Christian Challenge June Update!

I hope the start of summer is treating everyone well! At least in Durango, we're finally starting to get back to normal. And that's a very welcome change.

We are just getting back from Redstone, CO where I was able to preach at a church up there. It was a great time. It was nice to catch up with a church that has been faithful in supporting us since our early years with Challenge.

It's been an interesting start to the summer for us. Just before heading up to Redstone, we had a mountain lion in the neighborhood going after pets. It killed one cat and almost got another. I had to confront it and chase it off after it pinned down our neighbor's cat.

Rachel and I ended up spending the night searching for our cat who was outside when the attack happened. We also tried to find the cat who had been attacked. Both cats are alive, thankfully, but our neighbor's cat is missing a lot of fur and was pretty spooked by the near-death experience. Our cat is just unhappy that she can't go outside at night anymore.

After speaking in Redstone, we returned to a forest fire not far from our house. Thankfully, it looks like our firefighters have gotten it under control for the most part.

We're just praying we get some higher humidities, cooler temperatures, and that the winds stay calm. Rain would be nice too. Certainly never a dull moment around these parts.

Looking back over the past semester, it's been probably one of the toughest of my almost twenty years in college ministry. COVID has taken its toll on the ministry and on campus. We had a lot of momentum going into Christmas, and that all sort of ground to a halt when it was time to return.

Student numbers on campus hovered around 2,000 students second semester. When I was a student years ago, we had about 4,000 students at the college. It really felt like a summer semester with how quiet campus was. There were students around but many just stayed in their dorms almost like they had given up on any hope of having a normal social life due to restrictions. Campus also took away spring break due to COVID which didn't seem to help morale.

It's been tough on our students. Some didn't even come back to campus. Some went back home mid-semester. Our students who came back and stayed dealt with a lot. From relationship breakups to a parent nearly dying of a heart attack to even a parent dying of COVID. Some of our most dedicated students had really hard semesters.

Despite all of that, thankfully, the guys I disciple stayed pretty consistent. Though unable to meet on campus anymore due to COVID, we were able to meet one on one weekly at one of the local churches near campus.

Staff-wise, we struggled to keep our staff healthy. Josh was life-flighted and in the ICU up in the Denver area. Jen joined him up there. When they eventually returned, their boys got COVID and passed it on to Aleksandr and Anna who they had been staying with. That brought on a long quarantine. It seemed like we were running a patchwork crew of staff a good part of the semester. We finally started catching a rhythm just in time for the semester to come to an end.

This was a semester of just trying to be flexible. With the health issues, there were events we had to move or push back, and worship nights we had to move online at times. And even when our worship nights were in person, we also put them online. That allowed any students who didn't come back this past semester or ones who had to stay home due to illness to still stay connected and tune in. Though our in-person numbers dropped second semester, they actually stayed pretty consistent if you include those who viewed the nights online.

Towards the end of the semester, we were able to hold an alumni family dinner. It was a mix of new and old students. It was a great time having our former students there and having them be able to connect with our current students. It also gave a nice bump to our numbers that night which I think was really encouraging for our staff.

As for our events, the ones we had went well. We had a retreat where Randi, our former student and staff member, brought her Christian Challenge group from San Juan College in New Mexico up to join us. Our Super Bowl party that we held at our house was pretty successful as well. Though the outcome of the game was very questionable if you ask this Chiefs fan.

We also held our annual Easter Eve snowshoeing service up at a frozen lake in the mountains. The journey was probably in the toughest conditions we've ever done the event in.

There was a three inch crust on the top of the snow. Underneath, the snow was the equivalency of quicksand. Almost every step was breaking thru the crust into the snowy quicksand. As I broke trail for the group, I at one point sunk chest-deep in the snow.

Instead of us reaching the lake in the normal forty-five minutes, it took us an hour and a half due to the conditions. Thankfully, we had a very small group this year of hardy people who could just laugh off the terrible snow conditions.

Once we finally arrived at the lake, we built a campfire, cooked cheese brats over the fire, and roasted peeps to use for our s'mores.

As we finished up our delicious food, I shared an Easter message with everyone.

By the time we packed everything up, the temperatures had dropped and the snowpack had started to refreeze making the journey back to our vehicle much easier.

All in all, our Easter Eve adventure was a great picture of the semester as a whole. Small numbers, really tough, but really good. This whole past year feels like a lost year in a lot of ways but ministry-wise, I don't think it was a lost year at all. We got to walk thru a lot of hard times with students. We were faithful with the students God gave us, and we were able to pour the Gospel into those students.

After the semester ended, part of our staff headed to Nashville for a collegiate ministry conference.

Unfortunately, Josh could not join us due to health issues and Aleksandr had preaching obligations at his church. Our staff that was able to go joined staff from all over Colorado. Our state director, Bobby, decided to combine our state meetings with the conference.

