Christian Challenge Christmas Update!

I hope everyone is having a great Advent and Christmas season! I know it’s been a tough year for many but we pray you all are still doing well.

Despite it being the year of COVID-19, we’ve had a great semester. Though we’ve been greatly restricted by campus, God is still working in the lives of our students.

It’s been tricky navigating what we can and can’t do. There’s been no hanging out in the Student Union to meet new students. There’s been very little visible outreach on campus. Many of the things we normally do to meet students were nixed. It feels a lot like doing ministry in a closed country.

A big focus this semester has been doing outdoor events. We’ve done night hikes...

Had camp and climbs...

Climbed fourteeners...

And jumped waterfalls.

Since we can do very little inside, we might as well use the amazing creation God has placed us in. It’s been an excellent, safe way to build relationships with our newer students.

We also had a great retreat with our students just outside of town at one of the local camps. Students from San Juan College Christian Challenge (ran by Randi, our former student/staff member) from New Mexico came up and joined us.

Again, with COVID-19, it made the weekend fairly tricky but we made it work. We brought in our former pastor, Jeff Dobesh, as speaker.

Our students seemed to get a lot out of the retreat.

We’ve combined our family dinners with our worship night. Campus didn’t want students meeting in homes. We instead met at a local church. That gave us a place to do dinner and worship with plenty of space to social distance. (We also kept track of the temperature of those attending our events and were set up to do contact tracing if the need arose. Thankfully, it did not.) Though we’ve had less students than we normally have at our dinners, we’ve had more than we normally have at our worship nights. Numbers-wise, it’s been pretty good despite the small number of students on campus this year.

Unfortunately, a big thing we’ve lost out on this semester are non-Christians. Most semesters, we run about 75% non-Christian. With our Japanese students not on campus this semester and us not running our normal family dinners, we’re probably only about 25% non-Christian.

Thankfully, with the bigger influx of Christian students, we’ve been able to get all but maybe one of our students discipled one-on-one. Of those students being discipled, one is a guy named Andy. When we first met him, he and his twin brother were pretty well known around campus. They'd dress exactly the same. Sadly, Andy’s brother eventually moved schools to continue his studies closer to home. Andy stuck around though and continued to be discipled. This semester, we were able to baptize him!

 

As is true to form for us when we baptize in our local river, it was a cold and windy afternoon. We always offer a warm indoors baptismal but most of them choose the river. They want to do it the old school way. I'm always impressed that the conditions don't scare our students off from wanting to get baptized outside... even if that means rain, snow, or wind.

Another student we disciple in the ministry is a guy named Kyle. I met him at a joint ministry Easter service that was held on campus years ago. He happened to be in my breakout group. After talking a bit, he asked if I’d disciple him. It’s been encouraging to see him grow. This semester, he began sharing his faith with a guy he bumped into around town. The guy was going thru some hard times and Kyle was able to walk with the guy thru them. We’re always stoked to see students step out and share their faith with others!

Many of you remember our former Japanese student, Rikako. We’ve been praying about her coming on staff with us when COVID-19 travel restrictions finally die down. We’ve also been praying quite a bit for her family. Well, after years of praying, she was finally able to sit down with her mother and explain the Gospel. Rikako’s mother is now interested in reading the Bible with her. It’s exciting to see God work thru Rikako to reach her family!

We’ve got some great news adoption-wise. We are now on the adoption matching wait-list! That means that we are now waiting for a match. That’s a big step forward getting on the list. A match could happen within six months to a year. We’d then be bringing our kid home a year out from that. In the mean time, we’re just trying to get all of the classes we have to take out of the way now as things slow down ministry-wise over the holidays.

I am also doing a training our Christian Challenge boss at the state level wanted our staff to take part in. It goes thru July. With all of these classes and trainings we’ve been doing, I feel like I’m back in college... as an actual student.

Many of you may be wondering what our college is doing this next semester. Well, so are we. It sounds like it will look a lot like this past semester. Students will be on campus with a lot of regulations. We’ll probably find out more by Christmas.

We plan on running things like this past semester and if we need to go online, we’ll do that. I’m thankful that we also do one-on-one discipleship because that’s easy to move online. Many ministries that don’t do that just have to shut down until students can do things in person again. But we make it work and have even done our worship nights online when needed…though something is certainly lost when you can’t meet in person. So we’re hoping and praying that we can do in-person meetings this next semester.

We appreciate each one of you, and the part you play in our lives and in reaching college students with the Good News of Christ! Because of you, many have heard for the first time. Many have come into the Kingdom. Many have gotten serious about their faith. Many have been supported in their journey. We are so thankful for all of that!

With it being the end of year, would you prayerfully consider giving a one-time end of year gift? It helps us continue on in this ministry and is tax-deductible. Or perhaps you are led to start giving monthly. Almost everything we have goes into this ministry. We pay the bills and daily living expenses and the rest is invested back into the ministry. If you would like to give for the on-going ministry happening at Fort Lewis, please go to: Give Now.

Merry Christmas and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

Prayer Requests:

- Pray that God would continue to grow our student-leaders. Being that we can't be on campus a whole lot as a staff, we've really had to rely on our student-leaders to invite other students. They've done a great job with that and have stepped up in other areas as well.

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith over our break. Many are going home to hard situations. This year, our ministry is about 95% Native American. A lot of those students went home to full lockdowns on their reservations. They can't even leave the house. As we've seen, that's not good for spiritual health or mental health.

- Our mission trip to Peru has been pushed back once again. If you remember, we were supposed to go there this past July. Then it got pushed to October. And again, it was postponed to May. Now we're hoping for June or July. It's all COVID-19 dependent. Despite being one of the strictest countries in the world when it came to masks and lockdowns, they have some of the highest cases and deaths per capita. This has caused them to also have a lot of political turmoil including protests and multiple presidents stepping down within a week. Hopefully, the country getting a vaccine will help ease fears and calm the political turmoil so that the country can open up, and our team can get into the areas we need to get into. Pray that God would help Peru get COVID-19 under control and re-open the country. Pray that He would provide for our friends down there who haven't been able to work, and also allow us to have access to the areas we work in.

