Wow, the beginning of the semester is upon us already! It's always an extremely exciting time for us in collegiate ministry! Christ is doing amazing things on the campus of Fort Lewis College!
This past summer has been a summer of transition. That has certainly kept us busy. After having a staff of eight not too many years ago, it's just Rachel and me. All of those skills and strengths that we had on staff have moved on. There is no task delegation based on strengths anymore. I basically learn it or it doesn't get done. And there has been quite a bit to learn.We've somewhat rebranded so I made a new logo. But first, I had to learn how to make a logo that actually looked professional and wasn't made of stick figures. With that created, I then built a new website for Challenge (www.challengeatthefort.org). That was another big learning experience.
I also made a new Challenge promo video (Challenge '21-'22). Thankfully, video editing is something I've been doing since high school, but I've kept up with the new technology over the years, so though time-consuming, there isn't much to learn. I say I keep up with the tech, but come to think of it, I do still edit the videos on an old 2008 MacBook Pro. Maybe a better way to put it is that I just keep the old tech running which helps lessen the learning need.
Rachel has stayed busy with adoption things. There have been more grants to fill out, and we had our yearly home study meeting with our social worker again. As you may have read in some of our last updates, we are matched! Our next step is waiting on something called first approval. That can still take some time, but we have heard that they are at least going over our file in Thailand. It's nice to know it's not just sitting on some desk somewhere buried in other files.
In other adoption news, we also had a baby shower over the summer. It might be a little early, as we may still not travel to pick up our son until late spring or summer, but once the school year hits, it's hard to schedule anything that isn't ministry related. Some have asked if we have a baby shower registry, and we do. Here is a link if you are interested: Registry.
Two days after the baby shower, we took the first real vacation of our marriage and relationship. We snuck off to Ireland. Two summers ago, we spoke at a church. A man attending approached us afterwards and basically told us he wanted to give some money for us to go on a vacation. The funny thing was that with our 10-year anniversary coming up at the time, we'd been praying about going on vacation to celebrate. Due to timing, it didn't work out for us to go that summer, but we figured we'd maybe be able to go somewhere this past summer.
We had pretty much settled on going to the Pacific Northwest when I got a call from my uncle. He told us the family was having a reunion in Ireland, and we were invited. Thinking we could never afford something like that, we unfortunately had to decline. And then on a whim, I decided to check tickets to Ireland just in case. I found a ridiculously cheap deal. It was going to be much cheaper for Rachel and I to fly out of notoriously expensive Durango than Philadelphia where my Uncle and Aunt were flying out of. After adding things up, it was also going to be about the same price-wise overall as our planned Pacific Northwest trip.
The funny thing is that we never actually made the family reunion. We were disappointed but after booking non-refundable tickets, we found out that there was nowhere to stay within a reasonable distance to family. Due to a huge music festival and the Irish government housing thousands and thousands of refugees from the Ukrainian war in hotels, everything was booked.
It was a bummer to not be able to connect with family, but we made the best of it. We may not have been able to see anyone, but at least it got us to Ireland. We had a great time trekking from village to village on the Dingle Peninsula.
We did almost 140 miles on foot while on the trip and got to experience some of the most beautiful landscapes we've ever seen.
Though there were certainly some really hard parts to the trip, overall, it was a great time of refreshment and recharge for us where we were able to pour into our marriage.
Though there were certainly some really hard parts to the trip, overall, it was a great time of refreshment and recharge for us where we were able to pour into our marriage.
And we were able to use the trip to celebrate a lot of things like our 10-year anniversary late, our 11-year anniversary a bit early, our 15-year anniversary as a couple, Rachel's birthday, our getting matched in our adoption journey, and my 40th birthday early as well. That's a lot, but we certainly weren't going to waste the vacation. Had to get it all in.
Now, we're back, and the ministry is in full swing. Returning students are stepping up into student-leader roles. We're meeting and connecting with new students. Things are going well despite having the smallest staff numbers we've ever had. In a way, it's going to be somewhat of a rebuilding year. Our numbers may be smaller than years past as we try to rebuild, not just the amount of students coming but also the size of our staff. We pray that God gives us the perfect amount of students for what we can handle at this point.
We've done tabling on campus, a pizza party in front of all the freshmen dorms, a night hike followed up with milkshakes at Denny's, a coffee crawl for freshmen so they can sample some of the many coffee shops in town, waterfall jumping, and more hiking. Thru all of that, we've had many new faces at family dinner. It's been encouraging. We hope that will translate into being able to disciple them one-on-one.
