I beg your forgiveness for the delinquency of this update. Life has been crazy and there’s so much to share! 

Since May…

Since my last update in May we have had some extremely happy news that fast tracked some things we had been praying about for quite a while; we found out that I am pregnant with our second child! We had been praying for several months about God’s timing for us to move back down to Southern California and the Lord spoke to Isaac that we would be back in SoCal before our next baby came. When we learned the happy news, it caused us to pray all the more fervently and God made it clear that we would be transitioning back down in August/September. 

When we announced that we would be moving back, unbeknownst to us, it confirmed to the youth pastor at our home church, Calvary Chapel Saving Grace, who had been praying about moving on to another church, that it was time for him to move on and hand the ministry over to Isaac. This has allowed Isaac to come on staff at our church and fully devote himself to the work of the ministry. It has been such a blessing to witness God’s work in Isaac’s life as a leader in the church and teacher of the Word and to see him continue to grow in the gifting God has given him.

The move has allowed me to be more involved in the work of Saving Grace World Missions, including going into the office one day a week. 

Together, Isaac and I are discipling the youth leaders and students. We’ve already had so many fun opportunities with the youth group including a Halloween outreach, starting a boys accountability group, a girls’ prayer meeting, and an upcoming girls’ Bible study in January. As we await the arrival of our son, Theodore, we are blessed to devote time together to the ministry that God has entrusted to us. 

Calvary Chapel Truckee

Since we moved away from Truckee, God has been doing so many things. There has been a lot of stripping away of what it was before; many core families moved on to other churches for various reasons. It is now quite small and it seems that God is clearing the way to do a new work. Please pray for Pastor Gary and his family as they plow the fields and continue to wait on God for the harvest in His timing. 

Thank you!

Thank you for your continued support of our family and the ministry that God has called us to. We are still indeed of your financial support and prayers.

Please pray for God’s will and direction in leading the youth group at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace and in reaching our community.

Please pray for a healthy conclusion to this pregnancy in February 2023 and a healthy postpartum season.

If you would like to reach out and get together for coffee or tea, I would love to meet up and reconnect now that we are back in the SoCal area. 

May God bless and keep you in this holiday season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

With love,

Hope, Isaac, Fletcher, and Theo

Posted on May 5, 2022, by Hope Douglass

This month, the weather has vacillated between spring sunshine and winter storms. The daffodils turned their bright faces toward the sun only to shortly thereafter be pressed back down to the earth by an icy blanket of snow. Many forms of life are beginning to stir and shake off the winter, but the snow keeps coming, trying to postpone and forestall the inevitable spring that is beginning to dawn.

It is sad to feel the first sweet caresses of warmer days, only to be jostled back into the icy cold, BUT, we see the good it’s doing. The lake is steadily rising as the snow deposits melt and flow headlong into it, the hills are green as the snow releases its icy grip and the sunshine beckons the grasses toward its light, the flowers are blooming in gardens and abandoned trails alike. Though the spring feels suppressed by the winter that doesn’t know when to quit, we know that spring is here and will only harken in warmer and sunnier days. 

In the same way, as we face challenges and discouragements in the ministry here, we have only to lift our eyes to the Lord and trust that He is working beneath the soil and the snow covering and His light will beckon in a season of growth and fruitfulness in His timing, whether we’re here to see it or not. Not only that, but the “winter” of ministry is, to steal from Paul, “a light affliction which is but for a moment [and] is working for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). God has been changing us through the season we’ve spent here. He makes us patient, dependent, humble, bold, and provides us with the faith to endure whatever He brings us into and through. 

We are enjoying the young adults’ ministry and have more young adults now than ever, praise God! It has been so sweet to host in our home and walk through the book of Acts together. Isaac is honing his skills as a Bible expositor, and it’s my privilege to watch him grow. Likewise, I’ve grown in hospitality, and I genuinely enjoy opening our home to our friends; we have a living room to host people it is such a sweet gift! God-willing, one day we’ll live somewhere large enough for a kitchen table for dinner parties. ***Update- We are moving into a two-bedroom house right next door to us that is large enough for a kitchen table! God is SO good!

Easter was a sweet time of fellowship with our church. Isaac was able to teach on Palm Sunday (I was so proud of him), and we enjoyed leading worship together on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We spent the mid-morning with our church enjoying a potluck brunch and then the afternoon as a family. We went disc golfing and had burgers for dinner, not our typical Easter traditions, but maybe a new tradition as long as we’re far from family.

