Author: Rick McPherson

February Newsletter, 2016  Rick McPherson

The nature of our work involves heavy equipment.  Big trucks, trailers, fork-lifts and heavy pay-loads are all a part of what we do.  Taking donated groceries, household supplies, boots, winter coats, hats and gloves and pallets of Bibles and books to distant Native American reservations across the country requires transportation.  We burn lots of diesel fuel, wear the tread off tires and travel thousands of miles to accomplish our mission.  We depend on the physical part of our work to open the door for the spiritual.  Once the door opens we can deliver the truth of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness.  It is not only a Biblical plan, it is a successful one. 

Having been with the mission for over ten years, I have logged thousands of miles behind the wheel and visited Reservations from the Dakotas to the Pacific Ocean.  Looking back through my log book I can recall some near-death experiences.  One time I fell asleep at the wheel at 3:00 AM driving westbound on I-84 at mile marker 95 adjacent to the Columbia River.  Another time I was southbound on Hwy. 95 in Idaho descending the White Bird Pass.  Both times I was thankful for the guardian angels that did their work and saved my life. 

We have always made it a practice to pray before every truck trip.  If you think this is perfunctory, you’ve never jockeyed a big rig down the Interstate.  So, when Doc and Don and I finished the load we closed the big doors, held hands and prayed.  Little did I know what lay ahead.  

As is normal in wintertime weather, it was raining hard when I left.  After my stop for coffee in Chehalis I made the turn to Hwy 12, westbound through Rochester to Oakville and on to Aberdeen.  The highway is just two lanes and has old-fashioned steel bridges with arches on both sides.  The guard-rails at the entrance and exit of the bridges end at the bottom of the arches.  The distance between the arches is for normal traffic.  But what was to happen in a matter of seconds was not normal.  My wipers were set on intermittent and as the glass cleared I saw a pilot pickup truck with a “Wide Load” banner across the front bumper. 

Immediately I saw a semi pulling a flat-bed trailer with the treads of a large excavator protruding past the sides of the truck… and, the bridge.  There simply was not room for the two of us to pass each other.  My first thought was, “this is it … I’m going to die!” 

I’m now convinced that those same guardian angels were on duty that day and they have the ability to shrink and expand steel.  Whatever they did, they did it right.  My life was saved. 

You’ve often heard me say that the best thing you can do for me and for this ministry is to pray.  So, thank you to the many people who have been faithful in asking the Lord to protect us.  I know I felt the effects of your prayers on that rainy day on Hwy 12, westbound for Aberdeen. 

***

*bought the farm…buy the farm…idioms that were used in military context for soldiers who lost their lives in battle and the proceeds from life insurance policies were used to pay the mortgages on family farms.

January Newsletter, 2016  Rick McPherson

When you live in the Pacific Northwest, you get used to the rain.  You drive in it.  You work in it.  You live in it.  One local TV station spoofs the rain by making commercials of people doing all sorts of activities in the drenching, soaking rain.  They’re actually quite funny, if you have a weird sense of humor.  

But, last month was no laughing matter.  We had more rain in December than any month since Noah was around.    Over 15” is what they said.  That’s a lot of water. 

And in the middle of all that water we were taking trips to the Reservations and delivering Christmas loads with groceries, children’s toys, gifts, household supplies (blankets, pillows, sheets, and appliances), fresh produce, bread, Bibles and warm jackets, hats and gloves.  All of the loads were delivered as an expression of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness.  

Back in November we had made our plans to serve three Reservations and God helped us fulfill our plans.  We were blessed to be chosen as one of the non-profits to receive a portion of the toys donated to the Les Schwab Toy Drive.  These toys, along with many others that were donated at our store, Low Prices, and given by customers and friends of the Mission, helped us make Christmas a wonderful experience for many Native American children.  Because of the weather and the late schedule for truck deliveries, we actually sent five large boxes of toys by UPS to a distant Reservation address.  Not quite like the Pony Express, but you get the idea!

You’ll see some great pictures of these outreaches on the back:

1.  QUINAULT RESERVATION, Lake Quinault, Washington
2. NEZ PERCE RESERVATION, Lapwai, Idaho
3. CELILO INDIAN VILLAGE,  The Dalles, Oregon

December Newsletter, 2015  Rick McPherson

November Newsletter, 2015 Rick McPherson

It is?  Excuse me, but yesterday was Labor Day and the day before that was Independence Day.  It can’t be the Holiday Season, can it?  Christmas?  New Year’s?  I’ve just gotten used to writing 2015 and now, 16?  My, my … time does fly! 

