The Timothy Project

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.   —2 Timothy 2:2

Cornerstone began out of the desire for a mission agency that empowers missionaries to hear from the Holy Spirit and obey, while also embracing their entire family. In the case of the Lindsay family, obedience meant planting a church overseas. And it meant unique challenges and opportunities for stewarding the children God had given them. At that time, few were discussing the gift or the challenge of being a child growing up in a culture different from that of your parents.

Fast forward nearly fifty years…

Children of missionaries have been referred to as “third-culture kids” (TCKs) because they frequently spend a significant portion of their developmental years in a culture different than the passport culture of at least one parent.  It’s a beautiful thing that presents many challenges that have only begun to be researched and discussed in the last 20 years.

#homeish

The phrase #homeish is a hashtag that has been used by some TCKs to talk about when they encounter home-like qualities. Many don’t actually have a single place they would call home.

(Tim Lindsay & Hal Hamilton)

When Tim left for Europe with his family, even though the small town of Wilmore, KY was no longer his literal home, it remained #homeish during visits back to the States. The town was like an ever-expanding “playground,” a repository of memories, and a symbolic and actual connection to important relationships.  

CI has over fifty missionaries in fifteen countries. There are dozens of children in our community. CI’s headquarters has been a home-like place for many of these families because of ongoing relationships with our staff, but it lacks many of the amenities and areas of memory-making and play necessary to make it even more of a #homeish place.

That’s where you come in!

We have a lot of land at our HQ property in Wilmore, KY where we train and send out global workers. We have developed a plan to create a play area and “kid-i-fy” our headquarters so that more TCKs can enjoy being at CI when their families are in the USA. #homeish

We are actively seeing God provide for this vision! Our goal is to raise $40,000 in total. Guess what?  We have some generous donors who have helped us raise the majority of our budget! Will you help us finish strong?

This summer all of our missionary families will be here from around the globe for an event that happens every 5 years.  We call it the Summit. And weeks before the Summit, we have our mandatory Crosstraining event for new missionary families.  We will have dozens of children at headquarters in June and July.  

We’ve already started preparing the list you see below, but need your gift today to finish strong in time for their arrival this summer.

• Awesome playground with swings, slide, mini-climbing wall, and more
• Outdoor multi-court with regulation basketball goal, small goal and adjustable height net for volleyball, pickleball etc
• A selection of children’s books chosen for themes unique to TCKs and toys inspiring creative play.
• Pack-and plays, Slumberpods, sound machine, booster seats, sippy cups, toddler safety gates etc.

There are other related initiatives in motion as well.  But the playground is a vivid marker for our culture of care for TCKs and for embracing best practices for supporting families.

The playground is bright and tall and wide and fun and helps us say these words in a way that every age can hear:

• We thought about you.
• We love you.
• We are here for your family.

Will you join us in delivering this message with your best gift today?

Thank you to all of our friends who have helped make Phase 1 an amazing success! We are currently building the play area and it is on schedule to be completed by June 10th just in time for our missionary children’s arrival this Summer.

The playground is just the beginning.  It is a grand marker announcing our intentionality in creating a culture of care for all ages. We have already begun to partner for TCK focused curriculum, equipping for parents and staff, and making debriefings available to all of our missionary children. This is a huge step in caring for families long term!

In Phase 2, we’re creating a TCK Flight Fund. During the ages of 18 – 23 when many TCKs attend college in a country different than where their parents are living, it is important for their care and development to have the ability to visit home twice a year. We have the initial funds set aside to offer a tiered approach to incentivize our missionary families to save and invest in their families this way and will be rolling this plan out in the near future.

To find out more about The Timothy Project’s upcoming phase and future opportunities, please reach out to us by clicking here.