Back to Dillon---the Home Stretch

Last night we stayed at Curry's house. It was really nice to sleep on a bed...things just seem to be getting better every night! In the morning, they made egg bake for breakfast. It was very good. 

We got on the road about 8:00 am. It is only 10 hours from their house. Brandon ended up driving the whole way home. We powered right through. Only 3 stops...Kennewick, WA; Spokane, WA; Bonner, MT. It was a pretty mellow trip back. The roads were good, and we did a lot of napping. 

It has been amazing to see how God has worked differently in each of our lives over the week. 

Sara said God has been really been challenging her to grow in her faith. She said she was really able to see how He brought all the small details together on this trip. Sara said she is excited to see what God has planned for her next in life.

Brandon said he really appreciated being able to spend a lot of alone time with God. He said he wants to make sure to set aside time when he is back in Dillon to really dive into God's Truth of the Word.

Bailey said God is encouraging her to show His love through her actions and not just by preaching to people.

Max said he should start a prayer list. He feels like God wants him to be more intentional in praying for people.

For me, God has really been asking me to trust Him. I feel like He is asking me to pray for very specific things for people and situations. I think this is going to be very challenging, but it is going to be essential for me to grow in my relationship with God. 

 

Thank you so much for keeping up on the trip and praying for us.

Over and Out.

Portland/Multnomah Falls-Day 7

Last night we stayed at the Portland State Chi Alpha house. We got to sleep off the ground too! Couches and a futon! It was nice to sleep on something soft instead of the floor.

We had a late breakfast at Denny's, because we ate supper early. Outside Denny's there was a homeless gal. She was pretty young. She told Sara that she was homeless because she was trying to help a friend and got kicked out of the apartment.

After breakfast, we went to the Lloyd Center mall. It was massive! There were three floors in the mall and an ice skating rink!!! We all split up and wandered around the mall. After some shopping, I spent a good hour and a half ice skating. It was a lot of fun. There were some young girls there skating. They were probably 7 and 9, and they were amazing! They were spinning around and skating backward. It looked like they were olympians in the making. I could have used some lessons from them.

We went to Pambiche's for supper. They had some very delicious Cuban cuisine. We each tried something new, and I would say we were all pretty impressed.

When we were done eating supper, we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. It is a famous doughnut shop in Portland. People even get married there! Once we got our snacks, we got in the car and headed to Multnomah Falls. The falls are absolutely beautiful. It was cool to hear the water and feel how much wind the falling water creates.

We hiked to the middle bridge on the falls, took some pictures and headed back down to the car. Then we headed to White Salmon, WA to stay at the Curry's house tonight. Tomorrow we will head out about 8 to head back to Dillon!

It's been a great week seeing how God has been working in all of our lives during this trip. He knows each of us so well. He gives us exactly what we need :)

prayer requests:
-safe travel home
-God would continue the work He has started on this trip. Also that our hearts would be open to Him

Salem/Portland Day 6

This morning we had a breakfast and wonderful devo led by Max. He talked about unity in the church, and how we should be intentional about loving one another. When we as a church love each other well, people want to come and be involved in our family.

After breakfast, we helped unload the truck for the food pantry. Since there were so many people helping, we got the food unloaded and sorted in about 20 minutes. We got done so quickly we were able to help with some other tasks around the church. For lunch we had some leftovers, but we still couldn't get all the food we bought eaten up.

We were able to hang out at the Salem House of Prayer (aka S.H.O.P.) for a little over an house. It was great to just be in God's presence. Before heading to the S.H.O.P., we prayed for each person on the team to see what God might have us speak into their lives.

About 3:30 we started heading to Portland for Night Strike. I'll tell you one thing. I am pretty laid back and relaxed most of the time, but this city driving thing makes me crazy. I can't stand not being able to see if there is a car in the lane we are about to merge into. I have learned it is best for me to out my head phones in and close my eyes and pray that we don't get in a wreck. Then I can stay at least a little bit oblivious to the crazy traffic.

We got to town about 4:30 and headed to the Chi Alpha house to drop off our stuff for the night. Their house is 100 years old, has 4 stories, and is over 4000 square feet of space! It is huge.

We headed over to the Liberation Street Church a little before 5. We were hoping to park in the church (free parking) and walk somewhere to find food. Turns out this church doesn't have a parking lot. It is on a very busy street corner. So we found a parking lot...it was only $6 to park. Not a bad deal.

When we started walking around, we found out that there weren't very many places to eat that would let all of us inside. Most of them were pubs...no one under 21 allowed. That is 3 out of 5 people in our group. We ended up finding a little place that sells pizza out of a window on a corner.