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not complaining.  Christmas and the Holiday Season are my favorites.  The lights, music, family, friends, food and festivities are the highlights of my year.  I love them all.  It just seems that they are returning a little quicker than ever before. 

With the schedule as busy as it is, we add to the mix our planned trips to three Native American Reservations.  Last month we outlined our plans to help the following:

Nez Perce, Lapwai, Idaho

Quinault, Lake Quinault, Washington

Yakama, Celilo Indian Village, Oregon

We’re working hard to build family food boxes, collect unwrapped children’s toys, diapers, unexpired baby formula, leather boots, knit-hats and new or gently used winter coats to be distributed before Christmas.  You can help us!  Spread the word to friends or your local church and tell them about Pacific NW Outreach, Inc. and what we do.  Then, pray.  Ask God’s blessings to be extended to the Native Americans that we serve.  Pray that  God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness will shine through everything that we do.  Finally, you can give.  Your financial gift will enable us to do this work.  The expenses of the ministry continue with our efforts to deliver these gifts to distant and difficult destinations.  Your gift combined with others will get the job done.  No one can do everything but everyone can do something. 

As the year comes to a close, remember your year-end giving.  Take advantage of the last few weeks of 2015 and send your gift to Pacific NW Outreach, Inc. today.  If you would like a tax receipt for your annual giving, simply call the office and we’ll send it immediately.  If you have a question about the last few ministry trips of this year, we’d love to hear from you. 

One last thing … enjoy!

Enjoy the Christmas Season.

Laugh with your family and friends.

Eat well.

Rest.

Sing.

Give thanks.

Be kind.

Slow down.

Hug.

Be generous.

Smile.

October Newsletter, 2015,  Rick McPherson

I like hats.  I collect them.  I wear them.   Since going bald about twenty years ago, I need them to keep my head warm in the cold.  Most folks know that if your head is warm, you’re warm!

Some hats are all about function and some are not.  Remember the hats the ladies used to wear to church on Sunday mornings?  Not really functional, but did they ever look good!  If you were caught in a snow-storm however, I’m not sure they would help.  

We have a friend of the mission who has been knitting hats for Native American children and adults for years.  Every year at this time we receive a box with about a hundred hats that she has knit and asks that we distribute them on the Reservations for Christmas.  I have personally delivered boxes full of hats and the results are always the same…big smiles and happy eyes!  When your head is cold and your ears are freezing, a beautiful, colorful, warm, hand-knit hat is a great gift.  

Well this year we learned that Dixie Potter, the hat lady, had suffered several strokes and had spent three months in the hospital and rehabilitation.  She told her care-givers,

“I’ve got to get better so I can get back to knitting hats for the children!” 

We now have the privilege of delivering Dixie’s hats.  Most of the people who will wear one will never know her story.  It may be one of those “secrets” that will be revealed in Heaven someday.  Rest assured that the One who takes perfect notes of these acts has already recorded it.  Perhaps there will be an awards ceremony and the hat lady will receive extra jewels in her hat, er, crown!

In the meantime, we’ve got work to do!  We would like to deliver our Christmas groceries, children’s toys and Dixie’s hats before the first of December.  You can help us!  Our target  Reservations for this year are:

1. Nez Perce, Lapwai, Idaho
2. Quinault, Lake Quinault, Washington
3. Yakama, Celilo Indian Village, Oregon

Please PRAY for these outreach trips and the Native Americans on these Reservations.  Pray for the salvation of souls and for the message of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness as it is presented. 

Please GIVE to help us make these trips.  Your financial gift, no matter what the amount, is needed at this time.  Thank you for giving and caring…

September Newsletter, 2015  Rick McPherson

As a kid I never liked Labor Day.  Why name a day for work and then celebrate it nationally?  Mostly, I didn’t like it because it meant summer vacation was over and we had to go back to school.  Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to go, it was just a fact that school followed the holiday.   July and August were a memory and there was a September calendar on the kitchen wall with a red circle drawn around that fateful Tuesday.  Like it or not, ready or not, it was back to school. 

The halls and classrooms and gymnasium always had a unique smell.  The vice-principal stood on patrol and the new home room teacher wrote on the chalk-board, “Welcome, my name is Mr. Horton.”  At least that’s what I remember from 4th grade.  Had he not been my first male teacher, I probably wouldn’t remember anything at all.  What is in my memory are the books, reports, assignments, tests and report cards.  Learning had a curriculum and there was a master plan that I didn’t know.   Much later I learned that learning was a lifestyle that would never stop.

