one week in

All 5 of us got jobs at ski resorts. We split up into two groups and work at two different mountains. Some of us are at working as ski instructors, snowboard instructors, or kiddie ride facilitators. Work has been really busy through this holiday season, and we're meeting tons of new co-workers everyday.

We are still currently living at the church building and today, being Sunday, found us stashing all of our gear in a side room as people showed up to Sunday school. As we examine our ministry approach, housing options are bountiful. A couple in the church has opened up their home to the 5 of us and we're looking to see if it'd be a good fit with all of the ministry ideas that we had in mind.

It's a really neat feeling to be floating around Sierra Bible Church in the morning before service. People come up to us and ask us how we're doing and honestly care. We've been invited to dinner countless times and have been meeting church members intentionally and even as we are at work or passing through town. It's a cool feeling to have the church body so involved in our lives.

God has been so good to us. He's placed us in a body of believers that is serious about being the Church. We've been given so much and the expectations are so high for the ministry. It's our will to humbly move forward knowing that God will further His own glory with or without our help yet strongly desiring to be a part of His plan.

boots on the ground

2000 miles in the Ford Taurus brough the Tahoe Team to the much anticipated meeting with our last member, Brad, in the parking lot of In-and-Out burger in Reno, NV. After so many phone calls and internet meetings, it was great to finally meet in person!

We set up base camp in Reno and were warmly greeted by a local family. The next morning was spent scrambling through housing leads and job openings. A 30 minute drive placed us in the town of Truckee, which will be our home for the next several months. Over the course of a couple hours, we looked at a couple of options for leasing a cabin and were offered jobs at a local ski hill. The next day in Truckee we were offered even more jobs as snowboard instructors! With these options, we chose to split our team (as to not dominate the small hill with too many personel) and placed 2 workers at the smaller resort and 3 at the larger. This works very well with our transportation situation (we have 2 cars). The smaller resort is just minutes away from our housing.

As for housing, there's a couple of great cabins that fit our profile. The rent's not that crazy and the location is great. And then there's our host: Sierra Bible Church. They have stepped above and beyond our expectations. Even through all my studies in missions and church, I don't know if this is normal! They have warmly embraced us even before we did anything. There hospitality is on a level I never though possible. In one Sunday morning service we meet dozens of members at the church, tons of youth, and the ministry team. We were presented to the church and the love just started pouring out! We were given more job offers and housing opportunities.

With so much expectation upon our arrival and so much excitement surrounding the ministry, our work is cut out for us. We came to minister and Sierra Bible set the bar. It's our time to do what we came here for.

With thanksgiving for what God has already provided, we look forward in prayer to see what He has next for us. Our ministry plan is to be re-aligned and we've to make some decisions with housing. Thank you for all of your support and keep these points in prayer!

We have arrived!!!

After 7 tanks of gas, a case of red bull and 35 hours of straight driving, we have safely arrived to Reno, Nevada. God is to be praised for so many reasons. It is a huge blessing that a Ford Taurus with a trailer was able to take us 2000 miles without breaking down. Upon arrival we met up with our fifth team member Brad Carlson and we are excited to have him with us. He is great guy with a passion for the Lord. Please continue to pray for us as we search for jobs and a place to stay in the Truckee/Donner area. God is Good!!!

one week and counting (down)

As the Tahoe Team wraps up koledge here in Chicago, anticipation builds for the coming winter season. It's a hustle to turn in the final papers and cram as much studying as possible into every night, but a 2000 mile road trip keeps us focused and pressing forward.

God has been so good to us and moved many hearts to generous giving. We've been blessed to receive such donations and are excited to see God bring in the other $6000 we need to set up an effective ministry base (and feed ourselves). If you could offer up a prayer for this need it would be great, but our biggest need is found elsewhere. Our approach to mission is that of Tentmaking. In a nutshell, a tentmaking missionary intentionally enters into a culture to work in a "secular" job place with the goal of preaching Christ there while earning his daily bread. It's a staple of our ministry approach and as of one week before we show up to Tahoe, not one of us on the team has a solid job offer. I know unemployment is on epic proportions, but I serve a God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Pray that we would get plugged into the jobs that would best help us reach our snowboarder friends!