9600 E Mill Plain Blvd Vancouver, WA 98664  (360) 892-5520

A Merry Band of North-Goers

As you may recall, I shared in January with the church body about an upcoming mission trip opportunity. My family and I are planning to spend a week at Rock Nest Ranch this summer to serve First Nations kids at a Bible Camp, and we were just wondering if anyone would want to come with us. We didn’t really know what to expect, and even wondered if anyone would take us up on the offer, or if we would just end up going by ourselves.

Well, it turns out, 26 people decided to join us. So that makes for a grand total of 31 people heading North in mid-July! The team is made up of 16 adults, 8 teens, and 7 children, from 11 families (Donovan, McRay, Valway, Wence, Ahrendt, Alvarez, Martinez, Archer, Eyster, Gessert, Dryden). I am so excited to see this trip and this team come together! There are more than a few logistical questions to tackle between now and July 9, not the least of which is the people-hauling question: What’s the best way for 31 people to travel the 919 miles to and from the camp?

One of the other questions facing some of the team members is the question of cost. Truly, this trip is remarkably affordable. The cost per adult is $360, and for kids it’s $284. It’s not a ton of money, but it does add up when you’re bringing a family of 4 or 5. Or even 2! We don’t plan to do any major team fundraisers, but there are some financial needs among the team members. I know there are folks on the team who would love the chance to earn some money, so if you have any work that needs to be done, for which you would want to contribute to the trip, that would sure be a big blessing. Or if you just feel compelled to help supplement the cost for a family/person who could use the help, that would be incredible, too. In either case, you can reach out to me via email, or by calling the church office, and I could help make those connections. You can also support the trip directly by giving on our website and selecting mission fund and then note that it’s for the Canada Mission Trip, or for a specific family going on the trip.

We would sure love for you to pray for us as we prepare to go. Like I mentioned, there are a thousand logistics questions to solve, so pray for wisdom in the many decisions to make. And pray for our hearts to be well-prepared to serve. It can be easy (at least for me), to get all excited to serve the Lord and nearly forget to invite Him to work in our hearts so that we might be prepared to serve well. Pray, too, for the kids who might come. There is a lot of work to be done by the folks at the camp to invite kids to come, especially because this will be the first year that the camp has been operating since it shut down in 2020 for Covid. And in light of the cost, pray that all the team members would find success in raising the necessary funds to go. Thanks in advance for praying for us!

Ryan Donovan

Categories: Evergreen Connection