By the time we got our pizza, it was about 5:05. We walked up to the church. It was locked. We were over an hour early. I guess it never hurts to be a little early. We were definitely fish out if water! We stood outside the church for a minute trying to figure out what to do for the next hour. Thankfully there was someone in the church. He came and let us inside so we could eat our pizza sitting down...I was thinking thank you Jesus that Justin saw us. I did not want to stand out on the street any longer than I had to.

After a while, Justin out us to work moving tables and chairs and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Night Strike. Once we got the system down, we were sandwich making machines!

In all, I would say about 175 volunteers showed up to help this evening. We had a little worship and went through a few rules before heading under the bridge.sara helped hand out bibles and other literature. Bailey and Max were "clothes bouncers." They had to make sure only three people were looking at the clothes at once. Brandon helped clean the church and then visited with guests under the bridge. I helped out with the dignity station. At this station they paint fingernails and hand out toiletries.

I was able to visit quite a bit with Jessica, one of the other volunteers. She is a teacher at a high school in Portland, and she came to help chaperone some high school students who were volunteering. I was able to paint a couple people's nails. There was a dad there with his son. I painted the dad's nails and his done chose the colors...green and orange! Later they came back because the little boy, Adam, smeared on of his nails. I repainted a couple of them and Jessica painted a couple. Then Adam insisted on painting my nails...keep in mind, Adam is only 5. He painted three nails, and then got bored and left. Oh well, it will remind me I pray for him.

The night went really well overall. It seemed like everyone enjoyed serving. It was well organized and the guests seemed to enjoy it as well.

Prayer requests:
-praise God for safe travel to Portland
-safety for the rest of our travel
-tomorrow is our free day in Portland. Safety. Also that we would keep God in mind and be willing to listen when He asks us to do something.
-Max's foot. We will probably be doing quite a bit of walking tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your prayer support!

Salem Day 5

Today we went to UGM (Union Gospel Mission). That is the men's mission. It is only about 5 minutes from West Gate church.

In the morning, we helped weed some flower pots and around trees in the sidewalk. It seems that spring has really spring over here in Oregon. It is nice to go outside in the nice spring weather. I am afraid it is going to be a bit of a shock when we get back to Dillon. We will actually have to wear coats outside!

After weeding, we went inside to help with lunch. They served llama goulash for the meal. Yum! It actually wasn't too bad except for the fact that we ate lunch about 10:45am. That was a little early for me.

Dan, the head of food services at UGM gave us a quick tour of the food storage areas. Last year he was just starting when we were there for spring break. He was telling us of some improvements that had been made over the past year. Number 1 they had a HUGE mouse problem last year. Dan said they were catching 35-40 mice...per DAY!!! They filled all the holes with steel wool and spray foam and have had 0 mice for the last 8 months!

After lunch, Sharalyn (I spelled it wrong yesterday) gave us a short tour of UGM. we got to look at the wood shop where some of the men work if they are in a recovery program. Also, she just visited with us about what Dillon is like and how God is working there.

After the tour, we went back to the mission store. We helped put price tags and sizes on clothes before they go into the actual store. We also helped sort and hang coats. There were some pretty fashionable items in there...for instance about 10 brown, matching pleather/fur jackets! Yikes.

We went back to UGM about 4:30 to help with supper. For supper they had llama hamburger steak. It wasn't too bad either. Tasted pretty close to beef...a little tough but the flavor was alright.

Here's a little tip---if you ever want to try exotic meet, just help out at a homeless shelter/mission. I'm sure you'll get to try something new. Last year we had bear!

Chapel was at 7. We didn't lead chapel, we just sat in and listened to the speaker. There was actually a family that led worship and the message portion of chapel. It was really cool to see how they interacted with the guests. Candy, the wife, said they have been coming to the mission since '91. She said it had been really cool to see growth with people over the years.

After chapel, it was off to the YMCA for showers, a quick stop at the grocery store, evening snack at Burger King, a little Jesus time, and then off to bed!

Again, Thank you so much for praying. We really appreciate it.

Here are a few prayer requests:
-safety as we travel to Portland for night Strike
-interactions with people at Night Strike
-that we would serve joyfully in whatever God wants us to do at Night Strike. We have the options of serving food, washing feet, grounds clean up, cutting hair, delivering food, and a prayer walk. It is pretty likely that we won't all be in The same group.
-Max hurt his ankle a while ago playing basketball, and it is still very sore. It is painful for him to be standing and walking around all day...and we are doing a lot if exactly that. Pray for the pain to go away and healing
-blessings for the West Gate church. They were really gracious to let us stay. They have given us food as well. Also, they just hired a new pastor, Nathan Headley. They have to move from Colorado.
-praise! We found a place to stay in Portland. Before Tuesday, we were planning on driving back to Salem Thursday night to stay at West Gate, but Sara was able to get a hold of the Chi Alpha director at Portland State, and we can stay at the Chi Alpha house there!

