Hello, my friends!

I’m really looking forward to working with you soon! Here is an overview of what we’ll be doing the week that you’re with me.

Morning Sessions

The teams will arrive at First Baptist Church Doraville at 10 AM. The address is 5935 New Peachtree, Doraville, Georgia, 30340. We will meet in the fellowship hall, which is the downstairs part of building B.  I’ll meet you in the parking lot.

Our morning sessions start with a singing time. You’ll learn some new songs from other countries and that I’ve written. It’s a great time to get excited about Jesus! All four days have this singing time when we first get together.

Most teams spend four days with me. The first day is an overview of what to expect and includes a detailed instruction of what to do when you’re at the missions.

The second day is a study of Buddhism and Hinduism.

Our third day we discuss how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam relates.

The fourth day we’ll talk about cultural Catholicism in particular how it’s practiced in Mexico.

All four days have the study time about other cultures and religions. At the end of the study time together, we’ll have a prayer time together.  My goal is that this will be the most powerful and personal experience of prayer you have ever had!

After our prayer time, we will go to eat at an international restaurant. The first day we will eat at the Buford Highway Farmers Market. The second day we will eat at Pho 24, which is a Vietnamese restaurant.  The third day we will eat at Hibachi grill, which is one of the largest buffets in Atlanta. Depending on the size of the teams, we might eat at Al Madina, which is like being in Jerusalem instead of the Hibachi Grill. And the fourth day we will eat at Taco Veloz. These food places may change because of the amount of people that are with your team or special circumstances such as the restaurant not being able to handle too many people. Normally, you should budget around $12-$15 for lunch.

Speaking of food, we eat together for lunch because normally that is cheaper for the teams. Just have something light for breakfast. Most teams do pizza or spaghetti or something that is cheaper that they could cook for supper. The kitchen at First Baptist Church in Doraville is available for the teams to cook if you’d like to do that. Normally, the teams will give a love offering to the church to help cover heating or cooling if they are spending extra time at the church cooking. And of course, the teams help me clean up after you’re done.

If you do not have the funds for eating lunch together, just bring your sack lunch. We’ll still eat together, but you can get a drink or something. The restaurants aren’t uptight about eating there as long as you get a little something.

After we eat, on the first day we will tour the Buford Highway Farmers Market. That is our overview day. Every aisle is a different country.

On the second day, we will go see China Town and Asian Square. Those are the centers of the Chinese and Vietnamese population in our area.

On the third day, we will go visit Al Madina, which is like being in the Middle East, we will visit the BAPS Temple, which is the third largest Hindu temple in the world, and depending on the time we will also see Global Mall, which is the largest southeast Asian mall in America. Most that we will see is based on the Hindu and Buddhism introduction that we received on the second day.

On our last day, we will go to Plaza Fiesta, which is one of the largest Hispanic malls in America. We will have a chance to look at Botanicas, which are where Catholics buy their idols.

The Afternoons at the Missions

The apartments where we are working are primarily Guatemalan, Mexican and Honduran. There are also some people from Bangladesh there.

Your team will work at the same apartment all four days. You will have the same children all four days. That means you need to prepare four different sessions. Normally, there are around 25 to 30 kids. Sometimes there are fewer, other days there may be twice that many. But just shoot for 25 to 30 and you should be OK. If you run out of something just remember to give the little kids the stuff first. They’re the ones that will cry if they don’t get anything.

On our first day together, I will explain the best ways to round up the kids. The first 15 minutes or so will be spent knocking on doors, reminding the kids that we’re getting ready to have our time with them. Every day will get easier to round up the kids because they will be expecting you to be there. We can never be too late. We can only be too early so that is why we do not start at the missions till after 3:00 or 3:30 PM. My Dad who worked overseas all his life told me when I started doing ministry in Africa was “throw away your watch.“ This is not a time-centric community. So please don’t be uptight if we’re running late or early just accept that we’re in a foreign country and they’re not worried about the time, even though we may physically be in the United States of America.

There are four sections of the mission work. The first piece is recreation. Those are just simple games that you could do with the kids. Be aware that a few things can be weaponized. I don’t like noodles or bats. It’s just too easy to whack another kid in the head. Simple games like you would play with kids during your Vacation Bible School are fine.

You need to bring everything that you are going to use with you. I will repeat that. You need to bring everything that you need with you. I have had some teams that say they’re going to buy stuff when they get here and I think that’s a mistake. It just puts everybody under more pressure. It takes a lot of time and it’s not completely thought out. So bring your gear with you. Of course if you need extra stuff there is a Walmart and Dollar Tree nearby.

The second piece will be the craft time. Normally, that relates to the Bible story you that will be telling. It should be simple. Most of the kids will be elementary school age and have English as a second language. So every needs to be very clear and easy to understand.

The third section is the Bible story. That is the most important! Please do not bring scripts that you are planning on reading. Just do the best you can to tell the story and don’t worry about if it’s not perfect!

It’s always best to have some type of drama involved with the telling of this story. This is because many times the mothers will be there with us. They don’t speak English very well, if at all. So watching a drama helps them to understand what is going on.

The stories need to be very simple. Just imagine if you were trying to understand someone telling a story in Spanish. Very simple, dramatic and easy to understand stories are always best. I think you’ll be shocked at the words they will not understand. And those aren’t just religious words. There may be basic English words they won’t understand,  especially the little kids.

The last piece will be to serve them a little snack. That usually includes drinks and some kind of dessert. I encourage the teams to go to the Dollar Tree for this stuff. Just get some cheap cookies and some drinks that you can pour into styrofoam cups. I usually get the smaller 8 ounce cups. Ice will be available at the church, but make sure to bring coolers for your mission.

Some of the favorite crafts include making bracelets with beads and bracelets with colored rubber bands. Those are easily available on Amazon.  Different colors of nail polish are also popular. Normally, the favorite recreation stuff involves balls. Long jump ropes are also popular. If you’re not sure what to do it’s  a good idea to talk with your children’s director. They may have some good ideas as well. It does not have to be expensive! Or just act ChatGPT!

After you’ve told the Bible story, we will have a prayer time together with the kids. I’ll explain that in detail on our first day together and have us practice that prayer several times.

Our time at the Mission usually goes from about 3:00 or 3:30 PM to 5:00 or 5:30 PM. Our spring break teams may be able to meet the kids at the bus since they will not be on holiday when y’all come. Most teams stay there for about an hour to an hour and a half. If you want to stay longer, that’s completely up to you! Normally after you give out the snacks, most of the kids will leave.

Again, on our first day together, I’ll go over all of this information again just to make sure that everybody’s clear on what to do. I will be visiting all the missions where we have teams. I generally do not stay with the team during the whole time they are there. However, I am going to be nearby and will have my phone on so if you have a problem, I can come straight over.  I will shoot pictures and video every day.  I will post the pictures at the end of each day and the video at the end of the week.

We are going to have the best day ever! I want you to learn more about different world religions, more about how to share your faith, and how to engage people from different cultures and countries.

This is my 30th year to be working in the International Village. I have lived in six different countries and have traveled in over 27 different countries. I have never seen anything like where I’m going to take you. It is absolutely extraordinary!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me. I pride myself in getting in touch with teams and making this the best mission trip ever.

I can’t wait to see you soon!

Love,

Tim