Building Forts

The kids absolutely love summers here in the northwest.  The boys have been hard at work on their fort which is in the woods here on YWAM's 35 acre property.  They spent hours hauling wood, nails, and whatever else they can get their hands on.  What a great way to spend the summer for little boys!  Along with catching snakes, frogs, and crawfish, one of the other favorite hobbies of the boys is shooting the abundant amount of gophers with their pellet gun on base!    

The Gospel Guy....

Last week the Lord spoke to me in a way so clear, I was wondering if it was Him.  One of those moments when you wonder, "Is this really you God?"  It was during our weekly Commitment Service for our MA teams.  I was praying and the Lord showed me a picture of me sitting next to a sign that had the words "the Gospel Guy" on it.  I was sitting in a chair, with a thermos of coffee, and along with the sign, I had another sign which had a question written on it for people to ponder as they walked buy. People were asking me to tell them what the sign was about.  I shared the Gospel.  "I want you to do this in your city Tim." the Lord said to me.  I questioned God, "Really...isn't that a bit weird Lord?"  He clearly answered, "Will you be obedient Tim?"  So, thus is the start of the Gospel Guy.  Once a week, same time, same place, I will be organizing people to be "The Gospel Guy" in our city.  I'm hoping to see it become something I can get youth pastors involved with in the future.  The Lord told me this was not just to be me being the Gospel Guy....it is for His glory, and the ministry must be shared with others.  What I am most excited about is having the Gospel Guy become a presence in our city....someone who everyone in our city knows.."that guy who tells people about Jesus on the corner of Chemeketa and Liberty every Wednesday".  Im excited to speak to people about Jesus in our city....no strings attached. I'm excited to see what God has in store for "The Gospel Guy".  Join us in prayer as we begin The Gospel Guy soon.

The Sign Up's Begin for the Youth Pastors Olympics

The above picture is of a dry erase board in my office. Listed on it are the current youth pastors signed up for our September Youth Pastors Olympics.  Last summer we had nine signed up....this year we already have 18...and the Olympics are not until September 11th!  So excited about this!  Aside from bringing youth pastors together for a day of fun and competition, we are taking all the proceeds from the event to benefit a local charity who helps families who have lost loved ones in the war.  Please join us in praying for this upcoming event.  Lots of plans and marketing need to go in, and we are hoping to see this thing grow into one day being a youth pastor Olympics for Oregon...not just our city.  

Berry Picking and Hiking...a Walter Family tradition

Here in the Northwest we have endless outdoor opportunities.  In the summer, you can pretty much find us every weekend doing two things....picking berries and hiking.  We love berry picking with the kids, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc...you name it..if its on a bush our kids are attacking it.  The above picture is Autumn holding some fresh picked blueberries.  That particular day, we picked 36 pounds of berries in 40 minutes!!  Pays to have lots of kids when it comes to berry picking!!  We also utilize the abundance of hiking trails her in Oregon.  Sometimes we hike here in the valley, other times we hike some trails on the Cascade range, other times the Coastal range.  Its always fun, and we are so blessed to live in a place that offers so many outdoor activities for our family. The below picture we took yesterday along the trail.

Ropes Course provides great team building for Mission Adventures

The above picture is of a recent group doing some team building with our YWAM Salem ROPES course ministry, rite before they head up to the course to do some serious faith stretching! On Tuesday afternoons, from 1-5, our Mission Adventures students get the awesome experience of going on our ROPES course here.  The Ropes Course runs around 4,000 people through it every year (March-October), and we are so blessed to be able to include a few hours on the course for our MA students.  It is always a highlight of the week, and kids conquer all sorts of fears, while learning to work as a team while doing so.

Youth Pastor challenges other youth pastors to bring their students to Mission Adventures

Pastor Jon in the video above shares about his time at Mission Adventures!

Mission Adventures Participant Shares about his time with Mission Adventures

Above is a short clip of an interview with a participant we had come through Mission Adventures this week.  Here what he had to say about his time with us!