Praise God!

To Bob Larson and all the LTCSW Region Board of Directors,

Our thanks to all who helped the church of Christ in Prineville, Oregon have our own very small LTC convention . . . perhaps the beginning of LTC Northwest. Some of us really missed coming to Phoenix, seeing all of you, and being a part of the "bigger picture," but I feel certain that God had other plans . . . plans that reached far beyond anything I had in mind.

You'all were tools in His hands in so many ways. Vivia Simmons assisted again and again, and was a wonderful resource, Dexter O'Neal was tremendous help for Bible Bowl, and Bob Larson's encouragement was a godsend.

It began with Bible Bowl interaction between the teens of the church here in Prineville and those in Richland, Washington. When the LTC team from Richland was unable to attend a convention as they had planned, they asked if they could share a weekend with us. Not only were we able to give the Richland teens a venue to share the LTC skills they had learned, but in so doing, fourteen kids from the church here in Prineville became very actively involved in LTC, a program they had never even heard of. I don't want to fail to mention the difference that the leadership of Joleen Reeves, one of our teens who had been very active in the LTC program at Dalton Gardens, Idaho, has made with the kids here. Her example and encouragement were major factors.

We had twenty-four kids involved in thirteen different events and they did fine. Fourteen adults from this church and three from Richland (including their youth minister and one of their elders) were judges, and many others helped in other areas. A very good crowd came for our Saturday night Celebration and awards assembly, and then eight of the boys led the entire worship service on Sunday morning for the whole congregation. Nothing like this has ever been done here, and it has made a major impact on the church in Prineville. Other Northwest congregations are already thinking about joining us for next year. We will continue to have open hearts to God's leading and see where this can go. Only He knows, and He is so good!

In His awesome love,

Mike Reeves