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Kind of a sad morning this morning as we have to leave this place. We had a great time last night with Pastor Jim and Judy. We spent time praying for them and Salmon River Community Church, and for Riggins. We had an awesome week of ministry and God showed us again how great He is. But this town still needs much prayer. There is no youth group at any church and there are few teens who are excited about serving the Lord. We spent a lot of our time this week encouraging those kids who are Christians to live out their faith in the community. As we leave, pray that God would continue to work in these kids' lives. Pray for the churches here, that they could have a vibrant ministry to the youth, as they desire that and are also praying for it.
Pray for us today as we travel 8 hours to Seattle. Pray also for our flight home tomorrow.
Thank you for praying for us!
Rob
Hello all,
This is just a quick post to give everyone an update on what God is doing here in Kamiah ID. Yesterday and today, we had new additions to VBS. The NWBC teens are doing a great job and all of the VBS'ers are having a great time and learning all about Jesus.
The teen night is going well also. Chris and Kyle shared their testimony last night. They gave honest and passionate gospel presentations. It is a privilege to see them stand up and share their faith with a mixed group of believers and the lost.
Pray that there would be professions of faith from the VBS and teen night. Pray for energy, both physical and spiritual. Also, please continue to pray for Sam B's ankle, Sam R's blisters, Kelsie's cough, and Miranda's back.
Jack
Morning VBS
If anyone has the faith of a mustard seed...
Loving on kids
sharing the gospel
Listening intently
Ryan, John, Clyde, Cleve, Josh, and Meghan
Good morning everybody! It's a crisp 48 degrees this morning here in Riggins, and it is beautiful. I want to thank everybody who has been praying for us because your prayers are being felt and our team has been blessed. Let me give a quick update:
VBS...
This has been an awesome event. There is no other way to describe it. We had around 45 kids yesterday and they are having a blast! Please keep praying for us, and pray specifically for the familes here who are not involved in church. Many of the kids coming this week don't go to church at all, so pray that this week would be an opportunity for their parents to be impacted by the gospel message. Also pray for continued energy, as we are getting tired. Pray for Ryan, who has been sick with a stomach bug. And pray that God does great things through this ministry.
Canvassing and Riggins REC Week:
Our kids have been doing an awesome job with this. We've met more kids over the past two days and some of them have been meeting with us at the football field. I'm so proud of our kids for when new kids show up. They are quick to include them and they remain engaged in conversation for hours. We have to force our kids to go take showers every night because they don't want to leave. Keep praying that God would place us in the paths of the local teens today and tomorrow, so that we can get to know them. Pray for the new kids who have been coming: Charles and Ethan from the football team, and Haley and Katie, who are visiting from Oregon. Pray that the kids in this town would meet with us tonight and tomorrow night, and that they would be impacted by our testimonies and the gospel.
Kamiah...
Michelle and I went over to Kamiah yesterday to visit the team there. They are doing great! Sam Bennett broke his ankle on Monday so please pray for him. But he is in great spirits! Pray for their energy and pray for their continued success with their nightly meetings with the teens.
Gotta go, but enjoy the photos below.
Rob
Matt sharing his testimony
Abbey
Shannon
VBS Worship Rally
Hello from Riggins!
I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I was trying to figure out how to post photos. I figured it out so I hope you enjoy not only reading about what we are doing, but also seeing what is going on.
VBS...
Has been going great! We had 42 sign up the first day! There are 44 today and our team is doing a great job with them. Abbey was sick yesterday, but we had a local teen, Monica, who we met last year who filled in. What an answered prayer! And thanks to everyone who is praying for Abbey, she woke up this morning feeling much better and is back with her class today. Please continue to pray for this part of our ministry. We are the only VBS in town, so there is a tremendous opportunity to minister to the families here in and around Riggins.
Canvassing and Service Projects...
Yesterday Jordan, Carter, Matt, and Ryan went out and did service projects for some church members. They did yardwork, washed windows, and sorted and cleaned golf balls for a golf clinic (and great outreach opportuinity) Pastor Jim is putting on next week. The rest of us went out canvassing and meeting local teens. We didn't find too many yesterday, but it was very hot. Pray that today is more fruiful in finding the local kids and that they would come join us at the football field in the evening. We're planning a trip to the "beach" today so you can pray that some local kids would join us there.
Riggins REC Week...
That's what we are calling our nightly outreach to the local teens. Last night was great! We had around 20, and most were kids we met last year so it was great to reconnect with them. We played lots of kickball and wiffle ball, and everyone had a good time. Leah and Stephen shared their testimonies and they did an awesome job. I am so proud of them. They have become very confident in sharing what Christ has done in their lives. Pray for us tonight as we do it all over again. Pray for new kids and for Abbey and Matt, as they will be sharing tonight. Pray that our relationships with the kids we knew from last year would go deeper and that our time here would be a great encouragement to them. There is a major lack of youth involvement in any of the churches here, so please pray that these kids we are meeting would be the catalysts for an awakening for the young people!
