Anders and Aidan Help Out for Summer Outreaches

The boys helping our staff Tiffany paint

One of the outreaches we are doing this summer is something we are calling "Famous Faces of Oregon".  We are basically painting pictures on plywood, and cutting a whole for people to put there face in it for pictures.  The type of thing you see at fairs.  We are going to be using these when we do Gospel Guy and for our Thursday evening open air evangelism times.  Anders and Aidan were a big help painting the pictures.  Looks like we are going to have Bigfoot, Lewis and Clark, a Pioneer Family, and of course a Duck and a Beaver.  Pay no attention to the holstered cap gun on Ander's hip.  He still thinks its cool to go around holding people up and asking for candy.  I always will encourage the entrepreneur spirit!

Sharing the Gospel with King Kong

Our Wednesday Salem outdoor market is always a great time to share the Gospel.  Every day is completely different.   I never thought I would ever share the Gospel with King Kong...but this past Wednesday I got to do just that!

May Gospel Guy Numbers

To be honest I am not a big numbers guy.  The reason I track the numbers is because as YWAM Salem we have certain goals planned out for the next 3 years...one of which is to reach  3% of our cities population with the Gospel.  That is an estimated 6,000 people.  So I keep track just to press on toward that goal.

Prayer Makes a Difference

You may remember from a previous blog post I asked to you all to pray for a man named Nick.  I met Nick about a year ago.  He works for the city and reads parking meters.  I began to reach out to Nick a year ago, and have shared the Gospel with him many times.  He has always been very open and receptive, but has always "not been ready" to put His trust in Christ, and he has always assumed by being a good person he would get to heaven.  Today, I saw Nick again and there seemed to be something different about him.  He seemed like he wanted to talk a bit more, and as I began to talk to him, he said he desired to put his trust in Christ!  Nick gave his live to Jesus today!  What a testimony of God's faithfulness in answering the prayers of His people.  Thank you for praying for him, and please continue to do so.  He is supposed to come to church with us tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted.

My friend Nick gave his life to Christ today

Buy a Copy of "Proceeding On" today!

As you all know, as of last week I officially have launched my devotional book, "Proceeding On".  I have had some people ask how they could order a copy, so take a look at the link here and it is just that easy!  Any way you could help me get the word out about my book I would appreciate!  Feel free to give me number out to people who are interested.  5034806409.

 http://bookstore.overboardministries.com/-Proceeding_On/p2439232_12269683.aspx

I Am Afraid of Faith

As the two came out of the mall, I stopped and asked them if I could ask them a question that would affect the rest of their life.  They looked at me a bit awkwardly, and said sure.  I then spent the next 40 minutes speaking to them, about Jesus and the new life He offers.  It was a great discussion, and they were bluntly honest.  The one young man said he was "afraid to put his full faith in one Person".  The other, who was a girl said that she was not sure about the whole God thing.  My buddy Ryan came up to us and began to share the Gospel to them with me.  Rite before our eyes you could begin to see a change taking place in their hearts.  Rite there, after about an hour of good honest discussion, reasoning, answering questions, and asking questions, these two young people repented and came to Christ.  It was a beautiful thing.  I am amazed at what we see the Lord doing lately.  We are seeing people come to Christ weekly and all glory goes to Him!  The harvest is ready everyone!  Get out there and share Christ with others!

Sharing the Gospel With...Batman?

The Northwest is a very weird place...plain and simple. And I love it just for that reason.  We have shared the Gospel with all sorts on the streets of our city, but last Friday was a first for my buddy Ryan who does the Gospel Guy with me weekly.  The above picture is of him rite after he shared the Gospel with...batman.  Yep, a young man dressed up as batman was doing a fraternity hazing type of thing and ran into us.  Ryan shared the Gospel with him and i took a picture.  How many times can you say you got to share the Gospel with a Superhero?

Junior High Group Shares the Gospel in our City

The above picture is of a Mission Adventures group we had last week.  They were Junior High kids from southern Oregon.  It was a great time with them.  For almost all of them, their shared the Gospel with people for the first time in their lives while they were with us.  It was so great to see them challenged to share their faith during their time with Mission Adventures.  We look forward to the teams that will soon be coming for our Summer Mission Adventures season.

Junior High student doing a survey on the streets.  Great ice breaker.

Gospel Guy Weekly Report

Another Great week of ministry.  We also saw two more people come to Christ.

Memorial Day Weekend Walter Style

Family at Smith Rock hitting the trails

We hope all of you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.  We are truly grateful to the thousands who have layed down their lives for the freedoms we have today.  Our wonderful weekend was made possible for the countless who gave up all so we could enjoy planting gardens, going on family hikes, and simply enjoying life. Thought I would send a few pictures of how we spent the weekend.  As usual, when the weather is good in Oregon we hit to the mountains to do some hiking.  This time we went out to Smith rock in Central Oregon. We also tried our luck and planted a garden in our yard.  We will let you know how that goes! Last week Sarah's folks were out here for 5 days.  It was great to see them and the kids had a blast. So here are some pictures!

