As our new school year begins we have plenty to be thankful for!
One of the greatest blessings was being able to bring closure to the 2019-2020 school year. We were finally able to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduated students by holding our 12th annual OYAMA Graduation! What a cool time to be all together and celebrate with family and friends as those graduates officially leave us for their next ministry assignments.
Covid brought a lot of changes to the plans of many who were originally going to be joining OYAMA in the Fall. At one point there were as many as 6 potential new students coming to us, as the months wore on and on, we were left with no incoming students. Then the Lord brought to us one young man from the Coos Bay area looking to enroll in our COMPASS program. COMPASS is another branch of Oregon Youth Alive that specializes in personal discipleship. While much of what we do with our OYAMA students applies to COMPASS students as well, the difference is that this young man is still searching for his God calling. This program exists as a chance to have a year of intensive seeking for God's Will for his next steps. He will be joining us soon.
As excited as we were to have this young man with us, it was still difficult in trying to plan out the curriculum for the coming school year with no new (1st year) students joining. At the last moment, a young lady from Rainer reached out to us and after going through the application and interview process, Katy has officially joined the 2020-2021 school year as our only 1st-year student!
Other great things over the past couple months have included...
- OYAMA Fall Retreat! This year we were hosted by Neighborhood Assembly of God in Eugene, OR. This retreat is all about building relationships. It's a time to reconnect as a group, get to know our new student and have fun setting the tone for the year. We were blessed to have Pastors Donny and Trenton join us as our new internship Pastors!
- Brittany and I had an opportunity to speak at breakouts at the Oregon Next Gen Summer Road Trip in Albany and Florence! It 's great to see youth ministry thrive amidst all of the changes.
- I was honored to speak at Parkway Christian Center's Middle School Camp in Tillamook, OR! OYAMA 2018 graduates, Kylee & Justin Coon are doing an amazing job leading the teens of Grants Pass!
I thank God for the opportunity to serve Him through Oregon Youth Alive! I'm so thankful that in the middle of such a season of fluidity and change that God's faithfulness has never shown more. I am encouraged to see ministers and churches all over Oregon who are committed to pouring into people and communities, and so are we. We are always looking for new opportunities to minister, speak to and meet with others. Our greatest desire is to be a blessing to the Church and especially the young people of Oregon.
Please consider becoming a part of the team! You can join as a financial supporter at https://giving.ag.org Type in 282345 as the ministry code. As always, we would love for you to join the team as active prayer warriors for us. As the new school year begins please continue to pray for us as leaders that we would have God-sized dreams, ideas and conversations. Pray for our students, that the Spirit would continue to lead them as they follow the Call of ministry.