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Fletcher remains our only child in children’s ministry, Brady remains our only youth, and we remain expectant that the Lord will bring more in His time.

Sadly, Fletcher and I will not be going on the mission trip to Hungary that I mentioned in my last update. We haven’t received any of his documents yet, and I don’t think they’ll make it here in time to apply for his passport. On top of that, the trip is 18 days long, which Isaac and I felt was too long to be separated after further consideration and prayer. Happily, I am able to support the team by helping manage the trip on the front end, purchasing flights, managing payments, etc. Please pray for God’s hand of protection over them and for doors to be opened and strongholds to be removed as they minister to the young people of Hungary.

Please continue to keep us in prayer as we wait for God to melt ice and snow in people’s hearts and herald in the spring of His salvation. We look to and wait on Him to do the work that only He can do.

With love,

Hope, Isaac, and Fletcher

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For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise

Hebrews 10:36

Sometimes updates are easy to write and other times they aren’t. This is one of those not-so-easy updates simply because this month was made up of the everyday, ordinary things rather than the highlights.

Youth Group

Thank you for your prayers for the youth group that we started on January 24th! After our first meeting it was apparent that we aren’t ready to start yet. With one student and three leaders, it hardly felt like your typical youth group and everyone felt a little out of place. We are continuing to pray that God would work in our midst and give us wisdom in how to faithfully minister to the student He has placed in the ministry as we wait for more to come.

Young Adults

The young adults group has remained pretty constant and we are excited to see the Lord work in each person’s life. God has been answering prayers in the lives of the group and we feel honored to be here to walk alongside them and see the Lord’s faithfulness play out. 

This weekend the young adults group from Calvary Chapel Santa Rosa was in Tahoe for a retreat and we were able to join them for their session on Friday night and again on Saturday. We had a wonderful time fellowshipping with old and new friends alike.

The Car Situation

Praise God, we were able to purchase a 2005 Subaru Outback to replace the Outback that was totaled by the tree limb in December. We are still waiting for our Civic to be repaired but I was told that it should be done by Monday, March 7th so hopefully that will be the case and we will have two cars once again! Thank you for praying for that whole situation.

Upcoming Trip

I am very excited to have the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Hungary at the end of August to help run several Gospel-centered English camps. Fletcher will accompany me but Isaac will not be able to go. The trip is dependent upon receiving Fletcher’s passport in time but we need his social security card first. Please pray for the process to go smoothly and for his documents to come in time.

That’s pretty much it! Seasons like this one remind us that we need endurance in this race we are running. We don’t see everything God is doing and there doesn’t seem to be very much fruit, but we believe and trust that He IS working and that we just need to be faithful to continue in what He has called us to. So although this month didn’t seem very exciting, we had an opportunity to exercise endurance and we thank you for your prayers and support that encourage us to continue on.

With love,

Hope, Isaac, & Fletcher

Happy new year! I pray that you all had a blessed holiday season full of family, friends, and fellowship with the Lord. God has been working in all of our lives and I am excited to share how He has been working here in Truckee.

Young Adults

Things are starting to take off in our young adults group! Last Friday we had 4 young adults attend with one regular out because of work and two new people who wanted to come but just weren’t able to make it work. This Friday we will have a young woman join us who visited our church last Sunday and she will be bringing her boyfriend. We could potentially cram 10 people into our small space tomorrow night! Please pray that God would move in our midst and that He’d be greatly magnified as we fellowship and draw near to Him. 

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Youth Group

We will have our first youth group meeting on Monday, Jan 24th. Please keep us in your prayers! We only have one youth kid at our church so we are praying for more opportunities to get to know youth in the community; Isaac has been in contact with the high school basketball coach and might have the opportunity to assistant coach. Please keep that opportunity in your prayers. We want to see young people get saved and get plugged in and we’re excited to see God work in this town.

New Opportunity

I was asked at the beginning of this year to take over the children’s ministry at our church and after praying and discussing with Isaac, I happily accepted. I will now be the children’s ministry director which just means that I will organize curriculum, schedule teachers, and step in to teach when necessary. Fletcher is our only child right now so it’s a pretty light load but we need to have lessons ready for the occasional guest. As we grow it will become more time consuming so please pray for growth and grace to manage the changes.

Personal

Isaac has been working for the local disposal company for about three weeks now and loves it. He is making a significant amount more per hour and is enjoying the work because everyday is different and there’s no downtime. He has been able to share the Gospel with a handful of coworkers and invite them to church. We are praying that the Holy Spirit would convict and compel these men as Isaac continues to invest in them.

