Browsing articles from "June, 2014"

2013 Year in Review

Jun 1, 2014   //   by carla estell   //   News  //  No Comments

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.

First loop tour from our new home in Michigan

Jun 1, 2014   //   by carla estell   //   News  //  No Comments

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.