Moxee Hop Fest has been happening in our city for years and years. It’s a celebration of the hop harvest and the city of Moxee. This was our first year here and our first opportunity to be involved in the premier event in our community. What an awesome experience! God worked out a way for us to have a booth and to participate in the parade. We were able to share the vision God has given us for The River Church and to sign up kids for our Summer Children’s Program. It was an awesome experience.

Back in the early spring we asked the East Valley Community Enhancement Association about having a booth at the Festival. At the time we were unsure if we’d be able to set one up. But about a month ago, through the persistence of our friends at Helping Hands 4 Christ, we were able to secure a booth and get set up. We volunteered to make balloon animals for the kids as part of our contribution to the Festival. What a blast! After spending one evening learning a few basic balloon skills, we were ready to go! We probably made over 500 balloon animals and other objects. (I got pretty good at making swords and hats!) The kids visited our booth in droves and had a lot of fun.

We also registered around two dozen kids for our Summer Children’s Program, “The Story in the Park,” which we will hold at the Moxee Park August 18-21, culminating with a Block Party on August 22. In addition to the kids who registered, we passed out dozens more registration forms and invitations to join us at our Worship Gathering and Missional Communities. What a blessing it was to meet a family during the weekend who worshiped with us on Sunday and met with our MC Sunday evening! God has really encouraged us to keep on sowing seeds and expecting him to grow his church in his way!

Thank you for your prayers! We are convinced that prayer is the strategy for making disciples and planting churches. We cannot do it without your support. We love our partners and are amazed at how God is blessing The River Church and our community through you all. Thank you and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Cor. 13:14, ESV)!

We’re really excited about the upcoming Summer Children’s Program. It will be our greatest opportunity yet to love our community and share the Good News of Jesus. Our theme for the week is “The Story in the Park.” Pray for us as we share The Story of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and New Creation with our community. Pray also that we will receive the financial resources needed for food, supplies, and Bibles.