Category Travel

Village Missions–great partners!

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

A couple weeks ago I have a quick-stint travel opportunity I could not pass up!  I flew in to Reno and rented a car for the 75 minute drive to Graeagle, CA (Quincy is the only town that anyone would recognize in that area if you’re not from around there).

I was invited to share at the Summer Connection for the Pastors/Missionaries (and their families) of Village Missions SW District.  The 20-or-so families represented many churches from CA, AZ and NV.  This was a Godsend opportunity for me.  For years I have partnered with this fantastic organization on mission trips.  They do such a great job of establishing or re-establishing churches in rural communities.

Because I personally like to scout each of the places we will be sending teams (I value the personal relationship and it builds trust between the church and the organization) I end up spending quite-a-bit of time on the road.  As Youthmark expands this demand could very easily become overwhelming and really impossible.  So, this was a Godsend in that in just a few days I was able to touch base and build relationship with about 15 Pastors interested in having a YMV come to their community!  Because of the relationship, I won’t have to travel to these towns to establish the relationship!  Praise God for His provision!

The true blessing was the relational time I had with these friends.  Though I made many new friends, I was able to spend extended time with some old friends as well!  I ran into the Primer’s (who now serve in CA, but were in Plummer ID when I sent a team there in 2000), the Rivers (we are sending a team to French Gulch this summer) and my good friends, the Murrells (from Pine Valley, CA).  The Murrells have become very good friends through the years, I have visited them a few times since leading a team in PV a couple years ago.

I was personally blessed to have spent an afternoon with just the Murrells on a scenic drive to a lake and to be led in worship by Josh and Caleb!

I’m praising God for the people he has brought into my life all over the country!  And am blessed to partner with such a great organization like VM!

Grace,

Brian

To My Prayer List

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

First, if you would like to be on our prayer list (via email) shoot me an email and I’ll add you to the list (I send stuff out about every 6 weeks or so).

Just because I am so jazzed about this prayer opportunity I am copying and pasting the entire letter I just sent here:

Youthmark Prayer Partners!

It is with great anticipation I write this email.  In about five hours we’ll begin our “Launch” of our first Youthmark Mission Venture team.

As I type from Starbucks in Ritzville, WA (about an hour from Spokane) I have been praying for the people of Simms, MT and surrounding towns  (the recipient area of this trip).  I have prayed for the students and leaders from First Baptist Church of Chehalis (the first group heading out).  Now, I would like to challenge all of you to become “prayer partners extraordinaire!”

How exciting would it be for every group this summer to have scores of people they don’t even know praying for them, commenting them (on the blog) and waiting with them to see the Lord answer their specific requests?  I challenge each of us to do just that.

It is simple too!

Go to this site: http://youthmark.com/blogs.php

This first week you’ll want to scroll down to First Baptist Church of Chehalis and click on their blog.  At the bottom of each post you can see there is a place to add/view comments.  Feel free to do just that!

Having been on many of these I have NEVER seen the Lord answer specific prayers in quite the same way.  I’m going to try to get the dates listed for each of the churches on the website as well so you know which ones are out on that given week as well.  But for this week, it’s First Baptist Chehalis.

I encourage you to read through all the blogs, but specifically check out the blogs of each of the following as they’ll head out next week:

Avondale Bible

Calvary Chapel South

RiverRidge Cov’t

Lake Sawyer Christian

Snohomish Free Methodist

NW Bible

Last, you’ll see on the blog that we have released the HomeBase Guided Study to others outside of the Mission, don’t hesitate to pick one up for yourself!  You can study the same things the Mission teams are studying and like the parents of these missionaries, you can live out your mission at home! (And you can pick up MERGE at the same time, a 112 page Guided Study of James I just completed).

Now, head to the blogs and start praying specifically for FBC (and all the other teams)!

Grace,

Brian


Final Club and the Seekers

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Last night marked the end of our year at Kentridge Young Life.  I am thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve this year with a group of teens who are hungry for life.  So many of them remind me of me when I was their age.  They are seekers, only many don’t know what they are seeking.

They come seeking any (or all) of the following:  fame, fortune, popularity, belonging, escape, religion, love, laughter, outlet, understanding, stability, something different, friendship, comfort, him, her, help, and  God.

Though the list is not complete, because they do come seeking more than what I had listed, many come with a heart that is being worked on by the Holy Spirit.  This is what is so exciting to me.  Every-single student who walks through the doors of Young Life is going to be presented the opportunity to hear about Jesus.  We need to be faithful in building the relationship and share the Good News, but He is the one who is faithful in preparing the heart for His message!

