Keep on Praying

"Keep on praying!"

Haven’t you heard this many times before? I know I have.

But proof that God hears and answers our prayers became real for me once again when I got the news that something I’ve been praying about for fourteen years was answered!

My son, Chris, shared with me two weeks ago that he is now praying EVERY morning for each of his kids and his wife and marriage. Chris and Peggie have been married fifteen years. They met when both of them were working at the Cannon Beach Conference Center. Their son, Cody, is fourteen, and his little sister, Mollie, is four. They wanted lots of kids, but it has been difficult. They love their kids fiercely.

Chris and Peggie recently attended a Basic Youth Conflicts seminar in Portland, and gained a lot of insight about the Bible and how it applies to their lives and the lives of their children. I remember attending this seminar in the ‘70’s. The seminar addresses “seven Biblical principles that apply to every person, regardless of culture, religion, age, education, or social status. It emphasizes the factors needed to develop and maintain healthy, growing relationships with God, family members, and friends.” You can learn more about it at their website: http://iblp.org/iblp/seminars/

Chris related that he always leaves for work about forty-five minutes before time to be there, so he doesn’t have to feel rushed about being in his place at the wood mill when the shift begins. After attending the seminar, Chris has begun to use some of that “before work” time to pray about specific things that are going on in his family’s lives. They visited here two weeks ago, and the change in the relationship between Chris and his son, Cody, is remarkable.

Chris said he learned that the two things kids say most about their dads is that they respond to them in anger, and they don’t keep their promises. Watching Chris listen to his son, and calmly respond to him, was a miracle. His response to his son caused me, several times, to stop in my tracks and listen, with tears in my eyes.

This is a HUGE answer to prayer for me. Whatever your concerns, your hopes, your worries, your fears, for those you love, I would encourage you to take them to the Cross, and keep bringing them there until you hear them answered. Isaiah 62:6-7 says to put the Lord in remembrance of His promises, to not keep silence, and to give Him no rest until He follows through with them.

Claim this promise. He will hear you, and He will answer.

Whatever you are praying on behalf of someone else, KEEP ON PRAYING!

-Mary Hagle

Pray for Team Mexico

Here's how you can be praying for our team traveling in Mexico:

Trip dates: August 15-23

These are the specific prayer needs for the trip to Rancho de Sus Ninos near Tecate’ in Mexico.

• That the team would be unified
• That we would have lots of "hands-on" prayer opportunities.
• That we would witness many miracles
• That we could be a great blessing to the orphans and team down there.

Please tape this list to your bathroom mirror – and have a morning discussion with the Father every day, especially August 15-23! We will be eagerly waiting to hear how God has answered! Stay tuned!!

Members of the 2011 Mexico Team

Nate Beck, Becky Cox, Caleb Cox, Cody McKinney, Logan Taylor, Vicki Taylor, Trishia Venegas, Evan Waller, Jake Wilson, Caity Wilson, Jerry Wilson

Pray in the Spirit!

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18

As a child I attended Sunday School at Arbor Heights Community Church in Seattle. In time, this church became affiliated with, and then a member of, the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Through the witness of my Sunday School teachers I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at age 14. In my first year of college in Bellingham, I attended a “Tent Meeting” held in a tent with a sawdust floor. While listening to the preacher, I realized that I not only needed Jesus Christ as my Savior, but also to invite Him to be my Lord, or Master. I walked forward and prayed, dedicating my life to listening to the voice of Jesus and obeying Him to the best of my abilities, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

In 1962 I began attending what was then called Women’s Missionary Prayer Fellowship (WMPF). This is the “arm” of the C&MA that all Alliance women are invited to attend. At age 20, I was the youngest person attending. I barely knew anyone, or what the procedures were or who the missionaries were that they spoke of and prayed for. Nevertheless, I persevered, knowing it was something God wanted me to do. Over time, I learned so much about missionary families, how they lived, what their needs were, and how to pray for them. Their letters were read and prayed over. We rejoiced over their successes, prayed even more over their ongoing requests, and praised God for the amazing fact that we could reach the world effectively through the Name of Jesus Christ! We often sent gift boxes to these missionaries. Finally, I was able to meet them in person when they came home on “furlough” after three years of service.

