Author Archives: Sara

Trip to the Southwest

Last week, Dad and I (Sara) returned from a 2-week ministry trip to the southwest. We traveled over 5,000 miles through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado (and all those states in between). It was a blessed time of meeting new people, taking in God’s amazing creation, recording for the radio program, and enjoying some father/daughter time.

Enjoying an afternoon at Old Town in Albuquerque

As far as the eye can see…

You know you’re away from home without the whole family when you find notes buried in your suitcase

Our first stop was San Antonio, TX. Yes, we actually made a trip back after our eventful stay there last September (read about our crazy adventure here)! The new host of the Storyteller, Soapy Dollar, has been recording from his studio in TX while Dad coaches him over the phone from home in MN. While its been working out well, there were some technical issues that prompted our return to San Antonio.

We’re pretty sure that this gas station has to be the biggest in the world… everything’s bigger in Texas

Soapy and Dad testing microphones

Next we drove to Albuquerque, NM. There, Dad recorded a number of testimonies in the area while I took in a conference at Garfield Gospel Chapel. The speaker was teaching on the Old Testament feasts and how they were a picture of what Christ would do when He came to earth. Part of the conference included a Messianic Passover Seder which was a very interesting experience. We were greatly encouraged by the fellowship at the chapel there.

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The Sedar meal at the conference

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A group picture at Garfield Gospel Chapel

Phoenix, AZ, was our next stop. The night we arrived, there was a number of Native believers gathered together for a teaching/training session where we had opportunity to share about The Storyteller ministry. The next day, Dad did some more recording and we also learned more about the Native American conference/camp that we will be singing at in Santa Fe this summer. We also got to visit a dear Native friend in the hospital down there, and enjoyed dinner with some MN friends in their snowbird estate in Apache Junction.

Just one of Arizona’s many landscapes

After leaving Phoenix, we traveled out to Lake Havasu City to visit a radio station out there. Since we were so close to California (and neither of us have been to that state before), we drove across the river and got out just to say we had! 🙂 That same day we also headed up to the Grand Canyon and got to see the results of a worldwide flood, before heading to Tuba City on the Navajo reservation.

So close to California… the palm tree is a nice touch!

At the Grand Canyon

The pictures simply don’t do it justice – learn more about the Grand Canyon from a Biblical perspective here

In Tuba City, we got to participate in a prayer meeting with a small gathering of Native believers who love the Lord. It was so encouraging to hear their hearts for their families, church, and the unsaved. We stayed with missionaries there that night and enjoyed fellowship with them in the morning.

The Tuba City Discipleship center on the Navajo reservation

Our Subaru Forester was thrilled to drive on this

We had planned to leave and drive through the Rockies, but a huge snowstorm over the mountains redirected us to Vanderwagon, NM. Along the way, we stopped in Window Rock/Sabenito at the radio station at Western Indian Ministries. We ended up visiting for several hours before continuing on to Vanderwagon where we stayed at a Bible camp and got to hear about the ministry going on with some of the Zuni youth.

A Navajo hogan

At Window Rock

The Storyteller has aired on this station for many years

The next day we headed up to Greeley, CO, where we stayed with a sweet couple. We enjoyed fellowship with them over the weekend and gave an update at the chapel there.

We could see the snow storm hanging over the Rockies off to the west as we traveled through eastern Colorado

On Monday we headed north again, stopping to take in the Black Hills and Wall Drug before landing in Mansfield, SD, to spend the night on the farm with Mom’s parents. The next morning, Grandma fed us a yummy breakfast and Grandpa took us on a tour of his latest farming operations. Then we were off for home where the family was eagerly waiting for our return.

Over 5,000 miles of safety!

We actually enjoyed stopping for this roadblock!

We saw just about every kind of “crossing” sign there is to see

We have so much to be grateful for: safety as we traveled thousands of miles, seeing the Lord work out the details of the trip, and sweet fellowship along the way. Thank you for praying for us! Lord willing, we are looking forward to traveling back down to New Mexico this summer with the whole family as we sing at the Native conference in Santa Fe.

Beautiful country

Redby Bible Camp

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During the last week of July, the three of us girls and our sweet friend, Leah, had the opportunity to help with an overnight Bible camp that is down the road from us. This is a camp that operates under Redby Community Church where we fellowship up on the Red Lake reservation. Normally, there are groups that come in and do several camps during the summer. However, this summer, only one group was able to run a camp (all the way from New York!) and we were excited when the pastor from our church asked if we could help them out. We had about 20 kids from the reservation attend the three day camp.

Leah & Abby – happy campers (or rather, counselors)

All of these kids come to the Kid’s Club that we do Monday nights at the church during the school year. All of them were SO excited to come to camp. When we went to pick up kids on Monday morning, many of them were waiting out at the road with their bags – there was even one girl who told us that she was already packed on Friday night! 🙂

The group from New York that ran the camp did an excellent job. There was singing and a Bible lesson once or twice a day. There were fun crafts in the morning and evening, and several hours of swimming in the afternoon.