I had the opportunity to spend time with a young mom I met at the park who is not a believer. I am praying that the Lord would give me opportunities to share Him with her and her two daughters and that they would come to church. It’s also exciting to have friends in a similar season of life and I am praising God for answering that heart prayer. 

Some of you may know that a big storm came through town in December and a tree branch fell from one of the trees around our house, impacting both of our cars. Our Subaru (which we just purchased in November) was a total loss and we are still waiting to hear back on the Civic. Please pray along with us for God’s will and that He would provide transportation for us if our Civic is totaled. At this point we plan to just make do with a single vehicle for a while as we wait for a better time to purchase a second. However, if both cars end up totaled then we will need to purchase something sooner than later. Even in the midst of this, God has been so gracious to allow us to borrow a friend’s car until our cars are figured out. Our insurance doesn’t provide a rental, so the loan has been a huge blessing and has allowed us to get around and get to and from work and church. 

Prayer Requests

• Pray that God would continue to bring young adults to our church/young adults group and that they would be ministered to and edified to share the Gospel in their own spheres of influence.
• Pray for our youth group meeting on Monday and that God would bring more youth to our church and circle of influence.
• Pray for the children’s ministry and my role in it.
• Pray for Isaac’s and my relationships with the non-believers around us to be fruitful unto God’s glory.
• Pray for our car situation and for wisdom in how to proceed, whatever the outcome as well as adequate funds if we need to buy something now.
• Pray for our church body to be attractive to young families and non-believers, that they would encounter God in our midst and be saved and get plugged in so that they can grow.
• We’ve received some more medical bills from when I had Fletcher that we aren’t able to pay at this time. Please pray for God’s provision.

With love,

the Douglasses

October flew by! What a whirlwind it’s been to move up to Truckee and settle into a new routine. God has been so faithful!

Our new home is perfect for our family and such a blessing. We’re nestled in the woods right across the street from Donner Lake in a quaint little one bedr-om cabin. I have a full kitchen now, which I love and a very large attic space for storage. God blessed us with a beautiful couch, a new vacuum, and a TV to help make our house “home.” We’ve already started hosting the young adults group on our home on Friday nights and that has been a huge blessing.

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Our first Sunday at Calvary Chapel Truckee was a very special day and we were blessed by a warm welcome. The church has opened its arms wide to receive us and for that we’re grateful. We have two young adults and one youth kid who attend our church at this time so we’re in a stage of starting what we can and praying about what we can’t. Please pray along with us that the Lord attracts more young people to the church and that more people get saved and plugged in. I have the privilege of attending the mid-week women’s Bible Study and I’ve loved it so far. It is pure inductive Bible study and we’re learning about the coming of Jesus. On Reformation Sunday (aka Halloween) Isaac and I led worship along with some others; it was Isaac’s first time here in Truckee and my first time since Fletcher was born. It was so refreshing to be able to lead again and I know that the precious saint who had been leading every single week for months before we came was blessed to have a Sunday off. That night we went to one of the church family’s houses where they have a lot of foot traffic and we will (Lord willing) be hosting an outreach at that home next year.

In other news, Isaac has been loving his job at Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED) and has all unsaved coworkers who he enjoys having Gospel conversations with. He has been able to see more of the area on his deliveries and greatly enjoys the drives.

I am all set up for all of my remote tasks and haven’t skipped too many beats as far as keeping up with my responsibilities with SGWM. I am grateful that God has given me the ability to take care of Fletcher, our home, and my work responsibilities in the midst of the transition.

So far we have had Isaac’s family visit us twice aside from when they all helped us move up here and this month I will be able to visit my family in Utah and bring my mom home with me for a visit. Then we will be in Yorba Linda for Thanksgiving and will have friends come up to visit directly after that. All of the love and support from our family and friends has helped make the transition much smoother and we’re so grateful!

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Praise Reports

We bought a car that is more suitable for the snow!

Work is going well for both of us.

We have some young adults and youth with whom to build the ministries.

Our church family is wonderful.

Prayer Requests

That God would help us connect in new ways with our unsaved community for the purpose of sharing the truth of the Gospel and seeing lost souls won for Christ.

That God would build His church and the young adult and youth ministries in it.

That He’d give us vision and boldness for how to partner in His work.

That we’d make more friends in similar walks of life; young marrieds, young parents, etc.

Thank you for your prayers and support! It means so much to us.

