News
It’s been a while since we put out a newsletter. But we want to let
all of you know how much we appreciate and covet your prayers. We are
also deeply grateful for all of you that supported us financially and
with your donated gifts and services.
We had so much going on in the past several months that we just didn’t
have the time to write about it! Some of the activities included
Darren’s Pacific Crest Trail Hike, putting new siding on the Silver
Center, roof repair, remodeling and then opening another house down the
street that required major clean up, paint, as well as more remodeling.
etc.
Brother’s Keeper
Many people who have heard of us only through the
media may think we are part of the criminal problem...do-gooders who are
too naive to know who we’re dealing with, and making excuses for the
residents. But those who know us are aware that we take a personal
interest in keeping the community safe as well as giving men a chance to
change their lives.
Ezekiel 33 is about accountability. However, it isn’t just about
individual responsibilities. This chapter is about the responsibility of
leaders to warn people of coming danger. God let them know that they
must caution the people or share in the guilt for the disaster that
would follow.
We take this warning seriously. We are proactive in our efforts to help
our residents succeed. This includes keeping them accountable to their
parole and treatment requirements plus giving them a Biblical viewpoint.
They know we have a higher standard than even community corrections
because we believe in absolutes.
These days it is not popular to confront anyone about their sin even in
a church setting. We might make excuses because we think we will be
rejected, or we will be called intolerant. Maybe we rationalize that our
warnings will be ignored, so there is no reason to waste our breath, but
Ezekiel 33 doesn’t validate that rationale. In the following chapter the
Lord also admonishes religious “shepherds” who exploit those whom they
were intended to protect and nurture.
We are not here to make a living off of our clients. We are not
hirelings, but people who share God’s heart for those who have been lost
in sin or oppressed.
In short, we know we are our brother’s keeper. Our brothers include more
than our residents. We are watching out for our neighbors, our churches
and our community.
Walk About - Darren Olsen
I took a long walk across Oregon. If you don't know the trail mileage
across the entire state, it is 498 miles. That was from the Oregon
California boarder on the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT is a trail that
stretches from the Mexican California boarder to the Washington Canadian
boarder. This trail is one foot wide and 2,600 miles long. I chose the
Oregon section, hiking south to north, as this would allow me to hike
home. My hope was that I could average 15 miles a day and complete this
hike in 5 weeks. I was able to exceed the 15 miles a day average but had
to extend the length of the hike by 5 days. This was to compensate for
resupply miles and rest days, known as 0 days. So the hike began August
25th and it concluded on September 5th, for a total of 565 miles.
We started by hiking out of the Siskew Mountain range and into the
Cascades. The trail took me over Red Mountain and then through a pass by
Mt. Ashland. Then there’s a toe pounding decent to cross I-5 and then
back up again very quickly into the wilderness and on through the Pilot
Rock area. This is a very hot and dusty experience. We then made on our
way through Hyatt Lake area and then rested at Howard Prairie by a very
large man-made body of water in southern Oregon, with mainly sailboats.
A day of rest and off in the direction of Fish Lake Resort and Four mile
Lake area, about 84 miles. Then we headed into the Sky lakes wilderness,
skirted around the pumice flats and at 134 miles we arrived at the
highway right in front of Mazama Village, where we resupplied. We
visited with many other hikers and then at mile175 we stopped for food
at Miller Lake. I vowed never to return, as it was 3 miles straight down
to this lake with the wind blowing like Noah might have experienced. We
then hiked to Summit Lake, the prettiest lake of the trip, This one
would be very difficult to get to by car. We just stopped for water and
continued on as we planned to rest and resupply at the Lake Odell
Shelter Cove Resort. Then we were at mile 218 and preparing to hike into
the Sisters Wilderness area. Our next food drop was mile 265 at Elk Lake
resort.
We made good time and our daily miles were now ranging between 18 and 23
miles a day. Approaching Elk Lake we passed through a large burn area
and it was hot and dusty, and we were thirsty. We had good food and
plenty of beverages waiting and we took full advantage of this luxury.
Looking back it was right at this spot that the weather began to
deteriorate and if we had known, we might have…. never mind we were
committed, and we wouldn’t have stopped. We had then planned to hike
through the Sisters over Dildock Pass and get a food drop at Lava
Campground on Mc-Kenzie pass. The weather started getting rough; our
tiny tents were tossed, and this was not Gilligan’s Isle!We were stopped
at the middle Sister by 35-40 mph winds and pounding rain that came down
so hard that it reduced visibility to just a couple of feet in front of
us. We spent the next 35 hours held up in our tents hoping the storm
would blow over but we had to climb this pass before we ran out of food.
We hit a glacier on the north Sister that forced us to leave the trail
to get passed go around it, but earlier hikers had already blazed the
new trail. We spent the night at Lava camp and headed out across the
lava fields of McKenzie pass and the sun finally came out to greet us so
pressing on did become a little easier. The next stop on our list was
one day away at Big Lake, a church camp run by Seventh Day Adventists.
As a reach-out they provide cabins (with real beds), meals, and
entertainment, free of charge to PCT hikers. Somewhere between Big Lake
and Pamelia Lake the high alpine weather turned back into drizzling rain
and we were back into rain gear and pack covers. At Pamelia, just north
of Santiam Pass, we stopped to dry out all of our gear and clothing and
warm up as the rain brought much lower temperatures in the high
elevations. Between Pamelia and Olallie is Jefferson Park, two glacier
crossings and Park Ridge that climbs a thousand feet above the park in
less than two miles. I have done this climb numerous times and this
ascent will knock the bark off of a hiker and it was no different on
this occasion. We planned to arrivie at Olallie before dark. The amount
of snow on the glaciers, along with the strenuous climb slowed us down
but we descended onto Olallie Lake just as it got dark, ending a 14 hour
day.
