November 2014 Highlights

In November our busy, fall conference season wrapped up.  We had a chance to catch our breath and actually work on some projects around here like deep cleaning and painting in housekeeping.  In maintenance Dan and the guys could get into buildings and do much needed repairs properly.  Some of our staff took a trip to Asia to make some connections for future partnerships and team outreaches.  This is a first for our base to be in this part of the world so we are excited to see how God will lead.  The C/DTS finished up lecture phase and outreach preparations in November and left for South Africa on November 22.  The base is always so quiet when they leave.  I like the way there is an ebb and flow here.  It's good to have just us staff for a little while during this quiet time and then we are always excited for teams to return from outreach and for new schools to start.  

This is one CDTS family that our boys enjoyed playing with.  They are from New Zealand. 

In Michigan, Thanksgiving was always so predictable.  We would see the same people almost every year and eat the same delicious foods every year.  Since we began serving with YWAM each Thanksgiving has been very different.  2009 we were on outreach in Fiji, very warm and beautiful.  2010 we were with a family from church.  There was another family there too that are missionaries from Uganda to the U.S. so we had some Ugandan food.  2011 we were leading outreach in Guatemala, I think we ate tamales in addition to some traditional U.S. dishes. 2012 we hosted with some families here, pretty  normal.  2013 was similar to the year before but with different people.  2014 may be one of the most memorable yet!  We had 2 gals from Brazil, one just arrived the day before and didn't speak any English.  We also had a man from India, he had just joined our staff and thankfully he spoke English.  Here's where it really gets interesting.  We had a staff family that cooks southern food for Thanksgiving.  While I cooked the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green bean casserole she cooked greens, ribs, fried chicken, and sweet potato pie.  Wow, what a feast we had!  We got to explain why we celebrate the holiday to our friends that were experiencing their first American Thanksgiving.  I always miss family back home on Thanksgiving but I'm so thankful for good friends to celebrate with here.

The fist PVC greenhouse that we built in the spring started to break when the temps hit triple digits.  Dan was able to cut it into big pieces and re-design it.  One day in November we gathered some strong teens and put up the pieces while Dan glued them together.  It was hard work but good to have a greenhouse frame up again.

It needs some supports and ends then it's ready for plastic. 

October 2014 Highlights

October started out with a quick day trip to a wedding of a dear friend that used to be on staff with us.  It was in the beautiful Napa valley and we would have loved to have stayed but had to get back for a event.  We hosted what we call a YWAM Presence Gathering on our base.  This is when we invite other bases from the west coast to come, stay for a few days and seek the Lord together.  It's a lot of work but so good to have a huge group of YWAMers together in one place!  After that conference we had a little bit more time to spend on our aquaponics system.  

We picked these fresh veggies and herbs from our garden in October.

This is a compost box and pile that Robin keeps adding to in effort to make great soil.

These are the pipes that will carry the nutrient rich fish water to the grow beds. 

Here Dan and some fellow staff are putting the plastic liner in one of the grow beds.

We even got some of the teens from our base involved in the project.

Here's our system with fish tanks in the middle and 2 grow beds on the sides.

After a way too busy September and plenty to do in October we were ready for a quick, fall camping trip with friends.  The forecast included a Saturday of rain but we decided to go anyway.  It was an adventure and we made great memories.  The guys put up lots of tarps to create a warm, dry "living room" for us that included our fire pit and picnic table.  The boys had to dig trenches around our tent to keep the flood waters out.  Adventurous yes, would we do it again?  maybe not.  

Every Monday we take part in a class (a secondary YWAM school) called School of Ministry Development (SOMD).  This fall quarter started in September and lasts about 12 weeks.  The topic for this fall quarter is outreach and evangelism.  We had one great class about evangelism explosion and learned some fun techniques for sharing the gospel.  

We also take part in local outreach and either Dan or Robin goes to the nearby town of Hamilton City almost every Friday.  We've been working with precious middle school and a few high school boys.  The town is known for crime, gangs and drugs so we want to reach the next generation before the gangs do.  Robin also wants to start a community garden there on an empty lot and we may replace a crumbling roof on a home in town.  

Robin has been teaching science to the K-2 grade class this fall.  She loves kids and science and wants to instill a love of science in the kids.  She currently has 4 kids, 2 staff kids and 2 whose parents are in CDTS.  With all this, she is the head of housekeeping and has to lead a department to keep our base clean and make sure we are prepared for conferences.  

Dan is part of the maintenance leadership team and does a lot of project planning and prioritizing needs in our busy maintenance department.  There are 80 buildings on our base that were mostly built in the 20's so there is ALWAYS something to fix or remodel!  

You can see, there is never a dull moment!

September 2014 Highlights

Ah, September.  The kids go back to school.  Robin is sad because she loves being home with them during the summer.  Dan is looking forward to a cooler fall though September can still be in the triple digits.  Robin went back to being the head of housekeeping when the boys went back to school.  In mid-September we have one of our busiest weeks of the year.  We host students from Bethel school up in Redding. They come in 3 groups because they can't all fit on our base at once.  So, one group comes for 2 nights, then we clean everything so the next group can come for 2 nights.  Then we clean again for the 3rd group and then we had a small weekend conference.  We're talking 800-1,000 guests in ONE WEEK!  That's a lot of housekeeping and meals to cook and clean up for.  The beauty of the week is that they are all students from the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry which is associated with Bethel Church.  They are so gracious and appreciative throughout the week.  It's a lot of work but it's a beautiful week.  I always want to get photos during this week but am too busy or tired and I always forget.  :(

First day of school, 9th, 7th and 4th.

I admired this darling from my kitchen window till I realized her mom was eating my flowers.

In YWAM people always come and go.  3 of these lovely ladies have gone back home and the other one is returning to Belize this spring.  It's always hard to say "see ya later".  

August 2014 Highlights

You all know the saying "time flies when you're having fun".  Well, life is busy and we're often having fun so time has flown by and we've neglected our blog.  We apologize to those of you that keep checking for a new post.  We really want to post more regularly and we'll do our best...but time keeps flying.

So, what happened in August?  First 24/7, our summer program, finished up and the young people went back home.  This is a program for youth ages 15-18 that lasts for 7 weeks.  They spend time in class every day learning about topics like their identity in Christ and God's father heart.  They serve us a lot on base by doing kitchen clean ups after our summer camper's meals and cleaning the rooms on the weekends between groups of campers.  They also got to spend two weeks in Mexico this year serving at an orphanage and working for a house building ministry.

The summer C/DTS also returned in August from Brazil and graduated.  They spent some time on base debriefing their outreach and sharing testimonies about what God did in them and through them while they were gone.  Two families from this C/DTS decided to join our staff so this is a huge blessing to us.

Here are some of the DTS students mostly from Central and South America.

Summers here are so busy with youth camps and it's SO HOT that by August when camps are done we are pretty exhausted.  Many of our staff take some vacation time in August before school and DTS starts again in September.  We spent 4 days camping at beautiful Lake Almanor which is north of us in the mountains. It was a wonderful time for the kids to swim and for us to relax in the cooler mountain air.  Phase 10 was the game of the trip this time.  Nathaniel beat Dan and was so proud of himself!

The faint peak in the distance on the right is Lassen Peak.  We love going to Lassen park for snow and hiking.