Ministry comes in all shapes and sizes. We aren’t always out on the “front lines” preaching the gospel or aiding the poor. Lately I have been thinking about these “slower” times (that really aren’t that slow) the Lord gives us, and wanted to give you a look into the ministry that happens in our family during these times. Right now we are in the preparation phase of ministry. We are seeking the Lord and putting together plans for upcoming events. Phillip spends much of his time in his at-home office, doing a wide variety of administrative work. We are so thankful to have Phillip around during most of the day. He often takes the time to check in on the girls work and the girls tell him all about what they have been learning in school while we eat lunch together. The girls and I home school Monday through Friday, and we are truly enjoying our new curriculum.
For this year we switched our curriculum to Five in a Row, and we are loving the simplicity and depth combined in this curriculum. Every week we read a short picture book, then dive into the subjects we find within that book. Last week we have been “rowing” Madeline. From this cute, poetic story we have learned about topics such as France, having order (and order found in the Bible), symmetry, poetry, health and how the body works, how to have sympathy, how we should “smile at the good and frown at the bad” and how to learn about what is right and wrong before God. We use a separate reading and math curriculum as these topics aren’t covered extensively in FIAR. We all had so much fun doing projects to help us learn the topics. Here the girls are with their human body projects:
They certainly didn’t turn out fancy (or proportionate) but we had fun making them and it helped the girls to learn a little more about the body (they especially like blowing air into the “lungs”). Here is Paige with her Eiffel tower built out of sugar wafers and frosting. This was all of their favorite craft of the week (of course). 
We also created morning routine cards and hung them up in their room, painted symmetrical pictures and cut out 12 cute little girls to act out some scenes from the book and learn a little math along the way. Our week was full, but I feel so blessed to be used by the Lord in this way. I have begun getting up early to have more time with the Lord and time to prepare for our day before the kids wake up. Logan is such a good baby and he makes it easy (most days) to stay active with the girls. 
The more years Phillip and I spend as parents, the more we realize that our family is the biggest ministry God has given us. The people within our household are those we spend the most time with and the ones we have the most impact on in the world. 
Of course, we are very excited about the “field” mission work that is coming up! Phillip (and the rest of the WOTC staff) have been working very hard preparing for upcoming events such as the Celebrate Jesus Festival (Brownsville, TX), the Big Feed (Mexico), Med-Fest (Nicaragua) and many, many others.
Our family is especially excited as we are planning on being in Nicaragua for a good portion of next year. We will be staying at the ministry’s new base camp and we are working on some very exciting missions opportunities (including a first ever Kids Camp!). We will continue to keep you all updated on these things as more details come up. Thank you all for your prayers for our family as we minister into the lives of many, in many different ways.
Zinck Family Missions 