I'm sitting in our living room feeling the warmth of the coals glowing in the wood stove and smiling as our new puppy Buzz lies exhausted after a hard day of playing "The Three Musketeers" with our other two CRC staff dogs, Peaches and Zeva. The house is nice and quiet after a busy day of work.

    Today Peter went shopping for CRC's  groceries, Bryan & Naomi cleaned buildings, Sheri worked on the guest list for an upcoming retreat as Julie and I worked in our home office. Sheri gave a tour to a group of eight Hispanic brothers and sisters who were here to prepare for their upcoming youth retreat and we got to hear their senior pastor's testimony!

     After lunch, our dear friend Rachel Rand, whom we have the privilege of supporting through CRC, shared briefly about her work in Kazakhstan at staff devotions and then drove over to Silver Crest School with Bryan Rutschman to join him in sharing at the Bible Release Time program for our local K-8 public country school. After devotions, we met Janette Hughes who is also here on personal retreat. She was so appreciative that her stay is donation-based! Janette is a missionary to the Islands off the north coast of Madagascar with Africa Inland Mission. Both Kazakhstan and these Islands are strongly Muslim and closed to traditional missions work, but can be reached through teaching English, which is what Rachel and Janette do there. What a rich life we lead and what wonderful saints we are privileged to know!

     Speaking of saints, I would like you to meet Sheri Keepers, our new registrar. A long-time friend of the Center, Sheri first started coming up 16 years ago with Refreshing Escape, a women's retreat. Over the past 3-4 years she has often volunteered regularly in the kitchen on weekends. She has worked for the State of Oregon for 30 years and finally completely retired in 2009. Sheri has a home in nearby Stayton, OR which she shares with her adult daughter Melissa. When Sheri heard that we were in immediate need of a registrar, she offered to live at CRC and fill the position until we found someone permanent for the job. Her offer to take over the responsibilities of CRC registrar has been a huge answer to prayer!

     We are still in need of someone to fill this position on a full-time, long term basis. We are extremely encouraged by the caliber of those who are responding to our on-line ads, but we also feel that the best person for this job is someone who already knows the heart and ministry of the Center and has been blessed through it, someone who has some history with CRC. We are not in a hurry as Sheri has offered to continue as registrar at least through this spring and perhaps for up to a year. We DO need those who have a heart for the ministry of CRC, and the skills listed in the job description to contact us as soon as possible so that we can begin to plan together for the future of CRC.

Sneak peek of tile in Men's Shower

 The remodel of the men's shower house also continues to progress. Over the last two months, several men have come up to help set tile and grout: Curtis Pollard, Phil Kepler, David Rabourn, and throughout the month of December, Richard Frank. The wall and showers are completely tiled and mostly grouted, so now we begin work on the floor. The job is turning out so beautifully! If you have some time to spare, we would so appreciate your help in completing this big project.

     In closing, this past weekend we were so blessed at the response to our 6th annual Scrapbooking & Quilting Retreat! Over 30 women came to create keepsakes for their families and to hear Lori Riegelmann and Becky Rutschman share from their hearts at the meal-time devotions. They each shared their testimonies and then took turns speaking on such topics as 'The Value of Godly Friendships and Reaching Out to Others', 'The Importance of Being "Doers" of the Word (James 1:22)', 'When & Why God Seems Silent', 'Pressing Into Your Relationship with God' and 'The Power of Prayer'. Everyone was touched and encouraged. 

In Christ,

Tim Hansen

CRC Director