Much love,

Hope, Isaac, and Fletcher

We are called to be a people of faith. It’s that simple. Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Think about that for a minute- impossible to please God without faith! Jesus told His disciples that they only needed faith the size of a mustard seed in order to say to the mountain, “move from here to there” and it would move (Matthew 17:20). How incredible that our salvation hinges upon a little thing called faith and that our daily Christian life is supposed to be saturated with it. 

What has God called you to lay down before Him in faith? Your job? Your health? Your family? Whatever it is, Christian, I pray that you would be encouraged to leave it at the cross and be reminded that He is with you and He is worthy of your faith in Him. The writer of Hebrews continues in Hebrews 11:6 that “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Whatever you’re carrying, bring it with you into the throne room and leave it there as you seek Him- you’ll find that you won’t need to pick it back up and that your hands will be too full of blessings to hold your worries anyway.

My husband and I were called to exercise our faith in a very practical way this year; we welcomed our son into the world and were thrust upon God’s grace in a whole new way but an added element that stretched our faith, that you may not be aware of yet, was deciding to move up to Truckee, California in order for Isaac to assist pastor Gary Barrow in the ministries of Calvary Chapel Truckee. 

Yep. We’re moving. 

In

20

days.

You may be thinking, like I was, WHAT?! You just had your son and you’re surrounded by your family here! I know. You don’t know anyone up there except for Gary and his wife! I know. It’s just as expensive to live there (if not more) as it is to live here! I know. They can’t even pay Isaac! I know. 

And more importantly, GOD KNOWS. I don’t know exactly what God has in store but I do know that He has called us to move there in faith, believing that He can provide for our every need and that He will do mountain moving things in our life and ministry. You know the best part? He’s been proving it already. 

Before Isaac and I got married I felt the Lord impress upon my heart that He was preparing him to be a youth pastor, if not as Saving Grace then somewhere. A few weeks before we got engaged, Gary asked Isaac to come to Truckee as his youth pastor. Bingo! Nailed it! But no. Isaac declined the offer without a moment’s consideration and we both prayed and knew that we were called to Saving Grace for the foreseeable future. Fast forward a year, a wedding, and a bun in the oven and what do you know but my husband, who has always lived in the same city and always wanted to live in the same city, unless God called him to the mission field (which we always thought would be abroad), tells me that he’s praying about that offer to assist Gary in Truckee. Cue the abrupt stop to the music in my head. In that moment I saw the dreams of seeing my son grow up surrounded by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and our friends shatter into a sad mess of broken hopes and unmet expectations. But in the following moment (okay, maybe it took two sad moments of self-pity) I said, “Okay, God.”

“Okay, God. If this is you then I’m all in.”

And so we prayed. We prayed together, we prayed apart, we sought God’s face, we checked our hearts, we sought counsel, we waited, we prayed more, and we came to a place where we knew that God wasn’t going to give us an explicit yes or no. We knew that we are called to walk in faith and we had seen enough to warrant a step out in faith. A step that landed upon solid ground.

In case you’re not aware, Truckee is a little resort town on the north end of Lake Tahoe where approximately 17,100 people reside in a blissful mountain escape surrounded by trees, lakes, rivers, and a quaint little downtown that has remained much the same since the town’s incorporation in 1868. Truckee is not a middle of nowhere hillbilly-ville, despite the first impression you may have had. Truckee is saturated with multi-million dollar homes and lost, wealthy people. In fact, if you google it, you’ll learn that the population was 16,474 people as of 2019, but in the last two years they’ve had an influx of Bay Area residents searching for a peaceful mountain oasis in which to work from home in the midst of the COVID craziness. Why do I bring this up? Well, for two reasons, both of which point to the beautiful wisdom, power, and purpose of Almighty God. First, it has driven up the housing market by astronomical levels and rendered Truckee a town where the likes of my husband and myself CANNOT afford to live. Second, it has brought a fresh group of hungry, lost, searching souls to the “hunting ground” of Calvary Chapel Truckee.