- Being Christians, we are in a spiritual battle. When you do ministry, you become a bigger target in that battle. Keep praying for us and our team that God would protect us from any spiritual attacks. Pray that God would give us the strength and encouragement to endure. Also pray for everyone praying for our ministry because when you pray for the ministry, you become a bigger target as well.

- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. At the moment, we're all pretty healthy but that can change quickly with COVID-19, working with college students, and having staff members that are high-risk. Pray that God would keep our staff safe and healthy.

- Even though our staff is much smaller than it used to be, it's easy for personalities to bump into each other and rub each other the wrong way. Keep praying for our team that it would continue to mesh well.

- For years, Challenge has done everything possible to preserve unity on campus between us and other ministries knowing that division opens the door for the enemy to attack and try to tear down what God is doing. Please pray that the different ministries on campus would have unity, being team players, with the common goal reaching FLC with the Gospel.

- Pray that Rachel and I would not neglect the ministry that is our marriage. We can be much more successful in our college ministry if our marriage is in a good place but it's easy to put that on the back burner when things get busy.

- The adoption process is in full swing. Please be praying that things would run smoothly. That God would provide the funding for the adoption. That there would be no snags or surprises with the adoption process. Pray that God gives us favor throughout the process, and that He gives us a kid who is a great fit for our family.

- Pray that God would open the door for us to partner with more churches and individuals. COVID-19 has made that tricky with a lot of churches not meeting in person and the unpredictability of that. It's hard to plan trips and line up speaking opportunities with the uncertainty. But when things get back closer to normal, that will need to be a focus of ours. With us, Lord willing, adding another person to the family, we'll need to raise extra support to provide for the needs of the child. Immigration also needs to see that we can provide for the child before they give their stamp of approval. And though we have already raised a good chunk and done many fundraisers, we also have a ways to go in order to pay for the adoption. Rachel and I trust God to provide for our family and the ministry but we'd appreciate you praying as well that the funding needs would be met. If you would like to give for the on-going ministry happening at Fort Lewis or the adoption, please go to: Give Now.

Christian Challenge New Fall Semester Update!

Wow, the beginning of the semester is upon us already! It's always an extremely exciting time for us in collegiate ministry! Despite COVID-19, Christ is ready to do amazing things on the campus of Fort Lewis College!

We're living in some crazy times with this contagion. I hope everyone is still doing well thru the pandemic. We've been praying for you all.

This summer, we've been surprisingly busy despite COVID-19. Rachel's grandpa passed away which brought a lot of family in town thru much of the summer. He was a guy who had a big heart for Jesus and had an amazing testimony. God did a lot of work in his life, and we celebrate that he is now with his Savior.

With everyone in town, we got a lot of good family time in. It was really nice to see everyone. We even took a big chunk of the family up a fairly challenging mountain called Engineer.

Also this summer, someone in our family broke down and got a new kitten. Smoki is our new cat's name. Where does the name come from? Well, her color but she's also named after an Eastern European snack food that Rachel and I both really enjoy. She's a cute, spirited, little cat that loves climbing. We think she's a pastel calico with some Norwegian Forest Cat in her. She's sweet with people, and we look forward to her being a great ministry cat.

This summer has also brought former students back into town. It's always encouraging to catch up with them, see them still strong in the faith, and hear how they're allowing God to use them where they're at.

We've also been training, running, and hiking. Our mission trip was originally supposed to be in July. Then it was pushed back till the end of October. Now, it's just recently been postponed again. Despite being one of the first countries to require masks and lockdowns, Peru has been hit hard. The mountains where we have been working had done pretty well but recently have seen a spike in cases. Because of that, it seems like everything is still locked down till at least December.

And unfortunately, a lot of countries are still closed to Americans. Last I checked, Peru was one of these. Though they may ease up on that before our trip was to set out, the mountains will remain closed. With the lack of medical resources up there, they are doing all they can to keep things under control.

At this point, we don't know when the trip will be rescheduled but we're hoping for the spring after their rainy season or possibly next summer. A lot depends on the pandemic, if we get a vaccine, and if the fear dies down. We hope to get back there as soon as possible.

Another thing we've been busy with is our adoption. It's certainly an odd process. It seems like we're really busy for periods of time. Then, it's hurry up and wait. And then, we're super busy with it and then, more waiting. COVID-19 hasn't helped all of that. A lot of the waiting has been due to pandemic closures. We knew it was going to be a long process going into it but having a worldwide pandemic has slowed things down even more.

Most recently, we had to make the four-hour drive down to Albuquerque to meet with immigration. We ended up being their first appointment after them having been closed for months. With that taken care of, we sent our dossier out to Washington, D.C. Now, we're waiting for that to be okayed. So we're back in the hurry up and wait stage. We're at least seeing some progress even if it's a very slow progress.

So I'm guessing you're probably wondering what's going on with the coming semester with COVID-19. Well, so are we. Things seem to be changing daily. We've got a plan but that keeps changing as campus comes up with new rules and regulations. We're just trying to be flexible. We know that ministry will happen whether in person or thru online discipleship with our students.

So at the moment, this is what things look like. First off, there are big changes to our staff. Rachel, our former student, is leaving our staff after being offered a position at a local church focused on discipleship. Anna is also stepping away from our staff and is now officially a real estate agent here in town. Aleksandr, her husband, is now Pastor Aleksandr. He was just recently offered the position at their church and after a lot of prayer, he accepted the position. Thankfully, he'll continue working with us as well.

All that said, our staff is going to look a lot different this year. If there was any year to have a smaller staff, this might be the year with the student numbers we're hearing about. When I was a student, there were about 4,000 students on campus. This semester, they're thinking it will be closer to 2,800 students.

It's no surprise with what campus is requiring due to COVID-19 fears. The college seems to basically want students to go to class and back to their dorm room. No extra activity unless it's run by campus. No hanging out with friends in groups bigger than ten. You must wear a mask at all times if you leave your dorm room or be written up. They don't seem to want student organizations functioning on campus at all.

So where does that leave us? Well, they won't rent out rooms to us for our weekly events. They don't seem to want us meeting with students one-on-one on campus. They don't want students to gather with groups in homes. So basically, everything we do, they don't want us to do.

