Wednesday, April 16th
Introduced to Timberline staff
This morning we were introduced to the Timberline Church staff. They were all very welcoming and we were able to meet a number of our future friends. It was very encouraging. We also met with Reza, the Pastor responsible for NINE70, and their worship leader Adam.
Thursday, April 17th
House hunting and Green Card Biometrics
We spent the morning looking at houses and then we drove down to Denver for Denise’s Green Card renewal. CIS decided to let her stay in the country a little while longer… Hooray! The Jessie and Becca spent the night at Aunt Teresa’s house (being wild).
Friday, April 18th
Mom and Dad’s
We have been staying at my parents’ house for the past few days feeding the corn addicted llama and trying to figure out how to make the hot tub warm up. Mom has been out visiting her siblings in western Colorado while my Dad has been hiking the Grand Canyon. This morning Denise and Teresa went on a ‘spring cleaning’ rampage. I was quite impressed with my sisters “green” cleaning supplies. They work and they don’t smell so caustic.
We went to have dinner with Reza who also invited Scott and Bethany whose parents are friends with one of our friends here in Colorado Springs.
“Holla” Van Ministry
Need a free ride home because you are too drunk to drive? Just “Holla!”
From 9:30pm until late in the early morning we were out in Old Town Fort Collins with our fellow NINE70 crew, sharing the gospel and God’s love with Fort Collins’ young people while helping them get home safely. I got home at 3:37am!
Pre-game Prayer…
For two hours before heading out about 25 young adults met at the church to pray for our city and what would happen later that night. It was so encouraging to hear their passion and desire to see God’s intervention in Fort Collins. There was rarely a quiet moment as prayer after prayer were spontaneously poured out before the Lord. We are so excited to work with a group of young people that are eager to serve God and to see lives transformed.
In Old Town we set up a canopy, sign-up tables and a rockin’ sound system. There are a number of bars and night clubs in this area that cater to the university crowds who inevitably end up drinking way too much. There are many reasons why people seek out this type of experience. So, as NINE70, we had about 40 people out there to talk to them and help them home if they needed it.
In the course of the evening we transported over 120 people. Lots of us had opportunities to talk to them as we waited for the vans to return while others, in the vans, did the same along the way. We have a prayer room set up in a building near by. Prayer requests were lifted up in real time as we texted back and forth about conversations that were happening. One young man decided to follow Jesus and a number of others were in church on Sunday morning.
I had a conversation with a young man who was a little too far gone and had a strong aversion to ‘religion.’ I listened as he ranted on and on. After a few minutes he started to realize that I was actually listening to what he was saying and started to ask some questions. From there the rants subsided, partially, and by the time his friend flagged down a taxi all he wanted was to give me a hug. So many people just want to be loved. They want someone to listen. They want to be valued. He probably didn’t even remember the conversation the next day, but it inspired me to keep loving people.
The night also afforded the opportunity to get to know some more NINE70ers. I really enjoyed a conversation with one young lady that is fired up about abstinence. She has a passion for helping adolescents develop positive self-esteem and healthy relationships so that they don’t engage in destructive sexual behaviors. It was so awesome to hear how she is implementing her passion for impacting young people through public school counseling and helping them find balance in our over sexualized culture.
Saturday April 19th
Once bitten, twice shy…
After sleeping in, we enjoyed the rest of Saturday morning outside and went to visit our friends Keith and Malory, who have a puppy which is almost the same age as ours. Once we arrived, I took our dog out into the back yard. I was trying to make sure that the puppies were getting along and paying attention to the three barking dogs on the other side of their very short fence.
As I reached over the fence to pet the neighbor’s friendly golden retriever, a sneaky, 25 pound, demon possessed mutt came from the side and sank his teeth into my forearm. I instinctively lifted my arm, because my other hand was occupied holding on to my own dog, and the little monster remained attached and started to swing himself around as if he was stuck in an invisible washing machine! Fortunately only one of his teeth made a puncture wound but three days later my arm is still swollen and bruised. The best part of the experience was not making a big deal of the ordeal because I felt stupid for not being more careful and I didn’t want our friends to feel bad…
Saturday April 19th
Communion Dinner
We had dinner with about 35 young leaders who are responsible for different aspects of NINE70. We met a young man and found that we had a mutual friend from YWAM. After dinner we were asked to share our story and our vision for participating in NINE70 with a group of older leaders and were very encouraged to find that, although this is the first time that we have met, we are all on the same page about what needs to happen and where the ministry needs to develop. It established our credibility with them and resulted in a good foundation for future relationship.
Sunday April 20th
“The Edge”
On Sunday morning we went to a new ultra-contemporary Timberline church service that is held in video venue. This means that the worship style is much more relevant and appropriate for young people when it is time for the message a big screen comes down and a projection of the Pastor in the main auditorium makes it look like he is standing right there. Reza is going to be MCing most of these services so they will, no doubt, become related to NINE70 in some aspects. We ended up meeting a young man named Kevin who has just taken an internship and were able to give him some information about good churches in the Dallas area.
Fireplace Young couples meeting
NINE70 has a ministry to young married couples called the “Fireplace.” We went to one of their Sunday night home meetings on our way back to Colorado Springs. It is a wonderful group of young people who are discovering how to honor God through their marriages. It was such a fun time. We talked about family traditions and how to mke them a positive component of a successful family.
Pizza
On our last trip up to Fort Collins we ate pizza four days in a row. Too much of a good thing can be too much…
Monday April 21st
Staining and Mulch
Speaking of too much of a good thing… I worked on staining the deck and spreading mulch around our house for 12 hours… It was so great to spend a day outside working hard and getting dirty. The wind was so strong at some points that I had to limit the amount of stain I got on the brush or it would blow off! When we turned our attention to the mulch we had to spread a most of it by hand, taking into account the direction of the wind because it would blow a foot or more to the side of where we let go. Even so, it was a very productive day and the outside of the house looks great!