Now, we're back, and the ministry is in full swing. Returning students are stepping up into student-leader roles. We're meeting and connecting with new students. Things are going well despite having the smallest staff numbers we've ever had. In a way, it's going to be somewhat of a rebuilding year. Our numbers may be smaller than years past as we try to rebuild, not just the amount of students coming but also the size of our staff. We pray that God gives us the perfect amount of students for what we can handle at this point.
We've done tabling on campus, a pizza party in front of all the freshmen dorms, a night hike followed up with milkshakes at Denny's, a coffee crawl for freshmen so they can sample some of the many coffee shops in town, waterfall jumping, and more hiking. Thru all of that, we've had many new faces at family dinner. It's been encouraging. We hope that will translate into being able to disciple them one-on-one.
With our tabling, we were able to set up our first one of the year to meet new students! It was an indoor tabling fair, but unfortunately, the only space they had for us to set up was outside in the rain.
Despite the bad weather, our students kept their spirits up and were able to connect with many new students who, thankfully, weren't scared off by the rain either.
We also had another successful adventure jumping waterfalls and building relationships with students! We've had a lot of rain this summer so the water was a little high this year, and everything was a bit slicker than normal making climbing and bouldering definitely tougher. Due to that, it took us a little longer to get the students thru the small canyon filled with waterfalls.
Thankfully, we decided to require the students to wear lifejackets and wetsuits this year which kept the students much more comfortable in the cold water.
With our worship night, we're still struggling to gain any traction with the students. It's been tough since we started it up. We tend to have a small group of seniors get involved every year and then graduate leaving us to start over every year. Our most fruitful year was during COVID when we combined family dinner and the worship night. We averaged thirteen students a night that year but the structure seemed to really scare away any students that didn't have a relationship with Jesus. All that said, we're praying about what to do with the worship night.
In that past, we have also done conversational English classes for our international students. Unfortunately, we just don't have the capacity to run those at the moment until we bring on more staff.
Despite that, we have still been able to connect with a couple of Japanese students. It turns out they are from the college and city where our former student, Rikako, is from. We are hoping that we can connect them in the near future.
Rikako has, for a long time, had a heart to return to Durango, join our staff, and minister to the Japanese students that come to Fort Lewis. Even if she hasn't been able to get a green card yet, this would still give her the opportunity to reach and disciple Japanese students at the Fort, not in person but online.
Going forward, we are settling into the normal rhythms of the semester. Family dinners will be weekly on Thursday nights. Our worship night will be on the first Tuesday of every month. We're hoping to get a student-led Bible study going on the Tuesday nights we don't have the worship night.
We also have our Western Slope Retreat this weekend. Colorado Mesa University and Western State University Christian Challenges will be joining us. We're brining in an a good friend of mine from high school, Jimmy Arcisz, who will be sharing about the importance of evangelism and discipleship. The Tyler Murphy Band will be joining us as well to lead worship. We're excited to see how God is going to grow our students over the weekend!
With that, we're also really excited to see how God is going to work on campus this semester! It's not the easiest campus to do ministry on but despite that, God continues to work and transform the lives of students year after year!
We just pray it's a fruitful year. In the past, we've had fruitful times with low numbers and fruitful times with high numbers. One of our most fruitful seasons was when we only had two students returning. Those two students eventually joined staff with us. So whatever happens, God is faithful!
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.
So without further delay, I give you our annual Christian Challenge Prayer Challenge...or The Challenge for Challenge. I want to challenge you again 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.
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
- We've got some solid student-leaders returning which is an answered prayer. Pray that God would protect our student-leaders this year spiritually and keep them from burnout.
- The school has a very small amount of Christian professors on campus. Pray that the college would hire believing professors who would be bold about sharing their faith with their students.
- As the semester gets busier, it's easy to neglect important things. 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 slowly. We are thankful to be matched and know our file is being looked at, but we're now waiting for first approval. With other adoption programs having been created within our international agency, our program has ground to a near standstill. They seem to be, for the most part, only granting first approvals to the other program now. Pray that God would protect us from getting discouraged and help us stay positive during this waiting process.
- 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 or two. By the end of September, we just sort of expect it. We have to remind ourselves that we can't do all of the things we used to do when we had a staff of eight. Pray that we would be good stewards with our time, and have the wisdom and discernment to slow down a bit when needed so that we don't fall into burnout.
- Throughout the year, the semester can wear on us, and it can be easy to find ourselves discouraged at times. It happens in just about any ministry at one point or another. Pray that God would keep us 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 student-leaders 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 meet.
- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. Our most successful years have been when we have good health. Pray that God would keep us safe and healthy.