Salem Day 4

Today has been really good! We were able to sleep in a little bit this morning and had biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

Brandon was in charge of devotions. He brought the verses from Isaiah 61 where it talks about binding up the broken hearted and setting captives free. That was perfect, because today we went to work at the women's mission, Simonka Place. When we got there, Sheralyn gave us a brief tour of the building.

At this shelter they have a recover program that lasts about 1 year. Participants take life skills classes and attend bible studies put on by the mission. If women are in the New Life Fellowship Program (NLF), they are able to stay at and keep their belongings at Simoka. These women also help with different tasks around the mission including cooking in the kitchen and working at the front desk to check guests into the mission.

Sheralyn also said that they have about 75 women staying at their shelter every night. That is maximum capacity for this mission. They are having to out down mats on the floor of the chapel so people have places to sleep. This shelter is for women and children, but currently they do not have any children staying.

We were able to serve at Simonka by cleaning the dust out of the heat vents, vacuuming and dusting the lounge area(photo of Sara and Bailey), and cleaning the chapel. During lunch, a few of us helped serve the food. The people who weren't serving food visited with the guests. After lunch, we went and worked at the second hand mission store. Some of the profits from the store go to provide funding for the mission (men's and women's). At the store, we sorted the the books. Now if you have ever been to a second hand store, you know that sometimes things aren't always in the right place. Well, it turns out just about every one of those books were in the erin places. We sorted fiction from nonfiction, paperback for hardcover, romance for. Western, thriller from mystery, Christian from children, and just about any other category you can think of...we sorted it. It was fun to look thought all the books. We found some good ones. For instance "Give 'em A Pickle, and They'll Be Back" I think that was a book about good customer service. It's hard to say :)

After we got done at the store, we were scheduled to head back to Simonka to help with supper and evening chapel. We had to stop at a gas station for some snacks on the way...all that sorting made us a tad hungry.

Again we helped serve supper. Sara and I talked to Jennifer, one of the guests. She told us nearly her whole life story. She kept saying she knew something was going on in her life, but she didn't know quite what it was. As she told us more, it became more and more clear that God is working in her life in a huge way! It seems that Simonka has been a huge blessing to her. She asked for prayer to help her figure out what she should do next. If you have a minute, it would be great if you could life her up.

We cleaned up the kitchen after supper to get ready for chapel. They are using the kitchen since they have people staying in the chapel at night.

We had gotten together before supper to pray about what God might have us share. Sara suggested taking about how God has a plan, and His timing is perfect even when we feel stuck. I was thinking of something similar. They has a flag in the chapel with Ecclesiastes 3:1 there is a time for everything...that inspired me to think about moving and change. It has to be hard for these women. Especially those that just can't seem to get out of the rut of homelessness. I would guess that they probably feel stuck. We wanted to be able to encourage them with God's truth.

God is good!

When they women came into the chapel, they all seemed very excited. One gal picked up the song book and immediately found the song "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". She made a request right away. We were able to oblige. It was really great to see how excited the women were to praise and worship The Lord. They were encouraging each other to "sing it out to Jesus!" It was so amazing!

We decided to add a little twist to the typical singing worship for the evening when we were planning. We wanted to give the women an opportunity to read Psalms. They could read their favorite or one that was really impacting their own lives. We had decided also that if no one started talking one of us would start reading. It turned out that none of us had to read....at all! I think if we would have given them the chance they would have read all night. A lot of the women were reading different Psalms. Some even read several. It was encouraging to me to see their excitement in proclaiming who God is.

After we got done speaking, we cleaned up the kitchen so it would be ready for breakfast in the morning. None of the women stuck around, because they had to shower and get ready for bed.

We went directly to the YMCA after leaving Simonka....well almost. Brandon searched for the YMCA on a GPS. Turns out there are two of them in Salem. We were going to the wrong one...ooops. We made it without too much if a hassle.

Once we got back, we made some chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Then had freshly baked cookies and ice cream for a snack. It was perfect after a long day!

Tomorrow we are going to the men's mission (UGM). We are going to help at the mission store, pull weeds, and serve food. It should be a good day! It is crazy that the week is almost half done already. I guess they do say time flies when you're having fun!

I'm super blessed to have opportunities to serve The Lord and be so blessed in the process. Thank you for your prayers!

Salem Day 3

Got to sleep in a nice warm room last night! Praise Jesus!

After breakfast, we helped with the church's food pantry. We moved some canned goods to the front room of the pantry, filled orders, and cleaned. We met some really great people.

Toward the end of working at the food pantry, Charlie, one of the church members asked us to rake and freshen up some of the bark by the church sign. It was so great to go outside! It was a little overcast, but the temperature was about 60. It is amazing how green it is over here already!

