Standing Stones teaching and support for missions trip

                                     Teaching at Standing Stones

Visiting with Dave

I was blessed to teach and spend quality time with the men and staff at Standing Stones Orchards in Wapato, last Tuesday to Friday.  

I returned after visiting with our PFC worship tour team the previous week when I learned Dave Gorton, the director, suffered injuries while working in the orchards. I asked how I might support him in a very practical way so he invited me to come over to teach and spend time with the men and him.  On the way home, the Lord prompted me to get back over there.  

I taught from the PFC Bible correspondence series on Old Testament characters and from the SS discipleship training manual on relational Christianity and salvation. I rejoiced to combine listening and mentoring with the four men in te program while enjoying fellowship with Dave and Gail Gorton, the directors.

                            Support two thirds in for missions trip

I am thoroughly thankful to the Lord as two-thirds of my $3,200 support for our PFC short-term missions trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in early November has come in.  We have our next team meeting this Saturday in Woodinville. 

The dates and itinerary for the trip are still being worked out by PFC staff.  My preparation focus has been to pray, read Acts, and on develop three preaching outlines.

On Tuesday afternoon, Dick Rothlisberger, my PFC teammate chaplain at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, and I trekked to Woodinville for encouragement and re-training in the church liaison leadership program.  I am motivated to invite more of our Faith Baptist Church body to participate with me in active ministries.

His Harmony

Back in the units with the inmates at the NMRJC, I was once again incredibly blessed to hear how our "His Harmony" women's group from Faith Baptist was received during a recent concert. His Harmony has been doing PFC concerts for 16 years.

While meeting with Chris in the S-unit on Monday afternoon, two other men joined us. Chris has encouraged these men as they begin their new walk as followers of Jesus. I love to see men sharing what God has touched them with in the spirit on 2 Timothy 2:2.

Next Monday night, our Chaplaincy Advisory Group hosts our annual  appreciation dinner in Tukwila for our faithful volunteers at the NMRJC. 

Original Forgiven to Walla Walla, Pendleton, and Standing Stones

I was hugely blessed to take Nathan Jacobsen, Jonathan Stanton, Peter Richardson, Peyton Burkhart, and Jim Dixon on a PFC worship concert tour to Walla Walla, Pendleton, and Wapato at Standing Stones.  Each one of the team flourished in their participation.

We started out Friday night at the Juvenile Detention in Walla Walla with seven inmate boys and one girl.  Peyton preached on the characteristics of our Christian lives from Ezekiel 1.  Jim played several songs and Nathan, Jonathan, and Peter played their first phenom set of the weekend.  Our altar call rolled into individual prayer time with each of the inmates and that was a rich experience.

The inmates named our band the "Original Forgiven," which really fit them.  Right away, I could see the group was going to far exceed my expectations to God's praise and glory.

Saturday, we held services at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary-east chapel, the Eastern Oregon Corrections Facility in Pendleton, and back to the penitentiary on the west side for an evening service.  Yes, that was one full day. 


Our first service on the east side was shortened to 75 minutes with prayer and breakdown of instruments as we needed to scramble down to Pendleton by noon.  Jim and the OF each played shortened sets and I preached a shortened message on being a friend of Jesus from John 15.  We had 34 and enjoyed a fruitful time of prayer with 12 in our closing.

We ended up ministering 2 1/2 hours to 83 in Pendleton, pictured to the right, highlighted by Peyton message on defeating giants and Jonathan's really transparent testimony. Again, we enjoyed fruitful prayer after our altar call with 18 men.

On the left here, on Sunday night back at the WW State Penitentiary-West chapel, we provided a shortened musical presentation for 32 as we shared the service with another group, which was very unexpected.  We participated in the entire service with prayer at the end.

Sunday morning we drove to PFC's Standing Stones Orchards and enjoyed fellowship with Dave and Gail Gorton, pictured to the right, with three program residents. Here on the left, Jim, Nathan, and Jonathan were enjoying bringing back peaches and apples from the SS orchards.

They are overseeing the Christian recovery program there.  We were privileged to hear an introduction to the transformation happening there and an overview of their program.

I am heading back over to Standing Stones this Tuesday to Friday afternoon to fellowship with Dave and Gail and support Dave with the teaching after he broke his left shoulder and cracked ribs last Tuesday.

Great team to Eastern Washington and Oregon September 10-12

I will be leading a PFC team to Walla Walla, Pendleton, and Wapato, September 10-12 for a series of worship concerts.  The team is Peyton Burkhart, Jim Dixon, Jonathan Stanton, Nathan Jacobsen, Peter Richardson, and me.

There are usually between 30-60 at most services with 75-100 in Pendleton. We often see 300 in all the sites and many acknowledge receiving Christ for salvation or take very positive steps in following Christ.  We have enjoyed remarkable interaction with the site chaplains and even the officers. For several years, I have been leading these PFC Eastern Washington and Oregon teams two or three times yearly. 

, At the right, Peter rehearsed with Jim and Nahan  in our church library.  On the left, Jonathan is pictured. He rocks with his guitar and singing.  They will be awesome and very much appreciated by the inmates. 

Jim, jamming with Nathan to the right,  comes with me regularly and plays the guitar as he evangelizes, shares his testimony and plays his own music in ballads.  He and Jonathan,  Nathan, and Peter will carry the worship and concert sequences. The young men will be sharing their testimonies, as well.  I'll keep 'em busy.

