Troy's Creation Ministry

Greetings in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ,

My name is Frank Zitzman, and my wife’s name is Sue. We are a Christian couple who adamantly believe in the authority of Scripture, and the utter necessity of making God’s Holy Word the foundation of your home.

We’re still amazed at how God has answered our prayers and has provided a ministry with our house.

Sue and I lived in Pennsylvania all our life (I’m 51 and Sue’s 46). We’ve had a passion for the ministry of AIG for many years, and have prayed earnestly to be a part of the museum project. Our passion and prayer became even more intense when we lost our precious Troy-boy in June of 2004. (You can learn more details about that tragic event by clicking on the “Why Did He Die Interview”)

Troy was the youngest of our four children, and his death marked the end of our busy home. Our oldest son was already in the military, and our two daughters had gotten married. Within the span of about a year and a half, we went from a hectic household of four children to a silent home of none. Losing our fourth child in such a traumatic way made the silence even more deafening. Dealing with the somber quietness within the walls of our home was very difficult for my wife, Sue.

Sensing a need to be with Sue, I decided to take an early retirement from my full-time job. Since I couldn’t access my pension funds right away, we started a small house-cleaning business. The business enabled us to spend more time together and provided us some income. It also added some busyness back to our life.

As Sue and I worked and enjoyed our time together, our burden to be involved with the museum project continued to deepen. We began to have a strong desire to move from our life-long home in Pennsylvania to Kentucky. Our strong desire turned to anxious excitement as we saw the LORD beginning to open doors for that move.

We are still very much in awe of the remarkable chain of events that God used to fulfill His AMAZING timetable. The following is a summary of God’s astounding providential workings.

In May of 2006, I had been asked to share my “Living After The Loss Series” at a church in West Virginia. After our time at that wonderful church, Sue and I traveled to AIG for job interviews. We had hoped to possibly get on staff there. I wanted to work as a tour guide, and Sue was willing to serve in any capacity.

The interview went great, and it looked as though we’d be hired rather quickly, so we went to look at houses in the area. Though we initially started our search with a Realtor, the LORD intervened and brought someone else into our life. That someone was a man named Jay, who remains a dear friend of ours to this day.

Jay “just happened” to be riding his motorcycle on the same day that we were visiting a builder’s office in the area. Jay “just happened” to visit the office and overhear our conversation. He then offered to show us around the neighborhood later that evening.

Jay led us to our current home, and insisted that we buy it because it was such a bargain. He explained what a good investment it would be.

Originally we were planning on buying the house strictly as our residence. We were actually amazed at its price considering how large it was. Though it would be much bigger than we needed, we could buy it at the same price that we would pay for a much smaller house. In addition to considering Jay’s investment idea, we also reasoned that having a larger house would give us an opportunity to provide a place to stay for friends who wanted to visit the museum.

Everything seemed to be falling right into place. God was moving quickly, and that’s the way we liked it (doesn’t everyone?). But God’s fast-moving was about to change.

A couple months passed and no word came about jobs. Two more months and no word came. Two more months passed, and still no word. All we could think of was, “What happened to our fast-moving God? This waiting doesn’t cut it.”

Well, eventually word came, but it wasn’t the word that we wanted to hear. AIG went on a hiring freeze!

All our plans seemed to fizzle away when we received that disheartening news. We simply couldn’t believe it. Our dreams and aspirations literally evaporated before our very eyes. Our fast-moving God didn’t just become slow-moving, He stopped all together, at least so we thought.

Without some sort of income, we couldn’t afford the house. And, since it was such a good deal, we were certain that the house would sell quickly. Disappointed, saddened, and frustrated, we somewhat abandoned our plans all together.

Though we still had a burden to be involved with the museum project, we reluctantly decided that the LORD apparently had another plan for us. And that He did, and a much better one in fact (which is always the case when you wait on God’s timetable)

In late December of 2006, while surfing the Internet, much to her amazement, Sue found that the house was still for sale. In fact they had dropped the price $8,000.00. God’s amazing timetable was about to begin.

On Sunday, January 7, we went to my daughters for a meatloaf dinner (we now call it the famous meatloaf dinner). Both my son-in-law and my daughter are very knowledgeable about real estate, so we told them about the house. That’s when my son-in-law, Rob, came up with an interesting idea.

