Challenge Trip Update 2019

The Peru update is finally here!  There is a lot to update: from the trip, to the end of the semester, to what our next trip is shaping up to be.  I'll start it out with the end of the semester but try to keep it short.  Or at least shorter than it could be.

Campus:

It was a busy finish to the end of the semester.  Our two busiest weekends of the semester tend to be Easter weekend and graduation weekend.  Those, this year, just happened to follow each other.

For Easter, we helped out with a Good Friday service at the chapel on campus.  It was a joint effort between a local church, Challenge, and two other ministries on campus.  I didn't get an official count but my rough guess is that we easily had over 50 students there.  Part of the night was breaking up into discussion groups.  At the end of the night, one of the guys in my discussion group asked if I'd be open to discipling him.  Of course, I said, "Absolutely!"  That was really encouraging for sure.

The next night, we had our Easter Eve snowshoeing trip where we snowshoed up to a frozen lake at almost 11,000 feet in elevation as the sun set.

There, we built a campfire, roasted hot dogs for dinner, roasted up some Peeps s'mores for dessert, and shared an Easter message with the students.

We had a great spiritual discussion.  And nobody froze to death so that's always a positive too.

We followed our snowshoeing trip up with Easter Sunday.  We joined students at church in the morning, and then a family from another local church had all of our students over for lunch.  We had a lot of new students at that.  After lunch, Rachel and I had dinner with our local family that night.

After the busy weekend, our staff had meetings planning for the next semester.  That week, we also worked in our last discipleship meetings with our students before they headed home for the summer.  We finished up the semester that next weekend with five of our students graduating and all the graduation parties that followed.  And then that Sunday, we were off to Colorado Springs for our state staff meetings.

So ministry has been really good but really busy.  Things are starting to slow down though now where I can refocus on support raising and training for the next mission trip.

On a sad note, Ryan Evanyo will be moving on from our staff.  He committed to serving for two years after he graduated and his two years are up.

We were hoping he would stay on with us but he felt God leading him in a new direction.  We'll definitely miss him going forward but we're excited to see where God is going to use him in the future.

Personal Life:

I'm doing pretty well.  Just trying to recover and recharge a bit.  Just before the end of the semester, my hockey team won its second championship in a row.

I had a pretty good season as one of the leading scorers averaging just under a goal a game.

As a 36 year-old with painful torn cartilage in his hip, it's nice to know I can still compete against these youngins in their early to mid-20s that fill the league.

It's been a great ministry opportunity with the team this year and also keeps me in shape for summer mission trips so that I don't put on too much winter insulation after Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rachel is slowly working her way back from sabbatical.  She's been meeting with a mentor from church, meeting with a counselor who is specialized in third-culture kids (TCKs), and going to physical therapy for pain she has in her neck and back that she's had for years but just toughed it out.  She's had scoliosis her whole life and broke her back when she was in high school which has set her up for pain issues.  So we're praying the PT helps with that.  All in all, she's moving in a good direction.

When she comes back officially this fall, her role with Challenge will look a little different to fit her strengths and giftings.  In a way, she'll be more in the assistant role for me which she is looking forward to.  For her, weekly staff meetings will be cut out as well as some other things to free her up to do other things in the ministry.

She'll focus on encouraging and building up our female staff.  She'll also be focusing on meeting with and building up former students that are still in town.  (It tends to be really hard for them in this town to find Christian community amongst those their age.  It's easy for them to become stagnant in their faith if they struggle to find places to get poured into.)  Obviously, Rachel will also use her encouragement gifting to encourage and build up our current students.  With the restructuring of her role, she's also hoping to have more energy to reach out to our many neighbors that God has opened doors with.  We're excited to see how God is going to use her in this shift of roles.

Peru:

Anyway, onto Peru!  It certainly was an amazing trip!  We were able to venture into the Cordillera Huayhuash with Climbing for Christ and minister to the people who live and work in the remotest regions of the high Andes Mountains.  God did so many amazing things!

I could talk or write about what He did for hours, and if you want to hear more after this update, I'd love to share more about those amazing things.  Let me know.  Until then, check out the video I put together on the trip: Mission Peru 2018!  I actually took a lot of video this year so it's more that just a slideshow this time around.  Click the link above and check it out!  It will give you a better look at what the trip was like and how God worked.

Now that you're back from watching the video, I'll give you some stories behind the video.

The night before we headed out of Durango, I was having a quiet time getting into the Word.  It just so happened to be on the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to find the one.  It was perfect timing.  That's what our trip would be all about.  If our campus ministry is like the 99, then the people we were going to in the mountains of Peru were the one.

You don't find huge pockets of people in the mountains we go to like you would find in cities.  These were a small group of people living in very remote mountainous regions.  There might be just one family living in an entire valley and that would mean crossing many high mountain passes to reach them.

But someone has to reach them.  They are worth seeking out and sharing the Gospel with.  They are worth finding and encouraging them toward Jesus.  This parable of the lost sheep would be a theme throughout our journey.

The trek would be physically exhausting with long days on the trail backpacking up over 16,400 feet in elevation as we crossed many passes.

We would travel up to ten miles a day.

But God sustained us...even as team members dealt with illness along the way.

Rachel and I started out the journey with our students, Lexi, Aurora, and Ava.

We left Durango and after a couple of connections, we were in Lima, Peru waiting for the rest of our team to arrive.

We found our Peruvian team members thru the crowd at the airport.  We had plenty of time for introductions and catching up waiting for our team to arrive.  Eventually, Jordan and Jesse showed up from New York.  Being that it was really late, we headed to the hotel for a short night's sleep.

We left early the next morning and had a day's drive up into the mountains.

We arrived in Huaraz late that afternoon.

Being that we'd be up to 16,400 feet over the next two weeks while deep in the mountains, Huaraz at 10,000 feet in elevation was a nice place to acclimatize especially for our New Yorkers who were coming from basically sea level.

We'd spend the next two days on acclimatization hikes: the first hike just above the city and the second hike up to a lake much higher in elevation.

Each day, we averaged around ten miles of hiking.

It was a pretty good warmup for what we had in front of us.

Before the trip, a route was figured out by Edwin, our guide.  At the last minute, due to road closures, our route changed.  We'd no longer be able to exit the mountain range where we were wanting to.  It wasn't really a big deal.  We trusted God to get us wherever He wanted us.  On past trips to Peru, He'd always steer us thru a team member getting sick.  I had my suspicions He might work in the same way this trip.

And I was right.  Ava came into the the trip with a cold.  Before leaving Durango, she had just gotten back from taking teenagers to a Young Life camp with hundreds of other teenagers from all over the country.  She left camp with a nice souvenir, a pretty bad cold.  We hoped that it would remedy itself before we hit the mountains.  Once you're in the mountains, you normally don't heal due to the elevation and lack of oxygen.  But Ava had plenty of time to get better.  She'd be at least two weeks out from when her symptoms first came on.  Plenty of time to get better.

Unfortunately, she didn't get better in time.  But we kept praying over her hoping that God would heal her up as we headed into the mountains.  She was willing to tough it out and as long as she didn't get worse, she'd be okay.  We'd monitor her vitals throughout the day just to make sure.

