Story of God at Work in Guatemala

By Hannah Lewandowski

“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.”

Psalm 72:12-14

We are so often entangled by what is before us, what we see in front of us, the circumstances of our day-to-day. In being caught up with our problems, celebrations, and commitments, we forgo pursuing God’s view of the world and His people in pursuit of our affections. Our Heavenly Father cares deeply for the nations and the injustice present amongst them. For many of us, in our Americanized ways, we think often of our own needs, ultimately building our kingdom over that of Christ’s, ignoring issues because they’re not in front our faces or blasted on our social media feeds. God cares about His people of all nations, tribes, and tongues, and so should we. He is on a mission of reconciliation, and we must join.

In March, a group of people was sent to Guatemala to explore a potential partnership with an organization focused on ministering to women and children affected by trafficking locally and globally.  Consisting of people from various Resonate Churches, Dakota, Vivian, John, and Ashton were sent to explore a potential partnership. This nonprofit organization, Dare for More, focuses on creating sustainable change for vulnerable women, sharing the gospel and skills to give them opportunities for work beyond sexual exploitation. Dare For More operates out of the United States but ministers from a safe house, women’s training centers, and a medical clinic in Antigua; their facilities are intentionally designed to align with trauma-informed care practices, providing a safe and minimally triggering space for the women and children who have escaped trafficking. In these places, they are counseled, cared for medically, receive the gospel, and are taught marketable skills such as leather working, baking, coffee roasting and production, and much more.  

Antigua, Guatemala

While the team was there, they got to interact with four to five moms and each of their two to five children, make home visits, and learn about the mission of Dare for More from the beginning of its creation. Despite not knowing the ancient Mayan language of the people there or Spanish, Vivian, one of the team members, shared that it was beautiful to experience God’s love made perfect in community. God revealed to her how His love and design transcend cultural differences and language barriers, solidifying the truth that He didn’t make man to live alone; we need one another, which is something to celebrate. 

During one of the home visits the team made, they traversed up the mountains outside of Antigua to an impoverished village, where they brought groceries to a class being taught by a woman named Terry. Growing up impoverished and unable to go to school, Terry started working at the age of seven and has been ever since. Being unable to read for most of her life put a barrier between her, scripture, and other job opportunities. When she got married, her husband was unusually supportive of her desire to read, and she then was permitted to learn through reading the Bible, giving her a doorway to know and share the gospel with others. Loving to bake, Terry started her own business, as well as created new techniques to cook things without traditional stovetops or ovens. Baked goods weren’t found in abundance throughout Antigua and the villages in the nearby mountains, making Terry’s business quite successful before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this success, Terry had a thought that if one day she were to come face to face with God, He would say to her, “I’ve given you these gifts, how have you shared them?” to which she realized she would have no response. The tenacity and independence God had gifted her was something she was using to build herself up, and in turn, she decided to effectively take a pay cut to use her gifts to minister to younger women through teaching them to make a dollar and build a life for themselves. One team member, John, shared that Terry’s story was incredibly convicting, prompting the deeper questions of what God has specifically gifted you and me with and, more importantly, how we can use those gifts to build God’s Kingdom over our own.

Following this interaction with Terry and her baking class, the team headed back to the safe house, where they spent more time with the women and children present. A form of trauma-informed care is allowing space for child-like play, a type of unstructured fun that is freeing and takes one’s mind off of the trauma they constantly wade through as they process each day. That evening Vivian, John, Ashton, and Dakota got to show God’s love to these women and children through positive interactions, that frankly they aren’t used to from most people in their lives throughout the past; this reality is equally heartbreaking and beautiful to see God restore both women and young children’s relationships with other women, and specifically other men through the teams presence in Guatemala. Continuing to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the people they encountered, the team went to a newly acquired medical clinic in a village outside of Antigua called El Dorado. Amidst people speaking a native Mayan language and Spanish, they worked to help clean and paint the clinic so that Dare for More could see more patients. Increasing the quality of care and sharing the gospel being the primary goals, God was at work amidst the labor of the team in the clinic. 

“The tenacity and independence God had gifted her was something she was using to build herself up, and in turn, she decided to effectively take a pay cut to use her gifts to minister to younger women through teaching them to make a dollar and build a life for themselves.”

During their time in that village, the team did more home visits, bringing families in need groceries and praying over them. Up the street from the first house they went to, they came across a home with 12 children, one of which was in a wheelchair after having his legs run over in December. Astonished that he had access to a wheelchair in the first place, the team praised God for His provision and petitioned Him to heal this young boy. Bringing groceries and good news to those in need is essential, but we must believe that prayer is the greater work, that no matter what we say or do, God alone can bring them true, everlasting freedom and redemption.