Please pray for me as I prepare to go with 50 (most of whom do NOT know Jesus) high school students to camp this summer. And while you’re at it, praise God for this opportunity He has given me as well.  Being involved with YL this year is going to have direct influence on the writing and training materials I write for Christian students as we prepare them for future lifestyle evangelism opportunities!

Grace,
Brian

By faith, we are trusting God to provide the way for me to go to camp with these students (about $500), if God has placed it on your heart to give to YL for this cause, please comment  or email me and I’ll let you know how you can help (brian@youthmark.com).  Thanks for your prayers!

Ready to Adopt?

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

I firmly believe in the power of prayer.  In my 19 years of being a Christian the places I have seen the power at work the most has been in and through short term mission trips.  At Youthmark we have believed in it enough to invest in creating blog-software on our site so that each YMV team could have their own blog to get people praying for the specifics of their training, mission and follow-thru.

Here’s where you come in!  Would you be willing to adopt a team or two (or more).  Don’t hesitate to comment on this blog with the teams you’ll be praying for.  I have encouraged all of the Youth Pastors to keep up with their blog, though this is not a requirement, so some of you prayer saints will be praying with more detail than others.  Thank you for your faithfulness.  To access the blogs of each of the teams go to this site.  I have my Youthmark blog there as well.

Here are the teams and a few of the details.  Let the adoptions begin! (Don’t hesitate from picking teams that others have already picked, we want as many as possible praying… sit back, pray and you’ll be amazed at how detailed His answers are)!  Spread the word!

(you can actually click on any of these churches and it will take you directly to their blog)

Avondale Bible Church Woodinville, WA (headed to Plains, MT,  June 26 to July 5)

Burien Free Methodist Burien, WA (headed to Bridge City, TX, July 10-19) 

Calvary Chapel South Kent, WA (headed to Crouch, ID, June 26 to July 5)

Edgewood Baptist Church Edmonds, WA (headed to Shasta, CA, July 17 to 26)

Emmanuel Faith Community Church Escondido, CA (headed to Pass Christian, MS and New Orleans LA, July 16-Aug. 3)

Faith Baptist Church Kent, WA (headed to Scott Valley, Lewiston and French Gulch, CA July 17-26)

First Baptist Church Chehalis, WA (headed to Simms, MT, June 19-28)

Grace Church West Seattle, WA (headed to Vinton, LA, July 10-19)

Lake Sawyer Christian Church Black Diamond, WA (headed to Cambridge and Cascade, ID, June 26 to July 5)

Living Hope Christian Fellowship Bothell, WA (headed to Anahola, HI, July 24 to Aug. 3)

Living Hope Christian Fellowship Renton, WA (headed to Lincoln, MT, Aug. 14-23)

Mountain View Church Glenwood Springs, CO (headed to Kittredge, CO, Aug 1-8)

Northwest Bible Church Spring, TX (headed to Riggins, ID, June 26 to July 5)

Pulpit Rock Church Colorado Springs, CO (headed to Kinder, LA, July 9-19)

River Ridge Covenant Church Lacey, WA (headed to Council, ID, June 26 to July 5)

Rose Hill Presbyterian Church Kirkland, WA (headed to Lolo, MT, Aug. 14-23)

Snohomish Free Methodist Church Snohomish, WA (headed to Superior, MT, June 26 to July 5)

Sound Life Church Tacoma, WA (headed to Thompson Falls, MT, Aug. 14-23)

Tabernacle Baptist Church Shoreline, WA (headed to Lincoln, MT, Aug. 14-23)

Taproot Church Des Moines, WA (headed to Lakehead, CA, July 17-26)

The Gathering Colorado Springs, CO (headed to Deweysville, TX, July 9-19)

Let me know the team(s) you want to adopt in the comment thread or via email (brian@youthmark.com) so we know if/when we have every team covered!

Grace,
Brian 


The Weekend Report

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

This last weekend was a great one!  Perfect NW weather, great mix of family time and task completion!  Here are the quick highlights:

Friday:  Halle was off of school so we got an early start out the door to Oregon.  Stopped for a couple hours in Portland for me to have a meeting with Ron Marrs, Youth Ministry Prof and friend from Western Seminary.  Elisabeth and the kids got to take in the Lloyd Center for lunch and some shopping.  Then, on the road to Eugene (where Elisabeth’s sister lives).  Unique experience with a waitress at El Torito (for some reason she couldn’t grasp that we had 6 of us, but insisted on us sitting at a 4 person table… ????)… Stayed up way too late watching the M’s pull out an extra-inning win.