Around lunch time, Jerry, another church member asked if wanted some pizza for lunch. We were planning on eating some left over lasagna from a youth night the church had a few days ago. He told us he just has a feeling he should ask us if we wanted pizza. So he did.
This guy has an amazing story. He used to be in Springfield, OR. He was homeless. He felt like God was leading him to Salem. When he got here, he started coming to West Gate church. Recently, someone gave him a pickup and fifth wheel camper. So he has a home!

After lunch, we went to a gal's house across the street from the church. We helped her weed her garden. It was great to be able to help her out. She had a stint put in a few weeks ago and is still recovering.

We got to the YMCA before it closed, so we were all able to shower! For supper we had tacos...yum!

Jesus was really good to us today. We had a lot of fun being able to work outside in the nice weather!

Salem - Day 2

Welcome to daylight savings on the west coast! That is one positive thing about heading west right before the time change...it seems like you never left home :)

We spent a rather frigid night in the church. Bailey and I were up before six, because we just couldn't take it (the cold) any longer. (Turns out the heat was off. Ooops.) I guess next time we will know better. Shortly after, the rest of the crew was up and going.

While cooking breakfast, Max came in and promptly told us they had a visitor in their room last night....don't worry it was just a mouse in the ceiling. He and Brandon just decided to sleep outside the room. That way the mouse couldn't get them...

Breakfast=delicious! As we were eating, Sara went upstairs to see if anyone was around. She did find the sound guy who did not know we were staying at the church. Needless to say he was a little surprised.

At 8:30 West Gate Assembly had its drive in church service. Sara helped hand out donuts and coffee to the attendees. Max helped Art hand out programs. Brandon helped with sound. Bailey and I made ourselves useful by visiting and capturing the experience on video. We did get to attend the drive in service. It was very interesting. The message was very good. It was about being planted firmly in the Word of God. Very challenging. The preacher was actually a candidate for the senior pastor position at the church. West Gate's pastor recently passed away.

After drive in church, we attended the inside church service as well. The church had a full choir....it was amazing! Again the pastor candidate spoke. He did a great job. After the service, the church had a short business meeting to vote on whether they should hire the pastor candidate. And they decided he's in! I think they got a good one.

After lunch, we cleaned the church. We vacuumed the sanctuary, organized a craft closet, disinfected toys, mopped the mini cafe area, and vacuumed other parts of the building.....it's a big church.

About 5 we headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things for Night Strike and breakfast. After Wal-Mart, we headed to the YMCA to take a much needed shower. We got to the door and guess what....it was closed. So we did not shower....we will appreciate it even more tomorrow!

Until next time....

Salem day 1

Well, we made it here just in time I watch the sun go down. It ended up taking right about 13 hours to get to Salem from Dillon. (With minimal stops)

We left Dillon about 6:17. We had planned on leaving at 6:30. Oh, the perks of having a small amount of people.

God kept us safe the whole way. It was a pretty quiet trip. We did see a guy driving a lawn mower without the blade in St. Regis...that's about as exciting as it gets.

As soon as we got to Salem we ate, got a few groceries, and got frozen yogurt! Yum!

Time for bed now...got to get up bright and early to make breakfast and help with the drive in church service at 8:30am.

One positive thing to the time zone change...day light savings won't mean a thing. Until we get home :)

Ready to Go!

Hello Everyone!

First of all, thank you so much for your prayer support. It really means a lot. Everyone has raised their money for the trip, and we even have some extra to donate to the church we will be staying at as well as the missions. We will have five people going on the trip. (Me, Sara, Bailey, Max, and Brandon) All of us went on the trip last year, and we are excited to go back! 

I figured I should send another update before we head off to Salem.

As of right now, here is what I know:

Saturday: Travel to Salem! (Leaving Dillon at 6:30am)

Sunday: Attend Services at Westgate Assembly

             Help serve donuts and coffee before and after services

Monday: Help with Westage's Food Pantry

             If any church members need help with projects, we will help them at their homes.

Tuesday: We will spend Tuesday at Simanka Place. This is the women and children's mission we went to last year.

               At the women's mission, we will help do some deep cleaning. Also, we will help with lunch and chapel.

Wednesday: Today we will be at the Men's Mission (UGF) 

                    We will serve lunch to the clients and help with the chapel service that evening.

Thursday: In the morning, we will go to the Salem house of prayer. 

               After lunch, we will go to Bridge Town in Portland. We are going to help serve meals and hand out clean socks.

Friday: We are going to spend the day in Portland.

Saturday: Driving back to Dillon

I am going to do my best to update this blog every day.

Thanks for partnering with us on this trip!

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

-luke 10:2