Hello Seattle!

Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith as Hebrews 12:2 tells us. As I reflect on what Jesus did in my heart and in the hearts of our students in Seattle, I am encouraged and strengthened in my faith of our wonderful Lord.

On Friday, March 11th we took 59 students and 4 staff members from the University of Wyoming and Colorado State in 9 mini vans and trekked up to the great Northwest. We drove straight through the night and made it to our home (a local church) on Saturday afternoon to be greeted by our wonderful servants (a couple of mothers of the Wyo Nav staff) to hugs and snacks.

This was my third year on the Spring Break Trip to Seattle; our second year teaming up with UWyo and my first year as a staff member. God used these students to shine His light to the city that is rainy, liberal in culture and typically spiritually dark.

A cool tree we found once we arrived. One of the many moss covered trees in Seattle.

On Sunday, March 13th, we headed to Mars Hill church to hear one of my favorite bible teachers preach the Word of God. Mark Driscoll was teaching on Luke 16:14-18. His sermon was on Jesus and the Law as well as the topics of divorce and marriage. Divorce has been a hot topic for me lately as I have read and heard numerous sermons on the tough topic that effects all of us in some way. It has hit home for me in recent months as my sister has been laboring for Jesus as she is in the process of trusting God for her marriage. It was a great message and encouraging for me to hear as Driscoll also discussed how to safeguard a marriage:

    1.    Joint church attendance - living in Gospel centered community (small groups, classes)
    2.    Agree on Theology - who Jesus is and why did he die
    3.    Take your faith home - pray together, read the bible (70 % of couples who do this report being "happy")

It was a great message and many students were discussing what they learned throughout the week. After church we took to the city and went to Pike Place Market where we caught some fish and sampled some of the best foods from the Northwest. A group of us also went to the first Starbucks ever! I had a great conversation with the assist manager of the store and Tiana said that she considers her Starbucks as a souvenir shop that sells coffee. This place was packed and the employees were cheerfully engaged with their customers.

After an afternoon at the market, we then headed across the Puget Sound on a ferry boat. We went to an island across the way to have dinner and I got some great fish and chips. I had an awesome conversation with a student, Ben Lampe, from UWyo and found out that we will be spending our summer together at the Navigators Summer Training Program (STP). -more info on this summer adventure coming soon!

On Monday, we had our campus evangelism day at the University of Washington. It was great to see these nervous students step out to be used by God to bring His Gospel to the campus. Lots of great conversations were had and this gave the students confidence in sharing their faith with strangers. I went out with Ali, a sophomore from CSU. Ali and I tried for an hour but just could not get into any spiritual conversations while we were on campus. We decided to take our efforts inside to the student union. As we sat down, we talked with a young student sitting next to us but he was more interested in his exam that was in 30 minutes then talking about Jesus. Ali and I just sat and chatted for a bit and I found out that she was currently being confirmed in the Catholic church. We chatted for a while about my experience in the Catholic church and why she was doing it. Michelle has shared stories about Ali's growth in their bible study and it was good to ask Ali questions and she was she was learning. I told her that if she ever had questions about some of the things they were teaching her that I want to be a resource for her.

The Plaza and Library at UWash!

After Evangelism on campus we headed to the Space Needle for dinner! We had dinner half way up the tower and the Regional Director for the Navigators Northwest Region shared from the Word on the Majesty of God and encouraged all of us to not lose sight on God's Majesty. We then had a dance party and headed up to the top of the space needle for some epic views and photo sessions.

Alex was involved at my church last year. He transferred to UWyo and has gotten involved with the Navigators.

Corey and I co-lead a freshmen study together.

This photo explains our EDGE team!

A couple of Wyoming studs!

This is our Mini Van Entourage, from the Space Needle!