I also learned the history of WMPF. In the late 1800's, Rev. A. B. Simpson, the educator and organizer of missionaries and ways they and Christians stateside could communicate better, began writing and publishing a magazine. It, too, has changed its name and currently is entitled “aLife”. The Christian women formed local groups to pray for the needs of the missionaries who were ministering in Africa and China under Simpson’s direction. As they heard Rev. Simpson’s passionate preaching, women even felt the need to give their jewelry as an offering, due to their heartfelt compassion for the lost. The idea for the small groups of praying women eventually spread to most, if not all, the Alliance churches world-wide. Donations are still an important part of Alliance Women’s Ministries. Our National AWM annual giving recently surpassed $300,000. It funds missions projects that would not otherwise be completed. The GCF pays for missionary allotments, but not for the needed projects in their area of ministry. So, women united together to help collect funds for different projects each year. A project is decided upon each year; a goal is set. By the end of that year our goal has nearly always been met, thanks to our amazing God!

When planning our meetings, we ask God to give us ideas to make our meetings interesting and profitable for our church family, our community, and the world. This has led to clever ways to keep the prayer time interesting. Those attending bond together, learn geography and about foreign cultures, of the missionaries’ needs and how to help provide for them.

Our times of prayer have been meaningful and successful. From around the world, we learn of miraculous answers to our prayers. Email and Skype has helped to learn of urgent needs quickly. Some prayers are answered immediately, but others are ongoing and often are answered in different ways than we anticipated, but always in the way God planned. We feel closer to our beloved International Workers, as if we know them before ever meeting them, because of our prayers offered up on their behalf. Once I introduced myself to international workers from South America who visited EHA. I’d prayed for and written to them several times, but we had never met. Upon my introduction, the wife said, “I remember you, you wrote to us”. The husband said the same thing when I met him. What an honor to be known by praying for and writing to these workers on the “front line”. Others have spoken to our Alliance Missions Connection (our group’s current name at EHA) and voiced their thanks for our prayers, emails and gifts on their behalf.

It is a privilege and joy to regularly attend AMC and pray with those attending. It is a “free” way to help further the Gospel around the world as was Rev. Simpson’s dream. It is an honor to be a part of Alliance Women’s Ministries worldwide and of what God is doing through faithful prayer.

--Linda Grewelle

"Time For Your Check-up! Please step into my office..."

Nick and I agreed that since it's been almost half a year since The House focused on our response to the mentoring experiences we might incorporate into our lives, it might be a good time to check in about that.

Hopefully, these words from the February issue will refresh your memory, and you also might recall what some of us shared about being mentored by Tom Hight: "Mentoring. Walking alongside. Friendship. What is the value to us in one life lived in a side-by-side relationship with the Creator of the Universe?"

Nick’s message at that time about asking for and finding someone to mentor us, and being willing to be a mentor to another, produced some new mentorships, and stories about some of them are included in this month’s issue, along with an article from our pastor on the subject.

These are My Three Current Mentoring Experiences:

One – Physical Fitness & Spirit: I know I was inspired to ask someone to act as a mentor and accountability coach for developing a fitness plan, as my doctor continued to urge me to walk as part of controlling my diabetes, and I longed to be able to come back to tennis as an enjoyed pastime. I was also very aware of the spiritual aspect of being a good steward of my health.

My coach has been inventive, encouraging and inspiring. I find having another person’s perspective, and especially an informed one, changes everything about what it means to incorporate a new discipline in my life. She continually amazes me with the ability to bring about "paradigm shift" for me in this area in which I’ve struggled for so long. Her wisdom and experience are better than gold.This has been an enriching and informative experience, and what I believe to be a genuine miracle in my life. I find my walking time to be another opportunity to be in conversation with God, reflecting on my day, my week, my year, and where He is leading me in other aspects of my discipleship disciplines. My walking time has become sacred, a gift of "built-in" sabbatical, as I walk and listen.

My general health has improved, my bad back is much more flexible, my aching joints have eased, and I’m playing tennis again! You have no idea how joyful an experience that is for me!

Two – Financial Fitness & Spirit: My confession: I am a lifelong "money-drunk" (Julia Cameron’s term for those of us who are compulsively unable to control our spending.) It is painful to admit that this has been a struggle for me for as long as long as I can remember.

