Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us!  We pray God's many blessings upon you this Christmas Season. As we reflect on the faithfulness of God in our lives this past year, we want to thank you all who pray for us, support us financially, and believe in our ministry with Gospel Focus at YWAM Salem. We are able to do what we do because of people like you. Your partnership in ministry is priceless, and never a day goes by where we do not ponder on how amazing it is to have a solid group of people who believe in the purpose of our calling. Thank you so much, and we look forward to seeing what 2019 has in store. 

Alistair making our 1,000th batch of cookies over Christmas

Little Adalyn has kept us on our toes this Christmas. She makes a good vacuum cleaner for all the cookies that fall on the kitchen floor.

And yet...another batch of cookies....

Gospel Focus Podcast

The above picture is of two guys who work along with us in Gospel Focus, Joe and Cole. These guys have full time jobs, and yet volunteer their time to host our bi weekly Gospel Focus Podcast.  They had it on their hearts to host the podcast, so I let them have the reigns.  If your a podcast type, please subscribe to the Gospel Focus podcast, which you can find on pod bean, I tunes, Spotify, etc....  We hope this simple podcast is another way we can help equip the body of Christ to reach out to the lost. I think we have 5 posted so far. My advice, is skip the first two as they were pretty rough as the guys were trying figure out the ropes.  The guys would love your feedback so if you subscribe, please give them some!  Pray for the podcast, that it will bring God glory, equip the body, and be a blessing to those who hear.  Joe and Cole will be having lots of guests on, believers and non believers. So it will have some great stuff on it!

OAS Comes to an End

On December 14th, after 12 weeks of hard work, our Outward Apologetics School students graduated. The past 3 months doing life with these 10 students has simply been amazing.  I am so proud of all of them for sticking it out. I am so excited to see what the future holds for them. Two of them will actually be coming back to YWAM Salem to volunteer with us for a few months which I am excited about. One amazing testimony from our graduation ceremony. At the time of our graduation, we still had students owing finances to the school in the amount of around $2,000.  In my years in YWAM, I have seen God provide last minute in multiple ways, however this one was by far the "latest" biting your nails type of thing. As I was handing out diplomas, I had to let the 4 remaining students know that they could not get their diplomas until their tuition was payed off.  They already knew that so it was not a surprise, but it was still dissapointing for them to not recieve the diploma. As I am giving out the diplomas, one of our students looks art her phone and starts crying. She received a text that she got a large ananomous donation which would cover her school. She did not stop there. Apparently it was large enough that she gave the rest that others owed to cover their cost to! It was a room filled with tears I tell you! What a provider we have in Christ!

We enjoyed a festive graduation meal at our staff Melissa's home

In our last week of the school, we had many neat activities we did for the students.  The above is of them doing a "memory timeline" of the past 12 weeks. So good to reflect on the faithfulness of God over the past 3 months. 

Christmas Carolizing and Salvation

This past December was filled with "Carolizing". I was so blessed to see this go over so well.  We did it many times with our OAS students and had a few churches also participate in the city.  This was a great way to get Christians sharing the gospel intentionally over the Christmas season.  One quick story I have to share. We went down to a college campus to do some Carolizing one day only to find out the campus was already on Christmas break.  So we decided to just go to the mall in that city and Carolize outside.  While we ere doing it, I asked the head security guy if we could sing inside the mall. He brought me to the mall manager, I explained that we were the "Cherry City Carolers" (hey, technically we are if you think about it) and wanted to sing in the mall. Long story short, we ended up on a bug stage in the middle of the food court singing before Christmas shoppers! (By the way, this exact scenario played out at various malls in December for us, it was a blast).  After we were done, I walked up to the security guard and began to talk to him. I noticed the whole time we were singing he was listening intently. He had never heard the gospel.  In an amazing discussion and sharing time, this man surrendered his life to Jesus...in the food court of the mall...while on the clock at work! What a faithful God we have.  There are many other testimonies of how Carolizing worked in the loves of people, but I think this one was the icing on the cake type of story. 

This particular church, which happens to be the one we attend, was able to do Carolizing in the Sky Bridge of a local mall. We also were able to raise some $ for the Salvation Army while doing it.

The familiar site for us this December...

