And, “If the Island of Surtsey formed quickly yet ‘looked old’ after 2 years, how can we know Hawaii is millions of years old?” Anyways you get the idea and so did the kids at the daycare. We are excited about the possibility of sharing at local public schools. We hope that this year we will only do a few loop trips and not be putting quite as many miles on the van. While exploring the Great Lakes area, we’ll focus on local seminars, video and CD projects, and refining our power points.On the home front, James reached a major mile mark as he graduated from high school. For this year he has continued to faithfully help us with the ministry and help Jonny and Hannah with their school. Rebekah has blossomed into a beautiful young lady both inside and out. She is looking forward to getting back into piano lessons and totally enjoying her unabridged copy of Les Miserables. Our travels worked out so that we passed through Georgia on the weekend of the southern ball, so she, James and Josiah were all able to go. Continuing to do well with his studies, Josiah entered high school this year. Jeremiah is into cartooning and is illustrating the phonics books I’m writing. Jonny is now in the 5th grade and is learning to play the ukulele. He has also learned to make stop action videos; what patience he has as he takes a picture then moves the paper ever so slightly and takes another one. Hannah has learned to swim! Not nearly as well as the other five but, she can keep her head above water and get where she needs to go. Bekah has also taught her to crochet. As a family we had many new experiences from shaking trees and collecting pecans in SC, touring a maple syrup factory in NH, making apple cider in Illinois, to sledding here in MI. Homeschooling has been going well, but we are all enjoying our two week break (even if it is too cold to go out and play in the snow. Saturday it is supposed to warm up to 26 !! Maybe we’ll go out then.
Hello everyone, this is Rebekah. I am filling in for mom, since she is in a lot of pain right now. You see she tripped and fell, and then a few days later twisted in a strange way while doing laundry, so now she has a injured back. She has seen a chiropractor, here in Florida, and is on the way to recovery, but we would appreciate your prayers. Before we left Michigan, about four weeks ago, we were able to get almost fully settled into our new home. We even hosted a open house for the members of the church. Our first stop, on our southern loop, was Camp Cedine where dad taught creation science for a week to students between high school and college. Then a quick stop in Georgia, so James, Josiah, and I could attend a southern ball (we had a wonderful time) and then we were off to South Carolina. Our seminars in S.C. went very well, and we had a wonderful time visiting with our friends the McMurrays and Orcutts. The Orcutts showed us how to pick pecans,which was very interesting. Back in Georgia we stayed almost a week with Miss Jean Sparks, who was such a good Hostess we did not want to leave. We visited so many friends in Georgia and had such a good time! During our drive down to FL, mom’s back hurt her so much…again please pray for her! Here in FL we have such a busy schedule. Just last night we had to do a seminar without mom! Josiah and I did her speaking for her. Josiah did a very good job, and apparently I did to because the pastor could not believe it was my first time! I guess that’s what comes from praying a whole lot and hearing it at least a hundred times.
We have so appreciated everyone of you who have been praying for us as we travel, sharing the message of God’s creation. It has been over three years since stepping out in faith and going full time with the ministry God gave to us. God has been so faithful. Someday I would like to write a book of all the doors He opened, the provisions He supplied, and the protection He gave. And now we are about to embark on a new chapter. God has supplied us with a new home! We will still carry on with the ministry. Traveling in loop trips and then spending time at home doing local seminars and perhaps working with area camps to establish God honoring nature centers.
Let me back up a bit in order to tell you how God supplied our new home. First I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been praying for our need to relocate, and to those of you who have been helping us search.
Before heading out on our New York, New England and Michigan loop, we contacted Samaritan Ministry ( the health care organization we have been apart of for 16 years where Christians help Christians with their medical needs). They put a note in their news letter about our loop and about our need to relocate with a new home. The day we left for New York, Brian received a phone call from Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris from Michigan not Texas. He is a deacon at Cornerstone Baptist church in Gladwin, Mi. The secretary at church saw the note. As a church they had been praying about how God would have them use the empty parsonage. They invited us to come up, do a seminar and talk.