Then we went through the reservation and hiked by Timothy Lake. After
that, we crossed the highway and camped ed at Frog lake at the base of
Mt. Hood. Oh my, did it rain! Lost lake was next on our route. There are
many protected old growth cedar trees at this lake so I was very excited
to see these ancient giants. At this point we had hiked just over 500
miles but our spirits are high as we would reach our final destination
within the next 48 hours. First was Mt. Hood, then Zig Zag, Wahtum Lake,
Benson Plateau and straight down to sea level at Cascade Locks.
Mt. Hood was a challenge, getting across the headwaters of the Sandy
River then Bald Mountain, Indian Mountain and the Ramona Falls area.
This is steep and very aggressive terrain. We spent the night on Benson
Plateau just in ear shot of now strange sounds like trains and trucks
ringing out off of interstate 84 just a few thousand feet below us.
TThe next morning, very anxious to complete this hike, we stuffed
everything we had carried for almost 600 miles into our packs and headed
down. We were above the cloud cover for the early part of the morning
but soon we could see all the way across the Columbia River to Stevens
Washington. Continuing our decent for a few more miles with springs and
waterfalls with green lush vegetation, we soon dropped directly into
Cascade locks and the end of this hike at high noon September 5th 2008.
-Darren Olsen
Rock Of Gibraltar - Sue Willard
The other day, I heard a reporter ask an individual
“what was the best part of 2008?” The answer from the individual?
“2009”. One has to admit that 2008 has been a year of changes,
disappointments, ups and downs; not only in the stock market and
government but in people’s lives as well. There is no question that
instability is everywhere.
Years ago, when a person was considered strong they were called the
“Rock of Gibraltar”. (Look up information on the actual Rock of
Gibraltar at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Gibraltar if you’re
interested). There’s an actor who calls himself “The Rock” and there are
investment companies using the definition of a rock to show their
stability when it comes to investing your money. (Unfortunately their
rock is not as stable as it once was). There is one person, however, who
is called “the Rock” and has proven to be stronger than the Rock of
Gibraltar, any investment company or any actor. That “Rock” is Christ.
King David, in Psalms 18:2 in the New International Version says, “The
LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in
whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold. King David knew that he had no other rock than God, (Psalms
18:31). If you haven’t read the story of King David’s life you can find
it in the Old Testament in the Bible. David was a man who committed
adultery and murder and whose family was falling apart. Yet he
acknowledged his mistakes, repented of his actions and called God his
“rock”. David knew his strength came from God. God was his rock, his
shelter and his strength.
How about you? When the bottom falls out of your life, who do you turn
to? If you’ve trusted in yourself to make it in this world, how’s that
working for you? Ever want to give up? Can’t figure out why all the
promises the world offers you aren’t coming true? One only has to see
the economic crises to know that the world can’t offer you stability or
security because if it could, we’d all feel secure. The only security is
God Himself. God’s promises to Israel in Isaiah 43 are ours as well:
“But now, this is what the
LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are
mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you
pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk
through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you
ablaze.”
Notice it says “when you pass” not “if you pass”. As long as you live in
this world it is guaranteed you will pass through relationship, economic
and/or employment “fires”. Can you trust the world to be there for you?
Has it been there for you so far? The wise person will acknowledge his
inability to “do it himself” and trust in the one true Rock who can
offer the security he is longing for.
I pray that 2009 will be the year you cling to the Rock of Christ
knowing that regardless of the ups and downs of life you will know that
Christ will be your Rock and give you the true security you desire.
-Sue Willard
My View - Steve Silver
2008 is over and I find with each passing year, there
seems to be more to accomplish then the one before. SOM every year seems
to have more and more opportunity to broaden the scope of what we do and
how we can serve the needs of those around us. This year has brought for
me personally, some satisfaction of several milestones of achievements
within this organization as a whole. The first is the growth in the
staff, both spiritually and operationally.
Spiritually, I have witnessed a deeper walk with the Lord amongst the
staff here as we all try to hear what God is saying to us and a
willingness to step into territory that seems foreign. At SOM a
willingness to learn and be open to change is a major component to our
success. I think back to the early years, and it amazes me the number of
people God has brought to us for various reasons, some with the desire
to be staff but so often without an inkling of what that looks
like...then walking away frustrated, disillusioned and confused about
their calling. Several have given a sincere effort and find they don’t
have the skills necessary for fulfilling the mission, but a heart to
serve.
Not wanting to discourage the heart, it can be a challenge to find the
right niche for them. The patience of the senior staff has proved
invaluable . Each one of the staff has dug into their own personal
issues and begun to allow God to deal with them. Frustration levels
subsided as we see the importance of being transparent before each other
and the clients we serve. God calls us all to live transparently as a
witness to unbelievers and also to encourage growth and authenticity in
the body of Christ, as well as demonstrate our need for both
accountability and grace.
Three Strand Cord
There have been several weddings among our residents
recently. Also, one of our long-time managers, Richard Weaver, joined
their ranks on January 3rd. He married Tonia Garcia with pastor, Greg
Johnson officiating.
Pastor Dale, of Immanuel Baptist Church, not only let us use his
historical church, but generously assisted with many of the details.
Family, staff and friends helped with the planning and refreshments.
Steve Silver made flower arrangements, Izzy Bickle baked and decorated a
cake. Bickle made a beautiful cake decorated with fresh flowers. Tammie,
as always was in the middle of the labor force, assisted by Sue Willard
and others.
Our thanks and prayers go out to the couple as they begin married life.