The Yankees and the Red Sox

The above picture is of me and a friend I recently met named Moose.  I was downtown doing evangelism with our OAS students.  That particualar day, we were doing our coffin outreach in where we are simply asking people what they think happens when you die.  I noticed this man above walking towards us and asked him if he had a second for a question, he politely said no and walked passed us.  At that exact moment I felt the Lord tell me that I need to try again to approach him. So I turned around and noticed his Yankee cap.  Without really thinking I just yelled, "Go Red Sox!". He literally stopped in his tracks and turned around and with a friendly smirk on his face said, "What did you say?"  The next 45 minutes we spoke about everything from baseball, to family, to hobbies, until we got to the most important menu item on the day, the gospel.  Moose had never heard the gospel before.  He was super open and curious.  I was able to clearly explain the way of salvation to him and pray for him, and give him one of our Bibles we always give out.  Moose did not give his life to Jesus, but he walked away curious about this man Jesus more that when he approaches us.  I wanted to share that story because I feel it highlights something important.  Just because someone says no does not mean God is not working.  Keep pouring into those you love.  Keep planting seeds of truth.  Do whatever you can to start a conversation...even if that means offending a Yankees fan!

You've heard of Christmas Caroling...but have you heard of Christmas CarolIZING?

I wanted to share with you all a new idea I have that I think will revolutionize the Christmas Caroling industry (if there is one...is there?). Anyway, I was thinking about caroling, and I was thinking about doing it this December.  Then I began to think about the idea of mixing Caroling with evangelizing....Carolizing!  So, I introduce to you Christmas Carolizing!  The idea is very simple but serves a couple purposes.  Here is how it will go.  I am selecting certain Christmas Carols that are grounded in the Biblical story of Christmas. We sing them, and then in between Carols one person steps up to an open mic and open air preaches a 3-4 minute message that connects with the particular carol just sung.  While this is all going on, we have others walking around doing evangelism as well. I am super excited about this, and we have begun to put together an actual packet for churches and people to use so that they too can do the outreach.  Christmas Carolizing!  We will be doing this multiple times before Christmas, every time in a very public area.   The point of this whole thing is to challenge believers not just to go around singing Carols, but to preach the gospel.  I am writing a scripted message for each carol, for those that may not feel comfortable sharing something off the cuff.  Who knows, maybe you would like to do this with a group from your church?  If interested, let me know and when our booklet is complete I can send you the file.  Go, Tell it on the Mountain!!

OAS Going Strong

Our last weeks speaker Randy Dewater teaching on the doctrines of heaven and hell

We are now in our 8th week of the Outward Apologetics School. It is flying bye so quickly.It truly has been amazing.  To try and fit all that God has done in an update is tough.  Our students are growing in tremendous ways and have engaged every different aspect of the school with tenacity and grit.  We ask your prayers as we have one more month of the school, which ends December 16th.  Please pray for finances, as many still need funds to pay off the school. Pray for perserverence as many have kind of hit the "mid school slump" and have gotten tired, and need some encouragement.  This week our speaker will be speaking on Creation and Evolution.  Each week the teachings have been tremendous.  Since our last update a month ago, we have covered topics like Church History, Cults and the Occult, and Evil and Suffering.  

Every Thursday afternoon our students are studying through the Apostles Creed. Another unique component of the OAS. 

Every other week we have an activity called Traffic Light in where we look at and study the doctrinal statements of various cults, etc...

Weekly intercessory prayer with the whole YWAM Campus.  If you'll notice the tape on the ground...our intercession team literally made a map of the city of Salem on the floor as we interceded for our city.  Pretty cool!

Two of our students Brock and Nancy doing Gospel Guy outreach.

Students with our "Take Your Pick" table doing outreach

Alistair Turns 5

October 24th our little Alistair turned five years old.  He is literally is the sweetest little boy you can imagine.  He was pretty excited for his presents and day of fun. Little fin side note...that birthday sign above his head has been the same one we have used for all the kids, for every one of their birthdays!  Still going strong!

Pumpkin Cannons, Cider and Donuts

The OAS is a very intense school, and its important to every know and then let the students kick back and realax.  This past week we went to a local pastor friend of mines place and spend the afternoon shooting pumpkins out of a pumpkin cannon, drinking cider, and eating donuts.  It was a beautifull crisp fall afternoon here...no rain!  So blessed to have friends who are willing to bless our students in this simple yet fun ways.  One cool note, the particular church my friend pastors (which happens to be the church we attend) also is one of the Gospel Focus Ministries local supporters.  Super cool. Our fall weather here has truly been unbelievable.  Hardly any rain. 

Pumpkins ready to get shot out of cannon

Pastor Chris and the Cannon

Welcome to our OAS Students

Above is our OAS students.  They are a great group of people and have done an amazing job the first two weeks of the school.  They come from all over the states, and one man is from Chennai, India. Please lift them up in prayer over the next 3 months!

The OAS has begun!

Two weeks ago we welcomed our 10 OAS Students who will be with us until the end of December.  Along with that, the fall DTS has 40 students.  It is a busy time here at YWAM Salem.

Welcome Dinner for our OAS and DTS students

Nothing says welcome like fresh Oregonian berries and sweets!