As we progressed deep into the mountains and ministered as we went, Ava wasn't getting better.  Eventually, we had a day where we were in snow, sleet, and rain for hours on end while on the trek.  It soaked us thru to the core.  Unfortunately, there's typically nowhere to take shelter when you're that high up in the mountains.  You just have to tough it out and push thru till you get to the next camp.

When you're sick at high elevation, getting stuck in that kind of weather is the last thing you need.  It really did a number on Ava.  From there, as the rest of our team trekked, we put her on horseback to help her conserve her energy.

Even after that and putting her on some medications that we hoped would help her recover, her vitals kept getting worse.

After a lot of prayer, we finally had to make the call to evacuate her.  Her vitals were getting into a range I didn't feel comfortable with.  It was time to get her back to Huaraz where she could drop elevation and heal up.  Typically, a drop of 3,000 feet in elevation will make a world of difference.

My wife would accompany her back to civilization so that she wasn't alone.  After sitting next to Ava on the plane and sharing a tent with her, my wife was also starting to come down with what Ava had.  So it wasn't a bad idea for Rachel to head back and have some time to rest up as well.

Jaime, our translator and local missionary, would join them to make sure they could communicate if any issue should arise.

Our next step would be to figure out how to get them out.  How do we get them to a truck to extract them?

After looking at different maps, we found a way to get a truck in.  It wasn't really a road but it was enough to get Ava and Rachel out.

It was good news but that would mean our team's route would change again.  It would take an extra day to get the ladies to the extraction point.  The change would no longer leave us with enough time to make our extraction point days down the road.  We'd now have to find another way out.

It just so happened that the road that had been closed, which originally changed our plans, was now back open.  Our way out was jumping back on our original route.  I guess that's the route God wanted us on all along.  He was orchestrating a perfect path and perfect timing so that we could bump into specific families to share the Gospel with and give New Testaments to.

Even the fact that the ladies' extraction driver showed up in the wrong location, and much later than was planned, played a part in reaching a family on our way back to our day's route.  We saw two of them get saved and handed out five New Testaments to members of the family that had never had the Word.  These are people we would have never come across had the timing not been perfect, and had God not steered us in their direction.  I see God do that a lot on mission trips and every time, it still amazes me.

I could tell you a lot of stories about the amazing things God did but I'll leave you with two last stories: my favorite and Rachel's favorite.

For my story, we have to go back to my first trip years ago in the Huayhuash.  It was just after our team had split into two due to illness.  One team would take our sick team member back to civilization hoping that a drop in elevation would help in the healing process.  I'd take my team deeper into the mountains and carry on with our original route.

Upon arriving at our next camp, which wasn't supposed to have people living nearby, we saw a white building off in the distance.  We thought that we might as well hike down to it just in case there happened to be people living there.  From camp, it was about 30-45 minutes of hiking to get to it.

Once we arrived, we found it to be empty.  There was no one there, and it was all locked up.  As I looked around somewhat bummed out, I noticed a small homestead down valley off in the distance.  Then, I also observed some movement around the homestead.  There were people there.  I'd never have seen them had we not hiked down to the empty white building.

We hiked another 30 minutes or so out to the homestead.  A mother and her two young kids were living there.  They were fairly surprised that we stopped by.  We were able to pray with them and give them New Testaments.

They shared that nobody had ever stopped by their homestead: no trekkers, no missionaries, no pastors or even priests.  They were too far off the beaten path and hidden from the main trail.  Though they were believers, they were all alone out there.  So they were pretty encouraged that God would send us to visit them.  Before we left, the mother told us to stop back by if we were ever in the area again.  I didn't know if God would ever bring us back there but I told her if we could, we would.  If God brought us back someday, we'd love to visit again.

As we trekked thru the mountains on our latest trip, that story certainly wasn't in the forefront of my mind.  On our first day of trekking, my mind was more so on the exciting weather we were experiencing.  The weather nerd in me was shining thru with a big smile on my face.

I was loving the rain, snow, and sleet.  I think I was the only one on the team enjoying the weather.

We eventually took cover from the heavy weather when we finally found some shelter.

As I looked around, I noticed a white structure.

Immediately, my memories came flooding back.  I had been here before.  I knew exactly where we were.  Despite our camp still being 30 minutes away, I knew I needed to make it back to my old friends.

The weather wasn't going to make that easy.  The question was: do we go right away or do we make it to camp, get some soup and tea in us to warm up and then head back out?  Being that a lot of the team was struggling with the cold and wet weather, we decided to head to camp to warm up.  We'd send a small group of us back out in a bit.

While waiting under the shelter, we ran into a man named Edmundo taking shelter as well.  He was a local who had a heart to reach his area for Jesus.  When he found out what we were doing there, he seemed pretty excited.

He followed us the last bit of the way to our camp.  There, I felt the Lord lead me to give him five New Testaments.  I knew it would help him not just share the Gospel with the people living near him but also disciple them as well.  He was extremely thankful to have God's Word to minister to those in his area.

After getting some soup and hot tea in us, the ladies on the trip headed to their tents to continue warming up.  The guys on the team began to prepare for the long, cold, and wet journey ahead of us.  We layered up and filled our Nalgenes up with boiling water.  Those Nalgenes stuffed in a jacket will keep you warm for hours.

Lastly, we knew we should definitely pray for our journey.  We met up in the dining tent to keep dry while we prayed.  We each prayed, one after another, for a weather window for our journey.  We basically prayed the same thing but in our own words.  Each time we prayed, the precipitation would lighten up more and more.

Finally, our last guy arrived in the tent.  We told him that he should also pray for a good weather window.  He did and the rain, snow, and sleet completely stopped.  All I wanted was to have good weather to get to my old friends down valley...and God was answering our prayers and calming the storm.  It was like God was parting it around us.

We set out under cloudy weather but good weather.  Maybe 45 minutes to an hour later, we reached the first homestead where Edmundo and his wife, Justine, were sitting outside.  We asked how we could pray for them, and Justine mentioned that she needed healing for her head, neck, back, and legs.  Edmundo was in tears praising God as we prayed.

After praying, I asked about the family I had once met.  They should have been living right next to Edmundo and Justine.  The small rock house I remember the family living out of looked abandoned and really run down.  Edmundo informed us that the family had moved into the nearest town a little while ago.  I was saddened that I wouldn't get to see them on this visit.

After praying for Justine, our intention was to continue further down the valley.  We had heard that there was a man who struggled with alcoholism.  Edmundo told us that he had tried to get thru to the guy but he wouldn't listen.  We thought that since we're in the area, we might as well stop by and talk with the guy.  It would only be another hour and a half down the valley.

When we mentioned that we still wanted to see the guy, Edmundo became worried.  He warned us how far it was.  He worried that it would soon be dark and the weather could turn on us at any moment.  He didn't want us to get lost in the dark in bad weather with no shelter.  Despite the possible dangers, our team wasn't too worried.  Personally, I was excited for the adventure.  Anytime you get to have an adventure while sharing Jesus, well, that's a good time in my book.