Long story made short, the plan is to move in at the end of Sept after we share in NC, ARK, OK, and TX. We will be home for a month then go on a loop to SC and FL returning to Mich in time for Christmas! Then we plan to stay home until the summer.
Please continue to pray as we have one more month on the road and many miles to travel. By the way, we had our first flat tire this weekend. As we pulled into Cleftrock retreat center, we ran over a small chip of a deer’s antler and it punctured our bran new camper tire. On Monday Brian pumped up the tire, covered the “rock” with gorilla tape, and drove down the mount into town where we were able to get it fixed.
Once again, I’ve gotten very behind with the blog. These 7 updates should be read from the last to the first. It was easier to write starting with the present and working back to the winter. So slide down to the heading out of Florida post and work your way up!
June in New York update:
We have had 3 wonderful weeks in New York. We had a real sweet time with the Sweets. Jonny did some woodworking, Bekah got to try her hand on the potterywheel, Brian and I were able to be the guest on the Higherground radio show, we all enjoyed family bike rides (They actually rounded up 8 bikes for the week!)… Our seminar at Victorious Church went very well (please pray for them as the following week the village had flooding including the church basement). Back in March while in SC, we had met the Dates and were invited to stop by if ever in their area. Their house was a perfect half way stop over between churches. What a wonderful stop it was, from hiking and swimming in Lake Ontario, go-cart riding, new friends, even a farris wheel ride – (The Dates put one up in their back yard for the grand-kids!!) Then it was on to western NY and our friends the Worthingtons. Friday’s homeschool seminar went very well as did Sunday’s. Then we had a fun week with them too with fireworks, Letchworth canyon, and then the highlight Niagara Falls and fort. Seeing Niagara was a first for all of us. What an awsome sight.
We are about to pull out now and head an hour south where we will have a week of VBS in the little village of Portageville. It is a small, old church in a depressed town. We will mainly have troubled kids from troubled homes. Please pray that the truth of the gospel will touch their hearts and give them hope and that parents will come Friday night and will be open to the gospel too.
Drive to New York and Tour through New England
We had a rainy but safe 1,000 mile drive to NY. While on the road we received a call from a family on the road to KY who saw our camper “billboard”. We met with them at a rest stop just before our paths separated. I was able to share some homeschooling advice and DVD with the young mom while the kids all had a chance to visit. Come to find out, there was a bad storm ahead of us which stayed ahead of us, since we made that extra stop. The services at Greig went very well, and we were able to spend a wonderful evening with the Weber family (a singing family whom we met in FL).
Yesterday we returned from our 1,000 mile loop through New England. Six states in six days! Josiah is working on getting the pics on youtube. We enjoyed showing the kids where we had spent a year teaching 20some years ago. Chapel went so well at North Stonington. It was great seeing fellow teachers again. It was a lot of driving, but we saw the Portland Light house, Plymouth Rock, White Mtns,(where we were caught in traffic for 3 hours – it was bike week, I’ve never seen so many motorcycles in all my life!) We stayed 3 nights in cabins at Camp Good News in NH, while there we shared at chapel and AM devotions. We went to a country church for father’s day – heard a wonderful message on being content and were asked if we would share that evening! So although only one chapel was on the schedule, we ended up being able to share 4 times! For the next 4 weeks we will be in NY, we are all glad for the break in driving -especially Brian!
As always thank you for your prayers. Please especially be in prayer for our week of VBS.
