Day 13: Portland area

We didn't have an assigned church at which to speak this morning, so we decided to attend Crossroads Christian, where Tom Burgess is senior minister. Chris DeWelt and Victor Knowles know Tom well. We have seen him at conventions and such. The service was impressive; the congregation seems to be healthy and dynamic; the building is modern and spacious. Tom said it took them 7 years to build it, since they decided not to go into debt for it, but rather built as funds were available.

Crossroads Christian is where our friend Sarah McGuire attends. She graciously took us to lunch at Olive Garden. We had a good visit with this dear lady, then crossed Portland to rest a few minutes in our motel room before our evening assignment.

At 4:30, we showed up at the Christian Church of Hillsboro (Portland suburb), where Jim Keefe is senior minister. We set up the display and I got to meet the ministers (Evaristo Rojas and Luis Serrano) of the hispanic church which uses the same building for a service in the afternoon. Ralph, when they saw your & Cindy's picture in the catalog I gave them, they remembered you being at the Convención Nacional Cristiana when it was in Portland.

Hillsboro Christian's missions chairperson Harlene Conley was our contact person here--very sharp lady--and took us, along with Jim and Caroline Keefe to eat at a Red Robin (akin to Fuddrucker's) where Susan and I split a fish-n-chips and Emilee chowed down on a cheese pizza. I had met Jim 11 years ago on my previous NWSOM tour, when he was ministering at a church in Edmonds, WA. At 6:30 we arrived back at the church building, for dessert and coffee, then around 7:00 went into the auditorium for my presentation. It is always so encouraging to hear the comments of the people who attend these sessions. I hope I am blessing them as much as they are blessing me.