On their last day in Guatemala, the team got to go to a coffee farm that partners with Dare for More, who employ and trains women who are transitioning out of the safe houses the organization offers. This business isn’t inherently Chrisitan, but are supportive to those who are and are helping to redeem another business that is commonly exploited, reutrnin alot of the profits to those doing the hard labor. From there, the team got to visit an old convent built by Spanish colonizers. Ashton shared that this place was representative of the country spiritually, as there were images of Jesus on the cross all over, yet most of the people gazing upon these images have never heard the story of Jesus or don’t believe in Him at all. Many people, including the International Mission Board, view Guatemala as a reached country, but despite this truth, there is evident brokenness that the team witnessed firsthand, telling a different story than what one would assume. Although Guatemala has access to the gospel, there are continued efforts to be made to aid in addressing the injustice present. People across the globe are facing horrendous realities, and through the work of nonprofits like Dare for More, there are tangible opportunities to minister to the deep brokenness faced by women longing for restoration. There is hope to be brought to dark places.

The beauty of the landscape in Guatemala reminded the team of God’s love and care for His people, but also that God is in the business of restoring, making all things new, and one day, every nation will bow before His throne, praising His mighty name above all names. His heart breaks for the injustice faced by His beloved creation, and ours should too. Would we be people who long for that more than we long for temporary comfort and momentary satisfaction? We can’t commit to being everywhere, to reaching everyone, to fighting every ounce of injustice in this world, but we most definitely can be people who pray without ceasing.

Story of God at Work // In-Class Gospel Share

By Chelsy Massa

The harvest is plentiful. 

Right? 

That’s what we hear, that’s what we read in the bible, and that is God’s promise. Yet, why does it feel like when we go out, we get kicked in the teeth more than anything? Why does it feel like we get more losses than wins? Why does our basket that is supposed to be overflowing with the harvest feel meager and empty? 

Those are questions we ask ourselves in the quiet moments when we are alone and discouraged. I think it’s the question that Kyle probably felt when he shared the gospel as an excited village leader and junior at Western Oregon University. 

Kyle was a bright-eyed, wildly in love with Jesus junior. Sporting his “Jesus loves you” shirt to class ready for any and all opportunities to share the gospel. In one particular class, they are split into groups for a project. As they introduce themselves getting to know each other in their groups, Kyle stands up and declares, “I am Kyle and I love Jesus.” Proud of his boldness, yet looking around and seeing that he is met with a face of incredulity. 

“What do you mean you love Jesus?” his classmate, Sam asks, doubt written on his heart. 

However, without a beat, Kyle jumps at the opportunity not only to share the gospel and his story with Sam but also to share with his whole group. Now, Kyle was familiar with another guy in that group Mark, and Mark, like many college students, was sucked into the party scene. Kyle wasn’t unfamiliar with such a scene. Kyle shares how God had saved him from the hypocrisy he was living, that he professed a Christian worldview which saved him from hell, but allowed him to live into the hookup and party cultures that have a hold on the American university campus. He shared the freedom he experienced and the satisfaction he was trying to find in girls and alcohol was only found in Jesus. 

Then he finishes realizing that everyone in the group except Sam was looking away, pulling out their phones, and trying to find any means to avoid this awkward conversation. However, Sam leaned in and exclaimed, “I am Buddhist, we believe in the same things!” 

Kyles's heart sank with discouragement. No, no, Sam, we don’t believe in the same thing. One leads to life, and the other leads to death. Kyle’s sunken heart did not lead him to skirt the obvious mistruth of Sam’s exclamation. He boldly presses in and boldly states, “Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. We do not believe in the same thing; Buddha can never save you.” Sam sits back and doesn’t speak for the rest of the class. 

The class ends and Kyle slumps home. Distraught and beat up, no harvest to bring home. His roommates hear intently of Kyle’s day and pray for him and pray for Sam. 

Fast forward two years Kyle has joined the campus staff with Resonate Monmouth. He is added by a man on social media who turns out to be Sam. Sam posts about a vague, slightly political post about God. Kyle does not remember this particular Sam but sees an opportunity to develop a partnership with Sam and asks him to join the work that God is doing at Western Oregon University. 