The Bible lessons were taught by Moses

Craft time!

Fun action songs

More crafts!

Throughout the day, there was a lot of free time to spend playing with the kids – we spent many hours in games and activities like Candyland, Uno, badminton, basketball, frisbee, making friendship bracelets, taking goofy pictures, and just talking.

The basketball court was rarely empty

Badminton was a popular game of choice

A campfire is never complete without s’mores!

It was a great time getting to know the kids better. When you live with someone for three days, you certainly get to know them a whole lot better. Even though we’ve known all of these kids for at least a year (some of them for three years), deeper relationships were built with the kids simply by playing, talking, and loving them for three straight days. Many of them told us they wished the camp didn’t have to end.

Camp group picture – everyone say “beefaroni”!

We returned home exhausted, but grateful for the opportunities to share the love of Jesus with these precious children. Some of these kids have professed Christ in the past. Please pray that they will grow in their faith, and that those who don’t know Jesus would be saved. And please pray for us as we continue to share God’s love with these same kids throughout the school year.

Four sunburned and tired counselors – sad to leave

Bright Lights Conferences – Cedar Rapids, IA

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At the beginning of July, the three of us girls had the privilege of helping with a week of Bright Lights conferences. Last October, we helped with the ones in St. Cloud, MN. This time, however, we traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We were so blessed by an amazing week of ministry and fellowship with over 40 leaders from around the country (IA, MN, NE, TX, GA, MD, IL, & WI).

Most of the BL conference leaders

The Strong in the Lord conference took place on Tuesday & Wednesday, while the Radiant Purity conference took place on Friday & Saturday. During the conferences, there are large group sessions with singing (Deborah helped with music), Sarah Mally sharing Bible truths through teaching and stories, personal testimonies from small group leaders, and funny skits that reinforce important points. Then, all the girls are split into smaller groups and the parents have their own sessions. Small groups are led by one or two leaders (which each of us got to help with) and include discussion, games, and snacks. The conference days are very full, but it is so rewarding to be able to invest in these girls’ lives. To hear that they have made commitments to serve the Lord, clear their conscience, honor their parents, and read their Bible makes it all worth it! So here come the pictures:

Singing during the main sessions

Deborah helped to lead music for the conference by playing her violin

The horse race skit

Hannah (who helps with our BL group here in MN) and Katherine handing out conference notebooks

The pyramid activity during small group time demonstrates the importance of teamwork in families

Evening chalk talk

The Princess: “My Father, thy daughter in distress because I am not married!”

Browsing the conference book table

Grace played beautiful harp music several times throughout the conferences

Maiden Flirtelia: “If any man desires to come after me, let him…”

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Some of the girls from our Bemidji BL group came down for the conference so we took a photo with the Mallys

Thursday was our “off day” so we took some time to relax and refresh ourselves for the weekend conference. We spent the morning touring the Mally’s bookstore (Noah’s Archive) and visiting a cute little coffee shop where we enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship together.

Noah’s Archive – with the lovely Bekah as our tour guide

Bookstore browsing (and birthday shopping!)

Fellowship at Witte’s End Coffee House

A few of the Bright Lights leaders at the coffee shop

After lunch on Thursday, Grace Mally showed us a video on witnessing and then we all had a long and helpful discussion about sharing the gospel with others. The Lord has really given Grace a heart for witnessing, and she has a vision for encouraging young people to be bold with the gospel. She has written an excellent book on the topic of witnessing called “Will Our Generation Speak?” that is full of witnessing stories and practical helps. After our discussion, we went to a nearby park for personal time with the Lord, more fellowship, and a little bit of witnessing. Since there weren’t many people at the park to witness to, Grace took a group of us out after supper where we went witnessing at a nearby mall. I wish I had time to share the whole story here, but since I don’t, you can head over to Grace’s blog and read about our amazing, God-orchestrated evening here.

Sharing witnessing tips and ideas

Grace shared a session on witnessing at each conference

Here’s a few more random, behind-the-scenes pictures from our week:

Conference prep: making trail mix and decorating snack buckets

Our sleeping quarters – one of two classrooms that our group used for the week

Working together for meal preparation

Singing outside late at night (while the alarms system was going off in the church building!)

Meals for the group was quite the undertaking, one that Mrs. Beth Kramer (blue & white apron) and the Isaac sisters did with joy and skill

Leaders sharing time – talking about what the Lord has been teaching us

Mealtime fellowship

It was wonderful to see the W sisters again – we had so much fun and fellowship with these dear sisters-at-heart!

We stayed over Sunday and enjoyed worshiping at the chapel where the Mally’s attend.

Cedar Rapids Bible Chapel – don’t you love the sign on the wall?

One last meal after church (with a much smaller group) before heading back to MN

It was such a blessing to spend an entire week with a group of young ladies that love the Lord and are seeking to follow Him. We had a wonderful time of ministry and fellowship together. We were so thankful to the Lord to be able to take part in the ministry of the Bright Lights conferences.