Fall 2010

  

Trades Track

The students work about 8 hours a week building 

sheds. They break into two groups working 4 hours 

in an afternoon. Pictured here is one of the 

groups with one of the first completed sheds of 

the year. The proceeds from the sheds goes 

towards student tuition.

                                           

Brownsville E-POD

A couple of weekends each month are spent at other sister churches. One of the teachers from that church has a class prepared for them. One weekend in October the students with Kaleb Mckay went to Brownsville and heard from Rick Showalter who taught on the Holy Spirit.

    Bend E-POD

    This last weekend all of us piled into the Mandate van and took a

    four hour drive through the mountains, to go to Bend. We had a

    couple of days of class with Wes Carmack, of Desert Streams     

    church, teaching us how to do an inductive Bible study on

    Galatians. On Sunday we drove out to Smith Rock which is where

    this picture is from.

On Campus Classes

Dan Bumstead taught a class for us earlier this year, on the book of Luke. We also heard from Duane Roth about once every other week, who is teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. In the next couple of weeks Richard Wenger will be teaching on 1 Timothy. All other classes have been in at different churches.

Towards the end of the first month

So here we are, almost the end of September and things are going really well. The students have started bonding really well—I can already see life-long relationships building!

Last Thursday the students and some staff members went up to Drift Creek Camp for the Crossing. It was a time of bonding for the students, where they—through tears and smiles—told their stories.

Here is what some of the students had to say regarding the Crossing:

Raychal Taylor: The Crossing was great. We had to share our stories which was hard for me because I get nervous when I have to talk in front of people. But it was really good because I was able to open up and let the group see into my heart. God grew me there! And He really bonded the whole group together in a way that only the Lord can.

Levi Wilke: We spent a week away from everything else. We shared our life stories. For me this was a good time to prepare my mind for the next seven months of Mandate.

Joanna Hildebrand: The Crossing was such a blast! We got to share our life stories with each other and after hearing everybody's, the bond between us was just so much closer. We also had time to just hang out together on a daily basis. We played lots of games like Settlers of Catan and Egyptian Wars. I pretty much dominated everyone that played with me, but of course I did let some games slide, hahaha. The best part for me was the small but important like lessons I felt like God was teaching me when I heard people's life stories.



SATURDAY:


This last Saturday we did a couple of fundraisers, raising a net total of about $850. We started out with selling Krispy Kremes in the morning. We sold out 125 dozen in  less than 3 1/2 hours, which was so encouraging to us all! Thank you all who came and helped out selling the donuts, or washing cars!

In the afternoon we all gathered together in McMinnville and had a very successful carwash! It was a very encouraging day to start the fundraisers rolling!

This week we start classes! Dan Bumstead is going to be teaching on the book of Luke this week.

Thanks for your support of Mandate schools!
Kirsty Martin

The start of a new Mandate year

Hello everyone,

Well, Mandate has officially started up again. Before festival, we had only six students, really needing at least seven to make the school be able to run, and now we have ten! Thank you Jesus! I personally am really excited about this years group. 

We have six girls, two from northern Washington, Ellen Tkacsik and Joanna Hildebrand, one from Lebanon, Hannah Cowart, three from Silverton, Raychal Taylor, Emily Santana, and Liv Meisner, and from Grande Ronde, we have Joy Bryant. And on the boys side, we have Zech Homer, and Preston Wenger, both from Sheridan, and Levi Wilke from Pendleton.

This last weekend the students, as well as about 6 others, started off the year at NIKO a program that Y-WAM puts on, out in the wilderness, that really focuses in on teamwork, and trusting those around you, your leaders and your teammates. 

Here are the students' reports on NIKO:

(Preston Wenger) The old, white Mandate van swerved violently on the small back country road, sending it's cargo (us) flying around in various directions. The van's cargo was filled with 18 different people all coming from different walks of life. But one ting bound them together, and that one thing was unknown. Nobody knew what to expect in this thing the "whisperers" called "NIKO".

A short while later the red bearded man driving the van pulled the van to a sharp right, took it up a hill and parked it. out fell 9 Mandate students and 9 other tag-alongs waiting to face something of which they knew nothing, something that could result in anything!

Four days later the eighteen returned, looking...and smelling...nothing like they did before they left. What exactly went on up there, I do not have the slightest clue, but something was different about them, no not their look (though that is true) but something about the way they carried themselves was different. the only info I could get about what I deemed a remarkable change in these peoples countenance was the following:

Preston Wenger: "Niko was a fun and challenging experience. I really enjoyed getting to know my fellow comrades, and learning about the things like teamwork, and surrender.

Raychal Taylor: "At NIKO I really learned what it means to be a leader. Being a leader is way more than just leading being a leader is all about surrender, serving and teamwork. A leader needs to have people backing them, they can't do anything on their own. And the only way to be an effective leader is to fully surrender your life to God. Learning this has helped me become more effective as a leader because I don't have to do everything on my own."

Liv Meisner: "God completely took over when I went to NIKO. At first I didn't really know why I was there, and didn't know for sure whether or not I should even go to Mandate...But it really hit home when we were learning about surrender. God spoke into my life and completely confirmed that I was exactly where he needed me to be. I also learned alot about being a leader, and it takes the whole team to make something work not just the leader. It was an amazing experience and I would totally do it again!"

Zech Homer: "Over the course of NIKO I learned a lot a lot, not just about myself but the people around me. I felt at the end I had a new view on a lot of things such as teamwork, sacrifice, surrender and love and how they really are all tied together. Before NIKO I was not a team player. Even in high school I chose to do individual sports like wrestling, cause I didn't want to have to rely on other people to succeed. After NIKO I now know that I couldn't have made it through NIKO without teamwork. Though I learned a lot at NIKO the most important thing I took away from it was true surrender. The place of willingly stepping away from a situation and letting God do his work. Over all NIKO, I feel, has something to offer everyone from all walks of life and I would highly recommend it to anyone"

Ellen Tkacsik: "NIKO taught me about servanthood and surrender. I feel that God really used this time to show me that he needs me to surrender myself to him - my desires, my fears, my wishes, my will. He's also showing me that I need to turn to him first, before I turn to anything else. He doesn't want to be second place in my life, and I need to not only let him speak, but also be willing to listen."

Hannah Cowart: "NIKO was an awesome experience! I was pushed to my limit and through that I learned I could do far more than I ever thought possible. I also learned that you can accomplish so much more as a team than you can do on your own."

Emily Santana: "During NIKO we learned what a team really is and about sacrifice. What really hit home for me though was serving others. I've always looked at serving like a weakness and that I needed to look out for number one to make sure all my needs and desires are taken care of. God really spoke to me on this. He told me serving others is exactly what he wants me to do, and that serving is not a weakness but in fact a great strength. I need to learn to serve others and not worry about all my needs because God will be right there taking care of me and keeping me safe, as long as I trust Him."

Joanna Hildebrand: "Throughout my time at NIKO, God taught me what it truly means to submit myself to Him in every situation. How we need to come to Him in times of pain and suffering and in times of joy and celebration. To come to Him for anything and everything. I learned to surrender my pride and my fears to God and to serve others with an open heart. NIKO was a liberating experience and I will never forget what God taught me there!"

Thanks for reading!

Kirsty Martin

Mandate Schools

P.S. Come support Mandate Schools Missions trips on Wednesday, in McMinnville, as we have our first fundraiser of the year—A car wash!!! We will be located at the First Federal Bank parking lot, in McMinnville, 6:00pm-8:30pm. THANKS!