Sam responds with a very cryptic message, but not a hard no. Kyle pursues forward. He sends a letter. Sam responds once again, and Kyle sets up a phone call. The phone call was for the same night. Two weeks go by, and nothing but silence. We will now arrive in January 2025. A weekend to remember - Kyle is wading through the crowds at ResCon and gets a message. Thinking it's a question from a villager or a student about the conference they are attending, Kyle opens it up and reads a surprising message. It’s a yes, to a phone call scheduled two weeks ago. 

Kyle, as we are familiar with, does not hesitate. He calls Sam, and Sam talks to him with familiarity. Kyle asks questions and gives his MPD pitch, but while listening, he is trying to remember who this guy is and why he seems to know Kyle. 

Sam pauses and says, “This is a really sweet full-circle moment.”

Then it all clicks in Kyle’s mind. 

This was Buddhist Sam. This was the Sam who doubted and slumped back in silence. 

Yet, this Sam is no longer Buddhist. This Sam is a new creation in Christ. Sam was greatly impacted by Kyle’s boldness in class. So much so that he went home and read the bible. He read the whole bible in three months. He tells Kyle, “When I read the bible, I realized that there was no way anybody could do what Jesus did without being God.” Sam goes into a deeper study of who God is. If God is real, that should be the greatest thing. Sam starts a comparative study of Jesus and other religious leaders and he could not have found a better man anywhere. Jesus was the one true God and in response, Sam had to bow down to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. 

Kyle, dumbstruck at what he’s hearing, praises God for not being one who gives up as easily as he did two years ago. 

The harvest is plentiful, and laborers are needed. 

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:6-8). 

Faithful laborers, like Kyle, stand up and say, “I am loved by Jesus” and are also those who remain faithful enough to return to a disappointing field; One who plants and waters and remembers the God who grows. 

What would it look like for us to keep returning to the harvest and to diligently labor? 

Knowing that God is always doing work, just like what He did in the heart of Sam, everywhere all the time. 

Story of God At Work - The Witch Edition

By Hannah Lewandowski

Because of social media, we are made aware of hundreds upon hundreds of issues of impending doom that we have little agency over. The chaos of our world overwhelms us, and more often than not, we can’t stand to endure it, so we seek out something to numb us, quell our anxiety, and alleviate any discomfort.  Of course, over 60% of Gen Z and Gen Alpha have crippling anxiety (Drinko, 2024). Our minds are full of things we can’t control, giving us little space to act on the things we do indeed have the ability to change. 

So what do we do? We turn to isolation, substances, doom scrolling, unregulated social media content, eating too much or too little, indulging in hookup culture, mind-numbing hobbies, and the list goes on. To comfort our fearfully anxious souls, we have our gaze fixed horizontally instead of lifting it to the only one who can silence every fear, the one who has overcome the world. 

Whether shared frequently or not, stories of an anxious generation turning to something other than God to temporarily fix their fear and insecurities are not uncommon. Amy Blain, a college student in our Collective, boldly shares her story of falling victim to the false promises of seeking other gods, primarily introduced to her through the enemy at work in her social media feed.

Amy grew up with a Christian background, often finding herself in the church building her family worked at. She knew bible stories from her days in youth camps and Sunday School, but never took her beliefs beyond this, living a lot of her life without a deep relationship with Jesus. She was always expected to be Christian, but retrospectively, she shares that she can’t definitively say she’s always been a Christian. Amy remembers her mom sharing with her that she gave her heart to the Lord the summer she turned 7 but doesn’t remember that apart from a tiny piece of her baptism. She remembers thinking to herself, “Oh, this is just what we do”, void of a personal decision to follow Christ.

“Whether shared frequently or not, stories of an anxious generation turning to something other than God to temporarily fix their fear and insecurities are not uncommon.”

Despite not remembering choosing Jesus, Amy continued to show up to discipleship groups while feeling spiritually lost. She never intended to live in darkness or even live a double life, yet this was the very direction she was heading. In the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic during her middle and high school years, Amy found herself, as we all did, scrolling on her phone for hours, getting lost in the TikTok algorithm. She distinctly remembers coming across a woman’s video who made a convincing appeal on how one could be both a Christian and a witch, taking control of the things in your life but also obeying God. The anxiety that kept her up at night and away from large social gatherings could be resolved after all! 

However, as the old saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. Having a childhood interest in Greek mythology, witchcraft didn’t feel too far off from the stories she loved to read in years past. Amy continued to read books, visit websites, and scroll social media, looking to learn more about what it meant to be a witch. This wasn’t something she did alone, as she had a couple of friends at school who were also exploring witchcraft. They talked about and eventually put casting spells, lighting candles, and talking to another deity into practice. Amy found that spells gave her what appeared to be control over her reality, although maybe control wasn’t what she was after since she began to feel significantly more anxious when practicing witchcraft. 