As soon as I heard Nick's words of encouragement for finding someone to walk alongside us, I knew I wanted to ask someone who had been through the Financial Peace University material to help me. I have had success, and failure, in this process, but I haven’t given up!

My mentor talks with me, reviews my reporting about what is and isn’t working, and encourages me to "stay the course". At the center of all of that are love, concern and clarity when I’m mired in my issues about this area of my life. I have experienced the love, acceptance and forgiveness I need to be healed of this affliction, and have felt God’s hand in it all. How grateful I am for my mentor’s wisdom and encouragement. The struggle continues, but I know there will be more success as I press forward, with the help of my mentor and the Holy Spirit.

Three – Discipleship Fitness & Spirit: Finally, I will remark on a mentorship and friendship that has lasted forty years, and continues today. I meet with this woman weekly, to share my walk and use her as a sounding board for my life decisions and the joys and pains of my circumstances.

I don’t always agree with her. She doesn’t always have something to say. My experience is that the key is "acceptant listening". I know she will listen, she will pray, and on occasion, directly speak to a question or issue I raise.

During some of the most acutely difficult periods of my life, she kept me from disastrous decisions. At other times, I chose to ignore her, with disastrous results.

Another key: consistently returning to the relationship – through it all knowing about her basic faith, scripture-based knowledge, and compassionate heart. These are the qualities that have kept the mentorship alive all these years.

If you have not experienced such a side-by-side relationship with another follower of Christ, I encourage you to ask God to show you who that might be. When you hear from Him, and I believe you will, ask them to mentor you. It will change your life. You will find your perspective on whom you perceive God to be will change and mature. You will be encouraged to mentor someone else when asked, and that relationship will bring even more growth in your walk.

I am convinced that Nick’s words about mentoring from the February article are still as fresh and inspired as they were then: "This month, we are focusing on the topic of mentoring. I know that many of you reading this article are on the lookout for a godly mentor in your life. But the thought of becoming a mentor intimidates you. You wonder if you have what it takes; if you’re close enough to God. Let me encourage you from my experience. Dave made a difference in my life, not because he was godly, but because he wanted to be godly. Dave helped me grow, not because he had it all together, but because he opened his life to God and others. Dave taught me about God and faith, not because he knew all the right answers, but because he showed me how to ask the right questions and wrestle in faith with the realities of life.

And now, I believe in you because Dave believed in me. If you will pursue God with your whole heart, faltering though your steps may be, that very journey is what God will use to touch and change the lives of others. So get on the pursuit! And invite someone to join you along the way. You never know; you just might become their mentor."

And so, we encourage you to ask God to show you whom He would have you approach in friendship, and allow Him to cultivate that friendship into mentorship. Ask God to show you whom He would have you approach in your need of a mentor, to walk beside you in a specific area of your life experience, or as a spiritual mentor for observing how God is working in all areas of your life. He is waiting to give you this gift. Open your heart, and your life, and receive all God is holding in His hands for you to receive.

We grow as we share-

Mary Hagle

Editor

The House

Testimony of Crossing the Generational Gap

Being a mentor…My first reaction is whew! Being a mentor is pretty hard. My next reaction? It’s pretty rewarding and can be a lot of fun. If I really think about it, I am in three mentor relationships. I asked Bob Simmons to be my mentor to which he readily agreed. He also noted it may really be a co-mentor relationship. Bob and I are both logical problem solvers. We are reading a book together, which we discuss over lunches. Both our schedules are pretty crazy, so we meet when we can, which is not as often as either of us would like. But it works pretty well for us. Bob is a great guy and very intelligent. I am really looking forward to the growth of our relationship. I would consider this my EASY mentor relationship.

Our Life Group has been working with the Youth Group this year to help create a bridge between younger and older members of East Hills Alliance. Work really isn’t the right word to use here. The young people in our church are awesome!! Our two groups have met at our home for dinner, games on the Wii, and board games. Everyone had a great time and looked forward to our next gathering. Recently we met at the church for pizza and a game of Bible Pictionary. The Youth Group whipped us! Well, they beat us by one point, but they really know their Bible!

Admittedly, this may not be what might be considered a traditional mentor relationship. We believe, however, this is an important one. Our youth need examples of older Christians in the Church and in social environments. We can help them make the step from young Christians to adult Christians. Personally, I have developed great relationships with many of these young people, respect their dedication to our church and to their relationship with Christ. Have I already said they are awesome? Well, they are! I love them all.