Alistair guarding the garden

Sarah and I at Smith Rock.  One day we will be able to hike by ourselves without a tribe of kids in tow!

Kids at the beach with Grandpa and Grandma Beckstrom

Good Works Don't Cut It

Today started off rough. Even though it was the cities Wednesday market, and lots of people were on the street, none were really wanting to talk.  I was growing a bit discouraged when I saw a young man walking by and I asked him if he had a minute.  He kind of brushed me off and said he was on his way to meet his girlfriend.  I took a bold risk and told him, "If you give me 5 minutes I guarantee what I have to tell you is even more important than your girlfriend."  That caught his attention, and we began to talk. His name was Adrian and he was 26 years old. Adrian was a nice guy, and he was raised Catholic.  I asked him whether or not he knew he was going to heaven and he answered very directly ,"Of course I am...I am a good person."  I proceeded to ask him a few more questions, and it was not long before Adrian was confronted with a tough truth...none of us are good and we need a Savior.  As we spoke, Adrian realized that relying on his works was not good enough, and that salvation could only come through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. I continued to share the Gospel with him, and praise be to God Adrian came to Christ on that street corner. We are seeing people come to Christ every week lately.  This is all God's doing, and we are blessed to be able to be part of that amazing work. Pray for Adrian and for the follow up he needs.

Weekly Gospel Guy Report May 12-16

We had another very fruitful week last week with the Gospel Guy. We also saw two people come to know Christ as well.  What a priviledge to be able to talk to people about Christ freely.  May we never take it for granted.

The Gospel Guy Proclamation

Below is a poem I recently wrote one evening.  I was thinking of my ministry doing the Gospel Guy, and all the ups and downs thus far.  Before I knew it, i penned the below poem and titled it the Gospel Guy Proclamation.  I pray it is an encouragement to all who read, and may it inspire you to share the Gospel with others.  It is mean to be read in two line segments at a time, as they rhyme with each other.  The way it was transferred into the blog kind of messed with the line spacing FYI.

The Gospel Guy Proclamation

Tis not the stained glass steeple
Where I seek to spend my days
But on the cold wet streets of my city
Where lost men walk in their ways
It is there that evil hovers, oh as the darkest of night
All the more reason for me to be there, so eager to share the Light
For the burning message within me, I cannot keep it in
This good news called the Gospel, which frees lost men from their sin
And so it is by this sign I sit, day after day after day
Telling others of my Jesus, the One and only way
For He humbled himself and died for me, that's why I take this post
Striving to speak with others, about the One in life that matters most
Thou scores have lived in this world, well recognized and having accomplished much,
All I do is simply desire,  for the lost to feel His touch
Tis on this street corner where many a time the blind have come to see
You can have your buildings and offices, but this street corner is the place for me
Many mock and many slander, and ask whats the point, why try?
Who is this strange religous nut, this weird one, this Gospel Guy?
Tis in those times I ponder, oh how little does it cost
To speak of Jesus with others, Lord help me to reach the lost
It is this Gospel that I need as much as those with whom I speak
The lost, hurting and the outcast, the wise, the rich and weak
So I'll sit by this sign most gladly, rite outside this mall
To proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, the One who gave up all

Off to the Nations

Praying out Hyung Sik and Sunny

The above picture is of some staff members praying out a Korean family who have been serving with YWAM Salem the past three years.  This amazing family (four kids) will be leaving soon to start a coffee house in the nation of Jordan, to reach out to Syrian refugees.  Stories like this are one of the reasons we love working with YWAM.  To see Christ glorified in so many amazing ways.  Pray for the Park family as they begin this amazing adventure and obey God's calling on their lives.

Making ConnectionsTwisty

Twisty will be joining us this summer for Open air Evangelism

The above picture if of "Twisty the Clown".  I met this guy at our Wednesday city market.  turns out he is a Christian and next Wednesday he will be attempting to break the Guinness book of World Records for making the most balloon animals in a minute.  I guess the record is at 13 rite now, he says he can beat it.  Should be pretty neat to watch.  Anyway, I began to share with Twisty about our upcoming Open Air Evangelism times we will be doing this summer at the amphitheater in Waterfront Park. I asked him if he would like to come down and be a "crowd drawer" and join us.  He said yes!  This is just another amazing testimony of how God aligns things and people up for His glory.  I'm looking forward to seeing how God uses a clown to reach the lost this summer!