Saturday:  Will doesn’t like sleeping in new places, so we didn’t get a great night of sleep; but we took turns with morning naps, so that helped.  In the afternoon I took the kids for a walk and Prince P’s (Ice Cream) so that Elisabeth and Anne could do some shopping and prep for Audrey’s birthday on Sunday.  After a great time with the kids I was able to sneak off to Starbucks and get a few hours of work done, including a fantastic talk with our contact in Kauai.  Saturday lunch and dinner was fajitas (leftovers for dinner)… I love Mexican food!  Went to bed somewhat early (11:00ish).

Sunday: Took off in the morning to do some more study and work on the devo’s for the mission trips, it’s fun to see the crowds at coffee shops on a Sunday morning, always wonder about church habits of those in the shops.  Had one or two conversations as people saw me studying the Word.  After Anne returned from her church I took Audrey out for her own Daddy-Daughter date.  We went to Old Navy (where she was to pick out her very own shirt) and then to a park.  We bought the rest of the family about an hour of time to set up for Audrey’s Birthday Formal Tea (lunch).  After a great birthday celebration (complete with presents) we cleaned up, went back to Prince P’s and then said our goodbyes for our drive home.  

On the way home we discovered that Portland has a Five Guys (Burger joint) as well.  Just off the 205 we happened upon because of a strong desire to use the restroom… low and behold, a Five Guys served a couple purposes!  Made it back by about 10:30 with three kids sawing logs in the back!

Monday: A great night of sleep (much needed). In the morning we went out to breakfast with our friends Jess and Alisha (and kids).  The afternoon was spent getting some work done and preparing for hosting a BBQ at our place.  The Schlauds and Heiders came over for a fun evening with some good food! 

What a fun unofficial beginning to the summer.  Much to do this week, but thought I’d take a few minutes to review and celebrate the weekend that was!

Grace,
Brian

Burgers: Top Five

Brian Aaby 4 Comments

Every now and then I like to create a little controversy with my blog… don’t know if this will be one of those times or not, but worth a shot.  

A couple months ago, while in Colorado Springs, I was able to take in a new Burger joint with my good friend Steve Burford.  Steve and I go all the way back to college where we enjoyed many an In-N-Out Burger (Double Doubles, of course).  Well, Steve introduced me to a new place: Five Guys.  This is no a “new place,” I believe it has East Coast roots.  Well, it was fairly new to the Springs.  It was wonderful, instantly cracking my “top 5” of fast food burgers.

I am proud to announce that Five Guys has made their way west and have landed in The Landing, in Renton.  In its first week at The Landing, Elisabeth and I have been there twice.  Re-affirming its “top 5” status.

So, without further ado, here is my current ranking of best Fast Food Burgers (qualifies as “fast food” only if you order and pick up at counter, no waiters/waitresses, and reasonable price comparisons to other fast food places).  Counting down from #5 to #1

 

#5

 

Another CA native, made its way north and worked its Magic.

Another CA native, made its way north and worked its Magic.

#4

 

Ahh, the Garlic fries make the cow taste better!

Ahh, the Garlic fries make the cow taste better!

#3

 

Little known, but worth going to the Seattle Center house for this!

Little known, but worth going to the Seattle Center house for this!

#2

 

Welcome to WA Guys!

Welcome to WA Guys!

#1

Only available in CA, AZ and NV... but worth the drive!

Only available in CA, AZ and NV... but worth the drive!

 

So, what do you think?  Is your list different? 

Happy eating!

Grace,
Brian

FoF Update Again

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

 

What my Status Update looks like right now

What my Status Update looks like right now

 

 

The FoF (Faith on Facebook) Challenge is about 6 weeks old and I am very encouraged by the emails, texts and facebook messages I continue to receive. 

For those “not in the know,”  the FoF Challenge was given as the last message at each of the Youthmark Mission Venture training events.  Here were the dates/places people received the challenge:

April 3-4: Lake Retreat, 6 churches from Western WA received the challenge.

April 19: Escondido CA, the Emmanuel Faith group received the FoF Challenge.

April 25: Two Colorado Springs groups received it.

April 26: A group from Glenwood Springs was trained and received the challenge.

May 3: The Spring, TX group was challenged by the FoF

May 8-9: The remaining 12 churches from Western WA came to Lake Retreat and were given the FoF Challenge.

