Joy in Eastern Wahington

We left Friday at 6:45 am from Echo Glen up by the I-90 exit off Hwy 18. We had three services on Friday in Yakima. During the first one, we had 60 attend and 20 raised their hands for salvation. It was smooth and the men were responsive. In the middle of the service, one young man approached me about needing prayer so we went into the corner and did it, right there.

The second service was for men and women at the God Pod in Yakima. We had 40 attend, 10 made commitments. It was about 93 degrees and they put us in a covered outdoor coard with cement bock walls so it was an uncomfortable oven. Nothing was going to happen in this heat. That's not what the Lord had planned as the men and women openly responded with great enthusiasm in the Spirit during the worship time. Bob preached this services, as well, and the group responded openly.

The third visit was at a site with medically-impaired men, called Ahtanum, also in Yakima. Somehow, there was no record of us coming so, at first, it wasn't certain we could come in at all. Well, the staff accomodated us and we learned the coordinator of volunteer activities has been sick for several weeks. The inmates, we learned, knew we were coming but the details were not completed. We had a solid service for the 15 who came.

We drove from Yakima to the Walla Walla State Penitentuary Friday night and had a great service there Saturday morning despite a major obstacle with limited electrical outlets which caused the presentation to start about 45 minutes late. The electric piano malfunctioned before we started. The men there were very responsive to the music and my preaching. I ended up presenting the first of three messages from Hebrews 2, this one verses 1-13 that needed to be shortened on careful diligent holiness, the entire series focused on our great salvation and the work of Jesus as He suffered and died for everyone who believes.

After the WW services, we drove to Medical Lake and had two services on Saturday at Pine Lodge with 84 very appreciative women. We were "competing" with a popular karioke activity which I thought was good because its great to have those who really want to be there. I had a great visit with the chaplain there and presented my second message, 2:10-13 on what God accomplishes in preparing us for eternal glory and honor, during the last service. After the second service, we ate dinner and drove to Connell for our last service Sunday morning at Coyote Ridge. We had 21 there and the worship music was really excellent, this one was the sweetest to me. We were exhausted but felt amazing freedom to serve. I felt great about how the men responded and the freedom to shine all the lights on Jesus in this final message, 21:14-18. We drove from Connell back home.