10. Brewster and Bill! Our regional YL staff teammate, Bill Dooley, has been consistently meeting, praying with and supporting the efforts of a group of adults in Brewster, WA on the Columbia River. The past few months, after lots of meeting but little dynamic stirring, the adults started pulling kids together and something big is sparking that is leading to Young Life starting there, and a committee chair came forward, an essential part to ensure hundreds of kids here will be known, prayed for and introduced to Jesus.
9. "No way Jose'" kids. Tanya and other leaders and I used to have a 3 columned list of kids we prayed to come to camp. The 3 columns were: Surely Shirley. Maybe Baby and No Way Jose'. YL is positioned to encourage the latter two columns of kids to come. Two no way Jose' kids came to Malibu with TJ from Leavenworth HS. Both proclaimed they were 'Athiest' and pushed back on everything at camp from club, to cabin time to quiet times. Yet by the end of the week, it was a combination of those three, along with the way their leader, TJ, reflected the love of Jesus, they both stood up at Say-So starting a new relationship with God!
8. Power Women! This year, strong women were given opportunities to step up and they thrived. Two of our staff, CJ and Tanya, served as month-long camp directors for WFR and Malibu. Both slayed it. Three of our largest financial gifts (10K) were written by women. Our new regional admin, Amber Bonetti, is a butt-kicker, as is YoungLives coordinator Cassie Coats, fiercely creating new possibilities for YLVS coordinators across the region. New hires, Stephanie Bugas, (Walla Walla) Kate McGinnis (Missoula) and Tanita Maddox (ARD) top the list of new-to-us-power-women. Many committee chairs making the biggest waves are dynamic women. The list goes on...and women rose strong in 2019!
7. Muslim family, alive in Christ. I cannot say their names, for safety, but a family of kids in Spokane both experienced the power and deep love of God this summer. One met Christ 2 summers ago at Malibu and prayed her little brother would later come and experience the same. He did, and now both know Jesus and their lives will never be the same (see an earlier blog entry for more.)
6. "I'm still standing." Been a tough year, but staff are still standing! This year a few staff whom I love had tough sledding. Financially, emotionally, feeling alone, etc. Three are dear to me. For me to be in leadership and see them struggle and suffer on a heart level, I ached with them. As the year has progressed, seeing God's people rise up alongside them and to see the Spirit carry them through...it is a highlight. Although if I had a magic wand, I would gladly do away with the pain.
5. Hey Jeffrey! Our staff person, Jeffrey Chambers, who's past life has been filled with pain and poverty, has thrived while serving in Tri-Cities area, alongside Steve Vollmer. This summer he was asked to speak at WFR-Creekside. He had typical first week jitters, yet the last two weeks he served wonderfully and will speak again this summer. ALSO, he applied to be the next lead area director for Tri_Cities, after years of believing he's only a second-in-change kind of guy, he was just chosen to be hired as the #1 guy. His tears of joy!4. Year of the matching gift. I haven't participated in a 'matching gift' campaign for a few years. But this year...took the all-time cake, for me. We reached a 45K campaign in September. And at our 'Art and Wine' Auction in April, we had a 10K match. Both put us in reach of hiring an associate regional director for the Inland NW region. Big time response by our supporters; impact ahead! AND...we were JUST offered ANOTHER 25K match for this year end, by December 31st.
3. Our regional vision has been for our leaders to build relationships with 35,000 kids a year. The highest we got to was 27,500 and we have stalled. In October, Inland NW region merged with Montana/North Wyoming and wouldn't you know it...their leaders' total relationships with kids joined with ours and we subsequently reached our 35,000 'kids known by name and prayed for' goal! Time for a NEW GOAL for 2020-2025.
2. YoungLives. Last Sept I shared that it was my worst month ever on YL staff. YLVS in Spokane came unraveled and I stepped in to make tough calls. Since then it has been pulled together. Its in a drastically new season of flourishing. Building upon legendary work of Shauna, Linda and co had established, YLVS has truly begun reaching new heights through the leadership of Melissa, Niki (and Cassie) in partnership with their supportive areas. '19 saw incredible impact in the lives of teen moms across Spokane.
1. Our region hired two Associate Regional Directors: Tanita Maddox and Jim Stuck. After almost two years of deliberating, we made the decision as a board, inspired by those who gave generously. This new direction is God’s way of answering our prayer for growing deeper in faith, reaching more kids and experiencing greater health among our staff. So...giddy up, 2020+!
Part B to #1 is the addition of Senior Associate RD, Keith Dow. He leads Montana/N Wyoming areas and is already among my most synergistic teammates I have ever served alongside. He is wildly gifted and will bring tremendous blessing to the whole Mountain West Region and to me.
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