Participants are asked to donate their “Status Update” for a week, a month, or until their mission trip this summer.  In the update they are to write something along the lines of “Ask me about my FoF Challenge.”  In turn, Facebook friends do begin to ask about the FoF.  The trained missionary is then able to respond (usually in a private message) by saying something like: “The FoF is a Faith on Facebook Challenge I am taking, the challenge is to find out what my FB friends think of Jesus… so, what do you think of Jesus?  Who do you believe Him to be?”

The goal is to open up spiritual conversation between FB friends!  

It is working!

There is not a day that goes by I don’t receive some sort of FoF related question, comment, report, etc.  

I am proud of the FoF participants!

The neatest thing, I am finding the FoF is giving me more confidence offline too!  I am quicker to engage in spiritual conversation anywhere (as it should be)!

You wanna join the FoF revolution?  Jump on!

Grace,

Brian

Youthmark, the last 5 months in pictures…

Brian Aaby 3 Comments

Here is a little picture timeline of the last 5 months in the life of Youthmark.

Each of these pictures calls for 1000 words, but I choose to just show the pictures instead!

What a blessing it has been to speak in a variety of places, meet scores of rural pastors, eat many a club sandwich and spend valuable time with students and adults training for a 2009 YMV!

Grace,
Brian

CONTEST: Aab-Libs “My Saturday”

Brian Aaby 5 Comments

They’re back!  I haven’t done an “Aab-Lib” in quite some time.  

Okay, so here’s the scoop, you’ll need to have a piece of paper or an open word document.  First, go through the list and give your words (just like Mad-Libs).  Then, after you have created your list, copy the story below and add your words that correspond with the numbers in the story (erase the numbers obviously).

Insert this in as a “comment” and it’ll post.  Be patient if it doesn’t post as a comment right away, I’ll need to approve them first (anti-spam mechanism on the blog).

I’ll list out my top three later in the week!

DO NOT READ THE STORY FIRST!!! Fill in these words first!

  1. Month
  2. Number
  3. Year
  4. city
  5. Number
  6. Adjective
  7. Verb
  8. Verb
  9. Adjective
  10. Noun
  11. Country other than the US
  12. Food
  13. Adjective
  14. Measurement of time, plural
  15. Fruit or Vegetable
  16. Noun
  17. Noun
  18. Past tense verb
  19. Verb ending in “ing”
  20. Something edible

 

******************* The Story *******************

“My Saturday”

On Saturday morning (1) (2), (3), I took off from SeaTac airport to fly to (4).  I was on a Boeing (5) jet.  The (6) flight was pretty uneventful.  No time to (7) or (8) because it was such a short flight.

I arrived and (9) rented a (10) which would serve as my transportation for these two days down near the border.  I was very excited to have a (12) lunch with the Murrell family in Pine Valley.  I brought a (13) team to serve them a couple (14) ago.  After lunch I drove to Julian to meet with Pastor Rick and eat some Julian (15) Pie.  We got to chat about (16) and (17).

I was so (18) by this day, I came down from the hill and got back just in time to eat dinner with my friend Jeramy, who wrote the book “I Gave (19) a Chance.”  Dinner was so great, Jerusha served Grilled Chicken with (20) as a side dish.

Then it was time for bed!

Grace,

Brian

******* Winners *********

Instead of posting a “winner” on this, thought I’d post some of my favorite Aab-Lib lines from the entries. And of course a little commentary after each of them as to why I thought they were great.

 

“…I took off from SeaTac airport to fly to Yakima”  Byron (dude, nobody would fly to Yakima)

 

“..No time to lick or fly because it was such a short flight.” Byron (if I remember correctly, I did “lick and fly” on this flight, in fact, I licked a fly, that’s right.)

 

“…Jerusha served Grilled Chicken with wedding cake as a side dish.”  The Wifey (I could see Jerusha doing such a thing)

 

“…No time to crash or climb because it was such a short flight” The Wifey (this is great because it fit with flying… well, I hope the crashing never does fit…)

 

“…No time to crabwalk or skip because it was such a short flight” Brad (c’mon, who crabwalks anymore?)

 

“…I brought a lazy team to serve them a couple nano seconds ago”  Brad (I love it because a lazy team would only serve for a nano second)

 

“…and eat some Julian seafood Pie.” RackyJ21 (the very thought of seafood makes me sick, so good work Ricky)


“…with my friend Jeramy, who wrote the book “I Gave Dying a Chance.”  RackyJ21 (classic, wonder how that book turned out?)

 

“…rented a rock which would serve as my transportation”  HG McGee (is that an American made car?)

“…We got to chat about flower and leaf.” HG McGee (I could just see me and Rick chatting about flower and leaf)