I was asked by Tony Echerd to be his mentor. Of course I said yes. This young man is a great person and has a heart for God. This is my most difficult mentor relationship but will be my most rewarding. My work schedule makes it difficult to meet with Tony as often as I would like. He is busy with school and activities. The toughest thing for us is working on trust. He needs to know that he can trust me. If he thinks he can’t trust me, how can he tell me the things he needs help with? I can’t share anything he tells me with his parents, his friends, his siblings, anyone.

Our relationship is in its infancy. We’ve only met a few times for coffee and lunch. As much as I enjoy being around young people, as I grow older it is getting more difficult to relate. I believe being a teen today is much more difficult than when I was a teen. Meeting one-on-one is much different than when meeting in a group. The pressure is on!

It dawned on me recently how these things make it difficult for me to be a quality mentor. I’ve been doing some on-line research on being a Christian mentor and have found some great information. One site says men think they need to: make the journey alone, remain quiet, keep it under control, and that others won’t understand. My hope is Tony will understand none of this is necessary. His parents, family, church family and I are there to support him. This same website indicates mentoring is really about discipleship. We can learn from the experience of each other without making the same mistakes. We will naturally begin to mentor others as our skills become better.

My prayer is that Tony knows that he can trust me, and that our bond is based on our relationship with Christ. I look forward to continuing our friendship, watching him grow into an adult with a firm foundation in Christ, and serving as a mentor to young men. I pray Christ will bless our friendship and help me say the right things and make the right decisions.

Being in a mentoring relationship is hard! It’s fun! It’s rewarding! I am glad God put it on my heart to serve Him as a mentor. I hope you have found it to be the same for you.

Steve Jones

Testimony of God at Work

I find it rather unusual that I have been asked to write about mentoring. It is strange because I have not been mentored in the traditional sense nor have I sought to be a mentor to anyone else. Ernie Jones came up to me one Sunday and asked me if I would mentor him. I could not see where I would have the time to do it, and I started to make excuses. I do struggle with time. I teach in a field that is constantly changing, I am in the midst of putting together a documentary on the problem with the New World Translation of the Jehovah Witnesses. Also, I cannot neglect my wife. Besides, I live way out in the sticks above Kalama. There was another obstacle I did not mention to Ernie—wondering what would I share with him. Before leaving him, I said I would pray about it. Oops, that was a mistake.

It hit me that if Ernie was willing, I could meet him for half an hour before church. The other problem concerning what I would have to share came back at me in the form of what would I have wanted someone to share with me. Then I started to think about many of the significant events in my life that caused me to grow in grace. In junior high and in high school I read maybe a total of five books and one of them was the Classics Illustrated comic book version of Silas Marner so I did not have to read the book itself. I was a slow reader and I found reading books rather boring. After becoming a Christian in my late teens, I read The Cross and the Switchblade by the late David Wilkerson. I had no idea that Christian books could be so interesting. That had impact on me (as I look at my 1000+ books in my library). It could be something of significance to share.

Then I started to think of other things that impacted me, like having written up my own spiritual journey as to how I became a Christian, how Christian radio, especially the music, has ministered to me, how God has taught me (and continually reminds me) of giving thanks in all circumstances, spending a daily time in the Word, and the list goes on.

The following Sunday, I was willing. My two obstacles were no longer issues. It was all up to Ernie. He had no issue with the time or place. So we made a commitment of three months of getting together. These past three months plus has been a breath of fresh air. Over 40 years ago I became a Christian. The new life I see in Ernie reminds me of what it was like when I first became a Christian. His joy in the Lord has overflowed into my joy. And to think of it! I could have missed out on the blessing that I have received if I had not prayed about it.

What I did was not significant; many others could have done the same. The difference was that Ernie was pliable in the Holy Spirit’s work in his heart.

Jack Sande

Walking Beside...

How do we become isolated, and find ourselves wistfully looking back on a time when we were sharing our walk in a deep and momentous way with someone who "gets us"?

For me, it’s just part of my human nature to "drift". My prayer for you, and for me: "God, help me not to do this. Help me to embrace my vertical relationship with You, and my horizontal relationship with a mentor, and stay "caught up" and "fresh" in my awareness of the Holy Spirit.