But we have a plan. Obviously, we're not going to stop doing what we do. Our one-on-one discipleship, we'll do at a coffee shop just off campus if we do get pushed off campus.

Unfortunately with COVID, there won't be any Japanese this semester. We have heard that there are some hoping to come during the spring semester. We've also heard that there may be a few other internationals that are on campus thru athletics. With fall athletics mostly canceled for the semester, that may give us more opportunity to reach those international student-athletes.

We found out that one of them is from Bulgaria which is nearby where Rachel grew up. Rachel has always been bummed that we don't get more Eastern Europeans on campus. But now we've got one on campus so hopefully we can connect.

Despite not having the Japanese students on campus, there are still plenty of other students to connect with. We just have to be more flexible in how we do that.

Since campus doesn't want us meeting in homes like we do with family dinner, and they won't rent us a room to do our worship night, we are going to combine the two. We'll have dinner before our worship night and host it at a local church. It will look a lot like a ministry I helped run during my early ministry years, TNF or Thursday Night Fellowship. Though I'll miss our family dinners, I'm excited to get back to my roots. We'll even be hosting them on Thursday nights. I may have to pull out one of my old TNF shirts for nostalgia's sake.

We have also had to rename the worship night. Despite us using the name for a year and a half, and the name being close to my heart as it connects to the town I grew up in, we've had to sadly retire the Summit name. A local church decided they were going to change the name of their church just recently and use the name. They have a college group as well and have put the Summit name on all of its marketing. It would be like New York City having two teams named the Yankees...that play the same night. That's a little awkward. So, unfortunately we had to drop the name to prevent confusion for students.

So things are just going to look different this year on a lot of levels. With all the restrictions, that also makes meeting freshmen much more difficult. Our block party where we normally meet between 200-300 freshmen was nixed by campus. We thought, "Okay, we'll break up the block party into smaller ones at different locations on campus and bring a few pizzas per party." Nope, can't do that either. Any food must be packaged and sealed. It can't actually be made by someone even if that someone works at a restaurant.

So I guess we'll have to have a junk food party. We'll reach freshmen thru Hostess and Little Debbie...Zebra Cakes, Ho Ho's, Twinkies, and maybe we'll even throw in some Pop-Tarts for a healthier alternative. Honestly, this will probably be more unhealthy than just getting COVID-19 for this age demographic. But we'll be flexible...and who doesn't like a little junk food?

We've also put up slacklines already to meet students while the weather is nice. That's something that's always been fairly successful for us in the past. We put one up, and it draws in students who want to try it. Many also just want to meet some new people so they come and hang out.

With the slacklining and small block parties, they're kind of our trial runs. We're using them to test the waters. Will we get pushback from campus and if so, how much? This will give us a good idea of what we can do in the future on campus. A lot of this has just been trying to piece together information thru what campus is telling the students. Campus ministries across the board have heard little to nothing despite trying to figure out what's going on for months.

So far, we've already done a lot of prayer walking. We've put up posters around campus. And as I've already mentioned, we've set up the slackline multiple times. We've had students stop by and hang out socially distanced. It went well. Nobody said anything to us, and the students didn't seem too worried about being around other people. That's a good sign. We may have more freedom than we expected.

If things continue to go well, we've got more events planned. Here are some of the big things:

Night Hike- Aug. 28th
Coffee Crawl- Sept. 5th
Whitewater Rafting- Sept. 12th
Retreat- Sept. 18th-20th
Camp and Climb- Sept. 25th-26th

So that's the plan thru September but campus could always throw us a curveball if students start testing positive. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit. As I have already seen on campus, students wear their masks religiously if they think someone like an RA or orientation leader is watching them. Basically, if there is someone around who could get them in trouble, they'll wear a mask. But once they think no one is watching like at night, well, I haven't seen a lot of students wearing them while hanging out with friends around campus.

So we'll see what happens. Campus may decide to go all online sooner than later. A lot of campuses tried bringing students back but quickly moved classes back online. We pray that doesn't happen but if it does, Lord willing, we'll already have a lot of contacts and students we can disciple online.

Some might think that with student body numbers down by around 700 students so we've been told, this would be a small year for us. And that might be true. But there is also the possibility of this being a pretty sizable year. With students having not much else to do besides eating and studying in their dorm rooms, and going to class, they may be looking for something a little more exciting to do. They may be really in need of community. God has placed our ministry on campus and opened doors for us to provide community for the students...even if that community is socially distanced.

Whatever happens, we just pray it's a fruitful year. In the past, we've had fruitful years with low numbers and fruitful years with high numbers. One of our most fruitful years was when we only had two students returning. Those two students were Aleksandr and Rachel who eventually joined staff with us. So whatever happens, God is faithful! We're excited to see what He is going to do this year!

Over the years, God has really challenged me to be in prayer more for our ministry and to challenge our supporters to be in prayer more for the ministry. We've seen huge fruit when we've focused on that. This year, that challenge hasn't changed. And we probably need prayer more than ever with the COVID-19 changes. In almost twenty years of ministry at Fort Lewis, this will probably be one of the the strangest and most challenging years I've ever seen.

So without further delay, I give you guys this year's Christian Challenge Prayer Challenge...or The Challenge for Challenge. I want to challenge you to give 5-10 minutes a day praying for the ministry. If that sounds like not much, go for more. I suggest praying for it during your mornings so you don't forget. If the ministry comes to mind later in the day, pray for it then too. I'm challenging you to do it for 14 days.  If you can make it that far, take it another 14 days. I know I might be asking a lot but it's so important and so worth it.

If you're on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and up for an extra challenge, post the time, date and hashtag it #Praying4FLC and #Challenge4Challenge every time you pray for the ministry. This will remind our staff and students that we've got people praying for us when we get on social media. And hey, maybe it gets others who see it to pray for FLC as well. If you're not into the social media thing, no worries but still be praying.

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give! We are super thankful for that! Keep us, the ministry, and the FLC campus in your prayers!

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

If the Lord is leading you to give, follow this link to our giving options:
http://thewallscall.blogspot.com/p/other-giving-options.html

Prayer Requests:

- We've got some solid student-leaders returning which is an answered prayer. Pray that God would protect our student-leaders this year spiritually.

