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.