I know how to practice this, Lord. Vertical: openness, humility, gratitude. Horizontal: love, acceptance, forgiveness. When I talk with You, or journal to You, or meditate on You with openness, humility and gratitude, my heart is soft, my mind is clear and my spirit is free. Then I’m free to practice the horizontal, acting in love, acceptance and forgiveness.

Lamentations 3:22-24 - Amplified Bible

22 It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.

You are new every morning, Lord. Help me to be."

Mary Hagle

Editor

The House

What Does a Mentor Do?

Over the last several months, one topic we have highlighted as a church is mentoring. I am starting to realize that we may have encouraged people to find and become mentors without ever defining what a mentor actually does.

Culturally, we have many good examples of mentoring programs. The system set up by Big Brothers and Big Sisters comes to mind: a caring adult who spends time with a needy child, teaching them valuable lessons and skills as they do fun things together. In general, this might be our perception of a mentor: take what I know and pass it on to someone else. While this definition might be useful in many scenarios, this is not actually what a spiritual mentor seeks to do. Let me tell you how I discovered a better model for mentoring.

Several years ago, I was left needing to find a new mentor when my then-current mentor took a new job. It was at this time that I sought out another pastor by the name of Tim Barton. Tim had always impressed me with his wisdom and depth; he seemed to me to be someone who walked closely with God. I believed I could learn a great deal from him.

Tim and I began to meet about every 6 weeks. My experience in these meetings was almost always the same, and forms the real content of what I want to share with you as you consider being a mentor. When Tim and I met, he would begin asking me questions about life and faith. As I talked, Tim would listen intently and nod. After I would finish, Tim would proceed to ask more questions. He would at times interject a thought or a comment, but more often than not, he would only summarize or clarify what I had already said. And then he would ask more questions. I would talk some more until our time was up, at which point we would pray and head our separate ways.

I inevitably walked away from these encounters disappointed. I would feel that I had shared my heart in order that Tim could then tell me what to do and give me some great advice. Repeatedly, however, Tim failed to share much advice at all! I would be left thinking, "What in the world is the point of this? If all that happens when we meet is me talking, I can do that by myself!" Honestly, I would feel jilted, as if Tim was holding back from really helping.

But then I started to realize what was happening in these meetings. Rather than answering my questions for me, Tim was helping me find my own answers by looking at what God was doing. Tim asked questions in order to discern where I was at, and where God was at work. The more I talked and the more Tim listened, the answers or ideas I most needed seemed to surface on their own. These conclusions always meant more and stayed with me longer because they had come from my life and my heart. When others give us pat answer or advice, we tend to forget. When God reveals truth to our own heart, we cannot help but be changed.

So this, in my mind, is what a spiritual mentor does. This is something I believe you could do. Sit with another and listen to their story. Listen and ask, listen and ask, listen and ask until you start to discern where God is at work. And then, when necessary, speak a few words to clarify or encourage. The truth is, the person you are mentoring doesn’t need more of you. They need more of God. Your job is to help them down that path.

Here are a few good questions to ask as you seek to mentor in this fashion:

What do you think God is trying to teach you in this situation?

Where have you seen God at work in your life recently?

What Scripture passages has the Spirit brought to mind lately?

When you pray, what do you find yourself praying about the most this week?

How does your recent experience fit with other ways God has shown up in your life in the past?

When you mentor someone, always keep in mind these are never one-on-one meetings. It is always three, and your role is to help the other person discover what God, the third person, is saying.

Blessings! Nick

As Nick let me know EHA is planning to focus on a local ministry each weekend in June, and explore reaching out to people with practical displays of love, I was amazed, because I was thinking about focusing on ways we can remind ourselves that Jesus is here, now, like setting a place for him at our dinner table (which we have done, with interesting results). Sometimes one of us remembers it’s there, and it calls us to ask for prayer about something or someone. Since it’s close to my place at the table, I think I’m reminded more often than Susan and the kids, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we recognize His Presence in our lives, and respond to Him.

But this idea of Nick’s is even better. Finding ways to BE the hands and feet of Jesus really helps when the cares and woes of the world and the people who inhabit it seem overwhelming and prompt the "it’s such a huge problem, what can one person do?!?" There are things we can do, one person at a time, often for one other person in need. And we become the hands and feet of Jesus. What a joy!