Thanks for all your prayers!
Rob
Hey everyone!
I just wanted to give y'all an upadate on our first day of VBS and our first teen night in Kamiah!
We only had a couple of kids in VBS...but the kids that did come really need Jesus! 2 of the children grew up in extreme dysfunction in the foster-care system and have had a pretty painful past. We were so glad that we were able to minister to them on an individual level and really show them the love of Christ. We hope and pray that more kids will come throughout the week, but if they don't, we are just grateful that God can use us to touch the needy kids we had today. Please pray that God will bring who He wills, and that He will keep our students motivated to serve wholeheartedly, despite the results. They did an amazing job today loving on those kids and teaching them about Jesus.
We spent the afternoon walking around the town and talking to everyone that we met! Some students and leaders also went door-to-door to talk to people and tell them about the activities we have planned this week.
After a great dinner, we headed out to the football field for some ultimate frisbee. We are so thankful that we had such a great turn-out, and that most teens that did come were unchurched. Lee, Meghan and Sam shared their testimonies and did a great job! Please pray that God would use their stories to touch hearts.
We are about to head back to the church for family group time. No showers tonight, but Lee and Jack have just bathed in the ice-cold river...what an experience!
Praise God for an amazing group of students...they are doing an awesome job, and I am so proud of all of them. Please continue to pray for our work here~
-Amy
Kamiah has been great since we arrived Saturday evening. We have explored the town, swam in the river, and gone to a great church service over the weekend. It is now Monday morning and we are about to start our first full day of work. We will be leading the VBS at this great little church that we are staying at and then will explore the town, and have our teen outreach tonight like we have been preparing to do. We are all very excited and anxious so please continue to pray for us and the overall success and safety of the trip! Also pray for Megan Craig and Sam Bennett as they start us off tonight at the teen outreach by telling their testimonies to the teens of the town. Thanks again for your prayers and support!
We spent our first full day here in Riggins, and had a great day getting to know the people of Salmon River Community Church. This morning we led the church service as a team, with Stephen and Leah leading worship and giving their testimonies, while I gave a sermon on the importance of prayer in our mission of evangelism. After church we had lunch with several people from the church, and we got a chance to get out and walk around town. Some of our friends from last year have stopped by to see us, so that has been fun to reconnect with them. Pastor Jim and Judy took us to see a salmon hatchery this evening, which was awesome.
During our family time, we discussed many of the things we are nervous and concerned about as we are on the eve of VBS and our outreach to the teens here in town. So please pray for us as we really get down to work tomorrow. Pray for VBS, for boldness in our conversations, for Abbey's health as she has a cold and sore throat, for Leah and Stephen who will once again share their testimonies tomorrow in front of our new friends. Oh, and John found his wallet, so praise God!
I'll have another update tomorrow. Keep praying!
Rob
We had a great time tonight at our parent and student prayer meeting. Thank you all for being there! It was a great to see everyone excited about the trip. Please keep praying as we begin our journey Friday. Pray for a great flight to Seattle, travel from Seattle to Spokane, then on to our towns on Saturday. Pray for boldness in sharing the gospel, for VBS, for the kids we will meet, for energy when we are tired, and for the churches and people of RIggins and Kamiah.
Please join us in praying for our church-wide fundraiser we are starting tomorrow. It's called "Every Envelope" and we're really excited about it. Here's how it works:
There are 200 yellow envelopes hanging in the foyer at church, each labeled with a number, 1-200. Each envelope represents a gift towards our mission trip in the amount of its corresponding number. So, the "20" envelope would represent a $20 gift. We're asking people to prayerfully consider taking an envelope and supporting us financially. All the instructions on how to give are inside, along with a prayer card which explains how they can pray for us.
We're hoping that this idea will give anyone in our church the opportunity to give as they are led.
Welcome to our blog for 2010!
Last year's trip was awesome and I want to thank all of you again who prayed for us last year as we took a team of 15 to Riggins, Idaho. This year, we are heading back with another team of 15. But we are also taking another team to Kamiah, Idaho to support Kamiah Bible Church and to reach out to the teens in that town. If you are reading this, I hope you will join our team in praying for this trip. Here is what you can be praying for as we prepare for July 9-18:
Sally Beard
Sam Bennett
Meghan Craig
Stephen Curto
Daniella Figueiredo
Shannon Finnegan
Chris Joseph
Abbey Kaiser
Leah Kennedy
Evan LeMay
John Lewis
Haley Miller
Hannah Norman
Matt Norman
Carter Post
Ryan Robinson
Sam Runyon
Kelsie Sartor
Compton Stocki
Jordan Tiff
Kyle Vinton
Micah Weichbrodt
Leaders:
Rob & Michelle Holster
Jack & Miranda McKown
Lee & Amy Pardue
Clint & Denise Tees
Thanks and keep checking back for more details!
Rob