As we left Edmundo and Justine's homestead, our window for good weather was seemingly closing.  It seemed like the further we went down valley towards the man we were looking for, the worse the weather got.  It was almost like the enemy was trying to discourage us or stop us from reaching this man's homestead.

The rain, sleet, and snow turned quickly to all snow.  Temperatures were hovering just above freezing but it was cold enough to stick to the ground and start accumulating.  I don't remember the exact quote but one of the guys on the team basically equated it to being trapped in a slushy machine.  A little bad weather wasn't going to discourage us.  We were men on a mission.  If this guy was home, we were going to find him.

As we hiked down valley in search of the guy, we came across many homesteads.  We'd check them for our guy but each one was abandoned.  There are hundreds if not thousands of years of history in the area.  In that, there are a lot of ruins still standing.  From afar, it's hard to tell what is still being lived in and what has been abandoned.  So that added a little time to our hike.

Eventually, we came across a house with smoke coming out of a stove pipe.  Our first sight of human life.  Someone was home.  We hollered toward the house, and a woman came out.  Then, she waved at her husband to come out.  This was the guy we had been looking for.  Apparently, he also has a wife.

According to them, both were Christians but neither had a Bible so we gave them both New Testaments.  After talking with them a bit, we prayed over them, and then it was time to head back.

Team members were frozen due to the weather, and darkness was coming quickly.  Thankfully, a new weather window was opening for us.  It was cold but little to no heavy precipitation.  It's a little interesting that the closer we got to this couples homestead, the worse the weather got.  Then, once our mission of reaching and sharing with them was accomplished, the weather was good again.

I look back and laugh at how God was using the weather.  If we had not had that first weather window, Justine would have been forced inside, and we would have walked right past her never knowing she needed prayer.  Had that weather window not closed as we hiked closer and closer to the couple down valley, they probably would have still been out with their animals away from their homestead.  We may have never connected.  We probably would have just kept walking further down the valley.  The enemy may have thought he was using it to keep us away but God was using it for His perfect timing.

As we hiked back, it was difficult trail-finding.  We had cloud cover, no moon, and high mountains blocking out any other light.  It was about as black as night can be.  It felt like we were deep in a cave, it was so dark.

When you have no trails, or have trails shooting off in different directions with creeks to avoid or cross, it's easy to get lost in the darkness.  It's easy to lose the way.

But then, a distant light shown in the darkness.  It was clear it wasn't a natural light.  It was manmade.  So we started following it.  I actually thought it might be people from our camp trying to guide us back.  (We had to do something like that at night the first trip to Peru when we were given poor directions, and day quickly turned to night.)  We had no idea how far the light was from us but we were just going to have to trust that it would guide us back to camp.

Finally, we reached the source of the light.  It was actually Edmundo.  He had been watching for us to return and when we didn't, his worry grew.  He grabbed his high-powered flashlight and began signaling for us.  He stayed out for hours signaling, making sure we were safe and could find our way back.  He was a light in the darkness.  It was a picture of what he is to his area.  He is a guy who has a deep desire to see his area come to know Jesus and isn't afraid to share with people.

When we reached him, we weren't quite back to camp.  He'd lead us the 30 or so minutes back to camp.  During that time, I just felt super blessed...and still do.  Whenever a person goes on mission trips, they want to be a blessing to the people they go to but I feel like we were blessed way more by Edmundo.  The fact that he cared enough to brave the storm and cold to make sure we had a safe return, it was amazing.

The next morning, we woke up, and Edmundo was already in the camp.  He brought us a wheel of cheese he had made.  He went around shaking our hands saying "Gracias, gracias."  I replied, "De nada." while thinking it should really be us thanking him again.  Then Jaime shared that Edmundo was actually thanking us for praying over his wife.  She had been healed of everything she was dealing with.  She woke up completely pain-free.  Talk about a day where God was just answering our prayers left and right.  It was awesome to see and extremely encouraging, an experience I'll always remember.

My wife also had one of those experiences on the trip.  I'll let her share her story in her own words.

Since our first trip to Peru, I had been hoping to visit some locals in their home because it gives you a deeper glimpse into their culture.  Most people we encounter are along the trail or in their fields tending to their flocks.  When we set up our camp that afternoon, just across the creek was a home.

Later that evening, we were invited to join the family living there.  Catalino, one of our donkey drivers, carried a lantern to light the way and held his hand out to help us cross the creek.

We arrived and were warmly welcomed.  The evening was freezing cold but their wood (or most likely dung) stove had warmed the place, and it had a wonderful smokey smell.  The family of five, the matriarch mom and her four adult children, were hanging out waiting for us.  We were given spots to sit on sheep skins lining a rock shelf that went around the perimeter of the inside of the home.

Jamie quickly introduced us and why we were there: to let them know God loves them.  He asked if they knew who Jesus was, and 4 of the 5 said they believed in Him but also their mountain folk religion.  Jaime engaged in a tense discussion regarding how God is the only God.

Something shifted and the son I was sitting next to started chanting under his breath.  I started praying for a spiritual breakthrough.  Within minutes the mood shifted, and one of the daughters said she understood.  She then asked if we could pray for her mother.  We laid hands on and prayed for healing.

Then Armando, the oldest son, said he had never believed in Jesus, and that he had been an alcoholic his whole life but if Jesus would take him, he wanted in.  Such a powerful moment seeing a 50+ year-old man wondering if God would want him, and the excitement that it could be true.  As we then prayed over him, the Holy Spirit took over.  It was powerful, bold, truth being proclaimed over him and that dark valley.

We spent more time talking, sharing scripture and blessings with this family.  They were very grateful, and we said our goodbyes.  I wish we could have stayed all night.  During our visit, Catalino had stood in the doorway the whole time listening to the discussion taking it all in.  He was not a Christian but the Holy Spirit was using the discussion to work on his heart.  Two days later, he gave his life to Christ!

Looking back, it was a pretty great mission trip.  We saw God do a lot of things on it.  The trip was filled with divine appointments, salvations, healings, and getting another 100 New Testaments into the area.

Despite the exhaustion and tough physical aspects of the trip, God moved and did huge things.  As we've found Him to do on these Peru trips, He used illness to steer our journey and line up divine appointments along the trail.  He put people in our path as we were hiking and brought them into our camps.  We would have never run into many of the people if it weren't for the illnesses our team members dealt with.  But God was working and even using that for His glory!

By the time we arrived back at the airport in Lima, it was clear how much God had blessed our team during our time in Peru.  It was a successful mission trip.  We had accomplished our purpose and our goals.

Our goals were simple:  To go where others haven't, to go where others can't, and to take the Gospel wherever the Lord leads us.  And this trip, that meant going to places just as remote as past trips.

As a missionary, it is said that often part of your goal is to work yourself out of a job.  You go into a place and build up the local people so that they can eventually take over for you freeing you to take the Gospel to new areas.

Looking at the work we've been doing in Peru over the many years we've been there, we are at that point.  The church building we'd been building in Chalhua has been turned over fully to the locals.

The two mountain ranges we've been working in are now pretty much fully reached with the Gospel.  We've backpacked with the Gospel into just about every valley in those ranges people live in and distributed hundreds of New Testaments.