I’ve found that to be so in serving as the area office administrator at Young Life, a Christian ministry for middle school and high school students. This ministry is founded on the concept of walking beside these kids, being there at school lunch breaks, their art or sporting events, taking them to camp in the summer, and getting to know them, so that when they are ready to talk about their relationship with Jesus, they know the volunteer staff person, and feel more comfortable about talking with them.

The joy comes for me because I know I’m supporting the staff and volunteers so that they are freed up to be with the kids when it matters most. I also enjoy the privilege of praying for each kid I add to the database when they’ve signed a "club card" at the weekly gatherings, or registered to go to Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, Oregon for a week in the summer, billed as "the best week of their lives".

I have a "built-in" prayer list. I pray for staff, volunteers, and kids while completing my administrative tasks. My "part-time" job is a "full-time" prayer experience. Everyone who comes into the Young Life building I consider a spiritual encounter. As soon as they push open the door, I start praying, whether it’s staff, a volunteer, a kid, or the UPS driver.

As you read these words about Young Life, perhaps you will think about how you might find a place to walk beside a kid. Call me! We’ll go for a coffee, and talk!

As we hear from others in the community who feel called to the ministry they are sharing about in this House issue, my prayer is that you will be listening for that Sweet Voice of the Holy Spirit, urging you to step into that for which you hear Him calling you.

We grow as we share,

Mary Hagle, editor

An Interview with Brian Wrezesinski

Bio-Notes . . . Brian Wrzesinski: Brian has known Jesus as his Savior from the age of eight, growing up in Onalaska, and finishing high school there in 1977. He attended the Presbyterian church and was active in a youth group comprised of kids from four churches in the town, who came together as one group. Brian attended the Inland Empire School of the Bible in Spokane, considered a "junior college for Whitworth" with thoughts of being a Christian school teacher, but he was eighteen, and just married to Monica. They moved there together, and stayed for ten months. It snowed hard for months, and when Monica ran over their snowman in March, that was enough! They moved home.

Brian enjoys baseball and reading in his spare time, and especially likes reading "cops and robbers" novels, and Max Lucado. He also enjoys teaching Sunday school to little kids every Spring, as his "anti-work" experience.

He feels he is still working on establishing spiritual disciplines, and is most grateful for family. He and his sister and three brothers all still live an hour from their parents’ home, and Monica and her two sisters and brother all live one and one-half hours from her parents. At Christmastime, there are 35-50 family members gathered at his mother’s house.

The House: Thank you for taking time to talk about the prison ministry that is a part of what you do as an Administrative Sergeant in our local law enforcement. You told us that your work includes arranging transportation, overseeing volunteers coming to offer support to inmates, and making sure inmates and staff have the supplies they need.

Can you tell us more about how you became involved in the prison ministry?

Brian: This ministry was definitely a calling on my life. It wasn’t hard to recognize it for what it was, as I grew up with a social worker and nurse for parents. Dad would bring his clients home with him, give them a place to stay until they were able to go out on their own, so jail and these people weren’t new to me.

I came to visit my dad at his office as a probation officer, and a job was posted just outside his office door. I had only visited him at his office three times, but when I saw the posting, I applied for the job immediately and was hired to work in our local prison system.

Ten years ago the captain who was head of the program was retiring, and I was asked if I would be interested in taking his position, and I said yes.

The House: How have you recruited volunteers for the program, which you told me has grown to over 100 volunteers?

Brian: Thirteen years ago Monica and I were without a church home, and visited many churches in the area, and met a lot of Christian people in the process. When I began looking for volunteers, many of them I found because of getting to know them at the churches we visited until we were led to join East Hills Alliance.

The House: Can you tell us about the different ministries actively reaching out to inmates currently?

Brian: On Saturday there is an NA group, as well as Seventh Day Adventist church services. On Sunday, there are five different churches that share the responsibility for church services, including Shekinah, St Rose, the Gideons and New Life. There is also a Bible study on Tuesday, AA on Thursday and Attic Ministries comes one Sunday morning a month.

The House: What is Attic Ministries? Do they serve former addicts?

Brian: No. It is a "street ministry" and they minister to lots of people on the streets, not just addicts. It is ministry to the homeless, whatever their history.

