from Cheryl:

Greetings from The River, Moxee!

I can hardly believe another month has passed since I last wrote. God has been moving and doing so much, I can hardly keep up with it all even in my journal. I just don’t have time to write it all down! What a wonderful problem to have!

Earlier this month Michael and I and our two oldest girls went to youth camp with our Terrace Heights partner church. The camp is named Camp Touchet (pronounced “tooshie” so that’s a lot of fun!). It was a five days of teenagers, heat (sometimes in the triple digits with no A/C) and God transforming hearts and lives with the gospel. It was that last part that was so exciting. As is usually the case, I feel I got far more than I gave. It was an awesome time of seeing the Holy Spirit work in some really specific ways.

I went only as a counselor but when we got there I suddenly found myself being put in the position of discussion group leader for all the 9th grade girls. I didn’t know that’s what I would be called upon to do but God did and He had a plan. The first day went pretty miserably. I know it’s hard to believe but in a group of about 15 9th grade girls, almost none of them wanted to talk. It was like pulling teeth! I was very disappointed and went to the Lord about it and prayed that the Holy Spirit would empower our time together the next day and He would move and get those girls thinking and talking. The next day, sure enough, we had a wonderful discussion time as the girls expressed how God was moving in each of their lives during camp.

Camp Touchet ended with several kids making decisions for Christ for the first time and several others answering the call to a deeper walk with the Lord. As a result, I am now discipling one of the young ladies that went to camp with us, along with my own girls. What a privilege! Please pray for both Michael and me as we seek to be obedient to God in the call to discipleship.

One of my favorite things that I saw the Lord do this month was during a prayer walk. Michael and I were walking through our community, praying for people and households as we walked. I had just been praying that the Holy Spirit would draw people to Jesus and bring people to us so that we could connect and share the gospel with them. Just then, a woman walked around the corner that I had met earlier this year and we began to talk. Soon, I was able to make arrangements to give her a bible and now we will begin doing a bible study together. Woohoo! God is working!

On another prayer walk, this time with the girls, we were able to pray with three different individuals. One man asked us to pray for his son whom he said may be going to jail. Another man asked us to pray for his health. Please join us in praying for these individuals (God knows the details!) and please pray for us in general as we do prayer walking. God is really using those times to make connections in the community and to spread the gospel. We need the Holy Spirit’s empowerment for those times! Heaven forbid us doing any of it in the flesh.

As I write this, we are getting ready for a big day! Today is the first day of the Moxee Hop Festival and after meeting with my girls to do some Bible study, I, along with my family and the rest of The River Church will be spending the day at our booth at the festival. When we asked to be able to host a booth we were told they would like to station us near the kids area and asked if we could make balloon animals. We agreed to it and then borrowed a video about balloon animal making to learn how because none of us had any experience in balloon animal making! This morning we find ourselves armed with very little balloon animal talent and needing tons of the Holy Spirit to do what he has called us to do. Please pray that more than making fabulous balloon animal designs, we are able to reach people with the gospel. Pray that many parents would register their kids for the Summer Children’s Program.

And speaking of SCP, it is beginning in about two weeks! Eek! Please be in prayer for the teams that will be joining us from other churches. Some friends from Georgia are bringing a team to serve that week. Pray for their travel and expenses! Also, two of our partner churches in the Central Washington Baptist Association will be serving with us, Chestnut Street Baptist Church in Ellensburg and Terrace Heights Baptist Church here in Yakima. Please pray that during the Summer Children’s Program we will make lasting connections with many, many families and that ultimately, many people will come to know Christ as their Savior.

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.