It was really a great time of recharge and refreshment. I'm always encouraged getting to connect with other college ministry staff.

At our meetings, Bobby also announced his retirement. He's got two kids with special needs that are requiring more of his time at home. He's leaving the state collegiate ministry in good hands, though, with Kent and Derek, who have been directors in Colorado Challenge for years, in place to co-lead the state.

Another thing that came about thru the conference was getting to network. With us adopting, our Climbing for Christ mission trips may not be realistic for our family to do together. Young kids don't tend to do well backpacking ten miles a day above 14,000 feet in elevation. We may have to wait until the kid is older to get back into that kind of mission trip.

With that, we've been exploring other opportunities for summer missions that not only could our family serve together doing but also provide opportunities for our students to serve. At the conference, I was able to connect with some guys who may be able to open some doors in the future. I was pretty excited to make those connections.

After returning from the conference, it was time for our local staff retreat. We were able to plan out the semester and get some good time of fellowship. The college plans on being back to normal next semester as much as possible. So we're planning the same. We'll have much more freedom to be back on campus and do more outreach and evangelism. Of course, things can always change but we're hopeful...and flexible if need be.

When you do ministry for almost two decades, you meet a lot of people. They graduate and move on from Durango. We're always excited when they come back to town and visit us. These past few months, we've had many come back which is always fun when you get to catch up on life.

As things open back up, we're also hopeful that we can soon have Rikako, our former Japanese student my wife discipled, join us on staff. Now, there are a lot of things that have to fall in place to make a visa work for her but we've worked out a plan that just might work, Lord willing. Basically, the ministry is hoping to raise a salary for her. Eventually as she makes more connections in the States, the hope is that she'll take over support raising for herself. But for the initial visa, showing an offered salary will hopefully go a long way to getting the okay from the government.

On a personal note, we're celebrating our 10-year anniversary this summer. It actually falls at the end of August but that's not exactly the most convenient time to celebrate an anniversary when you're in college ministry. So we're going to try to celebrate it a few weeks before things get crazy with the semester. We're just trying to figure out someplace special to go for it. Anyone have a place in Hawaii we could stay at? I'm joking...unless you do have a place in Hawaii.

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

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give! Keep us, the ministry, and the FLC campus in your prayers!

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

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

Prayer Requests:

- Pray that God would continue to grow our student-leaders over the summer and bring us new ones as well. We would love to be able to hit the ground running next fall with campus fairly back to normal. We'll need our student-leaders to help us make that happen.

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith over the summer. Summer can be a hard time for the students. Many are going home to hard situations that aren't supportive of their faith journey. It can be a struggle without the community they find in Challenge.

- Due to COVID, the Peru mission trip has tentatively been pushed back to just after Thanksgiving. We are hoping that we don't have to push it back again. Pray that God would help Peru get COVID-19 under control and re-open the country. Pray that He would give their government leadership and doctors wisdom on how best to fight COVID. Pray that He would provide for our friends down there who haven't been able to work, and also allow us to have access to the areas we work in.

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

- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. For instance, Josh recently ended up in the hospital with another seizure or stroke. This was just in the last week or two. Pray that God would heal up our staff, and keep us safe and healthy.

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

- Pray that God would bring us more staff. I have a feeling we're going to have a lot more students this coming school year with things getting back to normal. It would be nice to have an extra male and female staff member to help out.

- 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 of reaching FLC with the Gospel.

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

- The adoption process is in full swing. We are finally seeing movement at the moment. Right now as I write this, we are #11 on the waitlist to be matched. That means we could be matched by December. Please be praying that things would run smoothly. That God would provide the funding for the adoption. That there would be no snags or surprises with the adoption process. Pray that God gives us favor throughout the process, and that He gives us a kid who is a great fit for our family.

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

Christian Challenge February Update!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! We're in some strange times these days but God is definitely still working.

We wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going and our semester plans. The name of the game this semester is flexibility.

This semester is looking a lot like this past semester. Students are on campus with a lot of regulations. Sadly, many students who were on campus last semester didn't return, including many in our ministry. They are putting their studies on pause and waiting for this COVID storm to pass.

Our plan is to run the ministry like this past semester, and if we need to go online, we’ll do that. We've actually already had to have a worship night fully online. This semester, we're better prepared for that. I've upgraded some of my musical equipment in order to boost sound quality during our online worship. Students are actually able to hear my voice while leading worship, not just my guitar drowning everything else out.

When we meet in person for our dinner and worship nights, we're now broadcasting on Facebook Live. This allows for our students who didn't come back this semester to still attend and be part of the community from their homes. This also allows students, who might be sick or quarantined, to watch from the comfort of their dorm rooms while they recover.

