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Tuesday night "Bacon Stealin"
Tuesday Afternoon visit to nearby Nursing Home to sing and talk with residents.
On of the Service Project teams sent to clean Miss Sharon's Garage and mow lawn on Tuesday Morning. Ronan youths with us are Gherrett, behind Brooke in center, Isaac behind Miss Sharon and Amber in front of Sean.
Hannah and Gherrett working on roofing project at Church.
Morgan & Jeni cleaning Miss Sharon's Garage.
Some of the youth from Sunday afternoon BBQ and "dry run" outreach with Ronan Alliance church youth.
Ronan Team outside of the Adam's house Sunday Morning.
Another day is wrapping up here in Corvallis. God is so good. I can't express enough how proud I am of our Grace Church kids and our whole team here in Corvallis. They did such a great job during the service project today. I don't remember hearing a single complaint! Brian Richards was so determined as he weed wacked for hours. It doesn't come out in the pictures, but he was literally full of little pieces of grass on his face, arms, shirt, etc. It was crazy!
During the afternoon, a few of us had the opportunity to go down to the river and meet some more people. Alec, Micah, and Tim all did an excellent job of boldly introducing themselves to the few people that were there. Tonight at the park our numbers were down a little bit from the first two days, as some of the local church kids here couldn't make it due to different things. But we did see some new girls come and have a great time hanging out with us. Plus, three of the girls that came yesterday and wanted little to do with hanging out with us, came back and actually participated during the games some! Keep praying that their hearts continue to soften towards us and we're able to love on them as Christ would have us.
Amy, from Zion Lutheren shared her testimony tonight at the park. She was nervous, but very bold in wanting to do this! Micah followed her by giving an excellent explanation of the Gospel and just what Jesus meant to him. I was real impressed with how clear and communicative he was in doing this! I truly feel it was important that he did this. Please be praying for some interesting dynamics we've been facing this week. I can't get into specifics on this blog, but just pray that God would continue to work and bring about His will. I can see Him working in so many ways, even if it shows up at times in totally different ways than I/we were expecting!
Time for family time!
Nathan
Last night at family time we asked the youth on the team whom they had met during these last two days who God has put on their heart to pray for. We are praying individually and as a group now for the leaders and potential leaders of the Ronan youth group, for true faith and trust in the strength of God’s Holy Spirit working through each of them. So far those who have been hanging out with us at Family time, or coming along at canvassing and other activities include Gherrett, Amber, Joey, "Bob" (Aubrey), Keith, Payton. We’re also praying for some that are on the fringes to be pulled in, and be strengthened in their walk, or to see clearly God’s sufficiency to meet all their needs. This group includes all of us to some extent but Elliot Adams, Payton’s older brother is one that is on my heart this week, as he is so much like my son Josh at his age. He just out of high school.
I wanted to also recap those who have had a chance to share testimonies of "their story with God" from the time we have started our family and outreach times. For Sunday’s "dry run" outreach time, Christa St. George and Pastor Rob Tibbets shared. Later that night Morgan Robinson, Gherrett Dursma (of Ronan) and Youth Director Michelle Merchant shared to an overflowing living room full at the Adams House. Monday night, after our first "official" outreach, Sean McMonigle and Ally Jonson gave their stories. At family time Monday we had Jim Mathias, a caretaker of Ronan Church, share about the 28 years he ran from the Lord, and the blessings he has experienced now that he surrendered to Christ’s love. Monday’s outreach brought about ten of Ronan Alliance youth out.
As I am writing this, the Youth are having their Tuesday outreach game. Most of the persons we saw last night are here, but no one new from the neighborhood canvassing has shown up. Please pray that the invitations which we have given out to various people would bring those chosen by God, especially from the Native American population.
Thanks for your faithful prayers.