The House: How long have you been involved in this ministry?

Brian: Thirty-one years. I see family members being booked in their third generation of burglars, but I also see churches stepping up and ministering to these people within their churches.

We have training for volunteers every quarter. Ten of our volunteers have been doing it for twenty years. We need new volunteers, as these faithful ones are reaching the place where they will retire from the service they are doing.

We have a volunteer potluck every November, which is a "Volunteer Reunion" of all the volunteers who have served.

We also have "Chaplain Call" and inmates can ask to talk with a chaplain. There are about 7 "regular" local pastors who come to talk and listen. There are a couple of them who have been coming for ten years.

There are pastors who have members in jail, and can visit their congregants twice a month.

Some volunteers have been inmates who have been out of jail long enough to be able to come back as volunteers, after they have proven to staff that they have genuinely changed their lives and want to help others. They make great volunteers, because they have "been there".

Some of these people don’t have ANYBODY to care. The interest and compassion the volunteers show makes a difference in the inmates’ lives. Showing them respect and responding to them as another human being is something they are hungry for.

The key to volunteering in prison ministry is KNOWING you will make a difference in these people’s lives.

Some of you will recognize Love INC by another name: Servant Week.

For the last 5 years, area churches have banded together for a week (or two) of service to the community. During these 5 years, hundreds of Christ’s servants gave time, talents, and energy to help needy individuals, whole neighborhoods, schools, and city governments.

The idea of service together was such a success that requests started coming in for year-round help. As a result, the participating pastors made the decision to adopt a more permanent structure for serving the community, i.e., Love INC. Love In the Name of Christ officially was launched last fall and later (last February) hired me (Larry Russell) as the Executive Director.

Here’s what Love INC does. We mobilize believers in the local participating congregations (about 22 at present) to meet the needs of people falling through the cracks. This week a group of us helped move an elderly woman into a new apartment. She could find no one to help her and started calling churches. One of the churches called Love INC and 24 hours later she was in her new apartment. The same day over 100 youth from area churches cleaned trash out of 12 Highlands alleys. Next month we will replace a leaky roof for an elderly widow in North Kelso. As I am writing this letter to you, a call came in to help clean an elderly man’s yard.

Another Love INC ministry is "Loving Teachers". This program purchases school supplies for teachers to give to needy kids. These are supplies the teachers normally have to buy themselves.

Mobilizing the saints for serving the community has given the church tremendous favor in our two cities. Hundreds of opportunities (divine appointments) are just waiting for God’s people to meet. Many of these calls for help will come to Love INC. Saturday, June 18^{th and Sunday, June 19th I’ll be at East Hills Alliance to tell you how you can be part of what many are calling "The Movement."}

-Larry Russell

Executive Director

Love INC of Cowlitz County

　

Contact Love INC

by calling:

(360) 430-1355

By: Cheryl Wilson

I heard about Pregnancy Resource Centers back in the 80’s, but never investigated fully what they were. When we moved here from California in 1989 I met a couple who were involved with the Caring Pregnancy Center. Still, I didn’t pay much attention.

Shortly after our daughter was born in September, 1990, God began to softly whisper that He wanted me to volunteer at CPC. I was working full-time (from home) and our benefits were through my job, AND I was a new mom. So what could I do? Why, ignore Him, of course!

However, over the next 8 months His prompting grew stronger, and I tried to continue to ignore it. I’d since learned that this was one of those pro-life places for women with a "crisis" pregnancy. Well, I’d never had one of those, so I knew I would be of no use to such a ministry.

One morning while I was having quiet time I felt so heavy with conviction that I’d been running from Him, but at the same time I was angry with Him for hounding me! Surely He understood my predicament! I reminded Him that I had to work full-time and couldn’t volunteer, so if He wanted me there he’d better figure something out.

The company I worked for was based in Connecticut, but I was with its California subsidiary. Two short weeks after reminding my awesome & faithful heavenly Father that He would need to figure something out if He wanted me volunteering, I got a call from my boss. Something about taxes…my residency in Washington state…too expensive…blah blah blah. He was very sorry but they were going to have to let me go.

Not amused. The God of the universe, and this is what You come up with?! Fine. I’ll just keep ignoring You, because now I have to found another job so my family can have health benefits!

