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Our Leadership
blog
One of the things that we highly value is listening to one another's stories. In particular, we love to hear about how people are encountering Jesus in their day-to-day lives. This might be in big ways...but it also happens most often in smaller ways (sometimes in ways that are really easy to miss.)
On this page you will find a treasure trove of such stories! May your own walk with Jesus be deeply encouraged and nourished by what you read here.
If you are interested in sharing some of your story here, please email us to let us know!
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Evacuation!
In late July, I went to Young Life’s high school camp, Washington Family Ranch at Canyon in Central Oregon. The prior week, campers had been sent home early because of the nearby Cram Fire. That fire didn’t really threaten the camp directly, but they evacuated as a precaution. We campers knew about the evacuation, but assumed things were OK because - Here we are! They let us come! Although the air was hazy and smoky, we thought it must be OK. On the third day of camp, ar
Lyla Watson
6 days ago4 min read
Rainbow of Promise
In mid-September we had a blustery, windy, rainy day on Lake Sammamish. The skies darkened; the rain came pelting down with gale force winds. They blew in sideways getting everything wet, even things under cover. The lake had white caps. I had no desire to go outside. I was grateful for a warm, dry house. As I looked out, I thought about Noah and what he must have been looking at on the ark. I can imagine him looking out and seeing what I saw: lots of water, gray clouds
Bob Witty
Oct 12 min read
The Eyes Have It
Three years before we met as freshmen in college, my wife and I had a similar experience. At the age of fifteen we both sat for gifted artists who used pieces of pastel chalk to create images of who they saw sitting before them. Wendy’s portrait was done in Mexico City by Gordon Wetmore, who would later paint Richard Nixon. My portrait was done at Lohr’s Pharmacy in Wenatchee by Srae Stronach who had painted Harry Truman. Both portraits hang in our bedroom six decades later.
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Sep 253 min read
I Shifted
In high school, a “Jesus Freak” told me about Jesus. A few weeks later, I decided to accept Jesus as savior. But not 100%, not yet. Not fully yet. Then in Alaska on a Coast Guard ship, a cook told me again about Jesus. Then in Seattle, still in the Coast Guard, I saw the “I Found It” billboards and called the number. A man came to the base to talk to me once more about Jesus. This time it was different. This time I made Jesus my Lord and Savior. Shortly after, I met Karen,
Steve Pettijohn
Sep 183 min read
A Memorable Summer Recalled
The summer of 2001 was memorable for many reasons for our family. Our oldest daughter graduated from high school. Both my folks and my wife’s folks celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries. Those celebrations included family reunions in both Wenatchee (my hometown) and Seaside, Oregon (where my in-laws had honeymooned in 1951). It was the summer my brother and I traveled to Norway to visit the birthplace of our immigrant grandfather who left home with his four brothers t
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Sep 103 min read
Mom's Ashes
Mom passed into the arms of Jesus on February 10, 2022. On August 17, 2026, I knew what to do with her ashes. Since February 2022, her ashes have been sitting in a cardboard box, enclosed in a green velvet bag. They weigh five and a half pounds. I scattered my dad’s ashes on Tiger Mountain in 2020, on the Bus Trail, a wheel chair accessible trail that loops around to Tradition Lake and features an ancient abandoned school bus. Although I had permission to scatter the ashes
Jani James
Sep 33 min read
Celebrating A Remarkable Life
Canada, Mexico and the United States hosted this year’s FIFA World Cup. Those same three nations hosted a most remarkable life over the course of ninety-five years. She was my wife’s mother and she died last month. Norma Steven was born and raised in British Columbia. She served as a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Mexico City and spent the last six decades of her adult life in Southern California. Her life, like the soccer tournament that highlighted our summer
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Aug 273 min read
Assumptions
“Bob,” the voice on the phone says, “we have a problem…with a breaker in our electrical panel at church. It keeps tripping. It won’t hold.” Never a good scenario. My mind kicks into overdrive reviewing all the different possibilities and what may be the cause. “It's the breaker that feeds our server and computer cabinet. I think it might be a bad breaker,” Kent (the voice on the phone) clarifies. Okay, good. More information. At least now I have an idea of what it fe
Bob Witty
Aug 203 min read
All's Well
This pastoral search has been an absolute delight. Not one day have I known what I was doing. As our Leadership Team put together the Pastoral Search Team (PST), I found my arm volunteering to chair the team before my mind caught up. My heart was fertile ground for God’s move. I told the Lord, “We are not going anywhere that You are not leading, and we won’t move until you say.” Our time this winter and spring was spent praying, studying our Covenant missional markers (remem
Beth Soderlund
Aug 132 min read
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