Weekly Evangelism

Two afternoons a week our students are out doing evangelism.  This past week one man gave his life to Christ, and our students had amazing conversations.  Some great, some very difficult.  Monday afternoons we go down into the city, and on Wednesday afternoons we go to a local college campus. Please pray for these times!

Temple Talks

Over the next 3 months, our students will go on 12 different Temple Talks.  There first two was at a Jewish Synagogue and a Unitarian Universalist Church.  These are powerful times for our students to learn, ask questions, and get a heart for those who do not know Christ.

Team Debates

Every Friday our students have their team debates.  The first week they debated the infallibility of scripture, and the second week they debated capitol punishment. These debates are so good for our students as they have to research a ton, see other points of view, and become confident working together in a team context. 

Amazing Teachings

Week 1- Our teacher Fred Allen teaching on the Triune God

Our first two weeks of the OAS we looked at the topics of "The Trinity" and "The Authority of Scripture".  Our speakers were amazing, and brought us so much amazing new insights, knowledge, etc.  Fifteen hours a week of teaching one can learn a ton of stuff.

Week 2- Our teacher Joe Castanada teaching on the "Authority of Scripture"

Football and Bikes

Fall is a busy time here for the family.  Aidan decided he wanted to try and play football.  He started a month or so late in the season, so has had to learn a lot quick.  He seems to really enjoy it and plays linebacker for the 9th grade team.  After football comes wrestling for him in the winter, then rugby in the spring.  He definately is our sports kid.  The girls are all busy in ballet.  They will soon begin to practice for the Christmas Children's Nutcracker.  

Alistiar, four years old, learned to ride a "big boy bike" the other day.  We were amazed as it was his frost time trying.  Never had even sat on a bike before aside from his tricycle. I love the picture above.  Seems like yesterday that Anders and Aidan (next to him) learned to ride the bikes at Catherine the Greats Palace Gardens in Russia.

The Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary

I wanted to share an amazing story of something God did while we were on our way back from our trip out to Mese Verde.  It was our last stop in Spokane, WA, and we booked a room at a hotel. When I booked the room the previous night on the phone, the guy who was on the other end named Levi was super nice and accomodating.  In fact he gave us an upgrade in our room, at a lower price than a standard room...all because we were from Oregon and so was he!  I'll take it I thought as he offered. Anyway, when we arrived and got settled after a long days travel, I went down to the front desk to just talk to Levi, thank him, etc... As we began to talk, he shared with me a bit of his story, how he ended up in the area, etc.. Turns out he was raised Mormon.  I then asked him if he still was Mormon, and he answered, "No...as a matter of fact, Im basically really confused about the whole God thing rite now."  I took that as an opportunity, and for the next 30 minutes we talked, and I share the gospel with him.  He began to cry, and actually had to step out of the room because customers were coming in!  Talk about God moving!  Yes, it was a bit awkward, but Im used to that. To make a long story short, we exchanged info, and he comes to Portland once a month to go crabbing.  He asked if we could get together and talk more.  Please pray for him.  Pray that he would follow up and respond to the email I recently sent him.  Pray that Levi would give his life to Christ. I love this story because it is such a great example of how God can take something ordinary, like stopping at a hotel while traveling, and turn it into something extraordinary.

Summer Vacation Can Teach us Alot

For our summer vacation this year we met up with Sarah's folks in MeseVerde National Park down in Colorado.  It was a great time, and from it, I developed a teaching for our monthly Toolbox.  I called it, "Ten Things God Taught Me About Evangelism on our Family Vacation". It seemed to connect well with the audience, and I know for sure it related to us all. God is always trying to teach us something...all the time. 

YWAM Salem Turns 40

In August, we at YWAM Salem celebrated our 40th birthday!  It was 3 days of awesomeness.  We had around 300 people from all over the globe who have had history with YWAM Salem come join us for the celebration. No words could describe how special a time it was sitting with so many people, from so many different areas of the world, and hearing testimony after testimony of how YWAM Salem was such a key part of their walk with Jesus.  One day I was eating lunch with a man who back in the 70's smuggled Bibles in the USSR during his DTS.  I had coffee with a gentlemen who does indegenous church planting in the nation of Mongolia.  We heard from one of the pillars on our mission Jon Dawson about the amazing things God is doing in the Pacific Islands. Story after story of the faithfulness of God at YWAM Salem. Our entire staff of 80 worked their tails of in preperation and to bring the celebration together.  I had the privilege of being the MC, which I enjoyed. 

Wall of Faithfulness.  We had a timeline that people wrote about Gods faithfulness. So encouraging and amazing to see His faithfulness over the years through so many peoples lives.

I think this is me wondering when I would get to sleep after a solid two weeks of preparation for the event

The amazing YWAM Salem staff that we get to work with day in and day out.  As you can see, we kind of looked like the Smurfs to help distinguish current staff at the 40th celebration.