Mr. Tracy Tussing
Hello my beloved friends... and FATHER! :D ( Just a shout out to my dad real quick! Hey! I miss you ... a lot! I hope you are staying out of trouble!) I hope you all haven't been too bored reading our updates! Because we sure haven't been bored over here in Montana! As you have read we have been busy since day one with the "rock the Bitterroot" concert and jumping off the bridge on the outskirts of town!
Well I better start informing you now shouldn't I?! Yesterday was a very chill day. Because we didn't have a service project lined up, a gentleman from town took us up to the mountains for a pleasant hike! It was beautiful! We got to experience God just by walking around in a bunch of trees! Legit right??!! Yeah. It was. We started feeling like we were on a mission trip again when we headed out to the field to chill with the students! I am not sure if the turnout was bigger or smaller than the night before, but it was still cool seeing God bring kids! Honestly, I was a little disappointed.... Raquel, a girl God allowed me to witness to the night before, was a no show. Please... PLEASE pray that she returns again sometime this week to continue our conversation or that God reaches her through someone else. She was thirsty for Jesus!!!! So thirsty! I am so thankful that God used me. well back to the field. It was a bit windy so we couldn't play ultimate, but the students were willing to play soccer again. Stephanie gave her testimony and did a great job! Worship was lead by Claire and Tim! Be praying that they become more confident in their musical gifts! They are doing a great job and it's awesome seeing them step up!
Today, Tuesday, we started our first service project!!! We have been slaving away, ( just kidding. We weren't slaving!) but we were working hard in a few fields clearing away rocks, weird stick corn looking things, and thistles! (OUCH!!!!) But the fields look great!!! It's pretty awesome seeing what you can do when you have a weedwacker and determination! It felt good to start serving this wonderful community!
Well... I have talked your ear off long enough! I am going to go eat some dinner! (which has been graciously provided by one of the church families!) Continue to pray for us! We are starting to get burnt, bruised, cut, sore, and tired, but it hasn't started to affect us.. yet! So thank you for reading this! Have a wonderful day and God bless!!!
Yours truly,
Tiffany Nicole Hatheway!
This morning, we spent some time helping this couple out that had a ton of weeds and different things that needed to be done around their huge field. Half of our group is still there finishing up this early afternoon while the rest of us are headed to a few places around town looking to meet more people from Corvallis.
Here's some snapshots of the group working:
First, I want to give props to Daniel's post below. I resisted the temptation to edit it and spare Tim & Arlene a temporary heart attack with his joke.
Anyways, we've had another great day here in Corvallis. God continues to bless us with many opportunities to minister to the town. We've been able to grow close to several of the church youths. This afternoon, they took us on a hike up a canyon. We eventually came to a beautiful spot where the creek we were walking along went over some mini-falls. We were able to walk all around it on the rocks, and a few even took the opportunity for a quick swim. However, the best part was that Daniel (another local) and Zack both came with us, which gave us even more time to spend getting to know them.
Our ministry at the park had another good evening. We had some new faces come. One of the new guys, Colton, is visiting the town until Friday while staying at his cousin's. Micah got the chance to have a great conversation with him and Colton said he would definitely try to come back. Be praying! Also, we had a group of girls hang around tonight but were very stand offish at times. Please pray that as the week goes on, our team will have a chance to get to know them better and God might open doors there.
Please pray for us tomorrow as we're going to an elderly couple's house to serve them by doing a lot of yard work. This will involve doing a lot of work with weed eaters, hauling brush, and other stuff. Pray that we have joyful hearts in doing this service the Lord has called us to.
Thank you for all who are praying. Your prayers mean a lot, and this trip can't be as effective without them, so keep them coming!
