I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! We're in some strange times these days but God is definitely still working.
We wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going and our semester plans. The name of the game this semester is flexibility.
This semester is looking a lot like this past semester. Students are on campus with a lot of regulations. Sadly, many students who were on campus last semester didn't return, including many in our ministry. They are putting their studies on pause and waiting for this COVID storm to pass.
Our plan is to run the ministry like this past semester, and if we need to go online, we’ll do that. We've actually already had to have a worship night fully online. This semester, we're better prepared for that. I've upgraded some of my musical equipment in order to boost sound quality during our online worship. Students are actually able to hear my voice while leading worship, not just my guitar drowning everything else out.
When we meet in person for our dinner and worship nights, we're now broadcasting on Facebook Live. This allows for our students who didn't come back this semester to still attend and be part of the community from their homes. This also allows students, who might be sick or quarantined, to watch from the comfort of their dorm rooms while they recover.
Of course, we're also still meeting one-on-one with students. With the weather colder and snowier, it's a lot harder to find places outside on campus to meet. Thankfully, we at least have coffee shops and some restaurants somewhat open to meet in. And there is always online meetings if needed. Again, we just have to be flexible.
We've planned some outdoor events as well this semester. We've got trips to the hot springs, sledding trips, and snowshoeing trips planned. We've got a retreat coming up also. With most of the events, we'll play it by ear. Health-wise, there are just a lot of unknowns. That's keeping us on our toes.
At the moment, we're basically working with a skeleton crew with our staff. I'm sort of the last man standing at this point...and I've been dealing with some pinched nerves in my neck, shoulders, and back which have been fairly painful since just after Christmas. (I've been to the chiropractor multiple times which brings temporary relief but at $50 a visit, that's just not realistic to do daily or every other day.) Sadly, my locked up vertebrae are the least of our staff issues at the moment.
Over break while Josh and Jen were visiting family in Oklahoma, Josh had an aneurysm in his nose. For days, they couldn't stop it. Being on blood thinners for his heart and stroke issues certainly didn't help. They tried cauterizing it. That didn't work. Then they tried to clamp it. That worked for a bit, at least long enough for him to get back to Durango...where it started bleeding again. With that, they life-flighted him and Jen up to Denver where he spent days in the ICU. After many blood transfusions and a lot of work done by some specialists, he should be okay. They were able to make it back to Durango.
While they were gone, their two teenage boys stayed with Aleksandr and Anna. Not long into their stay, the boys and Anna started feeling a little sick. Not wanting to take any chances, Aleksandr took them all to get tested for COVID. All but Aleksandr tested positive and the health worker thought Aleksandr's was a false negative.
Anyway, so now that Josh and Jen are back in town, their kids have to quarantine with Aleksandr and Anna for ten days or so. Asher, Josh and Jen's youngest, said, "It's like you guys are getting a thirty-day free trial having teenagers." And here, Aleksandr and Anna thought they were going to have to nine months to prepare for their new baby on the way. Surprise, you're having two teenagers...right now! Oh yeah, and surprise! Aleksandr and Anna are pregnant! So that's pretty awesome!
Needless to say, things have been a little crazy here to start the semester. I'm holding down the fort till everyone is back healthy. Then again, Rachel and I were in close contact with Aleksandr and the boys just before they all were tested so we'll see how that turns out. We're feeling good, though. Thankfully, I had COVID last year. Rachel would have been exposed to it then as well. Hopefully, that T-cell immunity is still holding strong from the beginning of last year.
In almost twenty years of ministry at Fort Lewis, this is certainly one of the toughest starts to the semester I've seen. We felt like we had a lot of momentum with the ministry last semester. This semester so far has been different. From the health issues to many of our students taking the semester off to how locked down campus is when it comes to outreach and evangelism, it's been much more difficult.
It's like our whole leadership team, from staff down to our students, is getting hit right now. And it's not just our ministry. These are just tough times for people in general.
I'm often reminded, though, that we rarely see real growth and strengthening in times of comfort. Where we see the most growth, the most strengthening are when we're uncomfortable. Just like muscles need to be stressed to grow back stronger, we often need to be taken out of our comfort zones to see growth. Sometimes, it's hard to see God working thru these tough times but He certainly is. We can trust that. I'm excited to see the growth that's going to come out of all of this. I'm praying for God to do big things and hope you guys are too.
We appreciate each one of you, 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!
Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give! Keep us, the ministry, and the FLC campus in your prayers!
Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel
http://thewallscall.blogspot.com/p/other-giving-options.html
- 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. With the hard situations many of our students are facing, we don't want them to pull back from Jesus or our community.
- We are still hoping to be on mission in Peru in June or July. 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." That's what I wrote in our last update. Well, things did change pretty quickly. Pray that God would heal up our staff and keep us 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. The are no new updates as of this moment. We are still waiting to be matched and trying to be patient with COVID delays. 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.
