On November 14, 2004 Mike and Tammy Dubin, owners of the Tobin's Lab science-supply service for homeschool families, lost their Culpepper, VA, home in a terrible fire. All of their company inventory was destroyed as well. They all got out safely and are physically fine, but obviously need both prayer and financial help in order to recover from this disaster.

According to a family friend who emailed us, ifÊanyone who is interested in making a monetary donation, that would be greatly appreciated! Not only did the Dubys lose their home, but they lost their business, (their only source of income) as well! Information on how to donate is at the end of this page.

Another way to help would be to order from Tobin's Lab. As soon as they can get the business back up and running (hopefully in about 3 weeks to a month) it would be helpful to have lots of orders to process to help the business become profitable quickly. If you are a previous customer, or thinking about needing science supplies in January or February, you can still order by calling 1-800-522-4776 or visiting http://www.tobinslab.com.

Report from Paul Wilson, Dean of Patrick Henry College

"As many of you are aware Tobin Duby is a student at PHC this year. His parents Mike and Tammy Duby have been very involved, as well as Tobin and Megan, in the home school community for many years. Most of this activity has been as providers of science curriculum under the name of "Tobin's Lab." Here is an excerpt from the main page of http://www.tobinslab.com

"Mike & Tammy Duby had a house fire on November 14th which destroyed their house and all of their Tobin's Lab inventory. We are working as quickly as possible to restore our inventory. Please feel free to still place your order although it will be slightly delayed. We appreciate your patience and also ask for prayer during this difficult time. Thank you for visiting Tobin's Lab."

The fire was devastating and the house, all but the master bedroom and the garage, was destroyed. Their business was in the basement. Needless to say, they are starting from scratch. I spoke with their pastor this morning and he gave me several key insights in how to pray for them.

1) They are inundated with phone calls (mine added to the pile). This is good because it shows they are greatly loved. Bad, because they are so busy. I guess the request would be that calls would be timed appropriate to their needs.
2) They are tired. As you can well imagine, they have nothing! They are having to get new driver's licenses (that alone takes more work than I would like to do again, especially in Virginia). Mike needs to get glasses as he cannot drive until he does. They need to find a place to live while their home is being rebuilt. They need to get their business up and running again. I am tired just writing what they need to do. And sadly, most everything they need to do at this time can only be done by them.
3) Please pray for their stamina and a time to rest.
4) Pray for Tobin, at PHC, as this could be very distracting for him.
5) Pray for Megan as she works through all of the shock and that it would be a time of blessing for her.
6) Also, pray for their pastor and his wife as they are the ones who field most of their calls and are hosting them during this time of transition.

Thank you for all of your care and concern. Thank you for your prayers and please praise God with me that none of their family was harmed during this time of crisis."

-Paul Wilson

How to Donate

For those who wish to help financially, Barby Mouring is taking over the job of coordinating donations for the Duby family. Here is their contact information:

Donations to the Duby family (physical and monetary):
Mike & Tammy Duby
c/o Steve & Barby Mouring
5419 Savannah Branch Road
Bealeton, VA 22712

Any questions: Barby can be reached by email at mourings@erols.com.