Peyton, taking his first tour with us, and I will team up to minister in preaching.  Peyton is the respected editor of the PFC Yard Out newspaper which is widely distributed to prisons across the US and international locations.  

Penny Castro, on the left here, is the PFC director of volunteers and many other tasks at the PFC in Woodinville.  She facilitates these prison tours. On this tour, Penny scheduled us to start with a Friday service at the Walla Walla juvenile facility. On Saturday, we have two at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla and the Eastern Oregon Institute of Corrections in Pendleton, Oregon. Sunday afternoon we finish at the PFC Standing Stones rehab and training site in Wapato.

Sitting under awesome preaching

Terry Virgo recently shared reflections sitting under the preaching of Martyn Lloyd Jones in London-- 

The famous Doctor was one of my great heroes. For three years I studied in London and had the privilege of regularly hearing him preach from the historic Westminster Chapel pulpit.

Gathering with the hundreds, I awaited the arrival of his bald dome as he ascended the stairs behind the rather massive pulpit, approached the podium and led us into our opening hymn.

Of course the atmosphere of the meeting was extraordinarily formal. Having said that, his long prayer which was part of the service wedged between two or three hymns was always uplifting and edifying, but what one actually attended the Chapel for and eagerly awaited was to hear the great man preach.

Often he would hold you absolutely spellbound by his exposition. The style differed considerably from most modern preachers. There was very rarely any humor or any personal reference. This was Bible exposition at its very best with very great dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

The fear of God

On another deeply memorable night at the Chapel, he started his sermon in Acts but was drawn into Romans 1 and concentrated on the three times where it is stated ‘God gave them up’. I haven’t heard such preaching before or since. 

I have never felt the sense of awe and fear of God as I felt during that amazing sermon.

As he concluded, we sang the inevitable closing hymn, but, having sung it, everyone sat in silence for long moments and no one rushed to leave the building.

It was perhaps the most awesome moment I have ever known in church and an experience that was not simply personal to me but being felt across the whole hushed congregation."

If you are drawn to read more, I invite you to click over to:
 Terry Virgo’s Blog » Blog Archive » Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaching in Pensacola.

TIBET goals as SEAL missionaries to Africa

On our November PFC missions trip to the Congo and Rwanda, our desire is leave behind Christ-centered, on-fire believers who truly understand the importance of  their continuing decision to follow Christ and who will be involved in a local church.  

We serve the local church as it wins souls for Christ and mentors new followers of Christ within the inmate population.

We focus squarely on five goals when we go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda on November 2-13.  These goals direct everything we do on a PFC missions trip. Everything we do is aimed at these five TIBET goals.

• TRAIN saints currently doing prison ministry.
• INTRODUCE the PFC umbrella and seek to raise up a missionary partner.
• BLESS saints with resources and prisons with humanitarian aid.
• EVANGELIZE inside the national prisons.
• TEACH the church how to recruit volunteers and to multiply in other churches.

The U. S. Navy has an elite team known as "SEALS."  Their code challenges each of us as we serve the Lord Jesus wherever He places us every single day.

Navy Seals Code

"Loyalty to the King of Kings, His team and teammates,

Serve Him with integrity on and off the battlefield,

Ready to lead, ready to follow, NEVER QUIT,

Take responsibility for your actions and the actions of teammates,

Excel as warriors through discipline and innovation,

Train for war, fight to win, defeat our enemies,

Earn your crown every day."

The Navy Seals actual philosophy begins as follows:
“In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call; a common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country and the American people, and to protect their way of life. I am that man.”

All of this stands firmly with Paul's charge to Timothy:

Good Soldiers of Christ Jesus   

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  
2 Timothy 2:1-2

Upcoming missions trip adjustments and update

Ron, Tall Mark, Don, Dave, and I met in Woodinville last Saturday preparing for a PFC short-term missions trip to the Congo and Rwanda.  Now, we are scheduled for November 2 through 13 in order to save $750 for airfare per person and facilitate specific arrangements to enter the Congo. 

Don, in the middle with the blue shirt, is the team leader.  Ron, on the far left, and I are the PFC short-term missions first-timers.  Our team has met together three times to encourage one another.

I continue to serve regularly at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.  On September 10-12, I am leading a PFC concert and worship service trip with five others to Walla Walla, Pendleton, OR, and Wapato at the Standing Stones Ministry site.  I'll write more about that trip in my next post, soon.

For the Congo-Rwanda trip, I am almost at 50% in fund-raising which is a huge answer to prayer.  Many wonderful people are already participating with us as they are very sacrificially and lovingly supplying their earned finances in a very challenging economic season to support this trip.  

Even in our own home church, the status of church finances clearly argued for not taking this trip. There are always reasons "not" to go.  Those arguments are all the more reasons to "make disciples of all nations" by going to all the nations, baptizing and getting saved sinners identified in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching the people groups of the world to obey Jesus, Matthew 28:19-20.

The change in schedule from late September to November shows us the Lord's sovereign hand is actively involved with us in the details of this missionary outreach to the men and women in the prisons and others with hearts to reach them in the Congo and Rwanda.  

We have five very clearly established goals for this short-term missions trip through PFC using a "TIBET" acronym.  We will be:

• Teaching to reach the lost and encourage followers of King Jesus.
• Inspiring the inmates with humanitarian aid.
• Building up the established chaplains and supporting churches.
• Encouraging those already serving to persevere in faithful outreach.
• Training faithful workers in churches to establish and continue serving.