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.