Category: Homeschool Conferences

We are at a beautiful camp in Mexico having a wonderful time!!

Here is my dad speaking last night on having family ministry.

The missionary doing simultaneous translation

The camp continues until Monday. Please pray for the Lord’s blessing on this time, for good weather (people are in tents and there has been a forecast for rain), for good fellowship even through translators, and for much lasting fruit!

We had a great time in Texas. Here are a few highlights.

We were blessed to be able to have a little part in a documentary that is being made for girls ages 11-16 on guarding your heart. I really enjoyed getting to know Maddie Crawford (right), who is heading up the project. John Clay Burnnet (center), the cinematographer who filmed Captivated is working with her, and her brother Jonathan (left) is helping. I am excited about their project!

We had a few free days in TX that we spent with the Martins. Here Dr. Martin is witnessing to the waiter at a restaurant. I love gleaning from the Martin’s wisdom and non-stop ministry lifestyle. Some of the highlights of our time with them for me were hearing their little miracle stories of God’s protection/provision, brainstorming about some future conference ideas, and listening to Mr. Martin read 2 Thessalonians and expound on it after meals.

We enjoyed a big meal at Lalo and Dara Gunther’s house. Lalo works for ICR and has been especially focusing his energies into expanding Your Origins Matter. After dinner, Lalo asked my dad to share a devotional. My dad shared from a study he’s been doing recently on boldness. He shared 26 major sources of boldness that God gives to His children. For example, Proverbs 28:1 says, “the righteous are bold as a lion.” Our righteousness (being cleansed in Christ and having a good conscience with men) is one of the sources that gives us lion-like boldness.

Our friends Haley and Natalie were a huge help to us at the booth at the Arlington book fair – one of the larger school conferences in the country.

Natalie and Haley, along with our friend Megan, lead a Bright Lights group in TX of about 70 girls, and we really appreciate all they’re doing to host our upcoming Bright Lights Conferences in the Dallas area this July!

Well … it’s that time of year again! We are actually only doing three home school conferences this year. This week we are doing two conferences in Oklahoma and one next week in Texas. Thanks to Stephen’s ingenious idea of using labeled green bins, we are staying much more organized. [smile]

Multi-functioning box cutter

The conference in Tulsa was Tuesday and Wednesday and it went well! Lots of significant conversations with people.

We ran into our friends, the Kwon family. We first met them at a Bright Lights conference in Omaha. Since that time, Nawon, their oldest daughter (20 yrs old) has run two Purity Conferences in Korea! The Lord has given her a heart for girls in Korea and it’s so exciting to see how He has blessed her initiative!

Avery and Abby, two girls I met at the conference yesterday, are excited about doing more witnessing! They are such a great age to be sharing the gospel with people – I was so glad to see that Lord was putting that desire in their heart.

Last night we had a nice relaxing time eating dinner with the Wilsons (aka Family Man Ministries…) At our kids end of the table we were discussing things like, “So what was the most common question you got asked at your booth?”, life on the road, the adventures of breaking down with vehicle trouble, brainstorming a few future ministry ideas, etc.

Today we set up again in Oklahoma City and the conference here starts tomorrow. Please pray that there would be fruitful ministry with families here.

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13

The book is at the printer now and we are very grateful to be finished. I definitely have a fresh awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness to help us do what He gives us to do! Recently I have been thinking about how the Lord is not only a “Beginner” but a “Finisher” of what He calls us to do. “In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever. Selah.” (Psalm 44:8)

We had seven home school conferences scheduled for this spring. At this point, we have five down and two to go. We have six Bright Lights conferences planned for the summer (in three locations: Texas, Kansas, Iowa) and I will be announcing those soon.

For now, here’s a little glimpse of what setting up the booth at a homeschool conference is like (3-4 hours sped up to 2 minutes). This set up was in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

Girls we met at the conference last weekend

This past weekend was very full of activity at the home school conference here in South Carolina. We were giving some new sessions, which always makes everything busier … in a good way … though it is extra pressure. However, we definitely saw the Lord answering prayers, and have lots to praise Him for.

Our temporary office

Our family will be at another conference down here next weekend, so in between we’re taking advantage of some quiet days at our hotel to get some work done! The lobby has been very quiet, which has been great. Exactly what we needed. Sarah has been helping me edit chapters and we are excited to be releasing this book really soon now …

From what we hear, Bekah and Nickie have been very busy keeping up with everything at the office while we’re gone and we are very grateful for them!