It's now time for the locals to take a bigger role ministering and discipling their neighbors.

That doesn't mean we're never going back.  I hope to someday get back there to check in and encourage those we've connected with.  But that won't be this summer or even next summer.  It's time to let God water the seeds that were planted and see what grows.  We'll miss our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ, down there dearly but Lord willing, we'll see them again one day.

With all God did, this trip wouldn't have been possible without you guys.  We want to thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given and continue to give! We are super thankful for that!  Check out our prayer requests below to find out where and when, Lord willing, our next mission trip will be and keep us and Peru 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

For Peru:

- Pray for protection over those that accepted Christ on our trip, and that God would grow them in their faith.

- This was an extremely tough trip physically.  We couldn't have done it without God providing us with the strength to complete it.  Praise God for the strength He gave us to fulfill what He was calling us to do in Peru.

- God changed many lives while we were down there.  Praise God for lives changed.  Also pray that He would continue to open doors for the Gospel to be received and understood as Jaime revisits the people we met and follows up with them.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would be working on the hearts and minds of the people we met.

- Praise God for getting our team home safely.

- Pray for Jaime's health. Over the years, he has dealt with different medical issues.  I know it can be discouraging when it gets in the way of doing ministry. Just recently, he had to leave the field to focus on getting healthy.  I know he probably can't wait to get back out there and share Jesus with the people out in the mountains.

Back Home:

- Pray that God would keep growing our students in their faith over the summer. Going back home for the summer, we often see students backslide when they are away from their routine and support systems they have in Durango.  We hope and pray that students come back excited to continue growing in their faith and helping others do the same.

- We lost a lot of student-leaders to graduation this spring.  Pray that God would give us another group of student-leaders strong in their faith and ready to reach the campus with the Gospel.

- Over the summer, we'll be planning out what the worship night is going to look like in the fall.  We'll be brainstorming topics to cover and laying out an outline for the semester.  Pray that God would guide us in our planning of the worship night and provide us with ideas to teach on.  Also that we would fit our leadership into roles where they can best use their giftings for the Kingdom.

- Be praying for Ryan Evanyo as he figures out what his next step is in following what God has called him to do.

- As most of you know, our staff has had many health issues over the years.  Pray that God would keep us all healthy over the summer so that we can be ready to go for the fall.

- In ministry, it's easy to get busy and neglect our marriage.  Pray that we would not neglect the important ministry that God calls us to within our marriage.

- In our last update, we mentioned the struggles we have had trying to have children.  Pray that God would give us wisdom on how to move forward with that, and that He would provide us with doctors that wouldn't just blow us off but actually listen to our concerns.

- Pray that we would find time for training for the future mission trip, and that we would stay safe trail running and hiking.

- So the next trip... well, as I mentioned above, we won't be returning to Peru for awhile but we've had another opportunity open up possibly in the Himalayas.  Please be praying for the trip that God would guide us in our planning and keep our team safe while we're there.  Pray that the trip would be extremely fruitful as well.

- 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 trip or the ministry we work with at Fort Lewis, please go to: Give Now.

Christian Challenge April Update!

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Spring!

We are still finding ourselves with 3-4 feet of snow piled up outside our front door but are thankful God has provided just what our area has desperately needed.

There are three weeks left in the semester at this point, and we thought we would check in. We wanted you to share in our joy of answered prayers from the last letter and thank you for praying!

Victoria came to faith in Jesus! This is so exciting. She has been hanging out with us for the past three year taking it all in. She has seen and heard about Jesus and who He is in many of our lives. I love how God uses the body of Christ to minister in different ways for someone to get a fuller picture of who He is and ultimately to draw that person to Himself.

Days after sending the last letter, a connection was made with Rikako and Jenny, a Christian Challenge graduate from Grand Junction who is living in Japan as a missionary right now. The craziest part is that they had met years ago at our January Life Impact Conference at Glen Eyrie where 300 college students from all over the state and country gather, back when Rikako was in the states. During this conference, they break students up into prayer groups for the week with students from multiple campuses. Jenny and Rikako were in the same prayer group! You guys, this is not only an answer to prayer but it’s over and beyond! Japan has a lot of prefectures. Rikako lives twelve hours from Tokyo. Guess where Jenny is serving? In Rikako’s town! They have been meeting ever since and reading the Bible together. We are overjoyed with this news.

Another answered prayer is that the snowblower and camera sold to help pay off the past Peru mission trip and our taxes! God always takes care of us. The camera sold to a pastor up in Denver as a present for his wife and we were able to sell the snowblower to family in town. We were glad that we could help out our spiritual family and physical family. And it was nice to know that the snowblower was a big help to family with all the snow our area received this winter.

My Sabbatical is going well! I appreciate the love and support I have received from many of you. It means the world to me to know you all are praying and behind us in this season. I’m starting to slowly come out of burn out. I’m hearing the Lord. I am absolutely loving being at home. I find great joy in extended time with the Lord daily, planning/cooking healthy meals, cleaning the house, organizing, being creative, and finding my own rhythm. I actually have energy for date day adventures and connecting more intentionally with Mike. We have been able to do weekly dates and are just enjoying a more relaxed pace as we are not running in opposite directions, running on fumes.

These few months, God has been re-establishing my foundation; reminding, showing, teaching me, and anchoring me. I have sensed the shift has now come and I will be moving into the next phase, which is facing my losses and grieving, and walking through that with a counselor. The truth is that infertility is just part of a long line of significant loss throughout my life that’s been buried and unresolved. I am grateful for this beautiful gift of slowing down and hearing the Lord without deadlines or strict timelines. I have desired to live at a slower, more simpler pace, and this has given me that opportunity.

Mike has continued on campus and in January started up a Sunday night worship service. God has put this on his heart, and he’s faithfully stepped out to walk in it. I absolutely love and admire this about Mike. He hears the Lord and obeys, no matter how hard it can be and no matter the unknowns. He is doing a trial run before a full launch this coming fall. He has met new students and had opportunities to have deeper spiritual conversations. As you pray for Mike this week, send him a note of encouragement as a boost for the last 3 weeks of school. You can Facebook him, email him or send him snail mail.

In sad new unfortunately, our young and super sweet cat, Snowie, passed away. We believe that she contracted a fatal virus before we ever took her home from the shelter just under a year and a half ago. She was a great little ministry cat that our students loved...even those with bad cat allergies.

At the beginning of last month, we had spring break and a group of 10 headed off to Juarez, Mexico spending their break serving and loving at the James. R. Ganley Mission School. They spent their days building, loving the kids, and bringing encouragement and refreshment to the missionaries running it. I miss being able to partake.

After returning, one of our Japanese students who had been on the trip, Rinna, accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior! We are so excited! Her grandparents back in Japan are actually Christians and have been praying for her and planting seeds her whole life. We've been able to continue that after meeting her at the beginning of the year. She has been very interested in learning more about Jesus and the Bible during her time here. Turns out, when she returns to Japan, her college is mere blocks from a missionary we know there who is already discipling some of our past students. We're excited to see how God works in her life once she returns home!

