Update 10/23/2012

Ok, update time.  Well, Allison has chosen to go somewhere else.  She does not want a life with us, she has talked someone else into taking her in.  We support her decision, even though the pain is great.  We do want her to know that we will always love her and pray that her life turns into what she wants it to be.    It is now time to look to the future and get back on track with our mission work.  We have about $1500 to raise by December 1.  This seems like a lot, but with God, all things are possible.  We are excited about getting back to our mission work and we look forward to see God work and move.  We have learned a lot through parenting two teenagers.  We have seen our weak points and this gives us a chance to build on those weaknesses and grow through God's strength.  God uses many things to help us grow.  Satan likes to jump in and try to get us down, but we have to be strong and vigilant and allow the strength of God comfort and protect us.  If helping children in bad situations were easy, more people would do it.  This will give us some life lessons to use in Belize.  Our goal for this trip is to distribute shoe boxes.  We will also be working on some things for our long term goals.  We will be looking into some properties that are for sale around the Burrell Boom area.  We are excited to see what happens.  We will work on raising the needed funds to purchase the land over the next year.  At that time we can start to build a wall, our house, and work on some of the landscaping.  God is moving in our lives and we are interested to see what He does.  Please pray for our fund raising work over the next month.  Also please pray if God would have you donate to our trip.  We have a lot to do in a short time, but we have seen God work like this before.  If you would like to donate, you can do so by clicking the WePay link above.  Thank you for your support.

In HIS service,
Darin Linkins

Update 8-10-12

It has been more and more difficult to keep up with my blog as life has gotten so busy.  We are working on getting full custody of Taylor and Allison.  We have to go back to court Sept. 4 for a final hearing.  We have a lot to do before that, but that is our next big date.  In the mean time, we are still raising support for our trip to Belize.  We were unable to go in July due to not being able to get the paperwork for Taylor and Allison to get their passports.  We now have custody so we were able to get their birth certificates so we should be able now to get their passports.  We are planning to go to Belize in December with Body and Soul Ministries to pass out Christmas shoeboxes.  We are getting an opportunity to both see these people given several things that they normally would not have, and an opportunity to show our children that there are people in this world that have SO MUCH LESS than they do and they are excited about getting toothbrushes, soap, toys (even dollar store toys).  We are excited about this trip.  It will be close to Christmas, so we will have some great weather for the season!!!  We are also planning to look at some properties that we were not able to look at in July.  We will be talking to some of the missionary organizations that are up and running in Belize and that we are looking at the possibility of joining with.  God has been good, and has been teaching us a lot about patience, and opening our eyes to our own impatience.  Please pray for strength for us to persevere through the changes and growing pains in our family.  This has been a really tough couple of months, but God is faithful to bring us strength.

In His service,
Darin Linkins and family.

Update July 19, 2012

I have not been keeping up with my blog very well due to being so busy trying to do everything here with my family.  I am up and unable to sleep right now and I figured that 2:00am is a good time to update everyone.  We are working right now on getting custody of Taylor and Allison.  We have to figure out how to pay a lawyer to do all of this, but we believe that God will provide a way.  It has been up and down for the last few months.  We were told that we would have their birth certificates, but their dad never got them for us.  We already have their airline tickets, but without passports they cannot go.  We are planning a trip in December instead.  Hopefully by then we will have custody and it will be so much easier to get the needed documents then.  We will be heading down during Christmas break so that the kids will not miss any school.  For that trip we will be taking Christmas boxes down and giving it to people in the various villages.  We are trying, at the moment, to figure out which area to go.  We are torn between Burrell Boom, where we are looking at moving when we raise our support, and the Belmopan/Maya Mopan area.  We are looking at putting together a group to go with us.  If God is working on your heart to minister, this is a great opportunity to go on a trip that will change your life.  If you are interested in going with us, send me an email at: archerdr1@gmail.com.  If you are unable to go but you feel God putting the burden on your heart to minister, you can help support our ministry.  We have the tickets for our trip, but it looks like the price of the tickets may go up due to penalties and increased ticket prices.  We are unsure of how much more they will be, but when I get the info, I will post it.  We are going to have to look into different places to stay while we are down there, but God will bring that all together.  Please pray for us this weekend as we are going to Kingsport, TN and are planning to talk to a church there about possibly being a huge sponsor in this ministry.  We have also found a possible property near Burrell Boom.  There is a 43 acre property for sale for about $27,000 USD.  It is a great property in a great location.  Please pray for that too as we are hoping that the property is still available.  God is moving.  I also have a meeting with a guy next week that may be our ticket to move.  We have a lot to do before we can move, but God will provide and will sort out the details.  If you would like to support this ministry opportunity, you can pay through our WePay Link on this page.  It is still up and running.  God Bless you .

In HIS service,
Darin Linkins

So, we have our airline tickets for Belize, our trip is in a little over a month away, and we have around $3500 to raise. We were just told that we need to get that in by June 11. We are trying to plan some more fund raisers, but for now, I am going to ask that if anyone would like to donate, please do over the next week. We can pull another Marathon! the easiest way, again, is to make payments through our Wepay link: https://www.wepay.com/donations/2012-linkins-family-belize-mission-trip. Thank you again for your support in this ministry opportunity. If you wish to send a check, you can make it out to Body and Soul Ministries and mail it to 3964 Hwy 11-E, Limestone, TN 37681. Please put "Linkins Family" in the memo line. And, if you would, please send me a message stating how much you donated so we can keep track of how much more we need to raise. Thank you, and God Bless You. Feel free to share on your wall so all of your friends can have the opportunity to team with us to reach the people of Belize.