Estell Family’s Summer Itinerary 2013
Sunday June 9th – Calvary Baptist Greig, NY Sunday school, AM service, PM
Wed. June 12th – North Stonington Christian Acad. Connecticut AM chapels
(June 13th – 18th touring New England)
Sunday June 23rd – Victorious Life Christian Church Fort Plain, NY
Friday June 28th – Homeschool group Warsaw, NY
Sunday June 30th- First Bapt. Warsaw, NY, AM service
Sunday July 7th – Portageville Bapt., NY VBS kickoff
Monday – Friday 6:30-8:30 VBS
Sunday July 14th – First Bapt. Kingsville, Ohio, Sunday school & AM service
Sunday July 21st take part in George Ramsey’s ordination (Carla’s brother)
Sunday July 28th – Howardsville Gospel Chapel, Michigan
Sunday Aug 4th – Three Rivers Bible Church, Michigan AM service
Sunday Aug 11th recently filled – Cornerstone Bapt Church Gladwin, MI AM & PM
Sunday Aug 18th Open
Wed night Aug 21st – Salem Bapt. Dobson, NC
Sunday Aug 25th – Temple Bapt. Mt Airy, NC, Sunday school & AM service
Sunday Sept 1st Open
Wed. night Sept 4th – Harvest Bapt. Yukon, OK
May – Birthdays and Our first graduation
May was a very busy but good month for us with finishing school, celebrating 2 birthdays, a great seminar in Franklin,NC and James’s graduation. His graduation went very well. I’ll soon be putting parts of it on youtube. Thank you to all of you who sent cards and those of you who were able to come. It was wonderful being able to visit with friends and family both in FL and GA, although time was way too short short.
Today we start our 1,000 mile drive to NY. Please pray for us as we drive and for the van as it continues to pull the camper. We have new tires and brakes so should be able to roll (and stop!) The Lord has lined up a full summer for us (it is great having a schedule before heading out. Although, I have learned to trust God to line things up and show us the way as we go.) Thank you so much for all of your prayers.
2 week stay in a missionary house in South Carolina
Presently we are in SC staying at a friend’s missionary house. While Brian has been busy lining up our summer schedule, the kids and I are finishing the book work of homeschooling. I so love coming to the end of another successful year. And this year marks a real landmark for our family – our first graduate. James will graduate on June 1st. We are heading to FL to have the ceremony before heading out to New York.
It seems like yesterday when each Christmas letter told of an expected new baby or the birth of a little one. Now, starting this year and for the next 10 years I’ll be telling about graduations. I think I like the news of a new baby better. But it is quite the accomplishment for both of us, and I am very proud of him.
March — Sharing the story of St. Patrick
It has been amazing to see God opening door after door.Last letter I asked that you would pray for opportunity to share the true story of St. Patrick. Well, Brian has been able to share more than ever before, beginning with the McMurray”s “back yard” (I’ll put that one on YouTube linked with our web site at
stonestruestory.org ), then at a community center dinner, a nursing home, a girls’ home, and last night at a park by the river! Thanks so much for your prayers. Since leaving GA we have also been able to share the creation message at a girls’ camp in SC, and another Mennonite church (both of which opened while we traveled!). Today we head towards Tenn, where we actually have 2 churches scheduled for Palm Sunday – we change the message and focus on the people asking “Who is this man?” as Jesus rides into Jerusalem then go into how He is the Creator who became the Lamb, ending with Him also being the Righteous Judge – thus tying in the Flood. New York and Michigan are lining up for this summer. We actually met a couple this weekend (who live in NY and winter in SC) who have invited us to stop over for a week at their house and they live right along the way between churches! God is truly directing our path. He is also keeping us safe and healthy. Thank you so much for your prayers. Speaking of prayers, a few months back we asked that you pray for a special family request in OK, well, that too has worked out in a miraculous way – I can’t share details except to say God does answer prayers in ways only He could.
Camp Cedine TN
The LORD has been so good to us. This week with the below freezing temperatures, finds us enjoying a heated cabin complete with a kitchen and bath! We are at Camp Cedine in Tenn for the week as Brian teaches at the Bible college. We are all enjoying the beautiful camp setting and getting in a good concentration of schooling. The Creation Fellowship last week in Hickory, NC went very well. We so enjoyed getting to know Steve Lawwell with Echos of Eden and seeing Dan the Animal Man in action. (He actually brought a 7 foot alligator and used it to demonstrate God’s design in nature!) Jeff and Heather Setzer did a great job putting it all together.
