Walter Vehicle Fundraiser

Thank you all who have been praying, giving, and supporting us in our Vehicle Fundraiser.  To date, we have raised $13,200.  We have been at this amount now for quite some time, and essentially it seems we have reached a plateau. Plateaus are a good thing i think.  for one, it teaches us patience.  It teaches us to depend on the Lord, and not ourselves.  It also helps keep things in perspective. If the worst of our worries is raising enough money to get a van, then we are blessed in a world where there are so many other things that could be wrong.  So, we rejoice in the "plateau seasons".  At the same time, I sure would love to see the season of raising funds for the van come to an end, after all I am human! :)  I'm all out of ideas on how to raise the remaining funds, but our God is big. We ask that you would please continue to pray for us as we try and raise the remaining $6,800 to reach our goal of $20,000.  We would like to possibly purchase a used 10 passenger Ford Transit type of van.  

Perspective Matters

Being in YWAM, it is easy to get in a routine, like anywhere.  Lately, I have been in kind of a routine rut with ministry.  We are doing great things, God is touching lives, but sometimes it is good to be reminded of how amazing the Lord is through this organization called YWAM.  As part of our base leadership, I am amazed at how MUCH is going on here at YWAM Salem.  Although my primary ministry is the Gospel Guy, i am involved in quite a bit of other areas that many times I simply don't put in our updates.  Take for example the above picture.  All the countries in green are those that we as YWAM Salem have sent teams, individuals, groups, etc...to over the past 35 years.  And actually, some of those dark nations would now be green, we just have not update it yet.  This is amazing!  thank you all for your prayers, support, and belief in our ministry here at YWAM Salem!

Summer Means Outreach

Summer time provides great outreach here in the Northwest.  Once a month we go up to Vancouver, WA to do outreach with our pastor friend Randy, pictured above. 

Melissa (girl who is leading Mission Adventures this summer) does outreach with a young man from a local church in Vancouver, WA. 

Gospel Guy Multiplying

Sometimes the best way for me to communicate what God is doing is simply by screen-shooting a correspondence with people we work with.  the above is from my good pastor friend in Vancouver , WA.  He is planting the GG ministry there with his church, and once a month I head up there to visit with him, encourage him, and do outreach with him.  He is a great guy, with a sincere heart for the lost. As you can see in the message above, he is getting people in his local church to come to training times and then hit the streets with him to do evangelism.  This is so encouraging to me, and I am excited to see him have people interested up there in his church.  Pray for Randy and the GG ministry in his church.  It's all about multiplication! I am very encouraged at our partnership with Randy and his church.  If we could only get other pastors and churches on board like Randy! One day at a time...

Building Bridges of Relationship

The above message is from a Muslim man named Mishal, who works with the local Islamic Center here in Salem.  I reached out to him and met with him, told him about our ministry, etc... It was a great time, and i was super surprised at the questions he had for me as a Christian.  I am going to be meeting with Mishal soon to discuss things like Jesus as God, the Trinity, etc...  We also will be taking our Mission Adventures teams to do Temple Talks with him.  This is another open the door the Lord has given us.  The Gospel Guy ministry continues to intentionally build bridges with non Christians in our city.  Pray for Mishal and for his salvation. 

Grandpa and Grandma Beckstrom Visit

In June Sarah's folks came out for a visit, in where we took a trip up to Olympic National Park for 5 days.Staying true to the Pacific Northwest, the weather was cold, and a bit rainy, but over all we had a wonderful time.  It is always good to see Grandpa and Grandma!  every summer, we usally meet up with Sarah's folks at a National Park in August, but since baby is due this August we took our trip a bit early.  Over the past few years we have been to Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, and now Olympic National Parks.  What will next year hold?  

Annie Rose turns 6

On June 28th, our little Annie Rose turned 6 years old. She went to the trampoline park with her two friends, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents.  She is such a little princess, and is by far the wimpiest of all the kids...in a sweet little girl kind of way!