Also, we are excited that on St Patrick’s day in our town, Nickie and several friends went witnessing and got into a lot of good witnessing conversations and passed out tracts. See pictures on the Edward’s family blog here.

We just added 2,739 miles to our van and had a very nice trip to New Hampshire.

Home school conferences usually mean lots of cute little kids.

Stephen and a new friend. After we gave a presentation on “family ministry,” several families shared with us about the ministries the Lord had already given them. It was very encouraging to see the “ministry mindset” many of the families there had.

One evening my parents wanted to go to the Red Arrow Cafe downtown Manchester. The rest of us weren’t so sure, but we liked it so much we went back a second time. (Actually, Stephen went back three times, haha) The food was SO good and the atmosphere was a lot of fun too. (Very friendly!) Apparently it’s quite famous and it’s open 24/7, 365 days a year.

My dad wanted to get into a conversation with the men next to him, so he asked them what they normally order for dessert. When He told them we were in town for a home school conference, they said they were lobbying for home schooling and other educational issues in New Hampshire (though they hadn’t heard about the conference going on). Both were glad to meet each other and they had a great talk. I think our waiter (right) was a little intrigued by it all.

On the way home at this hotel breakfast my dad made friends with a Chinese man. He was working on his laptop downstairs while his wife and 2-yr-old boy were still sleeping. Dad told him how we were here for a home school conference, which led to talking about Christianity. He said he’s been going to church with his wife for the past 3 years or so. Upon finding out he was a lawyer, my dad explained how what happened on the cross was a judicial transaction because God is a just God. Later, the Chinese man introduced us to his wife and little boy. They were so friendly, and it was fun to meet them.

When we leave on a trip we never know what adventures or blessings God has prepared…but we do know that when it’s all over what really matters is the people we crossed paths with and the way we interacted with them. People are eternal, things are not. May God give us grace to keep our heart set on loving Him and loving people as foremost priority in our lives.

Another home school conference!

Thursday night we ate dinner at Lalo and Dara Gunther’s house with the Martin family. I’m sure some of you are familiar with Jobe Martin’s ministry or their DVD’s — Incredible Creatures. We have a lot of respect for their family and have been blessed to get more acquainted with them this past year!

With Lalo (right), his wife Dara (left) and his little daughter, Anna. Lalo works for the Institute for Creation Research. (A Christian organization that is on the “cutting edge” of Creation Science research today. We appreciate their unwavering stand on biblical authority. But they have many enemies in our evolutionary world and could use our prayers!) Lalo used to be a gang member and spent several years in jail. Then he got saved and his life dramactically changed. Over dinner he told me several stories of amazing witnessing adventures he’s had – from witnessing in dark alleys in the worst parts of Dublin, Ireland, to drawing crowds at fairs by organizing impromptu skits with the youth group he led and then boldly proclaiming the gospel to the crowds. Just listening to his stories reminded me of how much we will miss out on in life if we don’t forsake our fears and get into the battle for the Lord. We were talking about how witnessing brings an adrenaline high (one that is much better than rollercoasters 🙂 ). Nothing compares to serving the Lord. (Not suggesting going into back alleys, though…)

Sarah, Stephen and I did a session at the home school book fair called “Preparing Young People for Mighty Works.” We had never done this session together with all three of us before, so we thought it was a little rusty, but we were encouraged by people’s responses. One of the things we were talking about is how we need to be doing God’s work in God’s way–striving for holiness without compromise. As Stephen stated in closing “We think that the church today has replaced the doctrine of separation with the doctrine of relevance. As a result, we have lost our saltiness; we have lost our testimony. In seeking to be culturally relevant, we have become ineffective.” To be mighty for the Lord requires purity and holiness. We are supposed to be different. If we are copying the world or compromising with it we will not be demonstrating Paul’s attitude in 1 Cor 1:20. He did not try to impress the world, but instead he held up the cross of Christ – foolishness and a stumbling block to the world, but the power of God.

Our good friend, Alex, who was a part of the first Bright Lights internship

Saturday night we celebrated Mother’s Day at Pei Wei’s — a favorite restaurant of ours that we go to every once in a while when we can find one. It’s kind of like Panera in regard to prices and ordering, but the food is all Asian (and it’s sooo good).