A Teenager in the Walter Home!

Well, i never thought the day would come...but as of Sunday we will have a teenager in our house!  Anders turns 13.  Where has the time gone?  I took him on a great hike in the mountains here and took this above picture.  Anders still wants to be a pilot.  So, as of now, we are taking donations for pilot school. Any amount is welcome! :)

Welcome to the Northwest

The above picture is taken from inside the Unitarian Universalist church here in Salem.  We take our students on our "Exposure Tours" every week.  On these tours we simply take them into different religious places of worship, cults, etc... to be exposed to belief systems that are not Christian.  i took this picture because it always is a shock for our students to see.  unfortunately, we will begin to see more and more of this stuff here in the Northwest I believe.  People are hungry for identity. May that identity be found in Christ.

Knocking on Doors

Every Tuesday we take our Mission Adventures students to neighbourhoods in our city to do door to door prayer.  Super simple...knock on a door, tell people we are praying for our city and ask is they need prayer for anything.  This outreach paints a great picture of the Gospel message, as sometimes nobody is home, sometimes we get rejected, sometimes we are rebuked, but sometimes people open up for prayer, and then more than that, sometimes we are able to see people give their lives to Christ.  such is the story of the young man in the picture above named Horatio.  I knocked on his door, and from the get go we started off a great discussion.  He actually said he was thinking about God, whether He existed, etc...After speaking to him for about 20 minutes, I asked him what he thinks would happen to him if he dies today.  He had NEVER been asked that question in his life.  Through that question, I was able to share the Gospel to him and the Lord opened his heart and rite there in his doorway he knelt down and gave his life to Christ!   What an amazing God we have!!  Please pray for Horatio.  He helps his father with a trucking business and is away from home a lot.  Pray for him to find a good church, and Christian friends.  I aim to stay in contact with him.

Another Great Week With Mission Adventures

We recently had a Korean church from Portland come and do a week of Mission Adventures with us.  This was a very interesting week.  From the start, we recognized that many of these students seemed to be "walking the fence" with their faith.  We challenged them all week long and by the end of the week we saw a huge turn around in many of the students commitment to Christ.  This was one of those weeks where of course the students shared the Gospel and ministered to many, but I think the main point reason the Lord brought this team to us was that they could be ministered too in various ways.  When we did open air evangelism, I was blown away by how many students wept in front of the crowds as they simply shared about how they were struggling to follow Jesus, and how the only reason they did was because their parents forced them too.  So sad, but to see the Holy Spirit move in their lives was awesome.  God broke through for sure in their lives!

Students having their beliefs challenged doing our "Take Your Pick" Outreach. 

A Life Changing Week

This past week we hosted 60 students for a week of Mission Adventures.  They came from three different churches, one local church, one from Texas, and another from Washington.  This was one of the most memorable weeks of Mission Adventures I have ever had.  These students were hungry for the things of God.  We were blessed to see 7 people commit their lives to Christ through these students.  

My good friend and youth pastor of one of the groups doing open air evangelism

Awesome to see students praying for each other before sharing their testimonies in public

With the large group we held our program in a tent outside all week

Students were challenged standing behind this table and engaging people in discussion

This room was once used of sex trafficking.  Now, it is used for an office for the Salem House of Prayer.  the "Shine Cafe" tour is a powerful part of the week when we highlight the redemptive story of how God can transform a place of darkness into a place of light.

During our "take Your Pick" Outreach students spoke with Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, and many other people with various belief systems.  For many of them, it was their first time talking to non-Christians about Jesus.