2010 was another blessed year to be serving in God’s Kingdom. We hope each of you experienced God’s love and blessing in your lives this year. Looking back on our year, it is almost impossible to believe ALL these events happened in just one year!
January began with Bobby attending a conference in Lima, Peru where he was asked to direct the planting of 2000 new churches throughout South America! We were amazed at the magnitude of this task, and humbled to be a part of it. (more later) Here, Bobby also met several ministers who are already planting churches and was inspired by their stories.
The whole family had the opportunity to spend some time in California while Bobby was working hard on his PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary. This was a great time of refreshing as our family was fed the Word and refueled. As only God can do, he divinely connected us with a new church family and we made lifelong friends. This time was especially beneficial for Jonathan & Jordan as they were able to participate in a pre-teen ministry team that helped them to grow by leaps and bounds in their faith. Thank you to the folks at Living Waters Christian Fellowship (Fountain Valley, CA) for pouring into our lives and accepting us as family.
We also had the joy of traveling to many different states to teach and minister at various conferences in both English and Spanish. Spike & Sparkle did LOTS of clown ministry on this “tour”. We ministered in California, Arizona, Texas, Alabama & North Carolina.
Even though the time in the U.S. was a blessing, we were grateful to get back to Ecuador and back to the work there. We hit the ground running by working with a team to build a church in Quito our first week back! Amazingly, Bobby’s appointment to direct church planting in South America was expanded to working with ALL of Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America & Brazil) with the goal of planting 8000 churches by 2020!!! This is definitely a God-sized goal but we are excited to report that ministers are responding to the call and are planting new churches each week.
We have a NEW blessing on the way! In April, Tamitha will give birth to a new little Lynch boy. This will be a big adjustment since the twins just turned 12 this December. The baby will be born in Ecuador, so he will be a dual citizen of both the US and Ecuador. Spike & Sparkle have already added the new one to their clown troupe and given him the name of Speckle (since he’s so tiny). Please join us in praying for a safe delivery & healthy baby.
Jonathan & Jordan are doing well. They just turned 12 but seem to think they are much older than that, of course. They are still attending a Christian school in Ecuador and are in the 7th grade. Many of their courses are taught in English at this school and some of the curriculum is from the US; however, they also have several courses in Spanish so their language skills are incredible. Although Bobby & I can communicate and teach in Spanish, we still take Spanish lessons because there is always so MUCH more to learn. In fact, the kids often become our teachers because they are learning the language faster and end up correcting us.
We had a unique experience in September as there was a political coop in Ecuador. A faction of the police actually attempted to hold the President hostage and make way for a political overthrow. They were unsuccessful and the situation quickly remedied, but it made for a wild few days. During this time we had to remain at home and on high security alert. Thankfully, things were very calm in our neighborhood.
There are many more exciting opportunities coming up for 2011. We will continue working in the church planting initiative, which requires more traveling to the various countries. Also, we are working with our local church in Ecuador to start a teen ministry team who will be learning to do puppets, clowns, drama, teaching etc. We would love for you to come and visit and see firsthand what God is doing.
People often ask us about our fundraising. Even though we are career missionaries appointed by the Church of God, we are responsible for raising all our salary plus project expenses. We cherish those who God calls to partner with us and are grateful for everyone who helps to keep us doing the ministry. Please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially and continue covering our ministry with prayer.
In Christ,
Bobby, Tamitha, Jonathan, Jordan & Baby J 😉
2010 was another blessed year to be serving in God’s Kingdom. We hope each of you experienced God’s love and blessing in your lives this year. Looking back on our year, it is almost impossible to believe ALL these events happened in just one year!