On Tuesday we started our service projects. We had groups going out early in the morning to serve in men's and women's  homeless shelters, an evangelism team, habitat for humanity, and another group helping a battered women's shelter prepare for opening weekend. The past 2 years I served at the Union Gospel Mission serving the homeless but this year I was assigned to lead a Habitat for Humanity group. We had 2 Habitat groups and my group was filled with 14 hilarious students. On our first day at our Habitat site, we arrived at our house that we would be helping out at and one of our students, Tommy, knew the Habitat representative that we would be working with all week, Evan. Evan grew up with Tommy's brother (and my friend) Rob who graduated from CSU in 2009. It was encouraging to chat with Evan and hear his story and desire to head to the mission field this summer. He is planning on heading over to Slovenia with a organization called Josiah Venture. My local church supports an engaged couple working with JV over in the Czech Republic. Totally a God thing to connect us up in Seattle, serving alongside habitat, on a spring break trip!

Evan and Tommy at our Habitat Site! Please pray for Evan and his trip to Slovenia this summer.

During our first day at the work site we were ripping off siding on a house and replacing windows. We also put up Dow Board insulation and House Wrap to make the house more weather friendly. We were climbing all over the roof, swinging hammers and working hard for our money! Oh wait, there was no money. We were doing it all in the name of Jesus. It was fulfilling to serve and help out the future family in this home. 

 

The next day we headed over to a different site to a home recently acquired by Habitat. 1/2 the group stayed at the new site and half the group headed back to the siding site. I headed back to the original site and was pleased to hear stories from the other half of our team at lunch. One of our students, Emily was pulling up 100's of staples under the carpet that needed to be removed. She admittantly said she didn't understand why or how this was impacting Jesus. Later in the day, the future owner of the home came in and saw all the progress the group had done. This meek woman even mentioned that she was taken aback when she noticed all the staples that had been pulled up. Emily couldn't help but to humbly smile and know that even a little staple will make an impact in someone's life for Jesus. Colossians 3:17 -Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks to the Father through Him. 

 

Scaffolding is fun and scary all at the same time!

On Thursday we finished up at our Habitat site. It was amazing to see the progress done in just 3 days of working but what really took me away was the bond our team had developed. We would spend 45 minutes each day traveling to and from our work site and it was great to hear the conversations and see the smiles on the students faces. 

 

After saying our goodbyes to our Habitat crew, we headed back to Pike Place Market for a quick trip to pick up some blood oranges and catch some fish. While we were there, we saw a fresh Alaskan Halibut that was on sale for $18 a pound. We asked the guy at the fish market how much it weighed and he said around 60 pounds. That's over $1,000 for a fish! 

The $1,000 Halibut!

Zach catching a big Salmon at Pike Place!

That evening we had our last night together and we gathered for dinner. As we all sat in our dinning room at round tables, someone mentioned that not one table was represented by just 1 school. All of the students were bonded and unified and it just brought a smile to my face. After dinner the students shared stories for almost 2 hours of what God had done in their lives that week. One girl, Lauren shared that she was impressed how the men treated the women on the trip and her guy friends had never done that to her in the past. She stated that the bar has officially been raised for her male friends. Another student shared that she has completely surrendered her life and future plans to God; I suspect she will go on staff with the Navigators! The leader of our homeless shelter group said he was encouraged by the men in his group being prayer warriors throughout the week. He also mentioned that as he was seeking God for his future plans over the week, he received a phone call from his uncle who is starting a medical clinic in China. I suspect he will begin the application process for medical school. Another student from CSU, who is very...lets say stoic... was grateful that the Nav staff talked with him and really helping him through some issues in his life. 

We ended our time with a student from Wyo sharing that his grandfather had passed away this week. He was choked up most of the time and shared a verse and that what we were doing really was impacting eternity. It was very moving. After almost 2 hours, I closed us in prayer and we started to clean up. Friday morning we headed out and back down to Wyo and Colo. I noticed the fellowship of the students on the way home. On our way out there, students didn't switch vans. On the way home, every time we stopped the students were playing musical vans to hang out with different people. 