Rob posed this scenario: “What if you bought that house as your residence, but because it is so large, made a portion of it available as a rental for anyone who wanted to visit the museum? Because of the huge number of people expected, it certainly shouldn’t be hard to get the business. Wouldn’t it be so much better for people to stay in a Christian home than in a common hotel? You could decorate the house with a Creation theme, promote the museum, and do all you could to further educate people about the importance of “building a strong foundation”. Because of Frank’s background with AIG, he could actually take people to the museum for their own guided tour. The rental income would meet your needs, and you’d be able to minister to boot.” (Though this was our initial plan, prayer and circumstances have caused us to adjust it. Please see “OUR CURRENT SITUATION” at the end of this article for details)

Sue and I thought, “Why didn’t we think of that earlier? With the price that was on that house, and the huge spaciousness that it offered, it would be perfect for such a plan.”

Sensing the leading of the LORD, we asked our son-in-law and daughter to take a trip with us to Kentucky on January 12th, the following Friday. With there knowledge of real estate matters, we thought it would be wise to have them along. It “just so happened” that they were available to go.

When we arrived in Kentucky, we found out that the price of the house “just so happened” to be reduced another $8,000.00. After looking at it several times, Rob encouraged me to make an offer on the house.

Considering that they had already lowered the price $16,000.00, I thought Rob was crazy, and I told him so. Rob responded, “You talk too much. Just make the offer and keep your mouth shut. You’ll see what I mean. And, besides, the worst thing they can say is no, so what do you have to lose?”

Rob and I have a great relationship, and we can always tell each other exactly what we think. We are very competitive with each other, and often debate our positions on things. I am so thankful for that intimacy that we have, and I humbly took his advice.

I approached the sales rep for the builder and asked if they would take an offer on the house. The sales rep immediately said, “Mr. Zitzman, they’ve already lowered the house $16,000.” You can probably imagine what I was thinking. I tried to tell Rob that he was crazy, and now my wisdom was being confirmed. Though disappointed over losing an opportunity to bid on the house, I could hardly wait to tell my supposedly wise son-in-law that I was right.

But in spite of my thinking, I remembered Rob’s advice, and simply responded with this question to the sales rep, “Does that mean no?” I fully expected the sales rep to say yes to that question, but he didn’t. He told me that he would submit the offer, though he was extremely doubtful that the builder would consider it. Everything in me wanted to say, “I know what you mean. The only reason I made such a ridiculous offer was because of my knucklehead son-in-law.”

Hard as it was to “keep my mouth shut”; I silently nodded with approval and walked away.

Well, amazingly, the builder didn’t reject my offer. He came back with a counter-offer that was still $5,000.00 lower than the second reduced price. We took the offer, and planned to close in 60 days.

Needless to say, I was stunned. Not only because the builder didn’t reject the offer, but also because of his counter-offer. You see, Rob had told me before I made the offer what he thought would happen. It “just so happens” that the $5,000.00 figure was EXACTLY what my “knucklehead” son-in-law predicted. Talk about eating crow!!! I reluctantly conceded to Rob that he was r-r-r-r-r-r-right after all (It’s always so hard to say those words to him).

While driving back home on Saturday, the 13th, the reality of what we had done hit me. I had just become the owner of two houses, and also two mortgages! Since we were leaving our little cleaning business (which we just got established), I really didn’t have a steady source of income. What was I going to do if we couldn’t sell our house in Pennsylvania within the 60 day allotted time ? I have to tell you that a slight bit of panic began to develop in my thinking. My mind began racing and strategizing all sorts of ideas.

On Sunday, January 14, we bought “FOR SALE” signs to put in the yard. The following Monday night we hosted a weekly Bible Study at our home. After telling everyone about our house purchase in Kentucky, one of the young ladies in the group told us that she knew of someone who was looking for a house. Though happy to hear the news, I really didn’t think too much of it. A lot of people are “looking for a house”. I didn’t want a “looker”; I wanted a “buyer”. However, to be gracious, we said that we wouldn’t put the signs out until we heard from “the lookers”.

On Tuesday, January 16th, we received the loan papers for our house in Kentucky. We were instructed to sign and return them overnight.

On Wednesday, January 17th, we mailed the signed loan papers overnight.

On Thursday, January 18th, we were notified that our loan for the Kentucky house was approved. We now officially owned another house. On that same night, ‘the lookers’ “just happened” to call and wanted to see our Pennsylvania house.