Update Belize Airathon

Airathon update: With an hour left of our hold on our tickets, we find ourselves $518 short of our goal. However, a donor, who wishes to not be named, allowed us to purchase them on his card and pay him the amount owed. This allowed us to get $4800 tickets for $2100. We still have about $3500 left to raise for lodging, transportation, meals, Camp costs, and food for evangelism. Please keep the donations coming. Partner with us to reach the people of Belize for Jesus Christ. Wepay is still up and running. We still have to raise the final 518 for he airline tickets, but at least we know that we have them. God is goodl. Thank you for allowing Christ to use you to meet His goals.

Update Belize airathon

. I have bad news and good news.  I will start with the bad so that I can end on a positive note.  We have not, as of yet, received the funds needed to get our airline tickets.  We are about half way.  To date, we have received $1,090 of funds needed.  We also have had pledges totalling $250.  In Total this gives us $1,340.  This still leaves a short fall of $760.  The good news is that the price is still the same and I was able to cancel my hold on the price and get a new one.  Our new deadline is tomorrow at 11:59pm.  We ask you to pray that God will show you what you need to do to help us in this ministry.  You can make Donations through the WePay link at the top right corner of the blog. Thank you for your continued prayer and support of this ministry.

In HIM,
Darin Linkins Family

Update Belize "Airathon"

I rechecked the price of tickets and to my surprise, the price dropped $220!  We have had two donations of $50 and we received one donation of $1000!  We only need $1000 more!  Bring it on ya'll! Pray about what God would have you give and click the WePay link to the right of the blog.

Update 5-11-12

Hello Friends,
A little news!  I have been checking prices for flights for our trip this summer.  It has been looking like it will cost about $4700 for all 6 of us to fly.  This is what makes our need $8000.  I was looking tonight and I found a flight for all of us to fly there and back is $2323.  The catch is, we don't have $2323.  I put a hold on the fare for 24 hours, but after that, who knows where the price will go.  I have no idea how long this price will hold here.  This will start the "24 hour Belize Airathon"  We need 46 people to donate at least $50 for airfare.  The "Wepay" link is the fastest way to do this as we can transfer the money into the account immediately and pay the airline.  Please Pray for guidance as you consider what God would have you do.

In HIM,
Darin Linkins Family

Update 5-8-2012

As life has gotten more and more busy, I have missed updating this.  So, a lot has happened in the time since I last wrote.  It looks like we may actually get custody of the two kids we have taken in.  This will be a wonderful opportunity for them to have a happy home life.  We did a fund raiser at Chick-Fil-A and raised just shy of $200!  We do appreciate the support that was shown by our friends here in the Chattanooga/N. GA area.

Now, back to the Adopt-a-Village program.  We are focusing on the Corozal District.

Please look through the names of this district and choose a village to "Purchase".  Email me at takinggospeltobelize@gmail.com with the amount of your donation.  Again, this is not a monthly gift, it is one time... unless you wish for it to be a reoccuring gift.  We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting our ministry efforts.

In HIS service,
Darin Linkins Family
                                                                                                                                                                 

Update on Adopt-a-Village fund raiser

As I stated recently, we are trying a new fund raiser called Adopt-a-village.  In this program, you choose a village to "Buy" and you send in a one time donation to our trip.  Each week I will post a different district in Belize and list the different villages in that district.  Some people will want to make this a monthly gift to help fund our full time ministry there, and that is certainly appreciated.  When you adopt a village, you donate to our trip, but you are committing to learn about that specific village and pray for the needs there.  We ask you to join us in a wonderful work in a hungry part of our world.

This week's village is:the Cayo District.  This district is especially special to us as for the last two years we have gone to this district.  The people of the villages of Crooked Tree, Roaring Creek, and Some from Tea Kettle have helped to put a desire in our hearts to reach the people in the rest of the country.  Thank you for your support.  Again, if you would like to adopt a village, please send an email with the donation amount to: takinggospeltobelize@gmail.com.

Los Tambos                          La Gracia 
Valley of Peace                  More Tomorrow
Selena                             Spanish Lookout   
  Duck Run                            Billy White
Branch Mouth                       Santa Familia   
 Bullet Tree Falls                   Paslow Falls
Buena Vista                          Central Farm   
 Esparanza                            Santa Elena   
San Ingacio                           Cristo Rey   
 Georgeville                           Unitedville   
 Ontario                             Blackman Eddy   
 Teakettle                             Camalote   
 Roaring Creek                     Belmopan 
 Las Flores                            Armenia   
 San Martin                           Salvapan
Maya Mopan                       Cotton Tree   St. Matthews                       Frank's Eddy 
Cella Creek                          San Jose 
Succotz                             Barton Creek   Benque Viejo del Carman     San Antonio   Arenal                              St. MargTrets