So all in all it was incredible. People keep asking me highlights and all I can really say is just the impact the Lord did in the lives of these college students in just 9 days. Thank you Jesus for your goodness! Psalm 34:8

I've copied some entries below from a Journal that was going around all week. If you still want to read up on the trip, you can check out the long Facebook Note of Journal entries here. I love you all; thanks for helping me experience incredible things like this Spring Break trip that remind me of why I wanted to come on staff. 

because He reigns,

-Daniel

Dear God,

We LOVE you! It is cool to hear how you are working through all the teams.  Only by your power are we doing what we are doing.  On the 1&2 habitat teams, it is so cool how even though we are battered by the rain, moving tons upon tons of gravel, and up to our knees in mud, we keep our joy because it is all for you.  The verse we have as a team is Colossians 3:23.  Speaks to us amazingly.  Overall, this experience is amazing for all of us.

In Christ,

Benjamin Lampe

God,

you are SO Good!  Your Providence is so incredible.  We were supposed to be at Penny's Place this week, but plans fell through, and we are now at the Aurora Commons, a safe commonplace for neighborhood people along Aurora Ave.  A couple (Andy and Lisa) and a woman, Karen, started this up a year ago, and it is having it's grand opening on Friday! It's so cool because you placed us at the Aurora Commons so we could finish it for them.  Lisa said it would not have been finished without our help.  God, you totally know what you're doing!

I met a woman today who ended up in Seattle because she felt called to Seattle.  She looked up other Seattles, but she said this was the only one haha.  So she left Texas and came here with no plans, no friends, no job..That amazed me - what faith! So she landed as a neighbor to Lisa and Andy and is now working towards the Aurora Commons.

I have learned so much about your plans, God, and how it's okay if I don't know them because you are in complete control.  Thank you for what you will do in my life and my future.  I love you.

Love,

Sarah Maddy.

All my life, I despised Christians.  It's a bizarre thing to say since I have declared myself one for my whole life.  I had been in a Christian culture long enough to conclude that they were just like everyone else but with a syrupy-sweet facade that made me furious.

I believed this up until this trip.  I've been involved with Nav's for over a year and I honestly could only see judgment instead of love.  I especially believed that guys just pulled the Jesus card to pick up chicks.

This week I've seen the guys picking up dishes, helping out without being asked and honestly doing it because they wanted to.  I have some really close guy friends who I considered generally good guys.  They can't compare to the men I have met this week.

They would never swear at me, say something derogatory, hit me, or complain if they so much as had to pick up a bag.  I have never thought that men could actually care for you without wanting something in return.

I applaud the Wyoming and Colorado Navs men for letting me see what true Christianity is.

- Lauren Moser

I am so blown away by God! Phil. 3:7-11 has been so true.  There is absolutely 100% nothing better than knowing God.  To see what He has shown each person in the last week has been incredible.  To see what He showed me through interactions with various people during evangelism....WOW! God is sovereign.  He desires me. Ericka. Jessica. Kirk. Stuart. Stowe. His pursuit is ceaseless. His anguish is unimaginable. It leaves me without words, knowing that He is God. Let Him be exalted among the nations. Praise God!

- Zach Hamilton

This week I found out that a trip with 60 awesome people will be great no matter where you go. Then I found out that when you go somewhere balla like Seattle the trip becomes unbelievable! This last week has been full of friends, delicious food, and massive spiritual growth. I can't wait to pursue friendships with all the people I have gotten to know in the last week. Probably a good choice for me to have listened to God in telling me to go on this trip. Great Success!

- Sam Rudkin

This trip to Seattle has been a huge blessing in my spiritual walk. I have just seen how big God really is an dhow He is working across the country. I have made some solid friends. I learned that when you are willing to share the Gospel, God will show up and do mighty things. I met a man named Dustin and had a great talk with him. Dustin was an athiest and wanted nothing to do with God but as we were talking he started to realize how the beliefs he had were skewed. As we were talking, we could see how God was working on his heart. I thank God for that talk with Dustin and hope we planted a small seed. The verse that I have dwelt on this week was James 4:8, "Come near to God and He will come near to you."

- Tommy Wetzel