Merry Christmas!

As we bake Christmas cookies, drink cider, and listen to Bing Crosby, Christmas time is always a fun time here in the Walter home.  I am a big "traditions" guy, so I have probably "forced" a bit to many on the family. We have the classic prefered music list, the Finnish reindeer cookies we make, the watching of "Christmas at Plum Creek" on Christmas eve, and a few others. Oh well, when the kids get older they can ditch the ones they don't like, but for now, they will have to like them!  This is the time of year where the Gospel story rings home more than ever.  We would like to wish you all a wonderful blessed Christmas, as we all rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everyone! Love the Walter tribe!

Three Cold Days in Minneapolis!

I just got back from our yearly North American Mission Adventures Leadership Team meeting, which we had in Minneapolis.  The temps averaged around -5 degrees.  It was a great time and we accomplished a lot.  I even managed to roll around in the snow and jump in a suana.   Brought back memories of growing up as a kid with Finnish grandparents. Mission Adventures in North America has seen a recent surge of interest in YWAM bases around North America who desire to start MA at their locations.  We had lots of meetings and prayer times in which we planned out our next 2014 year goals for our region. These times for me are always very encouraging and refreshing, as they remind me of the "Big Picture" we are working towards.  This is going to be a very action packed exciting year for Mission Adventures!  Our next big even will take place April 27-30 when we gather in Vancouver, BC for our yearly WAVES gathering.  Anyone interested in going?  Let me know!  Your more than welcome!  Sarah as usual managed the kids great, and it was so good to get back home to them!

Let it Snow!

The Lord blessed us with some nice cold temperatures and some snow.  Just enough for the kids to go out and do some sledding and build some small snowmen!  We do not often get snow here in the valley, so it's a big treat!  Please be praying for Sarah and the kids as I will be leaving Sunday for 3 days to Minneapolis for our North American Mission Adventures Leadership Team (NAMALT) annual meeting.  Also, pray for those meetings as we pray and commit Mission Adventures in North America to the Lord these next few days.

Encouraged by a Surprise Prayer Warrior

The above picture is of myself with my friend Tim.  Tim works for the city of Salem, and basically walks around checking for parking violations. I met him a while ago, and the other day he mentioned something to me that was so encouraging.  He said, "Tim, I see you and the other guys out here all the time, and I just want you to know that I lift you up in prayer every time I walk this block."  How awesome to have prayer covering the Gospel Guy outreach!  It is guys like Tim that shake the heavens through their committed prayer life to seeing Jesus glorified!  By the way, don't show this picture publicly or else the city might fire him!

A Great But Tough Week

This week I was on the streets every day doing the Gospel Guy.  The Lord opened up some amazing,but very difficult discussions.  For example, I spoke with a young man who is searching for meaning in life, he actually says he has no purpose on earth.  I spoke with a young couple who do not believe in the existence of God as they think there is no proof. I spoke with a few gang members, one of whom dad was a pastor. He had a lot of hurt in his life, and I appreciated his honesty although it was tough to hear.  The number one conversation I had with most people dealt with truth and if indeed there is a moral law giver.  C.S. Lewis type stuff.  I found myself stumped many times, but also at times I could sense that God was working through the discussions.  I left this week with a reality that it is exhausting intentionally sharing the Gospel.  Satan does not want the message to be shared, and I could many times feel the discouragement, unworthiness, shame, etc...as he flung his arrows.  I also was amazed once again how many people would talk to me if my sign had a question about God.....but how little would speak to me if the sign had the name of Jesus on it.  Amazing.  On the flip side, what an amazing God we serve.  I truly believe that standing on that corner talking to people has given me more life than most ministry I have been doing since I became a Christian.  Please pray for the Gospel Guy outreach.

Going to the Nations

This Thursday we had our fall DTS commissioning night.  We prayed out 5 teams from our fall schools.  These are young amazing people who will be taking the Gospel to the nations of Nepal, Thailand, Tanzania, Kenya, and Turkey over the next 8 weeks.  The above picture is of one of the teams sharing rite before we prayed over them.  If you recall, this is the school in which I recently taught in on Evangelism.  The pace never stops here at YWAM Salem, as these 5 teams head out, and our winter DTS will be starting in January.

Hitting the Streets for the Christmas Season!

Today was an interesting day doing the gospel Guy.  First off, it was cold.  Around 33 degrees.  What better way to spend a cold day in the Northwest than talking to people about Jesus and giving them hot cider, candy canes, and cookies!  Honestly though, I was not counting on there being to many people wanting to hang around and talk.  I was wrong.  The day started off with many brief conversations, some good, some no so good. One guy told me Christmas was another made up holiday for weak people.  Another told me he did not want to tell me what he thought about Christmas or else the CIA would be after him....weird to say the least. But it was two conversations I had that I wanted to share.  If you recall, this past summer I asked you all to pray for a kid named DJ whom I had met.  Bottom line, he was a skeptic about Jesus, and we talked for almost an hour.  I prayed for him, and that was the last I saw of him, and this was I believe in June.   this was a classic "seed planting conversation" in where I left wondering if anything sunk in. Well, DJ walked by today and wouldn't you know it, he now is a brother in Christ!  Long story short he got into drugs, got thrown in jail, and met Jesus in jail via a Bible study group.  Now he is trying to build his life back together.  Pray for DJ.  The other conversation I had was with a 19 year old kid named Anthony. When I asked him why he celebrates Christmas, a very somber look came on his face as he answered, "I have no idea."  We talked for about 45 minutes, in which I shared the Gospel message with him.  It was one of those conversations where I could just sense the Holy Spirit working on His heart.  He said he was not ready to commit his life to Jesus however, but very much appreciated the conversation we had.  I gave him the Gospel of John.   As he walked away he let me pray for him.  Would you please lift up Anthony in your prayers?