So this happened...

So some background. 
1. Holden's tooth has been hanging by a... what ever teeth hang by
2. Courtney was out for the night so I wasn't particularly wanting to pull it with out
3. Turner was my DP

At which point he tells me, "its not ready yet, see I can get my fingers under the tooth, *grasps his tooth and looks like he is really getting in there* see?" 

Then pop!

117 Days

Yesterday marked 117 days since our first support-raising meeting. And that was how long it took for me to become discouraged for the first time.

I had been really excited the previous day to learn we had a car provided for us in Indo (yay!!), but when Ryan and I sat down to re-do the budget yesterday, I basically just shut down. We had to move numbers around and I just became overwhelmed with the utter bigness of it all. I huffed, puffed, said short words to Ryan, and declared my hatred of money and finances.

But then.

This morning I sleepily and somewhat dutifully sat down to my coffee and Bible. I've been reading a chapter a day in Isaiah this month. (Warning: the first half of that book is pretty much doom and gloom.) But today I sat down to unveil these gems from Isaiah 26:

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, 
all whose thoughts are fixed upon you! 
Trust in the Lord always, 
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. 

For those who are righteous, 
the way is not steep and rough. 
You are a God who does what is right, 
and you smooth out the path ahead of them. 

Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; 
our heart's desire is to glorify your name. 

Lord, you will grant us peace; 
all we have accomplished is really from you."

Such rich comfort from those words. My path will not be steep and rough, but smooth as long as my thoughts are fixed on the Lord. PLUS, I'm accomplishing nothing anyway; it's all God's doing. And He can just keep on doing all the hard stuff while I simply listen and obey.

Good News! Sorta

A family that was on the team in Indonesia is leaving early, 

but they gave their car to the team, so we won't need to raise funds for a car anymore. Wahoo! With that in mind we are moving some of our budget around and have updated these nifty little things.

We are shooting for $62311.43 in one time costs and $3460.22 in monthly costs. Wanna see me break it down?

wait... here are the right ones

Monthly

 One-Time

Would you like to see this thermometer burst? Click here for a direct link to online giving. If you choose to use a credit card be aware that 3% of your gift goes to the credit card people. Feel free to just bank draft it!

How is the Support Raising going?

We are so excited to have been able to raise this much in such a short period of time. 

Monthly Raised includes any pledged amounts.

Would you like to see this thermometer burst? Click here for a direct link to online giving. If you choose to use a credit card be aware that 3% of your gift goes to the credit card people. Feel free to just bank draft it!

What will you do?

We have a few main platforms that Courtney and I will be involved with while in Indo.

1.            We take Bible stories and animate them.  These animations could then be used online, in Sunday Schools, Christian Schools and/or in family devotions. Many stories have been animated before, but almost all are locked down with copyrights, and very few publishers have a view beyond the English speaking world. These animations would be done initially in English, Indonesian, Mandarin and Mongolian with a plan for more languages to follow.
2.            We are in the midst of developing an app that will house these animations, as well as games and learning tools for studying the Bible. The focus is getting these apps translated into as many languages as possible.
3.            Synthesize and animate the life calling of Christians in a way that makes the ideas more easily understandable.
4.             Create evangelism tools to help people share the Gospel, in a more contextual way, with people from other cultures.

These projects are strategic in their content and audience. The languages we are working with first cover most of the population of the world.

“Life inside the Circle.”

Inside the circle there are more people than in the rest of the world. Add to that fact that there exists one of the largest populations of kids 4-14 years old. ADD TO THAT fact there exist more users of Facebook (really any social media) in that area than anywhere else. Did you know that Indonesia is the 3^rd largest user of Facebook in the world?

Sometimes it’s easier to see than to imagine…

 I love info graphics…

Some links to our websites.

http://www.explained.tv/category/language/english/

http://vimeo.com/clarioncreative

http://www.creationtochristvideo.com/

Let's Get a Move On

Have questions?  Here are some answers.

Why in the world are you moving to Indonesia?   So glad you asked!  Our family felt led to move to Waco, TX in 2010 to  attend a discipleship training school here at Antioch Community  Church.  We felt sure we would eventually go onto the mission field.   While we only intended to stay in Waco for 18 months, God had other  plans! Two years ago, we spent time in Indonesia.  We met wonderful families  and became acquainted with a media ministry called Antiokhia Media.   This team exists to disciple the nations through media that educates,  equips, and empowers.  We were immediately intrigued (having both  majored in media production!), and felt our hearts being drawn to this  ministry for the first time. Wait, weren’t you guys adopting? Yes, we have been pursuing domestic adoption for the last two years.  This past summer, we hit multiple roadblocks in that process and it felt like God was really closing that door for right now.  Simultaneously, the Lord seemed to be highlighting Indonesia in many ways (13, to be exact) that seemed like more than just coincidence!

So we're moving to Indonesia!  We are making a two-year commitment, and will re-evaluate our next step at that point.  We feel like God has lined up our giftings, trainings, life-experiences, personalities, and desires for such a time as this.  Our purpose at Antiokhia Media will be to develop media content, mostly geared toward kids, to be used as discipleship and evangelism tools.  These apps, videos, etc. are used by short-term and full-time missionaries, and help bring missions into the context of our current, technologically-advanced world. How will we get there? YOU!  Would you prayerfully consider being a key partner in making this happen?  As a supporter, you would be part of our team and helping make an eternal impact on Indonesia and nations all over the world.  We would be so blessed by your prayer support!  Please pray for: Peace while moving-for Ryan and Courtney, and for the boys. Easy transition into a new country, new jobs, new schools, new house, new everything! Full funding to be provided miraculously quickly! Did you know that it's crazy expensive to move to the other side of the world?  Here are our financial needs: $54,080 in one-time expenses (Plane tickets, shipping, school tuition, housing, visas, taxes, etc.). $4,506/month in pledged support for the two years we're there. Would you prayerfully consider being a monthly supporter or one-time contributor to our initial expenses?  Click here for a direct link to online giving. Support checks can be made out to AMI with "McCormicks" in the Memo. Please mail support checks to: Antioch Ministries International 505 N. 20th Street Waco, TX 76707 Or if you'd like to set up a monthly bank draft, contact me at Courtney@quikmail.org and we'll get that up and running for you! *Your gift to AMI is tax deductible. Donations are solicited with the understanding that AMI has complete discretion and control over all donated funds. In practice AMI implements donor instructions whenever possible.

We're packing our bags and we're moving to the circle.