- Though we have an obligation to share the Gospel on campus, we also want to be good representatives of Christ with the administration. We want to respect the protocols they have put in place to keep students safe while still doing what we need to  do to share the Gospel and reach students. Pray that we would do that and find favor with the administration during this time of COVID.

- The school has a very small amount of Christian professors on campus. I can only think of two or three left. Pray that campus would hire believing professors who would be bold about sharing their faith with their students.

- As the semester get busier, it's easy to neglect things big and small. We get so focused on ministry that we lose track of the things that help keep us going. We lose track of taking care of ourselves. Pray we have energy and get good sleep throughout the busy semester.

- Though our adoption is moving forward, it's moving slow, especially with COVID.  Pray that God would protect us from getting discouraged during this process, and that He would connect us with the right kid in His timing.

- With as many things as the ministry does, it's easy to take on way too much and get burnt out. This is especially true in the first month. By the end of September, we just sort of expect it. Pray that we would be good stewards with our time so that we don't fall into burnout.

- Throughout the year, the semester can wear on you, and it can be easy to find yourself discouraged at times. It happens in just about any ministry at one point or another. Pray that God would keep us and our staff encouraged throughout the year.

- Being Christians, we are in a spiritual battle. When you do ministry, you become a bigger target in that battle. Keep praying for us and our team that God would protect us this year from any spiritual attacks. Pray that God would give us the strength and encouragement to endure. Also pray for everyone praying for our ministry because when you pray for the ministry, you become a bigger target as well.

- Atheism is a big belief system at FLC. On any given year, about half of the students we work with are atheists or non-believers. Pray that God would open doors for the Gospel to be received and understood. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be working on the hearts and minds of the students we are going to meet.

- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. Josh, with his heart issues, is actually high-risk for COVID. That can make ministry really tricky during this time. Our most successful years have been when we have good health. Pray that God would keep our staff safe and healthy.

- Pray that our team would adjust well to losing a couple of full-time staff. We are also looking to possibly bring new staff on if the right people emerge.Pray that God would give us wisdom on finding replacements to fill empty roles.

- Pray that ministries on campus would be team players and work with each other to reach the campus for Christ. When ministries bulldoze other ministries on a small campus, it causes rifting and division which can hinder a campus from being reached effectively. With a much smaller student body and another ministry joining the mix on campus, the enemy could really come in and cause division. Pray that the different ministries on campus would guard against that.

- We are still trying to get Rikako to the States to help us reach the Japanese students that we work with. COVID has made that process a whole lot tougher. Pray that God would give us favor in finding ways to help her get back to Durango to join our team.

- With our trip to Peru being postponed, we really need this pandemic to die down. We were hoping to get back there to help transition Edwin, our trip guide and now missionary into Jaime's old position after Jaime passed away last summer. Pray that the world would get a handle on the pandemic so that Peru will open back up. Also pray against fear which has driven a lot of the closures.Hopefully, we can get back there next spring or summer to help Edwin's transition and to once again share the Gospel in the high mountains of the Andes.

- To go along with the last prayer request, we need COVID to die down also so that Edwin's wife can get treatment for her brain cancer. As we've seen in the States, many cancer patients haven't been able to get treatment due to the pandemic. Pray that Edwin's wife can get treatment, and that God would bring complete healing upon her.

- We were hoping to support raise this summer but with COVID, that made support raising not a reality. Lord willing, we are hoping to share at some churches after Thanksgiving. If you know of a church or small group that might be interested in having us share, please let us know. We trust God to provide but would appreciate you praying as well that funding needs would be met. If you would like to give to support the ministry happening at Fort Lewis, please click the following: Give Now.

Slowing Things Down

Back when I first started ski instructing, I kind of thought I knew everything there was to know about skiing. I had grown up ski racing and training multiple times a week for that in the winter time. In my mind, I had won some races and that made me a great skier. I had even beaten medal winning olympians. Granted, they were probably over the hill by the time I did that but that's not important. I was a great skier, and because of that, I was sure to be a great instructor. I didn't need anyone to tell me how to do it.

In the wisdom of the resort I was working for, they felt I did need someone to tell me how to do it. Because of that, they put all of the newly-hired instructors thru new instructor training. One of their biggest goals was to teach people how to be safe on the snow. I thought, "That's cool but people ski for the adrenaline rush. People need to be taught how to ski fast...and safely, of course." My racing background was certainly influencing my skiing philosophy. When I shared my philosophy with our trainers, I'm pretty sure they rolled their eyes at me behind their goggles.

Everything we worked on was slowing things down. Slow, slow, slow... It drove me nuts. But slow meant safety. Slow meant staying in control. Looking back, they were right. You can always learn to ski faster later on. But when you're a beginner just starting out, slow is better. It's safer.

As they put us thru different drills, something strange started to emerge in my skiing. At speed, I could do everything just fine. But when I slowed my pace down, there were movements I struggled with. When I skied faster, I could cover up some some of the deficiencies in my skiing. With things slowed, problems like balance issues were exposed.

Years later, I started to think about if that can apply to life in general. Are their deficiencies we don't know are there because our busy lives cover them up? Will they be exposed if our lives slow down?

And then COVID-19 happened...

I remember following the early news of COVID-19 and wondering what would happen if it touched our shores. With the way we travel as humans, I knew it was only a matter of time until a major life-changing pandemic hit America.

Over the years, I've closely followed when other countries were hit with outbreaks. It's somewhat fascinating to me. Every time, it has brought up the question of "What would we do if it made it to America?"

Swine Flu was a big deal. I remember traveling during that time. Before we could get off the plane, all passengers' temperatures had to be taken. If a temperature was too high, the authorities would pull the person off the plane and put them in quarantine for two weeks. That would have certainly ruined my two-week trip.

Ebola was also a scare when a traveler brought it back to America from Africa. And then some American medical personnel were infected and brought back to the States for treatment. That got people pretty worried as well. Thankfully, our healthcare professionals did a great job, and it didn't spread.

We'd have to wait until a later date for a pandemic that really scared people. It would come years later and from a different continent. There would be lockdowns, massive media-driven fear...and toilet paper shortages. Because when you have a contagion that attacks the lungs, the first thing you think of stocking up on is toilet paper...