- Since Josh and Jen stepped away, we've been looking and praying for new staff and volunteers. This becomes more and more important as our possible travel for the adoption comes closer. Sadly, we really haven't had any success. That could change quickly, though, as we have a couple we've been interviewing over the past month or two. They're currently in Durango visiting and praying about if this is where God wants them. It would be great to have them, but they are also interviewing with a local church for a youth pastor position which is fully funded. So we'll see where God leads them. Our prayer for this couple is that God gets them to where He wants them, wherever that may be. Pray also that God would give us wisdom to find new staff and volunteers, whether it's this couple or someone else.
- 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. Pray that the different ministries on campus would guard against that.
- We've got some students who are working thru some pretty heavy things lately. Unfortunately, I can't really go into details but God knows. Pray that God would be working thru each individual situation and drawing the students closer to Jesus thru all of it.
- Lord willing, we are hoping to share at some new churches and small groups in the near future. 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 or our adoption, please click the following: Give Now.
With our worship night, we're still struggling to gain any traction with the students. It's been tough since we started it up. We tend to have a small group of seniors get involved every year and then graduate leaving us to start over every year. Our most fruitful year was during COVID when we combined family dinner and the worship night. We averaged thirteen students a night that year but the structure seemed to really scare away any students that didn't have a relationship with Jesus. All that said, we're praying about what to do with the worship night.
In that past, we have also done conversational English classes for our international students. Unfortunately, we just don't have the capacity to run those at the moment until we bring on more staff.
Despite that, we have still been able to connect with a couple of Japanese students. It turns out they are from the college and city where our former student, Rikako, is from. We are hoping that we can connect them in the near future.
Rikako has, for a long time, had a heart to return to Durango, join our staff, and minister to the Japanese students that come to Fort Lewis. Even if she hasn't been able to get a green card yet, this would still give her the opportunity to reach and disciple Japanese students at the Fort, not in person but online.
Going forward, we are settling into the normal rhythms of the semester. Family dinners will be weekly on Thursday nights. Our worship night will be on the first Tuesday of every month. We're hoping to get a student-led Bible study going on the Tuesday nights we don't have the worship night.
We also have our Western Slope Retreat this weekend. Colorado Mesa University and Western State University Christian Challenges will be joining us. We're brining in an a good friend of mine from high school, Jimmy Arcisz, who will be sharing about the importance of evangelism and discipleship. The Tyler Murphy Band will be joining us as well to lead worship. We're excited to see how God is going to grow our students over the weekend!
With that, we're also really excited to see how God is going to work on campus this semester! It's not the easiest campus to do ministry on but despite that, God continues to work and transform the lives of students year after year!
We just pray it's a fruitful year. In the past, we've had fruitful times with low numbers and fruitful times with high numbers. One of our most fruitful seasons was when we only had two students returning. Those two students eventually joined staff with us. So whatever happens, God is faithful!
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.
So without further delay, I give you our annual Christian Challenge Prayer Challenge...or The Challenge for Challenge. I want to challenge you again 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.
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:
- The school has a very small amount of Christian professors on campus. Pray that the college would hire believing professors who would be bold about sharing their faith with their students.
- As the semester gets busier, it's easy to neglect important things. 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 slowly. We are thankful to be matched and know our file is being looked at, but we're now waiting for first approval. With other adoption programs having been created within our international agency, our program has ground to a near standstill. They seem to be, for the most part, only granting first approvals to the other program now. Pray that God would protect us from getting discouraged and help us stay positive during this waiting process.
- 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 or two. By the end of September, we just sort of expect it. We have to remind ourselves that we can't do all of the things we used to do when we had a staff of eight. Pray that we would be good stewards with our time, and have the wisdom and discernment to slow down a bit when needed so that we don't fall into burnout.
- Throughout the year, the semester can wear on us, and it can be easy to find ourselves discouraged at times. It happens in just about any ministry at one point or another. Pray that God would keep us 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 student-leaders 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 meet.
- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. Our most successful years have been when we have good health. Pray that God would keep us safe and healthy.
- Since Josh and Jen stepped away, we've been looking and praying for new staff and volunteers. This becomes more and more important as our possible travel for the adoption comes closer. Sadly, we really haven't had any success. That could change quickly, though, as we have a couple we've been interviewing over the past month or two. They're currently in Durango visiting and praying about if this is where God wants them. It would be great to have them, but they are also interviewing with a local church for a youth pastor position which is fully funded. So we'll see where God leads them. Our prayer for this couple is that God gets them to where He wants them, wherever that may be. Pray also that God would give us wisdom to find new staff and volunteers, whether it's this couple or someone else.
- 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. Pray that the different ministries on campus would guard against that.
- We've got some students who are working thru some pretty heavy things lately. Unfortunately, I can't really go into details but God knows. Pray that God would be working thru each individual situation and drawing the students closer to Jesus thru all of it.
- Lord willing, we are hoping to share at some new churches and small groups in the near future. 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 or our adoption, please click the following: Give Now.
