The Calm Before the Storm!

On Monday we will be receiving a group of about 25 high schoolers for our first Spring Break group.  We have been busy this week preparing for them and as you can see from the picture above, we are excited for this years theme which is "Unbound".  We will be challenging our students to know their identity, confront idolatry in their lives, and respond to the gospel with bravery.  Please be praying for our next week with our group!  It is going to be an awesome time!

We made our room into a boat dock.   The idea is you have to leave the harbor to save those that are drowning.

Light in the Darkness

This past week we took our Spring Break staff on our "Knock" outreach.  What is knock you ask?  Simply put, we knock on peoples doors and ask them if we can pray for them.  I cannot tell you how amazing this outreach is, and if you have never done it, you should!  We have chose a particular area in our city called "Felony Flats"...no need to explain how the area got its name.  The above picture is of one of our staff members Lindy and a lady we met named Barbara.  Barbara is a Christian and has lived in this rough neighborhood for years.  She has done many prayer walks through her neighborhood, and when we prayed for her, she began to cry. "This neighborhood needs Jesus...and I have seen churches come and go and do prayer walks...but I have never heard of anyone actually knocking on doors and praying for people."  We were humbled and honored to meet this prayer warrior.  To top it off, she offered her home to all our Mission Adventures teams to use as a "launching center" for our "Knock" ministry we will be doing with our groups in that neighborhood.  

"I want to give my life to Jesus rite now"

As the young guy approached me I asked if he would like to answer a simple question.  He said sure. I asked him what he thought the purpose of life was.  What followed was about a 30 minute discussion which eventually turned to me sharing the Gospel with this young guy.  After I shared the Gospel, he surprised me by saying that he wanted to give his life to Jesus.  Rite there on the corner, he surrendered his life to Jesus.  What I did not know was rite at that time some of our DTS students arrived to do some outreach, and when they pulled up, they saw the above picture of myself, my buddy Ryan, and the young man as he was giving his life to Christ.  They snapped a picture.  I think it is one of the coolest pictures ever because it shows why we go out to the streets and what the Holy Spirit does with those whose hearts are open.  What a privaledge to see people come to know Jesus!

Wagon Train and Evangelism?

This week I am teaching on evangelism in our DTS (Disciplship Training School).  It has been a great week so far, and the students are great.  3 hours a day teaching on evangelism...what a blessing! I think I surprised the students the first day when I showed them a few clips from the old tv series Wagon Train (yes, I confess, i am a huge fan of that show), had them shoot homemade bow and arrows the boys made, and tied that all in to the importance of sharing the Gospel.  I think it worked.  Miracles can happen I guess!  I love being able to not just teach on evangelism, but also take these students on the streets with me and put into practice what they have been learning.  As I always tell our students..."The best classroom in learning how to do evangelism is any street corner."

So encouraged to see students eager to learn and apply what they are learning 

Calvary Chapel Salem Joins the Gospel Guy Network

I have an amazing church here in Salem.  Calvary Chapel Salem has been our home church for our 6 years we have lived here in Oregon.  not only have they come to Mission Adventures multiple times (and yes, they are coming this year again!) but they have joined the Gospel Guy Network as well!  I ran our foundations training this past week with 16 people from our church, and a few have already hit the streets with me.  I am so excited to be working together with the church we attend in getting the Gospel out to the people of our city!  

Spring Break Mission Adventures Teams Are Coming!

In about a week and a half, we will be getting in our first few Spring Break teams.  March is sort of our "kick off" month for Mission Adventures here in Salem, and also for all our Mission Adventure programs in North America.  This year our theme is "Unbound", and as you can see our participants are going to be getting some sweet shirts, bags, journals, stickers, etc...  Please be praying for our spring break groups that are coming to our city of Salem for their missions trips.  Also, please be praying for Mission Adventures all over North America as locations all across the globe host teams and provide them with amazing life changing mission trips!

Four Years Running and Going Strong...Youth Pastors Coffee Hour

This past week we had our monthly Youth Pastors Coffee Hour that I host the last Wednesday of every month.  I am always encouraged by these times, as i get to just hang out, pray, and hear from our cities youth pastors in regards to all sorts of topics related to youth ministry.  We had 16 youth pastors come out which is fantastic!  I started this coffee hour 4 years ago and it is awesome to see that it still continues.  Building bridges with local youth pastors is a lot of fun. Truly grateful for these guys who faithfully come and desire to look outside their own church and reach out to each other.  the above picture is of a few of the guys praying together as we ended our time together.