This would stop our nation in its tracks, the contagion...and the toilet paper shortage. Almost the whole world would be paralyzed with fear. Businesses were shut down. People wouldn't be allowed out of their houses. We were told not to work or play around others.

We were being forced to slow down. I know personally, the college I help lead a ministry at was shut down. My hockey season was canceled. And lastly, the state forced all ski areas to close meaning I wasn't going to be able to ski instruct for the rest of the season either. It seemed like everything was being taken away. All of the things that kept me busy, the things I filled my life with, outside of my family, were gone. I couldn't do anything but slow down.

It was almost like God was using this to strip people of everything that defined them.

Work? Gone. Sports? Nope. Friends? Stay away. Play? Only if you can do it in your living room. School? Only online. Church? Not allowed in person or you hate people. But don't worry. You can still riot, loot, and protest in large groups. Thankfully, that gave us at least something to do to get some Vitamin D and exercise outside... And remember, masks don't work. Wait, now they do. But maybe they still don't and are worse for you and others. Doesn't matter. If you don't wear one, you want grandma to die...

Times are crazy.

One way or another, we've been forced to slow down. That makes me wonder what it's revealing in us. For some, it might be depression. Others, it might be addictions like alcohol, drugs, porn, video games, or social media. Maybe it's laziness. Those projects you said you'd do if only you had the time still aren't finished.

For myself, it's reminded me that I really don't like authority telling me what to do. Despite thinking I had matured over the years, I still have a strong rebellious side. Don't tell me to wear a mask. Don't tell me to stay home. That's stupid. I want to do what I want.

Now, being that I think I know everything sometimes, I do have some medical study-based objections to some of the medical advice and restrictions being forced on people by our government. And I so want to delve into that but I'll refrain from running this train right off the tracks. Basically, if you tell me to wear a mask, whether or not they work, there's a big part of me that wants to not wear one just to spite you for telling me what to do. All medical science aside, that's not a healthy mindset to have especially when it bleeds into other areas of your life.

So what do we do with these things? I think if God is revealing these issues to us, it's time to take them to Jesus and work thru them. You can't work thru an issue that you don't know is an issue. But now due to the lockdown, issues might be coming to the surface. Use these times to work thru them. Do some introspection and figure out where they are coming from. I'll say it again. Take them to Jesus. Pray. Get into God's Word, the Bible.

For some, maybe that's the issue. You're not spending enough time with God...or any time with God. You always thought you were too busy but that's continued as things have slowed down. Max Barnett always says something to the effect of, "If you're too busy to spend time with God, then you're much more busy than God ever intended you to be." So spend time with God. Pray. Read your Bible. Listen to a sermon online. Listen to worship songs. Sing along. Spending time with God should be a priority to anybody who calls themselves a Christian. With things slowed down, we've got the time now. Make a habit of it now before life gets busy again. If God is a priority and He should be, you'll make time to spend with Him.

And spending time with Him might even make some of those newly exposed issues correct themselves. But some of those issues might take longer. Keep taking them to God. Keep praying about them. Find scriptures that relate and will encourage you in the fight. Find someone you trust to help keep you accountable. Put up boundaries to keep you moving in a good direction. Lastly, don't let it fester. Don't brush it off. Don't think that you just need to get back to normal life, and it will go away. Use this time to face it head-on with God. Taking it on now will make you more solid going forward. It will put you in a better position when things get back to normal.

As a ski instructor, I can tell you that I'm a better skier now after slowing things down, exposing those weaknesses in my skiing, working on them, and building a more solid foundation. Slowing things down allowed me to work on those balance issues. Now, when I go at much faster speeds, I'm more technically sound and have even better balance at those high speeds. The better balance I have, the faster I can go. The faster I go, the more fun it is, the bigger adrenaline rush I get. And we all know, people ski to get that adrenaline rush.

So what are these slower times exposing in you? What might God be showing you? Maybe it's not something new. Maybe it's something you've known about but never addressed. Let's not waste these days. Let's use them to take a look at what God might be exposing. Let's give those things to Jesus and let Him help us work thru them while life is at this slower pace.

Thoughts on Forgiveness

In the current chaos of our world, we seem to be living in a culture that desires justice, retribution, retaliation, and revenge. Many people are hateful, and with that, many are angry. Sadly, that's been slowly creeping its way into the Church.

People want payback for wrongs that were committed against them. They also want payback for wrongs that weren't actually committed against them. They want someone punished for those wrongs committed by others. And it doesn't matter if the actual perpetrator gets punished. They just need someone to be punished.

The thinking is often, "You wronged someone important to me; therefore, you wronged me in the exact same way." Sometimes, it's not even a person they know. But they heard about the wrong committed and now they feel wronged. That often leads to people feeling the victim over false narratives. They base their victimhood on rumors and misinformation.

"I'm a victim because that person over there is a victim...or at least I heard that they were a victim." We've all heard about the phrase, "Guilty by association." Well, this is "Victim by association." And debts must be paid. Only then, will forgiveness and reconciliation supposedly come. Only then will things be made right. "I don't care who pays for it as long as someone does." It often seems people basically want one person to pay for the sins of another. That sounds familiar. Isn't that what Jesus did?

Being that none of us are Jesus, the equation they are trying to use just doesn't work. It doesn't bring peace, reconciliation, or justice. That equation only brings more hate, anger, and division.

Practicing that flawed equation is a very dangerous place for people to find themselves. It's harmful. People are weaponizing reconciliation. They say they want things to be made right but in reality, they want nothing more than to hurt the person who wronged them or others. In the end, that desire only destroys a person.

And that's where a lot of us are right now. We're destroying ourselves from the inside as people, as a nation, and as the Church.

Wanting justice is not a bad thing. God desires justice as well. That's part of His character. He is a just God. Because of that, I think it's something that He put in us, a desire for justice. But like with many other things, we often pervert it and leave no place for Jesus. There's no place for grace and forgiveness.

We also seem to have become a people who are offended by everything. The concept of forbearance has been almost completely lost. We have no patience with others. Intentions no longer matter. Molehills have been made into mountains. Rare occurrences have been made to be thought of as the norm. "It doesn't matter what statistics say. If they don't agree with my feelings, they are not the truth." When our feelings define our reality, we are not actually living in reality.

