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TMM History: 1981
The mission was little more than a dream in
the hearts of those who pioneered it when it was beset by an almost fatal
blow. Existing more on paper than actually
carved out of the mountain, the training center known as Mission Ready
was just getting under way. With the initial road barely passable, the
first cabin had been completed, which served as home for the Teasdales and
the place where the first training sessions began. Three young men had
come for practical training in missions and mechanics and three more, two
from the Soviet Union, were due to arrive for training and developing the
new base when an accident at the saw mill nearly ended Paul’s life and
with it the beginnings of a ministry to equip career missionaries.
Betty Lou remembers that day: “Paul was
cutting hickory when the mill malfunctioned. The movable blade housing
broke lose knocking him backwards and then ran over him. The blade almost
severed both his legs across his thighs and cut through his left hand. A
visitor turned off the saw and ran to get me. After we applied
tourniquets to his legs, with God’s help we got him into the truck and as
Paul held his left thigh together with his right hand and pressed his
mangled left hand against his other arm we started the hour-long drive
down the mountain.” Dan (just 12 years old) called ahead to the clinic
and they were waiting and ready to transport Paul by ambulance to the
hospital almost 100 miles away. Paul would lose over four units of blood
and was told if the blade had cut a cm further he would have died. 
Eight hours of surgery, seven weeks in the
hospital and a year of rehabilitation was necessary before Paul could
resume his full activities. In the mean time, many pitched in to help.
Churches and youth groups, college students and neighbors offered prayers
and assistance. They camped all over the place! Jim Teasdale and his
friend Colin McDougal suspended their college studies and came to help
keep the fledgling program going. God blessed and the work on the
training base continued to take shape with a broader base of support and
prayer than it would have probably had otherwise.
Prayer, tangible help, love
and compassion, courage and determination were all the ingredients of that
first crisis. That’s what it takes to do missions work anywhere. That
and confidence in the Word of God to accomplish its work in us. The
mission staff experienced the promise of Rom. 8:28, “God causes all
things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
called according to His purpose.” God spared Paul Teasdale’s life and
has used him as the heart and vision of this ministry. But he is the
first to say that it takes everyone’s support and their individual
willingness to fit into God’s plan that makes this ministry what it is
today. Thank you for the vital role you continue to play!
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Year by Year Look Back
1979
Incorporated Mission Ready
in December;
North Carolina land found and purchased.
1980
January moved into rented
house in town; cleared road by hand; Jim and Barb Teasdale and
others arrived from college to help build first building; trading in
timber for lumber; Dan Teasdale rides motorcycle six miles to school
bus; October 8 first missionary couple sent to Kenya; first
single candidate.
1981
Easement secured and new road
began; bunk house constructed; Paul Teasdale has accident in sawmill;
Mission Ready board calls Jim Teasdale back from college to cover
for Paul while he recovers; Wheaton College brings group to work on
development of roads; four single candidates including one from
Australia and Germany.
1982
45 Wheaton College students
arrive in May to begin clearing for and constructing barn; six churches
spend a week at Mission Ready helping with work projects and
experiencing missions training; the lake site begins to be logged in
preparation of constructing a future darn; first missionary family
sent to Kenya as Mission Ready missionaries; first staff house
completed; two candidate families and one single candidate.
1983
Workshop / Training Center construction begins;
clearing and site preparation for lake
continues; three candidate families and three single candidates
including one family from Kenya.
1984
Workshop / Training Center dedicated in August;
all road development completed; Jim and
Barb Teasdale join Mission Ready staff as Administrative Director; one
candidate family.
1985
11 college and church groups
spend time at Mission Ready helping with development of training base
and learning about Biblical missions; four single candidates including
one from Kenya and Canada.
1986
Another family sent as
missionaries to Kenya; two more staff homes completed; two more staff
homes completed; acquired radio tower to begin broadcast WMBW Moody
Christian radio throughout the surrounding counties; two candidate
families.
1987
Mission Ready changes name
to The Master's Mission; two candidate cabins are completed;
Nigerian Youth Camp included as missionary project in Nigeria; one
single candidate.
1988
Two new families join TMM as
missionaries; the remainder of the twelve candidate cabins are
completed; one single candidate.
1989
TMM sends first missionary family to Zaire;
three families approved as missionaries
with TMM; one candidate family and three single candidates, including
two singles from Germany.
1990
The Bob Peaster family joins
staff; three new families accepted as TMM missionaries; three
candidate families including one from Israel.
1991
Three new families accepted as
TMM missionaries; third staff house completed; two candidate families
and four single candidates from Germany and Kenya.
1992
Dam fully completed by the fall;
six candidate families and two single
candidates, including one family from India, two families from Russia,
and one single from Germany.
1993
Lake completely filled by March;
David Blackney joins TMM staff as
Candidate Secretary; Marty Ritter and Dan Teasdale families join TMM
staff‑, TMM Germany established to send interested missionary families for
training; three candidate families.
1994
Two families accepted as TMM
missionaries; the Jeff Cole family joins TMM staff; two new buildings, the
Women's Technical Center/Laundry and the Guest House are completed;
two candidate families and one single, including one family and one single
from Germany.
1995
Four candidate families and one
single candidate including families from Zaire, Kenya, and India and a
single from Israel.
1996
One family added as missionary;
the David Olson family joins TMM staff‑, two candidate families and
two single candidates from Israel.
1997
Two families added as missionaries; TMM sends first missionary to
Kazakhstan; one candidate family and one single candidate.
1998
TMM sends first missionary family to Mexico;
two candidate families, including a
family from Romania, and one single candidate.
1999
TMM sends first missionary family to Romania;
two families added as TMM missionaries; 6
candidate families and one single candidate.
2000
Two families added as missionaries; two families and two singles
graduate from training program; HaChotam Publishing is born in
Israel under the direction of TMM missionary Eitan Kashtan; Adam and
Lyndy White establish first TMM missionary station in Alaska; Sola
Scriptura Romania, a project of TMM, begun and mission station established
in Romania.
2001
Three families added as missionaries; five families graduate from
training program
2002
Three families added as missionaries; four families graduate from
training program; Clarene Meyer family join the staff at TMM from Grace
Church of DuPage, IL; TMM missionary Scott Kamps, becomes director of
The Stable, a youth outreach ministry in Robbinsville, NC;
2003
One missionary family added; two families and one single candidate
graduate from training program;
25th
ANNIVERSARY
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