Why do I talk about not being able to afford it like it’s a good thing? BECAUSE GOD HAS PROVIDED! That’s right, folks, He’s done it again! When we first began to pray about moving to help Gary and Tina we just assumed that we would live in Reno, NV which is about 30 minutes away and half the price but as we continued to pray we really desired to live in Truckee to be surrounded by the people we’re moving to minister to. It seemed an impossible ask given the inflated housing market due to the increased demand and very low supply, especially of low-income type housing. But doesn’t our God delight in turning impossible into possible? We were getting close to the wire and still had no leads on a home in Truckee when on September 1st we heard news that a little one bedroom cabin on the west end of Donner Lake had become available at a price we could afford! God’s work was so superb! It actually brings tears to my eyes to recount it to you now. The cabin is owned by Christians who used to attend CC Truckee and they never have vacancies, yet, just 30 days before we were moving whether we had a place or not, they received a 30 day notice from their tenant. Through pastor Gary we were able to apply and God provided exactly enough income through my remote position with SGWM and through Isaac’s new job up there (remember how the church can’t pay him? He is going to work full-time as a delivery driver for Consolidated Electrical Distributors and volunteer full-time for the church as well) for us to be able to qualify. On September 3rd we sent our signed lease and deposit and we move in on October 1st! 

This is what God does when we come to Him with our mustard seed faith! He moves mountains (and He might just move you to the mountains)! We surrendered our hopes, our dreams, and our plans and left our hands open to what God wanted to fill them with and fill them He has. 

We are so blessed to be able to continue stepping out upon the solid ground of God’s faithfulness and ask that you’d please pray for us. Please pray for the youth and young adults ministries that Isaac will be leading and pray that God would bring many to salvation as we witness to and in the community. Pray for our marriage to grow stronger and for our son to know what it is to live a life surrendered to Christ. Pray for our hearts and the hearts of our loved ones as we move away from the comfort of home. Pray that God would help us build community with the people of Truckee and that He’d bless our move on the 1st. Pray for our vehicles to withstand the hard winters there and for safety on the icy roads as we both learn to drive in snow.

There’s so much more I could say but I’ve already said much. I will leave you now with an invitation to hear more on September 26th. Please come to our dessert gathering at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace where we will share more about the work we will be doing in Truckee and how you can be involved. It starts at 6:30 pm and you don’t want to be late! Dessert will go fast and we’re expecting a large crowd but we’d love to see you before we go. Your presence there and your prayers mean so much to us. 

With love,

Hope

Hello friends and family!

It’s been quite a while since I have had the pleasure of updating you on what is going on in my life and ministry. Thank you for all of your prayers for the delivery of my son, Fletcher! I went into labor on May 7th and delivered him safely at home at 1 am on May 10th. It was the most challenging thing I have ever done but praise be to God for keeping us and allowing us to persevere through your prayers for us. I needed every prayer and am so thankful for each of you.

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Since that blessed day there have been many inherent challenges in becoming a mom but God has been steadfastly faithful to carry us through those as well. Fletcher and I are both healthy and he is developing in leaps and bounds. He just rolled from his tummy to his back on his own today! I was able to take a full 12 weeks of maternity leave thanks to your generous financial support and I started back at work in my new position as financial assistant on the first Monday of August. Since then I have had the privilege of coming alongside our financial department to send funds all over the world in some routine and some short notice situations. Please pray for us as we are navigating several issues in wiring funds internationally. So far we have been able to find other means but it has taken a toll on the whole department and set us behind in other routine matters.

It is such a joy to be able to lift up the arms of our other financial staff members and simply be available to take over tasks that had been weighing heavily upon their shoulders. I also count it a great privilege to be able to step in and help get funds from our office and into the hands of the workers around the world so that Gospel centered ministry can take place among the unreached. Thank YOU for being a part of that! Because of your giving and God’s grace we were able to get the proper funds to several of our Bible College campuses on short notice so that they could start their semesters! Due to COVID restrictions they didn’t know if they would be able to begin so once they got the green light they wanted to start the following week and praise God, we were able to get them the money to do it! May God bless their semesters and bring many returns on your investment and mine.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray that we would be able to get funds to our workers without hinderance so that they can continue in the work God has called them to.
2. Pray for our staff to remain focused and joyful in the work before us.
3. Pray that God would bring me more financial partners to help offset the salary change from working full-time to now part-time.

Spring is in the air, May is around the corner, and new life springing forth! This month we have received wonderful reports from many of our missionaries of the amazing things God is doing while many other missionaries are hunkering down and experiencing the storms of this life.

Missionary Reports

Some of the wonderful reports we received from our missionaries this month regard spectacular Easter celebrations and exciting movements of the Holy Spirit. In Uganda, Brian and Jill Kanyike were able to host a church gathering that included women and children who had previously been restricted from coming to church due to government mandates. In her update, Jill describes a moving and emotional scene as the saints of God were finally gathered together to sing praises to our King. In Mexico, Pastor Hassan and his congregation celebrated the resurrection with a special sweetness, remembering the shutdown last year and enjoying the freedom to meet this year. Their church has grown so much that they need to expand their sanctuary! 

