Timothy & Christi Chaffee Newsletter (Winter 2025)

Welcome to a new year with new beginnings! We’ve had an eventful few months from finding out we are expecting a baby girl in July to moving next door to a house that is a healthier fit for our expanding family.

Personal Involvement

At Teen Missions headquarters we have been hard at work. After Hurricane Milton in October, we were able to assist in hurricane clean up at Teen Missions, mostly consisting of debris clean up and some roofing repairs. We also have personal connections to a couple who was living in a senior mobile home community in Lakeland that faced some severe damage. We were able to send a team of staff and students to help with cleaning water-damaged buildings and clearing fallen trees (my favorite job). Outside of hurricane clean up, we’ve been actively using the big front-end loader (my favorite thing to drive) to clear more land of trees, old equipment, and aluminum piles, so we have more functional use of the land we’ve been blessed with. In order to pour fresh concrete, we have also recently been cutting out a part of the Big Top concrete pad that has begun to sink.

Teen Testimony:

Fiona, who went on the Brazil team this last summer, exclaimed, “I really learned this year, on this team, how to trust God with any situation, even when it feels like that’s not what He wanted you to do. God will put you where He wants you and it’s our job to do His glory. This year I grew spiritually learning how to trust God. I had some stuff I was holding onto that I didn’t even know I was holding onto. God showed me and I was able to give Him this summer. He also showed me how to share my love of Him, even when I wasn’t where I thought I was supposed to be or didn’t feel like doing it. I think God overcame several challenges on the team. A lot of people were dealing with stuff personally that they were able to give to God. One of the ones in a more material sense is that we had a hard time actually making it to what we thought was our destination. Right when we started trying to leave Boot Camp, we drove to the Orlando airport and we got all our bags checked in. We found a spot to sit down and just hang out until our flight left, but then the flight kept getting delayed and it got delayed so long we missed our second flight. In the end, we ended up having to come back to the Teen Missions base to spend the night, but I thought it was really amazing how much evangelism we got done in the airport. We thought we were waiting for our flight, but I think God just wanted us to go to the airport and evangelize that day. That was really cool. I hope we touched some lives there. I would encourage people to sign up for Teen Missions teams because they’re a great way to see God work, a great way to learn a lot about yourself, and about where you actually are in your spiritual life. I think the hardships of Boot Camp and being on the field, and then saying goodbye at Debrief, really teach you a lot about God and how glorious He is and how He is our rock and our strength.”

Feed Zambia Testimony:

We are writing to share the heartfelt gratitude of the community in Mansa for the vital feeding program introduced by Teen Missions amidst the ongoing drought situation in Zambia.

As you may be aware, the prolonged drought has created significant challenges for many families in our region. With diminished agricultural production and rising food insecurity, many community members found themselves struggling to provide basic nutrition for their families. In this difficult time, the feeding program developed by Teen Missions has brought not only relief, but also renewed hope to our community.

We have seen first-hand the positive impact of this initiative, as families gather to access nutritious meals that they desperately need. The program has not only addressed immediate hunger, but has also fostered a sense of solidarity and support within the community. Parents express their gratitude for the nourishment provided to their children, allowing them to focus on their education and well-being rather than their next meal. This community, like many others, was hit by severe hunger that people began to survive on wild fruits and roots of some trees which are somehow edible. Kids in our community stopped going to school due to hunger and resorted to going into the bush looking for fruits and roots to eat. The hunger relief has allowed kids to be in class because they are no longer going out to look for wild foods to survive. Our unit cooks meals and the kids and some adults come to eat. What a blessing we have in Teen Missions and its supporters. 

Moreover, the intervention has been instrumental in raising awareness about the importance of nutrition and food security. The educational aspects of the program have empowered community members to adopt better practices for sustaining their families in the future, thus laying the groundwork for resilience against future challenges.

Family:

Oliver’s personality has grown drastically! He is an easy-going child who is very observant and loves to try most things he sees his older brother, Allister, try. He enjoys climbing, flickering light switches and the shop vac power button, and swooshing around a foam sword accompanied with the “swish” sound. He also enjoys pointing to animals and vehicles and attempting their accompanying noises.  

Allister loves dressing up in armor. He can count to 14 without any help and talks very well! He also loves dancing to many kinds of music and will request Irish music I’ve introduced him to. 

Brielle has been thoroughly enthralled in giant robots and fairy tale creatures and could explain them in immense detail.

David has been taking the road by force with his new scooter, dreaming up new creations in Minecraft, and building huge towers with magnet tiles.

Rebekah has remained very interested in fantasy and medieval things and joined me at the Renaissance Fair. She also loves to create food combinations in the kitchen. One of her most recent successes was strawberry smoothies!

Christi has been busy with regular family life, as well as figuring out where things go as we are still settling in from our move and planning where to put things for our baby girl.

The Lord has given me the opportunity to witness to 502 people this year using my 15th century suit of armor at the Renaissance Fair and a private school nearby. I am so grateful the Lord has allowed me to use my hobbies as a Gospel tool, and I am looking forward to going back to RLCA private school later this year to give another armor presentation. Please pray it reaches the hearts of the youth at that school. 

Thank you so much for the blessing you’ve been in our family as we journey this bustling life together!

Praise and Prayer Requests:

-Praise as insurance decided to cover the cost of Allister’s insulin pump and that Allister tolerates it well! The continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump are completely synched which simplifies the process since it is nearly all automated with a few exceptions, one being keying in the carbs that Allister consumes. We’ve noticed his blood glucose is consistently in a healthier range, though we still have some flare ups with it.

-Praise as we found out we’re expecting a baby girl in July, and Christi and she both seem healthy! Pray for continued health throughout the pregnancy, Lord-willing!

-Praise as we found a medication for David which has made a positive impact, though prayer would be appreciated as a side effect we’re facing is that David has a difficult time falling asleep at night. Thankfully, once he’s asleep, he’s normally okay. 

-Pray for my vertigo to continue decreasing, Lord willing!

-Pray for Christi and me to have wisdom in the choices we make for our family. 

-Pray for Christi and me to continue fine-tuning our schedules with everything we’re involved with.

-Pray for Christi as she homeschools Rebekah, David, and Brielle this year.

-Pray for our children to be eager to learn and complete their assignments with a willing spirit.

-Pray for our children to be encouraging in the way they treat others.

-Pray for David to practice calming methods he learned during behavioral therapy—particularly when he faces difficult situations, including unpleasant weather.

-Pray for God’s peace in our lives.

-Pray for our protection in all things.

In Christ’s Love,

The Chaffees