Born Again at 64

Wednesday is always a long day, but a great day of my week.  Wednesday is spent entirely on the streets sharing the Gospel from 9-5.  Today it was 91 degrees, and there were tons of people out for the Wednesday city market.  This is my favorite day of the week.  Today we had many great conversations from agnostics and atheists to animists and shaman.  One I would like to share is with a 64 year old man named William.  As I approached William and introduced myself and asked if he would like to answer a question I had he was in shock.  Nobody had ever done that apparently to him before. As we began to talk, he opened up his life and was bluntly honest with me in regards to where he was at spiritually.  William was firmly convinced that he was far to bad for God to love him with all the things he had done in life.  I was actually surprised when he was humble enough to admit that he did not deserve God's love.  Usually its the other way around with people.  I told him that he was correct, that we do not deserve God's love, but we deserve his wrath and judgment.  BUT...here  is where the good news of Jesus comes in.  I then began to share the Gospel with him and praise be to God, rite there on the street corner this 64 year old man named Will came to Christ.  With tears in his eyes he repented and stepped into a new life in Christ.  This is the God we serve. A God who never gives up on man.  A God who will give new life to a 64 year old man who thought he was unlovable.

Weekly Stats from the Gospel Guy

At the end of every week, I put up a sign in our eating area on Campus.  I thought I would begin to share it on our blog as well.  Pray for the seeds that have been planted in the hearts of those we shared with!  Two people also came to Christ this week.  I do not put up those numbers on the chart...not sure why...but have never felt comfortable with it.

Mothers Day and Two Birthdays

Spent Mothers Day Hiking

To all Mom's reading this...happy Mothers Day!  We took the day and went hiking and after that grilled some burgers, followed by some evening campfire and smores in the backyard.  Day well spent.

Aidan turned 10 on May 6th.

Abigail turned 8 on May 8th

A Hard Sad Conversation

I shared the Gospel with these people today

I saw the above pair standing on the corner opposite me today.  I went over and introduced myself to them.  There were three people, although one was not in the picture.  I introduced myself to them, and asked them who they were what they were about, etc..  The three people said they were Christian, and one goes to a Quaker church, the other a Catholic church, and the other a Lutheran church.  Then, things got a bit confusing when I asked them if they ever share the Gospel with people, instead of just protesting war.  They said no, as they did not think it was rite for them to "impose" their views on others.  Ironic I thought given the situation.  Then, I was completely taking off guard when I asked them their thoughts on heaven, and what happens to us when we die.  All three said it was impossible to know, and that Jesus is not the only way to heaven!  These are three "Church Going Christians"!  My heart broke.  I spoke with them for about 45 minutes.  It was a very good conversation, but oh so heavy.  Since I was raised Lutheran, I had some foundation in my discussion with the Lutheran guy.  After he mentioned to me that he follows Buddha as well as Jesus, I challenged him with a few questions.  I have no idea if anything sunk in.  Please be praying for theses three.  They are genuine nice people, but so lost in a pluralist worldview.  We respectively disagreed on a lot of things, but I do know that Jesus wants truth to be revealed to them.  Join me in prayer!

Wednesday Market and the Gospel Guy

Wednesday Market in Downtown Salem

Today started the Wednesday market here in downtown Salem.  We were there doing the Gospel Guy and had an amazing time sharing the Gospel with the people who were downtown.  Today alone we shared the Gospel 16 times!  We were there for around 6 hours, so it was a long day.  Half way through the day we had our DTS students join us.  It is great to see them stepping out in faith. Please pray for the Wednesday market.  There are so many people there, and what a great opportunity it present to share the Gospel.

The Question We Were Asking People Today

Two Salvations

Monday whole doing the Gospel Guy I had some amazing conversations.  The first was with two young men who attend Willamette University here in Salem.  I spoke with them for about 45 minutes.  They were evolutionists, and it sure was interesting.  To be honest, I found myself outclassed in some areas, but I tried my best to keep to the Gospel.  At the end of our conversation, i looked at the two young men and said to them, "Guys, your smart young men, but I want to tell you this.  You can deny truth and say it does not exist, but that does not change the fact that it is indeed truth.  And the truth is, without Jesus, all your educational efforts, intellectual arguments, and aspirations to do good, will all be in vain."  When I said that, it seemed like finally something hit home to their hearts.  They said they did not agree that Jesus is real, or that even their is a creator God, but that they would like to further our conversation. I hope to run into them again.  Immediately after that, I met another young man who was searching for truth.  I shared the Gospel with him and he gave his life to Christ.  How amazing a God we have!  Got me thinking of how different this young mans heart was from the other two.  Fertile hearts are hearts where the Lord can work.  Another one of our staff members had the privilege to lead a Muslim lady to Christ today also!  It was a God appointed meeting, and the lady was trembling in tears as she took the Gospel of John handed to her.  But then she gave it back, and said that if her family found out she was a Christian, she could be harmed physically.  Pray for this new believer in the Lord, and that she would be surrounded by other Christians who can help disciple her.

WAVES 2014

I returned a few days ago from Orlando.  The WAVES gathering went great.  It was a great balance of accomplishing a lot and having fun.  the above picture was taking after our Mission Adventures Olympics.  Great time was had by all.  Of the 19 MA locations in North America, 15 were represented at this gathering.  Thank you all for your prayers during this time.  Sarah and the kids did great as well, and it was great to get back home.

One of the great things about Florida, is we could do our training times outside as you can see!