When we base our reality on our feelings, it's easy to feel like a victim. Many want to blame everyone but themselves for the situations they are in. They don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. It's easier to blame others than deal with our own issues. Our feelings tell us it's everyone else's fault. Out of that comes hate and anger where we need grace and forgiveness. When we forgive ourselves, it's a lot easier to address our own short-comings.

Now, the victim thing isn't just all in our heads. There are real victims out there. People do terrible things to each other. Some have real reasons to be hurt. And there is nothing wrong with desiring justice for those wronged. Unfortunately, when everyone claims victimhood, it really does a disservice to actual victims.

Another thing that harms actual victims is when we try to out-victim each other to gain some strange form of status. It's unhealthy and has become popular in our culture. Our victimhood now defines us. It has become our identity. That only leads to anger, hate, and division. That kind of mentality is suffocating. It tends to lead to a lack of forgiveness. Because if we forgive, we lose what defines us. We lose our status, our identity, and our street cred.

As we define ourselves by the wrongs done to us, it seems like a good amount of people have lost any and all understanding of grace and forgiveness. It's not a surprise. Forgiveness comes with Jesus. So many of our cultural values came from His principles. But over the years, there have been certain people who have tried to erase that from our past, our present, and our future. It's happening across the nation. It's happening in our culture and that is influencing our churches.

The further we walk away from Jesus, the further we walk away from the concept of grace and forgiveness. That's not to say that if you don't follow Jesus, you can't forgive. But forgiveness isn't a natural impulse. Our natural impulse is to get back, to get even. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, though. Jesus taught us what forgiveness is all about. He brought the concept to the forefront. He set the example. He lived it out, and He died for it. But instead of finding our identity in Jesus, we find our identity by the wrongs done to us. We define ourselves by darkness, not by light.

Let's be real. If anyone has a right to play the victim card, it's Jesus. Here is a sinless guy who was tortured and violently murdered. He was strung up on a cross not for His own sins but for others. He died for our sins against God. But even as he was in immense pain and dying on the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

He was asking for forgiveness for those who were persecuting Him, those who were verbally assaulting Him, those who were killing Him...and also for us.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And Jesus died for us so that we could be forgiven. We certainly don't deserve it. There's no way we could earn it. But that's grace...undeserved mercy and forgiveness.

So if we're asking for forgiveness from Jesus, shouldn't we be giving forgiveness to others? That forgiveness we're getting from Jesus should be spilling out of us and over-flowing with abundance over those who wrong us, and those we care about.

At least that's how it should be, right? Unfortunately, that's not always a reality. People within the Church today can struggle with that. But again, if Jesus forgave us, how can we not give forgiveness to others? Often, I think we don't realize the depth of our own sin. And sin is sin. My sin may look a little different than your sin but really, it's the same thing. It's rebellion against God.

Thankfully, no one is past redemption. Not the murderer. Not the adulterer. Not the terrorist. Not the drug dealer. Not the rapist. God desires reconciliation with all those people thru Jesus. That might be offensive to you but who are we to shake a fist at God and tell Him He is wrong?

Paul, an apostle of Christ, took part in the murder of Christians. God eventually used him to write almost half of the New Testament after repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, messed up so many times. That included denying that he even knew Jesus on multiple occasions. But God eventually used Peter to play one of the most important roles in the building of the early Church.

King David stole his loyal friend's wife, got her pregnant, and had the guy murdered to cover it up. Most of us know the story. He was checking her out as she was bathing on her roof. He liked what he saw and sent for her. They slept together.

And nobody really mentions this but it very well may not have been fully consensual. Back in the day, what the king wanted, the king got. You didn't tell him no. Kings and rulers back then had a habit of killing people who told them no, and sometimes their families too. This woman could have been scared for her and her husband's life. But unfortunately, David had the woman's husband killed anyway.

David, who the Bible calls a man after God's own heart, messed up. It was an epic moral failure. What he did was awful. And due to those actions, there were certainly consequences. But despite that, God didn't throw him away. He didn't cancel him as our culture loves to do. God still had a plan for his life. David, when eventually confronted, fessed up, repented and reconciled with God. And despite David's failure, God brought him back to a place where He could once again work thru David.

Sadly, some of us only want to continue tearing down. We have no desire to build people back up when they fall. "Just cancel them already. #RIPDavid #KingDavidisOverParty"

It reminds me of the story with the woman caught in adultery. The crowd drags her out into the street in front of Jesus. They are ready to stone her to death. Jesus tells the crowd that he who has no sin should be the one to throw the first stone. Slowly, the crowd drops their stones and starts to disperse realizing that none of them were sinless.

I think some in the church have forgotten that. We've forgotten the depravity of our own sin. We stand ready, stones in hand, waiting for the first person to fall. And you know what Jesus is waiting to do? He's waiting to pick that person up, tell them that they're forgiven, and to go and sin no more.

Folks, we've got to drop our stones. We've got to ask for forgiveness and then go and sin no more.

As a culture, I'd encourage us to connect back with Jesus and the grace and forgiveness that flows thru Him. We already have someone who paid the debt for all of the wrongs we've done.

You want a wrongdoer to pay for the wrongs done against you or someone you love? Introduce them to Jesus so He can pay their debt. Allow Jesus to help us let go of the anger and hate we hold so tightly to.

We've got to have grace and forgiveness to survive. Our nation and its churches will not last without those concepts being put into practice. The farther we get from those concepts, the more our culture will crumble until eventually, there will just be the ruins of a once great civilization. Over time, we will become more and more divided. Our cups will be filled with more and more grudges and hatred until that cup overflows and destroys all it touches.

It's truly by the grace and forgiveness of God that our nation has lasted this long. In America, we have so many differences and with differences comes friction, misunderstandings, wrongdoings, and a fear of what is different.

The same goes for our churches. They won't survive without grace and forgiveness. We must remember that churches are not made up of perfect people. They are hospitals for the sick, not necessarily the healthy. Don't be shocked when sick people show signs of being sick. And that goes for our doctors and nurses as well. Doctors and nurses sometimes get sick too. The people who make up the Church are very imperfect people. Each one of us has the ability to fall. And it's okay to desire justice at that point but that desire needs to be handled in a godly way.