This past weekend, we had our Christian Challenge Spring Getaway. It went really well. The focus was mental health from a Biblical perspective. We brought in Darrin Crow who runs Christian Challenge at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. He is also a professional counselor so he was able to tap into that background to share with our students. (If his last name sounds familiar to you, Darrin is also the father of one of our former students, Blythe, who is still running her ministry, She has a Name, in Africa to rescue women out of sex-slavery, and additionally now helping her dad lead Challenge in Junction.) Our students were able to take away a lot from the weekend.

Thank you for making all this 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 students we have seen come to salvation!Along with Rinna and Victoria coming to the Lord, we also had a third student come to the Lord recently. While our staff member, Ryan, was out starting up spiritual conversations with students around campus, he was able to share his faith with a student and that guy eventually accepted Jesus!

- Pray that God would continue to grow our current student-leaders and provide us with new ones to replace those graduating at the end of this year. It's so important to have student-leaders who buy in to what the ministry is doing.

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith. On the surface, it wouldn't seem like Fort Lewis would be an easy place for that to happen but despite that, God is still working in our students lives.

- Pray that God would help us learn how to connect better with the new generation of students that are starting to arrive on campus. We are now seeing Generation Z show up and they are very 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.

- Praise God for a fruitful Life Impact Conference where our students were able to learn and grown in their faith!

- Pray for Rachel as she finishes up her sabbatical. Pray that she would find rest, healing, and growth in Christ as she finishes up her time away from the ministry.

- 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.

- With the size of our staff, 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.

- There are going to be a lot of changes in some of the ministries on campus. Some staff members are moving on and new ones are coming in. 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.

- God seems to be narrowing down where He might want us with mission trips this summer. We plan on having a more finalized idea of that by our next update. Please be praying that God would give us wisdom and discernment as we listen for His plans for us this summer.

- 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.

- Praise God that our snowblower and camera sold! We're thankful that it helped us pay off the Peru trip.

- Pray that God would open the door for us to partner with more churches and individuals. Rachel and I trust God to provide for us 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, please go to: Give Now.

Lessons from Handies Mountain

We had been training all summer. We’d been running, hiking, and climbing. This adventure would be the culmination of all that training. It was our last climb before our journey into the high mountains of Peru. This was our highest training elevation before we headed into the Andes.

Our plan was to make the long drive up to the trailhead of Handies, one of the many fourteeners in Colorado. We’d camp for the night and then climb the mountain the next morning. Hopefully, we’d summit and be back down at the vehicle before thunderstorms moved in.

Our team assembled mid-afternoon. We loaded up my Xterra and headed north. Driving the many mountain passes like Coalbank and Molas, we ran into a lot of rain. It continued as we drove thru the town of Silverton and back into the wilderness. Things were not looking good. We had a much more dangerous pass ahead of us, and rain or snow could make it treacherous.

Thankfully, as soon as we arrived at Animas Forks, an old mining ghost town, the rains stopped and the clouds parted. It was perfect timing. Cinnamon Pass stood right before us. It would be slick but not nearly as dangerous as it could have been had it continued to rain or snow.

As we ascended the pass, the engine struggled thru the thin air while we climbed above treeline. The road was extremely narrow with plenty of rocky bumps and switchbacks. As we arrived at the top of the pass, things smoothed out a bit.

After taking in all the beauty of the surrounding mountains, we descended until we eventually made the turn into American Basin. There, the road became rocky again but it was only for a short while. We would be at the trailhead in no time.

Once arriving, we unloaded the Xterra and started setting up camp. I was just going to sleep in the Xterra. The ladies on the team would share a tent. We needed to get that set up before the sun went down and temperatures dropped.

As I looked around after getting our camp set up, I noticed that we had the place to ourselves. For me, it’s such a freeing feeling to be someplace so beautiful and not have strangers there to disturb you. It was just our team and the quiet of God’s Creation.

I was feeling so free that when I had to use the restroom, I decided it would be safe to go on the other side of the Xterra. Being that we had ladies on the team, I was trying to be a gentleman and put a vehicle between my business and their tent. It’s not like there was an indoor bathroom or even a tree to go behind so I did the best I could.

As I began peeing, I saw a house in the far distance. Even though it was probably just an uninhabited vacation home, I started to wonder if they’d be able to see me. After pondering it for a moment, I realized that I was probably safe from their view due to the distance. I thought, “That’s good, I’m not flashing anybody.”

And then I lowered my eyes from the cabin to see a woman walking up the road. She was certainly close enough. Guess I was flashing someone. She was probably as shocked as I was. The moment I noticed her, she did the “look up at all the mountains and pretend she didn’t see anything” move.

At that point, you can’t stop mid-stream. I couldn’t turn and risk possibly flashing one of the ladies on my team if they had exited their tent. Scarring one person was enough. No need to scar multiple people. So our stranger was just going to have to keep looking up at the beautiful mountains until I was done.

I had tried to be so careful. So much for being a gentleman. I was listening for other vehicles and heard nothing. Why would someone be hiking up the road that late in the afternoon? Well, she was scouting ahead for a vehicle that was following her. Guess we weren’t going to have the place to ourselves. Thankfully, they set up their camp quite aways from us so that we still had peace and quiet…and we didn’t have to awkwardly interact with each other after getting far more views than she probably was expecting. (This is probably far more information than the reader was expecting too. Don’t worry. You’ll survive…and maybe you’ll laugh a little too. I know I did.)

After that interesting experience, we sat down and had a simple dinner of hot dogs. Probably my favorite camp food. So simple, so salty. We finished the night off with some banana boats. We threw in some chocolate chips and marshmallows, and cooked them over the stove. Mine was actually pretty awful…but the ladies liked theirs. I just don’t think bananas should be hot…or burnt. I know, I’m so picky.

The ladies headed to bed early after dinner and dessert. They were planning on getting up in the middle of the night and summiting for sunrise. They tried to convince me to do it but I value my sleep…especially if I’m the one driving back on sketchy passes the next day. Let’s be honest. When you’re 35 years old, a good nights sleep is just as beautiful as a mountaintop sunrise. So I stayed up until midnight watching the stars and the moon. There was supposed to be a lunar eclipse that night as well but it turns out, I was in the wrong part of the world to see it. But hey, I got to see some shooting stars instead which is always exciting.

When I woke up the next morning as the sun was coming up, I saw our ladies sitting in their sleeping bags in their camping chairs. Apparently, they got lost on their way up the mountain in the darkness. They lost the trail and eventually decided to turn back. They’d still get a chance to summit with me when I finally got out of my sleeping bag which would be an hour or so later. Being that the sun was not up enough for my liking though, I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and tried to get a little more shuteye. Sorry ladies, I need my beauty sleep.

The next time I popped my head out of the bag, I noticed that the parking lot was no longer a quiet and peaceful place. We certainly no longer had it to ourselves. It was filled up to the brim and was enough to get me out of my bag before it became even more packed. You don’t want to get stuck in traffic jams on a mountain that frequently sees lightning. That said, we had a quick breakfast and were headed up trail.