Now I’m reliving my childhood vicariously through my grandsons.  Nothing has changed much.  They too think that Labor Day is an intrusion into a perfectly wonderful summer schedule of camps, paintball, fishing and baseball.  Why bother with school?  But somehow I hear myself talking and trying to explain to them that there is indeed a greater plan and learning is a major part of it all.  Although they’re listening, I’m not sure they’re buying it, yet. 

Then I remembered these words that Paul the Apostle said to his young friend, Timothy.  “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”  II Timothy 3:14-15

In our ministry here at Pacific NW Outreach, Inc., we are constantly learning. 

Everyday there are problems to solve, reports to be written (like this one), facts and figures to be processed,  projects to be organized, schedules to be  made, people to be coordinated and things to be learned.  It never stops.  Learning is a lifestyle. 

The Apostle was right when he said, “you must continue…”   Not only do we continue to work, we continue to learn.  We continue to learn the Native American culture, we continue to learn what works and what doesn’t, we continue to learn how to pay our expenses, we continue to learn how to save money, we continue to learn to pray, to forgive, to serve.  It never stops!

And many of you who receive this newsletter have, “continued.”    You have not stopped your lifestyle of learning, praying, giving, helping.  Thank you and God bless you for staying in school and not dropping out!

***

July Newsletter, 2015  Rick McPherson

The title of this month’s newsletter is Gallery. We’ve selected photos from the past months that depict our ministry at Pacific NW Outreach.  You’ll see regalia, teepees, parades, preaching, groceries, trucks, kids, families and God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness in real life.  Enjoy!

Although the pictures show ministry throughout the year, it is the middle of the summer.  This year we have experienced record-breaking heat here in the Pacific Northwest.  The lack of rainfall and the intense heat have affected us badly.  We need your financial help, particularly at this time, to make it.  Please pray for us and then help us with a generous financial gift.  Thank you and God bless you for your gift. 

 

May Newsletter, 2015  Rick McPherson

Both of our grandsons are playing Little League baseball this year.   They have uniforms and gloves, batting helmets and cleats, aluminum bats and sunflower seeds.  They have everything you need to play the game …except for one thing, experience.  They’re beginners.  In order for them to improve and play well they have to practice the same thing, over and over.  Hitting, hitting with power, running, catching and throwing all are achieved the same way, practice.    You must do the same thing hundreds and then thousands of times to become good.  Repetition is the key ingredient.  Repetition is a good thing! 

When you think about it, repetition affects everything we do.  And, the most important things in life, the words that we speak, need to be repeated constantly.  Words like, “I love you,” “I forgive you,” and “I appreciate you.”

With that in mind, I want to repeat myself in this newsletter.   Allow me to say again what I have said before.  These are statistics about the people that we serve in this ministry, “the forgotten people,” Native Americans. They are as important as any people-group or culture on planet earth, yet they experience conditions every day that are unbelievable.   For example:

*The infant mortality rate among Native people is about 300 percent higher than the national average.

*Nearly 10 percent of all Native American families are homeless.  The rate of Native homes without electricity is about 10 times the national average and 20 percent of Native homes have no running water.

*Native Americans have the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the United States.  The poverty rate is 25 percent.

*From 1999 to 2004, Native males from 15-24 years had the highest suicide rate compared to males of any other racial group. 

 I could also tell you about alcoholism, drug addiction, gang violence, domestic abuse and abominable activities that are common place on the Reservations and in Native communities.  But, my point is to remind you that there is still work to be done.  Ministry is not stopped because the statistics are overwhelming.  In fact the message of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness is even more meaningful than ever. 

When John the Baptist had heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent his disciples to ask, “Are you the Coming One , or do we look for another?”

Jesus said, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”  St. Matthew 11:4-6

In this incredible list of miracles, authenticating His ministry, Jesus includes the fact that the Gospel is being preached to the poor!  That bears repeating, the Gospel is being preached to the poor.  The needs are great, the statistics are staggering, the suffering is overwhelming but the message of God’s love is being delivered. 

So, let’s keep doing it.   Let’s keep repeating ourselves.  Let’s tell the story of Jesus.  Let’s tell of His mercy, grace, patience, kindness, joy, peace, gentleness and goodness.  Keep saying it.  Keep singing it.  Keep praying it.  Keep repeating it.

After all, repetition is a good thing!

PS  Thank you…for repeating your support of this ministry.  Your gift, whether large or small, enables us to continue this work.  No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.  God bless you!