Let go of any hate and anger towards our brothers and sisters. When someone gets cancer, you don't hate the person. You hate the cancer. Our battle is against sin, not the sinner. When a person falls, lets be there with truth, grace, and forgiveness. Let's be there to help them get back up. That's what God desires. That's God's heart.

Jesus desires to gather all people to Himself, no matter your past, your sin struggles, your race, your culture, or your country. Jesus is bigger than all of that. But all of those things can bring friction if we take our eyes off of Jesus. As Christians, we're supposed to reflect Jesus to those around us. So let's be a light to the rest of the world and show how great Jesus' grace and forgiveness can be.

Christian Challenge May 2020 Update!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there! Hope you have a blessed day!

How is everyone holding up? What has been hard during the COVID-19 season? What has filled your heart with joy? We’d love to hear from you!

You may have been wondering, what is Challenge up to? What have Mike and Rachel been up to? Let's check in with what's been going on with Challenge first.

Students finished up finals week and had an online graduation in the form of a compiled video last weekend. The college plans to host an in-person graduation for them at the end of August.

With most students heading home early, we haven't been able to see many in person but we did get to spend some socially-distanced time with one of Mike’s seniors who came back in town to pack up his apartment.

It's been a strange semester with COVID-19. Mike actually ended up getting sick January 20th. Due to a glitch in the Colorado healthcare system, we got dropped by our health insurance so he couldn't go in and get any testing. Our new insurance wouldn't cover us until February 1st. Talk about bad timing.

We actually kind of laugh about it, though. We had an adoption meeting up in Grand Junction. We thought of staying the night there but Mike had a rescheduled hockey game in Durango the next day he didn't want to miss. His team was going to be short players if he didn't make it. So we did the 10-hour roundtrip drive all in one day so that he could make the game. Being that we didn't have insurance, I was worried that he'd end up getting hurt in his game, and he wouldn't be covered. He assured me that he'd be very careful and not mix it up with dirty players on the other team. To Mike's credit, he was very careful and came away from the game without any injuries.

But he did come away with an illness from one of his teammates who infected nearly half of the guys on the team who showed up. Two days later, Mike came down with a 103 degree temperature. It broke after three days but left him also with a pneumonia-like illness that lasted a couple of weeks. Somehow, Mike still got his workouts in even during the fever. Getting back to running was a little more difficult with the pneumonia.

It was also bad timing because we had a retreat that next weekend where Mike had to lead a session on missions. He went but made sure he social distanced as best as he could. I guess he was doing it before it was cool. The retreat went well. The overall focus was on discipleship.

We had former students video in to share about their discipleship experiences, and the impact it had on their lives. It ended up being really encouraging for our students to hear. And who knew that the social distancing and video chats would soon be our new normal?

Despite this being a weird semester, we were still able to get in one of our most popular events. We rent out the movie theater room on campus and watch the Super Bowl on a huge screen. It's a pretty cool experience and always brings in new students. Being a Chiefs fan, this year was pretty special.

Not long after the Super Bowl, our group helped out with Night to Shine, a prom for people with special needs. Our numbers were a little lower than normal but it was still a good time and a great way for our students to share God's love.

Our family dinners were strong this semester. We had a solid group of students coming. Unfortunately, the dinners we put on had to be put on hold. Obviously, you can't have thirty students coming over to the house when things are locked down. We look forward to getting back to having students over next fall.

The Summit Worship Night went well this past semester. Mike lead worship and Aleksandr was brining the message out of Mark. It stayed small but we've got a good committed group of returning students to build with next fall.

Mike and Josh headed up to Colorado Springs at the end of February to meet with other directors from across the state. It's always a good time of fellowship, encouragement, and planning.

Fort Lewis College had spring break March 13th-22nd. A group of nine from our ministry went down to Juarez, Mexico to serve at the James R. Ganley School. Gilberto and his wife, Maria, started and run a school for elementary children in the area. Challenge has been taking students over spring break for many years in order to help build a middle school and housing for the teachers. It is always a good time working hard, loving on the children and teachers, and fellowshiping with Gilberto and his wife as they pour out their lives for their community.

Here's what a couple students had to say about the trip.

Peyton: My faith, heart, and character has completely changed because of this mission trip to Juárez, Mexico. Nothing stopped us from spreading God's love. Pandemic? Nope. Chance of border closing? Nope. Nothing stood between us! All praise and glory goes to God!

Kristoff: The mission trip to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico was awesome! We spent the days building a house with rooms for the teachers of Colegio James R. Ganley. We had amazing food and times of fellowship as well. The border was going to close the day we were going to leave due to coronavirus, so we had to leave the night before. I am so glad I got to be a part of this fun, hardworking team that glorified God with our hard work and community.

I had hoped to join again this year but we had more meetings with our social worker to keep our adoption moving.

Mike usually works up at Purgatory Ski Resort (45 minutes from home) during spring break as a way to bring in more income and to minister to the ski instructors, many of which are college students, using his gifts and talents. However, the night before he was going to be working, the ski resort closed down.

Shortly after that, our governor shut pretty much everything else down as well. Mike's local hockey league he plays in canceled the season along with our church shutting down and going online.

Students were going to return to campus March 23rd, however the COVID-19 had shut campus down by then. Students have been doing online remote learning since then.

Mike has been able to disciple guys online which has been encouraging in this unknown and strange time. Other than having to learn some new technology, things haven't changed too much with one on one discipleship.

We’ve also been able to video chat with our former student, Rikako, in Japan and encourage one another in the Lord. Our times are full of sharing life, sharing what Jesus is showing us, and growing us in. We share about opportunities He’s given us to share Him with others. We spend time in prayer interceding for the lost people we love, and interceding for boldness to share Him. These times are life-giving and mutually beneficial.

A few staff members put together an Easter Service video for the students with Mike leading worship and Aleksandr preaching. It was compiled and put together by Josh. For being shot on an iPhone, it turned out well. The staff have been teaching doing other short videos on YouTube for the students as well.