Of course, we're also still meeting one-on-one with students. With the weather colder and snowier, it's a lot harder to find places outside on campus to meet. Thankfully, we at least have coffee shops and some restaurants somewhat open to meet in. And there is always online meetings if needed. Again, we just have to be flexible.

We've planned some outdoor events as well this semester. We've got trips to the hot springs, sledding trips, and snowshoeing trips planned. We've got a retreat coming up also. With most of the events, we'll play it by ear. Health-wise, there are just a lot of unknowns. That's keeping us on our toes.

At the moment, we're basically working with a skeleton crew with our staff. I'm sort of the last man standing at this point...and I've been dealing with some pinched nerves in my neck, shoulders, and back which have been fairly painful since just after Christmas. (I've been to the chiropractor multiple times which brings temporary relief but at $50 a visit, that's just not realistic to do daily or every other day.) Sadly, my locked up vertebrae are the least of our staff issues at the moment.

Over break while Josh and Jen were visiting family in Oklahoma, Josh had an aneurysm in his nose. For days, they couldn't stop it. Being on blood thinners for his heart and stroke issues certainly didn't help. They tried cauterizing it. That didn't work. Then they tried to clamp it. That worked for a bit, at least long enough for him to get back to Durango...where it started bleeding again. With that, they life-flighted him and Jen up to Denver where he spent days in the ICU. After many blood transfusions and a lot of work done by some specialists, he should be okay. They were able to make it back to Durango.

While they were gone, their two teenage boys stayed with Aleksandr and Anna. Not long into their stay, the boys and Anna started feeling a little sick. Not wanting to take any chances, Aleksandr took them all to get tested for COVID. All but Aleksandr tested positive and the health worker thought Aleksandr's was a false negative.

Anyway, so now that Josh and Jen are back in town, their kids have to quarantine with Aleksandr and Anna for ten days or so. Asher, Josh and Jen's youngest, said, "It's like you guys are getting a thirty-day free trial having teenagers." And here, Aleksandr and Anna thought they were going to have to nine months to prepare for their new baby on the way. Surprise, you're having two teenagers...right now! Oh yeah, and surprise! Aleksandr and Anna are pregnant! So that's pretty awesome!

Needless to say, things have been a little crazy here to start the semester. I'm holding down the fort till everyone is back healthy. Then again, Rachel and I were in close contact with Aleksandr and the boys just before they all were tested so we'll see how that turns out. We're feeling good, though. Thankfully, I had COVID last year. Rachel would have been exposed to it then as well. Hopefully, that T-cell immunity is still holding strong from the beginning of last year.

In almost twenty years of ministry at Fort Lewis, this is certainly one of the toughest starts to the semester I've seen. We felt like we had a lot of momentum with the ministry last semester. This semester so far has been different. From the health issues to many of our students taking the semester off to how locked down campus is when it comes to outreach and evangelism, it's been much more difficult.

It's like our whole leadership team, from staff down to our students, is getting hit right now. And it's not just our ministry. These are just tough times for people in general.

I'm often reminded, though, that we rarely see real growth and strengthening in times of comfort. Where we see the most growth, the most strengthening are when we're uncomfortable. Just like muscles need to be stressed to grow back stronger, we often need to be taken out of our comfort zones to see growth. Sometimes, it's hard to see God working thru these tough times but He certainly is. We can trust that. I'm excited to see the growth that's going to come out of all of this. I'm praying for God to do big things and hope you guys are too.

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

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give! Keep us, the ministry, and the FLC campus in your prayers!

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

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

Prayer Requests:

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

- Pray for our students that God would continue growing them and keeping them strong in their faith. With the hard situations many of our students are facing, we don't want them to pull back from Jesus or our community.

- We are still hoping to be on mission in Peru in June or July. Pray that God would help Peru get COVID-19 under control and re-open the country. Pray that He would provide for our friends down there who haven't been able to work, and also allow us to have access to the areas we work in.

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

- "Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. At the moment, we're all pretty healthy but that can change quickly with COVID-19, working with college students, and having staff members that are high-risk." That's what I wrote in our last update. Well, things did change pretty quickly. Pray that God would heal up our staff and keep us safe and healthy.

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

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

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

- The adoption process is in full swing. The are no new updates as of this moment. We are still waiting to be matched and trying to be patient with COVID delays. Please be praying that things would run smoothly. That God would provide the funding for the adoption. That there would be no snags or surprises with the adoption process. Pray that God gives us favor throughout the process, and that He gives us a kid who is a great fit for our family.

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

Christian Challenge Christmas Update!

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

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

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

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

Had camp and climbs...

Climbed fourteeners...

And jumped waterfalls.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Merry Christmas and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

Prayer Requests:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christian Challenge New Fall Semester Update!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

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

Prayer Requests:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Slowing Things Down

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

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

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

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

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

And then COVID-19 happened...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Times are crazy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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