God Bless,
Nathan
The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trust in him and I am helped, Pslam 27:8. Talk, prepare, talk, sit in the car, prepare, talk, sit, talk, it seemed liked that's all we did until now. Me and everyone on this team was so excited to share Jesus, with everyone we came in contact with and today was our first day of outreach. The Church family has been so welcoming and testifying to the fact that we are all one body in Christ. Pastor Rob, Mrs. Michelle, and Tracy have been telling us all week that this was our mission trip. They have also allowed and pushed me to be a leader on this team, and we have rocked worship and game time. Its almost unreal how much Christ's love has done already and we've only had two days in this town. The youth group kids, church elders, and local youtheses, have opened up so much and its evident that God has touched them. The people of this town that I feel especially called to are the Native Americans. Today Morgan, Christa, Brooke, Lindsey, Aaron, Issac, and I went to a community of Indians, but there were no kids in sight and the ones that we did talk to didn't come tonight. The former pastor of the church told us that they were very skeptical of the white man, and had many troubles with trust. We are on a huge reservation and I pray that we will have more opportunities to share with our native brothers. I also would like y'all to pray for patience, and following God's will. I wanna save the whole town, but I can't be discouraged or get so selfish that I want to do it all. Without the Lord's strength and guidance I can do nothing. Everyone is healthy but tired, but Jenni wasn't feeling well today, and Sean got bit by a rattle snake...just joking. The Holy Spirit is evident on this trip, and He is doing great things in Ronan. Thank you for your prayers and support.
With love from your brother in Christ,
Daniel Englehart
Day 2 in corvallis. to be completey honest when I first heard that im going to Corvalis and not Ronan, I got super frustrated. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to go on the trip anymore. And thats when I figured out my heart wasn't in the right place. And now that I'm on the trip and doing my best with the worship, trying to get to know the locals, and getting closer with my team by the minute, and seeing all this that God did when I didnt have the faith, I'm extremely glad that I'm here, and I feel that I need to be here. God is at work here and I see it. Now I need to get coffee. Have a good day readers, and keep praying for this team, cause its only the second day and this week is going to be awesome! 
-Tim Alsdurf
Our God is so amazing. He has done nothing but open up opportunities for our team to meet teens since we've arrived here in Corvallis. This morning, we had the chance to meet several of the teens that attend Corvallis Community Church (where we're staying for the week). It's definitely a fun group, and we've started growing close to a few of them. From observations and talking with Brad, the youth leader, I've noticed that they're a group that has a solid base and foundation. However, I don't believe they've ever really witness what it means to truly minister or do mission with people. So please be praying that our team is able to influence them in a major way, so that they might be convicted to take a major step forward in applying their faith!
We had a good church service. Tiffany did fantastic playing special music for the church! The church had planned a potluck lunch which gave us even more time to socialize and meet the different people of the church. Afterwards, we were convinced to walk a mile down to the river and go swimming. It was a lot of fun, seeing how the main way you 'swam' was by jumping off the road bridge that is over the river! Over 3/4 of our team made the daring 15 foot jump into the cold, refresing river water.
Tonight at the park, we already saw over 15 local kids come join us! Despite not having a ton of time to spread the word about us being here, God has provided great times to meet people anyways. Tiffany was able to have a great conversation and share the Gospel with a girl named Racquel. While she hasn't made a faith decision yet, she definitely seems open. Please be praying for her and that we'll continue to be able to spend time with her this week! Please also be praying for Zack and Charles, two young guys that met our group last night at the Rock the Bitteroot event. They're both Jr. High age and have taken a liking to us. We're not sure where they stand in their faith, so pray we have a continued opportunity to have these conversations with them during the week. Finally, Alec wants prayer for Kyle, who he met last night as well. Kyle seemed very interested in joining us this week, but can't due to work until Wednesday. So Alec wants prayer that Kyle will remember and have it placed on his mind the next few days!
I want to thank you all for your prayers. Please feel free to leave us comments and let us know you're praying. Also, make sure you're taking the time to go to www.youthmark.com/blogs and clicking on both Crossroads Baptist's blog and Zion Lutheren's blog, as they're both give you more perspectives on both the Ronan and Corvallis teams' experiences! God bless you all!
Nathan