Some of the stormy reports regard strict COVID lockdowns and debilitating loss. In the 10/40 Window, Pastor Paul* reported that the COVID cases in his area have risen 4.5 times since February and that their church has returned to online services. Hundreds of thousands of lost people are dying everyday, yet their government recently lifted anti-conversion laws- please pray that God would soften hearts and bring many to salvation in the midst and wake of the suffering. Even though the clouds are thick right now, we are looking forward to the flowers to come. 

Life in the Office

In our home office we have enjoyed hearing the positive reports and been honored to enter into prayer for the less positive reports. Please join with us in prayer for all of our missionaries. You can find out their requests by signing up for our monthly prayer update here or by visiting the Prayer page on our website. Prayer requests are sent out on the 1st of each month.

We are preparing for this Summer’s Calvary School of Missions and tomorrow marks the application deadline! Please pray that God would provide for our batch of students this year and that He would bring any final applicants that are supposed to go to the school. We also appreciate your prayers over the leadership as Pastors Trent and Tim plan and coordinate many moving pieces to prepare for this year’s program.

I am still coming into the office everyday and expectantly awaiting the arrival of Fletcher who is due in just 10 days! I would appreciate your prayers for a smooth delivery and recovery. God has been so faithful throughout my whole pregnancy and I am excited to see what He has for us in this coming month!

Praise Reports

• We were able to celebrate the Resurrection around the world with less restriction and sweet fellowship.
• God is continuing to raise up and equip future missionaries through SGWM’s ministry and CSOM
• God has sustained and continues to sustain our missionaries in hard-to-reach areas of the globe.

Prayer Requests

• The lost and dying in the 10/40 Window- pray for soft hearts and salvation
• Please keep the SGWM office in your prayers as I step out for my maternity leave in a few weeks (whenever Fletcher decides to make his grand entrance).
• Please pray for my family as we transition to a party of 3

March has been an exciting month in the office as we have been able to facilitate more and more mission work! 

CSOM

The Calvary School of Missions is fast approaching and we have already accepted several students! Please continue to pray that the Lord would draw those prospective students who are supposed to be part of the team this year and that He would provide the funds for every student. 

We have some unique plans in the works for this year that we are excited to see God bring to fruition- this may or may not include a trip to another part of Mexico for a week of special experience and training! 

Short Term Trips

We had one of the best youth trips yet at the beginning of this month! As many of you know, we sent a group of about 30 youth, young adults, and leaders down to Rosarito on March 5th. They were able to minister at a young church plant and provide COVID relief packages of groceries and cleaning supplies. Then they went to a local orphanage and hosted a VBS type outreach for the younger kids and played sports with the older kids. It was a very fruitful day! On the way home they were stuck in the border line for almost 5 hours, but they were far from bored! The adults on the trip were able to get out of the cars and share the Gospel with the vendors; I heard of at least one profession of faith in Christ and dozens of seeds that were planted!

Although I didn’t go on the trip, I was directly involved with all of the planning and preparing. For about two weeks leading up to the team’s departure, Maribel and I edited the Short Term Trip Manual that the team members used for their outreaches and in the final week she and I organized all of the materials and paperwork they needed in order to be successful. It was a blessing to hear stories of how God used those resources for His glory.

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Missionary Care

It was a tremendous blessing to be visited for a week by one of our missionaries who serves in the 10/40 window. We were able to take them out to lunch and hear their heart as well as host a dessert gathering for them. I had the privilege of working with them to put their slideshow together for the update they shared at the dessert gathering and it was so wonderful to be able to sit down together and hear all of the back stories behind each photo and see the photos that didn’t make it into the official presentation.

One of the highlights of their trip for me was hearing them talk about how refreshed they were to be here with us and how our church had embraced and blessed them. That is our desire! We want to spoil our missionaries with love when they come to visit and it is such a blessing to be part of a church body that lives that out. 

51 Days and Counting

That’s right- I am only 51 days away from my due date! Fletcher has continued to grow and is healthy and strong and my pregnancy has continued to be low-risk and wonderful. Thank you for all of the many prayers!

Please continue to pray for a strong finish and a smooth and safe home birth. 

My update is going out a little bit early this month because next week I will be in Yosemite with the Douglass family. Please pray that it would be a sweet time of fellowship with each other and the Lord as we enjoy His creation. Please also keep Fletcher and me in your prayers specifically as we will be far from home if any complications arise. 

With love in Christ,

Hope