Adalynn Turns One

In August, our little Adalynn turned one!  The time is flying bye.  She is a little whipper snapper of a girl. We have nicknamed her "Naughty Nellie"...after Nellie Olson on the show Little House on the Prairie!  She sure has a spicy personality, and has fit rite into the chaos of life in a big family.  

Outward Apologetics School

The above picture is just a screenshot of our Outward Apologetics School speaker and topic list.  I am so excited for this school.  Thank you all so much for your prayers.  We have 10 students who will be taking the school.  So from September 21st-December 15th, I am going to be leading this school full time, 40 hours a week.  Just for clarity, the OAS is a recognized secondary school of YWAM's University of the Nations.  Please be lifting our students up in prayer, as well as my staff.  I am working with 3 amazing staff members who will help me run the school.  This school, if you all remember, was a dream God put on my heart back in 2015.  We ran one school back in 2016, and now this will be our second.  It is going to be fantastic, and from now until December, you'll notice all our updates will be dealing with the school.  From now until the school starts it is lots of prep work, so we ask your prayers for our team.  

Outward Apologetics School Fall 2018

I am real excited about my upcoming Outward Apologetics School which starts this September. Presently we have 10 students enrolled.  What I am super excited about is that 5 of the students are not even in YWAM, but people whom have been involved with Gospel Focus here in the city, and they feel the need to do the school to get better equipped! The great thing is almost every aspect of this school is connect with the different things we are doing with Gospel Focus.  Check out he link to remind you about what the school is all about.  http://www.ywamsalem.org/outward-apologetics-school/

The Toolbox

The past two months we have had a fantastic time and turnout at the Toolbox. In June we looked at the power of prayer in evangelism and actually had a man who volunteers with us lead our time.  He brought a person with him whom he led to Christ a while back...but it took many months after their first conversation.  Prayer changes lives.  This month we will be looking at different styles of evangelism and how we can adapt our approach, but the message is the same.  Please continue to pray for the Toolbox.  We have a great small group of people who have been consistantly coming, and lately a few newcomers come each time. We have a great laid back atmosphere where people can be real, honest, etc.. What I love seeing is people form the Toolbox then taking the next step and coming out with us on the streets to do evangelism.  

What Weeping John Taught Me

The above picture is of my good friend from South Sudan, John Alfonse.  If you look closely, you will see tears running down his face.  I took this picture a few weeks ago during our Thursday morning YWAM Salem intercession prayer time.  This particular day, we were praying for the nations of North and South Sudan. As we began to pray, we layed hands on john and prayed for his family members who have been caught up in the wars, etc.. He began to weep. As I looked at him weeping, I felt bad in a way that I myself was no weeping.  But then, I began to think about how John can identify with the Sudanese people in a way I never can. What a picture of how our Savior humbled himself and became like us to identify. We are approaching our 20 year mark in YWAM next October, and I absolutely love our mission.  Over the years, this mission has given us God's heart for the nations, and what a blessing to be able to serve alongside people like John Alfonse.

Another bonus and excited time on our YWAM campus as we graduated more DTS students.  Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall...four times a year we run DTS's here and I get the honor of having all these students come through Gospel Focus for their training in evangelism to help prepare them for the nations they will be going to. 

Summer Evangelism

This summer we have seen God do amazing things through our Gospel Guy outreaches.  Three days a week we are on the streets with local believers doing what we do: Equipping them to share the gospel, Engaging non Christians, and Evangelizing.  To be honest, it is so hard to try and sum up all the great things God has done.  At the same time, it has also been very difficult with opposition coming from all sides.  We ask that you continue to pray for us and all those involved that hit the streets with us to share the gospel with people of our city.  

Great discussion starter we call "True or False".

Building Relationships and sharing the Gospel through Temple Talks

The above picture is of myself with my two friends Jaktar, and his son Harky.  They are Sikh, and through our many Temple Talks, the Lord has developed a great friendship with them.  Our temple talks continue to be such a dynamic impacting part of Gospel Focus.  I ask you to pray for these guys to come to know Christ. Aside from doing a Temple Talk the last Tuesday of every month, we have also been doing them for our current summer DTS students, and our Mission Adventures students.  These Temple Talks have given us so many open doors to share the gospel with people in our city, not to mention get Christians out of their bubble to actually engage the lost.

This is a new place we went to.  It is a religious science church.  I took some of the Mission Adventures staff for part of their staff training. 

Having discussions with Rev. Moore of the Religious Science church.  Pray that he would come to know Christ. 

The above picture is of our last group we took on a Temple Talk.  Within this picture are YWAMer's, local pastors, and Christians from various churches in our city. This group I took to the Christian Science Church.