As we ascended, we passed by many people. There was a group working on the trail doing general upkeep. We also passed another family from the lowlands. It was their second time attempting the mountain. The first time, they got turned around by lightning. This time, they started earlier determined to summit before the lightning moved in. We passed by them and wished them good luck as they stopped to take a breather.

Being that I had climbed the mountain before, I noticed that the trail had been redirected since our last summit. This is what probably led to the ladies getting off trail in the dark. My wife followed where the old trail was, not the new trail. It’s an easy mistake to make in the dark.

But we wouldn’t get lost this time. The trail and the stream of people made it really easy to find. About halfway up, we passed by a beautiful high alpine lake. Many people stopped to grab a rest and take in the beauty but we kept pushing ahead.

Our weather was perfect at the time, blue bird skies with not a cloud in the sky. But we knew that the weather up on the mountain can change rapidly. We knew that lightning storms could build or blow in at anytime, and we wanted to be off the summit before that happened so we pushed on. We thought, we can always stop on the way back down if the good weather continues to hold.

The higher we ascended, the more our fellow climbers began to struggle. Their lungs battled at that elevation with the thin air to pull in enough oxygen for their bodies just to take another step. After all of our summer training, even the ladies on our climbing team began to slow. That’s when I saw the trail widen to allow room for passing. I also saw the summit. It was so close. Seeing it gave me a shot of adrenaline. There would be no stopping. There would be no rest. I was climbing with speed. I could feel the effects of the thin air on my body but a stubbornness to fight against the effects of that harsh environment I was in would not hold me back as I stormed my way to the summit.

Once reaching the summit, I took notice of my surroundings. I saw beautiful views. I saw big groups of people who had also summited. I checked on the ladies to see their progress. I then checked the weather. There were some small clouds starting to form in the distance but it didn’t seem like anything to worry about. Even if they did build into a thunderstorm, we’d have plenty of time to enjoy the summit and get off of it before any danger moved in. With us in the clear and not worried too much about the weather, I was able to snap some pictures and have good conversation with the many others that had made the climb. One guy had just gotten back from the Andes so we had an especially interesting conversation.

After my arrival fifteen minutes later, the ladies on our team reached the summit. They were tired but happy to be on top. We celebrated with a team picture. As the ladies sat down to the lunches they had packed, I spent the time exploring the summit some more looking at other possible routes for future ascents. I even got a little jog on the top in to push my body a little more. I knew I needed all the exercise I could get in preparation for Peru. So I figured that as long as I was above 14,000 feet, I might as well push myself a little more. I always feel good running downhill or on the flats but it’s the uphills that will really make you feel it especially at that elevation.

After I returned to the team eating lunch, I grabbed a few bites to eat as well. That’s when I looked up to see that the small clouds I had seen earlier were no longer small. They were growing and growing fast. It also seemed like their direction had shifted, and they were now heading our way. Despite still being under blue skies and thinking that we had plenty of time, I told the ladies to pack up and start heading down. I was going to stay up top and snap a few more pictures of the coming storm and then catch up with the team.

As the rest of the team descended, I pulled out my phone to snap four more pics. With that, I put my phone away and decided it was time to go. I thought, “I need to catch up with the ladies before they put too much distance between them and me.” It was at that moment that I started to feel something strange on my hands. It started out as tiny sensations of cold. My first thought was that maybe it was starting to drizzle a bit. Then the sensation turned into what felt like my hands tingling.

Lastly, I felt not just a tingling but I was getting shocked. I was getting zapped as if someone was dragging their feet over carpet to build static and reached out to shock me, only these were multiple zaps quickly over and over again. I instantly knew what that meant. Though the storms had not reached the summit yet, a storm was building right on top of the summit as I was standing there. The air was becoming electrified. It meant that I was in great danger of getting struck by lightning. It meant it was time to get the heck out of there and fast.

By then, there were only four other climbers with me on the summit. All others had already started heading down. I quickly explained to them was was happening and sternly told them, “It’s time to go!” Two of them started running down the mountain. And the other two didn’t seem too concerned. It seemed like they were going to wait for the rest of their party to reach the summit. They jumped on their walkie-talkies to radio down. What they said, I’ll never know, because I didn’t stay long enough to find out. I had warned them and wasn’t about to stick around to lecture them on the dangers of lightning on mountain tops. Like I said earlier, it was time to go. My priority was racing down to our ladies and getting them down off the mountain quickly and safely. I jumped in right behind the two who wisely heeded my warning and were sprinting down the mountainside.

Being that we were moving with speed, I quickly reached my other team members. They were actually putting on their rain jackets when I found them. I remember vividly crouching with them on the mountainside as they finished putting on their jackets hoping that we had descended enough to be in safety. I was no longer getting shocked but I knew we still needed to descend quickly to get out of danger. As I waited, I explained what had happened while thunder began rumbling over the summit. The storm was still building, and we needed to keep descending. We could also see more storms heading our way.

As we were running down in the thunder and lightning, and the occasional mix of hail, sleet, snow, and graupel, we’d come across people still heading up. It was like they couldn’t see the storms. They couldn’t hear the thunder even though it was nearly right on top of them. Or maybe they could see and hear but were just ignoring it. The skies were giving them warnings, and they chose not to heed them.

Each time we’d come upon a group, I’d also warn them. I’d quickly tell them of how the air on the top of the peak had become electrified, and I was literally getting shocked. A few turned around like the lowland family we had met on the way up. They were so close to the summit. They were even closer than they were the first time they tried to climb the mountain. Looking at his family, the dad asked, “What do you think?” Their daughter let out a quick, “Nope!” She turned around and started heading back down. Her family soon followed.

The rest of the time descending, we spent trail running…at least when we weren’t in traffic jams. Being in deadly weather on a mountainside is not when you want to run into traffic jams. There just aren’t a lot of places to pass. Many refused to get out of the way. They couldn’t move as fast but they knew the dangers and weren’t going to step off the trail for a moment to let faster people pass. They wanted to keep moving toward safety too.

Every now and then when I’d hear thunder or see a flash of lightning, I’d glance up the mountain to see people continuing to head higher. Eventually, we had descended enough to where we felt a little safer. We could see the trailhead and our Xterra. We’d only been descending for a little over an hour. Amazing how a little lightning can speed up a descent. Soon, we slowed down to a walk, partially due to the feeling of safety and partly because we had a family with a small kid in front of us. Still, they were pushing a good pace. No need to pass them at that point…until lightning struck the summit a couple thousand feet above us.

It was the classic flash-bang where you hear the thunder as you see the flash of lightning above you. It happened a handful of times and was extremely loud due to it’s proximity. The rest of my team saw a small passing lane and bolted around the family back to the vehicle leaving me stuck behind them. The little kid was extremely freaked out. I figured if I tried to pass them too, it would have really scared the kid so I patiently stayed behind. Despite the lightning being scary close, it was hitting the highest point in the area, the summit. Being that I was almost down in the valley, I still felt fairly safe. And my hands weren’t tingling and getting shocked so I wasn’t too worried at that point…at least for my own safety.

