Some of you have been asking – where have we been? The simple answer is – the Puyallup Fair. No, not eating elephant ears and riding the roller coaster (although you can see by the picture we did enjoy some non Young Life booth food on occasion). But seventeen days and hundreds of volunteer shifts later, the Young Life BBQ/Teriyaki booth is coming to a close. For Young Life staff in this area, the fair dominates our time and responsibilities. For twenty-nine years the Puyallup fair has provided Young Life in the Puget Sound area an incredible venue for raising money and being with friends (the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers). But there is another reason for our absence – in a word, “change”. The Pritchard family, after fourteen years on Young Life field staff, is making a ministry change.

If you read our blog and are part of our Facebook group, then you know the passion and heart we have for marriage and family. For years we have prayed that God would line up our passions, our gifting, our love for our church, and our love for the mission of Young Life. God has answered our prayers – and in a big way! As only God can do He has provided a unique window of opportunity at our church and with Young Life. Beginning October 1^st, we are honored to be the new Pastor’s of Family Ministry at Lake City Community Church. It is a part time position that allows us to also serve the mission of Young Life in a similar role. Beginning soon (in non-profit vernacular that means as soon as we are able to raise the money) we will be launching a new role in Young Life of caring for staff families. Obviously the two roles dove tail nicely – as we serve our church families in this area we will be creating resources for our Young Life staff and vice versa. Of course our ultimate prayer would be that these resources might serve families throughout the body of Christ. So pray for us as we transition into these two new roles.

What an honor for us to serve two groups of people that we love so dearly. Our church family where we have attended for the past eight years – we have asked the Lord for more opportunities to use our gifts within our own fellowship having no idea He’d open a door like this. And our Young Life family – where we have watched friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, dynamically pouring into the lives of young people and feeling defeated in their own marriage and family. We are so excited as a family to serve in this new capacity. Clearly either one of these two jobs would be more than any one person can handle – put them together and we are taking on an impossible task. So with that excitement is an incredible amount of anxiety, which is good because it has driven Kelli and I to our knees – knowing that only God can make this work. And… with God all things are possible! Looking ahead you may see some branding issues change with our blog and website – but expect even more writing and resources to come in the very near future.

We are doing a five week series on parenting teenagers at University Place Presbyterian Church beginning Wednesday night, October 20, 2010 at 6:15PM. Then November 18 – 21 we will be speaking at the Young Life staff marriage conference at Trailwest in Colorado. Our teen series will be available on CD sometime this fall. We have begun the initial stages for a new book, so please pray for that. As we try to better understand how to best serve families in these two roles, part of our “fund raising” will be speaking at churches, so we welcome any help in connecting with your church and the pastor responsible for bringing in seminar’s for parents.  Also, let us know if there is anything in particular you would like us to blog about – we want to serve your marriage and your family as best we can. And thank you because I know many of you have been praying for us – we are so grateful for that. It is an exciting time for us and our ministry. Thank you for being a part of it. We look forward to serving you and your family in greater ways in the near future.