This past Monday was the annual Colorado Christian Challenge staff retreat. It's normally held in Colorado Springs but this year, it had to be held through Zoom.

It's a time to meet up with our local directors and staff from across the state. It's normally a time to be encouraged, to be spurred on, to share and exchange ideas with other campuses, and join together in prayer. This year, Josh's dad, Mike Story, and our former state director, Max Barnett, joined us to encourage everyone and share some wisdom.

We are praying about what Challenge will look like moving forward, waiting to see if students will be able to return to campus in the fall or continue online until January 2021. Our staff will be meeting next week to plan out the next fall and have a Plan B if there are not students on campus.

In this lockdown time, I have also baked and packaged 216 decorated cut-out sugar cookies for an adoption fundraiser.

We've also started painting the interior of our home since it hadn't been done since 2005. There has been spring yard clean up. I've spent much time in prayer and sending out notes of encouragement as well.

Apart from that, we have been taking time to rest. Something we haven’t done since before the school year started in August. Coupling ministry with pursuing adoption (a full-time job in itself) has been extra taxing and stressful. A break with a much slower pace of life was very welcomed.  

We are enjoying getting quality time as a couple during this season. Something that is much less frequent when students are on campus. We’ve both continued to run three times a week on our neighborhood hiking trails. We’ve gotten out a couple of times to hike together. We are enjoying eating dinner together more often now that Mike is home.

Adoption-wise, we are seven months actively in at this point. Honestly, some days are just so emotionally hard, and the setbacks hit a little harder each time. Our timeline continues to expand which is heartbreaking as we’ve been hoping to be parents for over seven years now. We know God is near the brokenhearted though, and He does fill us with His joy. We are grateful that we have an endless amount of people even in this season to pour our lives into and minister to. We know that He works all things together for our good and along the way, He’s been using us to minister to others whose hearts are breaking from long-term unmet desires.

Stay tuned for more adoption updates. We are currently around thirty-five months out until we would get to go meet and pick up our child in country. As with any grief, the times that are hard are really hard but the majority of the time, we really are doing well, enjoying the season we are in.

Thank you for making all the ministry we do possible and being part of God’s Kingdom advancement in the lives of college students. We don’t take for granted your sacrifice to entrust your resources to the Lord and His Kingdom.

We appreciate each one of you and the part you play in reaching college students with the Good News of Christ! Because of you, many have heard for the first time. Many have come into the Kingdom. Many have been supported in their journey. We are so thankful for that!

If you would like to give for the on-going ministry happening at Fort Lewis, please go to: Give Now.

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

Prayer Requests:

- Praise God for the growth we have seen in our students! We've got a solid core that I think we can build with.

- Pray that God would continue to grow our current student-leaders and provide us with new ones to replace those who have just graduated. It's so important to have student-leaders who buy in to what God is doing on campus.

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith. The summer can be a really rough time for students when they go home. Many have family situations that aren't good. For some, they don't have much of a support system at home for their faith. Sadly, students often take a step back in their walks with Christ during the summer.

- By spring break, we had some students that were really close to accepting Christ. It was tough seeing the semester cut short knowing how close those students were. It's especially tough knowing that some of those students we may never see in person again. Be praying that the Holy Spirit would continue working on those students' hearts and water the seeds that have been planted over the past year.

- Pray that God would help us learn how to connect better with the new generation of students that are arriving on campus. Generation Z is in full force on campus, and they are different than students we have seen in the past. They are a generation that has grown up with technology. It influences how they ask questions, how they seek information, and how they interact with community.

- Being Christians, we are in a spiritual battle. When you do ministry, you become a bigger target in that battle. Keep praying for us and our team that God would protect us from any spiritual attacks. Pray that God would give us the strength and encouragement to endure. Also pray for everyone praying for our ministry because when you pray for the ministry, you become a bigger target as well.

- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. Pray that God would keep our staff safe and healthy.

- We will be losing two staff members. Rachel Horton and Anna Trbovich are stepping away. Rachel is taking a discipleship position with her church. Anna is getting her real estate license. They've been a huge part of the success we've had as a ministry and they'll certainly be missed. That will leave us a little short with female staff who can disciple. With the COVID-19 craziness, that has put bringing Rikako over to join our staff and work with international students on hold as well. Be praying that God would bring us one more female staff that can help disciple our female students.

- Please pray that despite the coming changes, the different ministries on campus would have unity, being team players, with the common goal reaching FLC with the Gospel.

- Speaking of changes, there are a lot of unknowns going into the next semester with with COVID-19. As you know, a lot of students and their families have taken financial hits. Some of our students may not be able to afford to come back next semester. We also don't know if we'll have any international students next semester. They may not be able to get visas. They may also be scared to travel. We don't know. We do know the the college took a major hit with the shutdown. They've apparently lost millions of dollars in all of this. That could mean some big layoffs. Many prospective students haven't even been able to visit campus and do tours. Student numbers could be much lower next year. They may even be stuck doing the first semester online. There are so many unknowns. As a staff, we're doing our best to adapt and have plan A, B, and C just in case. Pray that God would give us wisdom in our planning, and that we'd start to see some clarity soon.

- Pray that Rachel and I would not neglect the ministry that is our marriage. We can be much more successful in our college ministry if our marriage is in a good place. But it's easy to put that on the back burner when things get busy.

- This adoption process has not been easy. It's already taken much longer than it should due to things out of our control. That's certainly wearing on us. Pray that God would give us strength and endurance while working thru this adoption process. Pray also that God would give us favor with the agencies, and that God would help nudge the process along a little faster. Pray that He would connect us with the right child, a child that will be a good fit for our family.

- With us going thru the adoption process now, we thought this would be a good summer to get back to support raising to get our support up to where it needs to be for the ministry and to bring a new child into the family. But then the pandemic happened, and most churches have been closed and moved to online services. So that makes support raising a little tricky. We're currently looking for churches or small groups or friend groups or family groups to share what God is doing thru our ministry if anyone would be willing to connect us. Any open doors would be helpful. We could always share online as well if that works better in this current environment. We live trusting God to provide financially for us and the ministry. We would appreciate you praying that God would provide.  If you would like to give toward the the ministry work we are doing at Fort Lewis, please go to: Give Now.