As it turns out, ‘the lookers’ “just happened” to be a middle-aged Christian couple who had experience with remodeling houses. Since we had totally remodeled our house with top of the line materials, they were extremely impressed.

On Friday, January 19th, the husband called and asked if I would take $15,000.00 less for our house. I told him absolutely not, and went on to explain that only two things could change my mind, God and time. I was confident in the quality of our home, and I had 60 days to sell it. If I didn’t sell it in that amount of time, then I would assume that God wanted me to consider his offer. But until then, my price was firm.

The husband immediately responded by asking if he could look at our house again. So what do you think I said, “No, you only get one chance”? Not Hardly!! Of course I replied with an emphatic, “YES’!

On Sunday, January 21st, the couple came over, took a quick look, and the husband walked up to me with an outstretched hand and said, “You got a deal”. Needless to say, Sue and I were overwhelmed by his words, but the husband wasn’t finished. He then asked if we could be out in two weeks.

WOW – it looked like our fast-moving God was back!!! In fact, now I thought He was moving too fast.

I can picture the LORD giving me a bewildered look and saying, “Oh, one time I’m moving too slow, the next time I’m moving too fast. You’re never happy, are you Frank.”

What a lesson learned on WAITING for God’s best!!!!!!

In nine short days, from January 13th to January 21st, we bought a house in Kentucky and sold a house in Pennsylvania. We sold our house for FULL PRICE in the middle of winter with no realty fees. In fact, we even took our “FOR SALE” signs back to Home Depot because we never wrote on them. We bought our house in KY at a reduced price that we would have never gotten had we bought it earlier. In fact, the price of our KY house was only $2000.00 more than our PA house, and it’s twice as big.

We also wanted to sell our large bedroom suit, and the couple who bought our home “just happened” to be looking for one. And these are but a few of the providential workings that God has brought to pass on our move to Kentucky.

On the evening of January 21st, we had another meatloaf dinner to celebrate the AWESOMENESS of our God.

Throughout this letter, I have shared the phrase “just happened” or “just so happened” several times. How thankful I am to serve the ONE who presides over all the “just happens”. What a comfort to know the SOVEREIGN ONE who orchestrates all the happenings of the universe!!! All my praise and adoration goes to Him for His providential care and His incredible ability to take tragedy and use it for His glory in His people.

Our passion is to use TROY‘S CREATION HOUSE as a tool to encourage others to give praise and adoration to our INDESCRIBABLE and MAJESTIC CREATOR GOD. He does indeed work all things together for good to them that love Him and are the called according to His Purpose. What an immense blessing to be a child of the KING!!!!!!!

OUR CURRENT SITUATION:

After much prayer, we eventually decided to accept donations from folks rather than rent.What a blessing that decision has been!!!We have been able to host large families that could not afford a hotel; single Moms struggling to make ends meet, seminary students, and host of other folks that were trying to cut expenses.

Apart from helping folks financially, we’ve also been able to spiritually minister to many people who had no financial issues.Several of those people were so grateful that they gave abundantly out of their resources.Regarding their “over-giving” as unction from the LORD, we then had opportunity to refuse gifts from other more financially- challenged folks.Seeing the tears in the eyes of those people when we told them that their stay was free was indeed a GREAT blessing.

The LORD has met all our expenses and has enabled us to minister at the same time. How marvelous it has been to see God working through His body!!! Being a part of Christians meeting the needs of other Christians has been so rewarding.

We have been especially blessed to interact and touch the lives of several widows and other folks who have tragically lost people who were dear to them.Due to our experience with tragedy, we were able to identify and uniquely comfort these grieving people.There are no words to describe the joy that is involved in that kind of soul to soul ministry.

Yes, our ministry was working quite well until we were informed that we were operating a “business”, and according to zoning restrictions, we had to close. We have officially been given permission to operate only to the end of October.

You can’t imagine the hurt and sorrow that has overwhelmed our hearts since we heard this news. Much like experiencing the death of a loved one, the death of a ministry that you deeply love is devastating. In this case, since the ministry was named after Troy-boy, it was like a piece of him was dying all over again.

Though we’ve only been operating our “Hospitality House” a short time, it has become a major part of our life.Please pray that the LORD would provide an avenue for this ministry to continue.

Because of our intense desire to reach out to people, we are willing, if necessary, to provide our house for free. Though maybe not financially feasible at this point, we are more than willing to attempt it, and to trust God with the financial concerns.

Thank you in advance for your prayers of support.