From the Pastor's Desk

I am truly excited about next summer. Now it may be a bit early to be thinking about summer already, after all, we are just now entering fall, but that doesn’t make my excitement any less. Throughout the windy fall and the cold winter I will be looking forward to next June. Why is June so exciting for me? Is it because I’m turning 33 in June? Not really, that’s not something I necessarily look forward to. Is it because of the hot weather? Again, not precisely, I actually enjoy the cold of the winter more than the heat of the summer. Well then, what is it that has me so excited for next June?

I’m excited because next June we are going to be sending a group from our church, hopefully a large group of people of many ages, on a mission trip to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. I am excited because since I’ve been here (actually, I believe it was since I interviewed with the search committee) I’ve been talking with people about getting a church mission trip going. There always seemed to be interest in having a mission trip, but until now, the trip never left the talking phase.

There were members of our church who (wisely) decided not to wait for us to get everything together. Martha Harald went to Jamaica three or four years ago, Maria Pencook did mission work in California one break while she was in college, and just this last summer Kirsten Youngberg went down to Texas to teach VBS on a mission trip.

Each of them came back with powerful stories of God working in their lives and through their lives. Each of them found that their time on mission strengthened their walk with God and helped them see their place in the world a bit more clearly. And now you have an opportunity to experience a similar thing.

So mark June 29 – July 3, 2008 on your calendar. Clear your schedule. We need you to be involved. Plan on taking a break from the things going on in your life so that you can help a group of people who truly are in need of help. We will be helping them both physically and spiritually. We will be reaching out with love and truth to share the full gospel with them. It will be a good time of ministry and service and I can promise you that you will learn new things about God and about yourself during this time. We need you to be a part of this, so sign up and let us know that you’re interested. We’re counting on you to make this happen and be a success.