I couldn’t help but worry for the people still on the mountain, those who continued to ascend when I warned them not to. I truly thought that I’d read a headline the next day about hikers getting struck by lightning on the mountain. They had so many warnings between the weather and my quick story of electrified air I’d share as we crossed paths. But most didn’t take it seriously. They ignored the warnings. They were deaf to the life and death consequences right before them.

Looking back on the day, it makes me wonder how often we do that with God? How often do we ignore the warnings God puts before us? I think so often, we get warnings but just ignore them. If we look and we listen, I believe that God gives us a lot of warnings throughout our lives. Not because He is just wanting to control us but because He loves us, because He is looking out for us. He’s keeping us safe. He’s helping us avoid danger. He knows what will pull us away from Him and gives us warnings so that we may not drift away from Him but draw near. All too often, we don’t head those warnings as we slowly drift away.

Many times, those warnings are also to keep us from blowing up our lives. In John 4 of the Bible, Jesus heals a guy by a healing pool and tells him to stop sinning or something worse may happen to him. I think God tells us the same thing. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. Ezekiel 18:32 tells us that God doesn’t take pleasure in the death of any man so repent and live! He’s telling us to stop going down that path of sin we’ve been walking down. Sin leads to death. Dangers ahead! Turn around so that you may live!

Sometimes, those warnings are also to keep us from blowing up the lives of the people around us. He’s protecting them from becoming collateral damage. That is, if we heed the warnings. It reminds me of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. God sent Moses to Pharaoh to tell him to free his people or bad things would come upon Egypt. Pharaoh didn’t listen and plagues soon came upon Egypt. Each plague seemed to get worse and worse. It took ten plagues for Pharaoh to finally heed the warnings. He finally let the people go…and then quickly changed his mind sending his men to chase after them. That decision would eventually cost his men their lives in the Red Sea. There were consequences to turning a blind eye to the warnings for Pharaoh and his people. God used Moses to warn Pharaoh but his heart was too hard to believe those warnings.

God often gives us warnings of coming consequence. He reminds us that there are consequences to our actions. He convicts us. Maybe it’s thru the Bible. Maybe it’s thru a sermon. Maybe it’s thru a friend. It might even be an article online that convicts us. We know what the consequences are to certain actions. I think a lot of times, we just block it out. We don’t listen. We choose not to believe God. We think: “I can get away with it this one time. The consequences are for everyone else. I’ll be fine. I can hide it. I can outsmart it. It will never blow up in my face causing collateral damage to all those around me. I’ve got it managed.”

Luke 8:17 tells us that things which are done in darkness will come to light. Things that are done in secret will be exposed. If that’s not a solid warning, I don’t know what is. If we’re truthful with ourselves, we know that when those things are made known, there will be consequences. Sin has mental, physical, emotional, and/or spiritual consequences.

But like I said, all too often, we just don’t want to hear it. We went to do what we want to do. We want to push the limits and not in good ways. We see how far we can get to the edge without fully falling off the cliff. We think, it’s the best of both worlds. We can hold close to temptation and sin without the consequence of being fully immersed in it. We walk right up to the edge and think we’re just fine. We’re good. What a lie!

When we do that, it only takes a nudge to knock us over that edge. It doesn’t take much wind at all to send us tumbling down. If we stand at a safe distance from the edge, a nudge might make us stumble or even trip but it won’t push us over the edge. Even with a strong gust, we’re safe. Unfortunately despite warnings, a lot of us still live a life walking that edge. We like to see how close we can get to the fire without burning ourselves…and sadly we often still end up getting burnt.

Thankfully, God is extremely forgiving, gracious, and patient with us. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us of God’s patience, not wanting anyone to perish but to come to repentance. That patience doesn’t give us a reason to keep sinning though. It doesn’t give us freedom from the worldly consequences of sin. We can’t continue climbing up mountains in lightning storms ignoring the warnings of those running down the mountain. Whether we listen or not, there are consequences for us and possibly those around us. Heeding warnings won’t save us but it will save us a lot of pain in this life. So lets heed those warnings when God puts them in front of us. Turn away from the sin in our lives and turn back toward Jesus.

If we’re struggling to turn from sin, let’s find someone to walk alongside us and help us turn from that sin. There’s no shame in asking for help no matter what the sin. We may not be able to do it without help, and we certainly can’t do it without Jesus. Turn to Jesus and let Him help you turn from sin. In the end, John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give us an abundant life. So let’s heed warnings. Let’s find repentance, and let’s live that abundant life!

That day on the mountain ended up being pretty crazy.  It was a day that really made me think.  There were good lessons to be learned.  It was an awesome adventure.  There was danger.  There was beauty.  Big storms brought the thunder and lightning.  We certainly could have died on the mountain that day.  But we didn't.

We heeded the warnings in front of us when they became apparent and got off the mountain as soon as possible.  Sure, we still had a long drive over sketchy roads in the rain, sleet, and snow to get thru but that was nothing compared to running down a mountain in a lightning storm.  It just added to the adventure.

In listening to the warnings, we still had a lot of fun and gained a great story to tell.  With warnings, we often see them as making us miss out on something good but in reality, they direct us to something greater.  Heeding Godly warnings helps us live the abundant life Jesus came to give us and living that abundant life is a true adventure.  As someone who has adventured a lot in my life, there is truly no adventure more grand.

Christian Challenge Christmas Update 2018!

Hello Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! I hope the holidays have been and continue being a time of reflecting on God’s goodness, finding deep joy abiding in Him, and living out of that abundance. What if preparing for Christmas, it was simply about being, and beholding Him? What would your advent season look like? How would your heart be different?

The fall semester is coming to a close December 15thwith a couple of our students graduating. It is always exciting to see the next group launch into the real world and see how God continues working in and through them in their new context. We’ve been blessed with keeping in touch with almost all the students we’d had a privilege discipling over the 7 years we have been with Challenge.

On that note, recently Nick came to town for a visit after graduating two years ago. Mike had the privilege of meeting with him while he was attending Fort Lewis. We had the chance to spend the day with him in our home, hearing about the joys and hardships of life after college. He is working as an educator on a ship now and getting ready to sail to Europe with semester-at-sea high schoolers. He has been able to minister to these students but longs for Christian fellowship.

Would you pray for him? That another believer would be on his boat. And for more opportunities to love and share Jesus with these kids and fellow deckhands.

I’ve also gotten to Skype with Rikako. She’s the Japanese gal you all prayed for, got to see come to Christ and be baptized while she was at Fort Lewis. She is struggling with lack of community back home in Japan but is strong in her belief and desire to follow the Lord. She has shared Jesus with a student who is currently studying abroad with us this year.

Would you pray for a solid Christian friend her age as well as someone who will intentionally meet with her?

My favorite part of this semester has been this house God has blessed us with back in June. We call it the Tree House. In it, we’ve been able to be part of hosting the weekly student family dinners. Just recently for our Thanksgiving family dinner, we packed around 50 people into our new place. It was a good-sized group of students. We even had some new students show up.

We’ve also been able to use the house to invite one or a couple of students over at a time for dinner to love on them, have deep conversations, movie nights, fort building, baking days, meeting to read the Word, spending extended time in prayer, sharing the gospel, making cards together to give to others, etc. I thrive in this setting using the giftings and skills God has given me to give people a chance to taste and see God’s goodness in practical ways. Having smaller groups of people in our home is a way Mike and I minister well together, sitting around the dinner table intentionally engaging students.

