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TMM Histiory: 1983
Getting to
Mission Ready, as it was called then, meant going by foot. Paul and
Betty Lou would hike up
the mountain each day carrying chainsaws, gas, and chain oil. A two-mile
access road would be cut out to connect with an old logging road that ran
along the ridge top. Before it was completed, Paul was bringing some
guests to see the property. Riding in an old stripped down army jeep,
they ran over a log with a large branch that snapped backed nearly
impaling the visitor in the front seat. He promptly said, “You have to
have a bull dozer to clear this road and I will help you get one!” That
combination of hard work and generosity God used in
supplying the resources and equipment needed to begin TMM.
The first
building (now the office) was built as a barn with one room downstairs and
a hay loft above. The loft became sleeping quarters to as many as 13
staff and volunteers at a time, including some newlyweds! Church members
and college students, motivated to be apart of building a new ministry for
the Lord, gave up more than comfortable sleeping conditions. An outhouse
and a tub in the back yard completed the early facilities with water being
heated in a big metal drum over a wood fire. The one room downstairs was
where everything came together in Bible studies and lessons for living.
The kitchen, dining area, seating for all comers, and office space were
heated by a small wood stove.
Resourcefulness and prayer were the keys to developing the
property. A sawmill was purchased and assembled to provide lumber for the
next two buildings at minimal cost. Most, if not all of the machines
necessary for the heavy construction were slated for the dump when Paul
bought them for a song and got them into running order. Often he would
cannibalize two machines to make one that ran! The resulting pieces of
heavy equipment and earthmovers were used to build the dam. Site
preparation, core drilling, and much of the dozer work were done by the
family and the early trainees. Local loggers helped with the timber
felling.
A different
philosophy of equipment operation and maintenance is necessary in
mission projects where time and diligence are in more supply than money.
Perseverance pays off: after eleven years, the job was completed.
It progressed as funds allowed. An engineering firm assisting in the dam
design, observed the Mission men in their meticulous care in the
construction of both the dam and the interior drain design. Often their
recommendations were not financially feasible. For example, normally you
would hire a crane to assist in the construction of the 55 foot tower that
holds the discharge pipe, but as that was very pricey, the men sought
creative alternatives. They assembled the tower piece by piece using
the winches on their trucks and plenty of elbow grease to lift the steel
girders into place. When the dam was completed, the state inspection team
and the engineers paid the mission team the ultimate complement. “If
everyone did such a superior job as you have done we would be out of
work!”
 Over the years, the same
diligence and perseverance and creativity coupled with
the generous provisions of supporters would provide a training
center housing workshops, classroom, offices, assembly room, and
commercial kitchen. Twelve comfortable cabins for housing trainees and
staff houses were added along with a laundry (complete with wringer
washing machines) and ladies classroom. A barn built mostly by college
students houses cattle, goats, and hay.
All this
physical infrastructure! All to provide the experiences and environment
necessary to train and equip the human resources with the qualities
God uses in reaching a lost world with the Gospel. Thank you for your
continued prayers and financial support in supporting missionaries who are
able to extend the message of Christ to even the hardest places of heart
and habitat!
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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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