Well, long story short, my awesome & faithful heavenly Father did not allow me to continue to ignore Him. My husband and I prayed and agreed I would be a stay-at-home mommy now, as that was really where my heart was. We would just have to trust God to provide. And after an additional 8 months I ran out of excuses and finally got up the courage to talk with the Director of CPC about volunteering.

Although I hated leaving my daughter, I loved volunteering at CPC. I had to completely depend upon His leading in order to minister to each young woman that came to CPC, and because of that I grew closer in my walk with Him. But in all honesty, I hated the days when a young woman would have a positive pregnancy test, and instead of being filled with joy she was scared, or angry, and was adamant about her decision to abort her baby. I would go home crying out to God, asking Him where He was and why didn’t He soften that mama’s heart? Why did He let me fail? Where were THY words that could’ve been spoken to change her mind?

And then something very terrible happened. In the span of one year I suffered two miscarriages. My heart became resentful toward these young women, whom I now perceived as cold and heartless, and undeserving of ever being blessed with a baby.

I hated the ugliness that I saw within my own heart, so I called the Director to let her know that I needed time for God to heal and soften my heart. He is faithful…

Over the years there were times when I was unable to volunteer ~ two, three years at a stretch. But for some reason my heart remained. And while I was volunteering the summer of 2004, I was asked to come on staff temporarily. The Director of 11 years was retiring at the end of the year, and by that fall I knew God was calling me to become the new Director. Believe it or not, I attempted to ignore Him again!

I have been Director since January 2005. It has been challenging and rewarding, exhausting and exhilarating. And while I have no clue how much God has used me to touch the lives of others through this ministry, I do know that my life has been forever changed because of my involvement.

The women who come through our door each have a story. Most are from a culture that is not too dissimilar to that of what Paul encountered in his travels. These young women desperately need to know of the unconditional love and saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We may have one encounter to share His love with them, or they may become a client whom we get to mentor and minister to weekly. In every encounter we desire to be His hands and feet.

I remind my fellow Christians that we are ALL ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and if you want God to use you, just have a willing heart (sometimes that takes a bit of prodding!) And pray. I am so grateful that He is so faithful to equip us when He calls us!

If you’d like to know specific opportunities about volunteering at CPC ~ give me a call (636-3333) or come talk to me, and sign up for our newsletter so you know about miscellaneous opportunities that arise.

Cheryl Wilson

Director

Caring Pregnancy Center

By Ann Hight:

I wish everyone could have the experience of working in the environment of a healthy church. I love coming to work, love the variety of tasks, love the people I work with, and love the blessings that come my way every day. When people talk about the challenge of sharing their faith at work, I cannot enter in to that conversation because everyone I work with is a Christian and nearly everyone I meet with each week is living a life of committed faith.

But there is an underlying problem with all of that. It is easy to lose awareness of the needs in our community and world. It is so comfortable to sit in my office and talk Jesus stuff with people and leave the gritty rest of the world way out on the periphery of my life. It is easy to let the darkness creep in as I work in the Light.

From our earliest days on staff here we are encouraged to find ways to serve outside these walls. I had dabbled around with this, trying a few things, but never really connecting in the way I wanted to. I envied Pastor Nick having the opportunity to connect with kids as he coached; I kept looking around for ways I could connect in that way.

Then one day I happened to see a small ad in The Daily News offering training to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). I was not even sure what that was, but it piqued my interest. When I saw the same ad a couple of days later I picked up the phone and called. After an initial conversation followed by an interview, I knew I had finally found a place to serve outside East Hills.

A few months later, after successfully completing the training, I clutched the folder of my first case. I was ready to dive in to the world of dependency. As a CASA volunteer I investigate the issues and people surrounding the placement of children outside of their family home. When cases are brought before a judge for his or her decision, I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of that child, using the information I have gathered to seek the best resolution for those who otherwise have no voice in the system. During court proceedings parents have lawyers, the state has the attorney general, and the child has a CASA. Each case takes more than a year to complete, so I get to know the principle people involved and often get to speak about hope in the middle of distress.

It has been an interesting three years and the opportunity to learn more is never ending. The juxtaposition of my two "jobs" reminds me that everyone needs to experience the love of Jesus, no matter what their circumstances are. I have new appreciation for the verse in Proverbs 31 that says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.