I have some big news as well! I, Rachel, will be taking next semester off for a sabbatical. A sabbatical is not a long vacation. A true sabbatical is a season of sabbath for prolonged rest. The Biblical precedent and Christian tradition is to go on sabbatical once every seven years. Typical sabbaticals today are from one to six months long, with three being a standard. It’s an extended time in which you do not work. You step back from leading. It’s a time to BE with Jesus.

I have been discipling students for seven years as of this past November. With that, our organization encourages a sabbatical. I’ve been running on burnout for quite some time. I have not shared any of this before because it’s closely tied to walking the road of unexplained infertility. Because of this, I also feel a sense of wandering, lost direction as well as identity struggles. It is time to step back and heal.

“Eventually, after your body stops jittering, after your thoughts stop flitting about, after you start feeling your emotions, after your ideal self that performs and pleases is dismantled, after you experience your nothingness and nakedness before God, after you experience unconditional love, then you can begin to really rest in your body and soul. We’re putting the words of Psalm 23 to the test. ‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ we say with David. ‘I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.’ He restores my soul. This soul restoration comes as we submit to the Lord as our Shepherd, lying down and being still in his presence.”- from Soul Shepherding, a booklet I am following for my sabbatical.

What do I need during this time? Prayer! I would love prayer to truly be grounded in my identity in Christ and how it is separate from what I do and the roles I have in this life. For heart healing and softening as I’ve allowed parts of my heart to grow cold and hard during this journey. That I would delight in the Lord, just enjoy being with Him.

Most people go away for their sabbatical, therefore leaving behind relationships and daily responsibilities. I however will be staying home so I would appreciate understanding in me being around but not available. I need this time to rest. Time spent with others will be limited, meeting for mutual edification, counseling, and encouragement along this journey.

While I go on sabbatical, Mike will continue working with Challenge on campus discipling students. He’s also got some big news. For the first time in Fort Lewis Challenge history, he’ll be launching a weekly worship night on Sunday nights. There’ll be worship and a message. This won’t change what Challenge is already doing. His hope is that this will be a stepping stone for students to jump into discipleship and the local church. This coming semester will be to see what gets traction. The plan is to do a full launch next fall with the new freshmen.

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!

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. 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.

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

Prayer Requests:

- Pray that God would continue to grow our student-leaders.  Last year, it was tough at times to find committed student-leaders that would reach out to our younger students.  Thankfully this year, many who weren't quite ready to step up last year have stepped up this year.  We pray that they would continue to step up and grow.

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith.  On the surface, it wouldn't seem like Fort Lewis would be an easy place for that to happen but despite that, God is still working in our students' lives.

- Challenge has our big Life Impact Conference coming up in Colorado Springs just after the new year that we'll be taking students to.  Two of our Japanese students will be part of that.  Pray that God reaches our non-Christian students coming and grows the Christian students we have coming.  Also pray for safe travels as traveling Colorado this time of the year can be pretty snowy.

- Pray for Rachel as she goes on her sabbatical.  Pray that she would find rest and healing in Christ during her time away from the ministry.

- 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.

- With the size of our staff, 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.

- It's that time of the year when we start trying to figure out summer plans and if God is calling us to go.  We've been praying about where God might want us this coming summer.  There are a few trips on the radar.  Please be praying that God would give us wisdom and discernment as we listen for His plans for us this summer.

- 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.

- We've got a couple of items we are really needing to sell.  The big thing is selling our snowblower.  When we lived at our old cabin that received 150 inches of snow a year and had a 60 yard driveway, we had a huge need for a snowblower and finally gave in buying at commercial-grade one that wouldn't break down on us thru the big heavy snows.  Due to the drought we're in, we only used it about 30 minutes last season so it's basically brand new.  And now we don't have a driveway so it's time to sell it.  We need to sell it because that's what was going to pay for our last Peru trip which we still need to pay off.  I've also have a pretty nice camera I've been trying to sell off.  It's not quite DSLR quality but it's pretty close. Would make a nice Christmas present for anyone wanting to get into photography at a reasonable price...wink, wink.  Please be praying that the snowblower and camera would sell and if you know of anyone in the market for either of those two things, feel free to pass our contact info along to them.

- Pray that God would open the door for us to partner with more churches and individuals.  With us moving closer to town, we've had students in our home a lot more.  From one-on-discipleship meetings to mission trip trainings to Bible studies to family dinners, our ministry costs have gone up quite a bit.  I know this is no secret but students can eat a lot and that can get pretty expensive.  Rachel and I trust God to provide for us 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, please go to: Give Now.

Step Off and Let Jesus Handle the Rest

As someone who works in college ministry, I'm asked a lot of questions about faith. It's often questions of apologetics or doctrine or theology. This time, I received a question that I'd never received before in almost 20 years of campus ministry. "Why do you think I haven't become a Christian yet?" It's certainly something I've asked of others, even if just in my head. I think that's something we often ask when we see a person being so close to accepting salvation thru Christ, especially when they have been so close for so long.  It's a good question but one where there often isn't an easy answer.

I think becoming a Christian can a lot of times be like my first time jumping Baker’s Bridge. Here in Durango, jumping Baker's is a pastime. It's a right of passage. Depending on water levels, it's about a 35-40 foot tall bridge. A river passes between a granite canyon below.

The legality of jumping it is certainly questionable. The local paper has stated that it's illegal. Elsewhere, I've heard that jumping off of it is legal but getting out of the river after jumping is trespassing and therefore illegal. But then again, I've been up there while cops were there admiring the adventure taking place. No one was arrested or ticketed. We were just told to be safe. If it is illegal, maybe it's only illegal to protect against lawsuits. Legal or not, it's not uncommon to find a group of 20 or so young people hanging out on a summer afternoon jumping it or swinging off of it on a rope swing.

Early in my college days, I went with friends my first time and watched them all jump. I saw the fun and amazing time they all had. I had all the intention of jumping but the first time I stepped up to the edge, I just couldn't. I basically stood at the edge looking at the water for 45 minutes. Fear was holding me back. At times, I’d step away for just a moment trying to pump myself up. I’d then step back to the edge and freeze again. Thankfully, my friends were very encouraging and patient with me. Finally after that 45 minutes, I realized that I just had to jump. I wasn’t going to let fear rob me of something great. All I had to do was step off and let gravity do the rest.

With Christianity, there are a lot of fears that may enter a mind before making the jump. Many stand at the very edge looking down for what seems like forever. Some finally jump. Some never do. It seems fear is holding the back. The fear of what others will think. The fear of not being good enough. The fear of "If I do this, my life is going to have to change." In other countries, it may even be the fear of losing your life. There are many more fears that people have, I’m sure. If you are going to ask, "Why haven't I become a Christian yet?" Then I'm going to ask, "What are your fears?" I think in the end, you just have to take the plunge. You can’t let fear rob you of something great. We make it out sometimes to be so complicated. But it's not. All you have to do is step off and let Jesus do the rest.