As of date, we do not know where God will lead us next. But we have been in this spot so many times before, it is no cause to worry anymore. But, we sure do appreciate all of you who pray for God to open doors. We are planning on being in New York (state not city) in June and then hopefully going up into New England and then Michigan in July.
We are still praying that God will lead us to our new home. 8 in a camper gets a bit crowded at times, but we are all doing fine.
Heading out again after a month in Florida
Today we embark on another mission loop. We have been sharing the creation message here in Florida for over a month. We’ve been able to visit with family and friends, had a very nice Christmas and have enjoyed some great – if not hot weather. While here we have also been able to make some new power point presentations and catch up on some book keeping work. I sorted all our email contacts into groups discovering many of you that have not been receiving our updates. As I neared completion of the massive project something happened and I deleted all the contacts…..so, thanks to the trash I was able to retrieve the addresses but not as sorted groups.
It would be so helpful if you would reply to this email and let me know if you want to receive the monthly updates and also tell me what state you are from and if you are a pastor, what church you pastor, Thank you so much. By the way we are switching to this gmail address.
Please pray for us as we travel to SC today and then on to NC next week. And please pray that I’ll be able to get these emails all sorted out again.
One last thought, in this age of hacking, we want you to know we do not ask for money – even in an emergency (God has been so faithful to supply all our needs).
Sept 10th The Lord has blessed us with a very full summer of ministry. We are now into our last week here in Florida. We have a busy weekend coming up with a youth group on Sat. and 2 churches on Sunday. Then Lord willing we will be pulling out Monday morning. We had been planning another trip out to CA, but that will have to wait till next year, as we have a full slate of churches lined up in SC, NC and VA for this fall. Sept 29th,
We head out in a few minutes (when the laundry finishes) and have a very full schedule starting with 2 churches tomorrow in Lawrence SC. We have 15 scheduled seminars for the month of Oct. (all in SC) Please pray for strength, cooperation among the children, health for everyone, but mostly that people will be strengthened in their faith and lives will be committed to following God. We have an opportunity to share at a boy’s camp Oct 9th – please especially pray for the boys there.
As we head out our resource box is full with 70 labeled DVDs (Thanks to Grace church and Doneine’s help) and 100 dino DVDs are on there way. Plus we have lots of booklets and tracts to give away.
We have Oct 24 – Nov 4 not scheduled (which may be a good break) but we are also available for whatever God may open as we travel.
Also we are actively looking for our new home, so please continue to pray for God’s leading in the search.
Homeschooling has been going pretty well (some days better then others) but we’ve had some breakthroughs – Jonny has learned his multiplication tables!! and learned how to study his spelling words! reading is still slow – but he can do it now. Please pray that we can keep the momentum going as our schedule gets very busy.
Oct 18th,
Since leaving Ga on Sept 29, we have shared at 4 Mennonite schools, 7 churches, and 1 boys camp! This weekend will be busy with chapel in the morning then 4 programs over the weekend. Then we will be headed down to Orangeburg, SC where we have been asked to share at a Methodist college. (that will be a first.) This has been the busiest month of our ministry, and we praise God for all the opportunities.
On the home front, school has been going well, the van has had no problems, and other than that night with Jerry, everyone has been healthy. One of our host families (which quickly became good friends) happened to also be a dentist. We had checkups all around – and praise the Lord only Brian had major cavity needing filling.
Here is what is left on our itinerary:
Friday – Cornerstone Chirstian Acad. then that night at Crooked Run Baptist
Sat night also at Crooked Run
Sun Am still at Crooked Run Then PM at a community Church
Wed and Thur Southern Methodist College
2 weeks open
Nov 7 Salem Bapt in Dobson, NC
Nov 11 Victory Bapt. Virgina Beach, VA
Nov 14 Church of God South Hill, VA
After which I hope we move into our new home – Nov 10th will mark 1 and 1/2 years on the road with over 29,000 miles.
Mid Jan will see us back in FL again with a weekend family camp. Please pray for our continued safety and contentment as we wait on God’s timing. Although we have looked at a few houses, we still do not have peace about where God would have us relocate.