The deeper she dove into practicing this, the more fearful she began to be of the woods in the backyard of her parent’s house, of the night, dark places, and the spots that used to bring her joy. Social media and the enemy at work in her mind convinced her that things like fae were real, making what is usually presented in media as whimsical and fun something frightening and unsafe. The very thing she sought out to give her control over the multitude of things causing her to be anxious only left her condition worse; more scared than ever, more lonely than ever, and the most lost she’d been throughout her entire life. 

After being interested in witchcraft for four years and identifying as a witch herself for two years, Amy recalls a distinct moment last year when she was overcome with stress due to her impending high school graduation and the heated political scene surrounding the most recent election. Crippled by her fear, she sat down on the couch in her family living room and began to weep, having convinced herself that the world was surely going to end, there was nothing she could do about it, all the while fearful of dying and uncertain of where she would go. At that moment, her dad noticed and took a seat next to her, consoling her and reminding her of the truth of scripture.

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” - James 1:4-5

Returning to her room after talking through her fears with her dad, Amy returneed to her bedroom, stopping in her tracks as she is overcome by an intense feeling of hearing a voice speaking to her, “Amy, you need to give up witchcraft, you need to be done”. Coming face to face with Christ, she began to weep once more and responded, “I know, God. I am done”, throwing away her tarot cards, spell jars, candles, and all witchcraft paraphernalia immediately. When our God says it is finished, we respond in reverent obedience.

Getting rid of the things that she used to practice witchcraft and worship other gods felt strange at first, as it seemed like she was giving up a part of herself, her old ways, but also incredibly freeing. Just as Jesus was nailed to the cross and raised into new life, the old ways of Amy died with Christ, and she gets to walk in redemption, for the old had passed away and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Sitting on her bed after throwing these things away, Amy cried out to Jesus, saying, “I am so sorry. Would you forgive me? I don’t deserve this, but would you forgive me, and would you save me?”. And as if responding to her submission, Amy realized that the darkness she feared in her home was gone; she hadn’t been afraid of the dark ever since. Realizing the power of God overcoming her fears in real time moved her to tears once more, and it became abundantly clear that everything was going to be okay because God was in control, and that is the safest place to be. 

John 1:4-5 tells us that “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,”. Friend, no matter what you’ve done, no matter the depth of your hurt or the hurt you’ve caused others, you are not too far gone, for the darkness can never overcome the steadfast light of Christ. 

Students Brought From Death To Life in Ellensburg

By Deacon Tuttle

God is the ultimate creator and storyteller. The Lord invites us to be a part of the process by sharing our testimonies and proclaiming the gospel in baptism. This school year in Ellensburg, God has shown his saving and transformative power in the lives of Tevin Murlin and Devon Carson. Christians are saved to be sent out and to proclaim what God has done on our behalf. 

“So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” - 2 Timothy 1:8

Tevin Murlin, a freshman studying ASL at Central Washington University, chose to be baptized this Winter Quarter. Prior to his recent proclamation that “Jesus is Lord,” he had seen such a strong change in his life because of God’s power. 

Tevin came to Ellensburg in the Fall of 2024. During the move-in week, Bennett and Jordyn Evanger met Tevin. Through their friendship, he was quickly connected with Village and received further invitations to dive deeper into the community.  “It started with me wanting to hang with Bennett more.” God has been using Tevin’s willingness to say yes to bring Him to people who need to hear the good news of Jesus.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Ellensburg staff and students share the Gospel, praying for new relationships and stories for God’s glory. Tevin shares how his time as an observer during this rhythm has shaped his understanding of the Gospel. “It’s been very eye-opening.” Building off of this, he has seen the need for evangelism and is beginning to learn how to articulate this to others. “Hopefully, we can plant the seeds, and God can get it to grow.”

In five months, God has rapidly transformed areas where Tevin had previously struggled for long periods. “He’s helped with my anger, anxiety, and depression.” The Lord has broken many chains in his life and his addiction as well. When Tevin devoted himself to God, he says he experienced a 180 in his demeanor towards people. At that point, he was ready to take the next step, proclaim his testimony, and sign up for baptism service.

Initially, he struggled with formulating the story that God had been crafting in his life. “My testimony was very hard to put into words.” Through revising and meditating on his testimony, he was prepared to bear witness. When he stood in front of the congregation on Feb 16. 2025, it was difficult to share the transformation he had gone through. But according to Tevin, “God gave me the words and the memorization to remember what to say.”

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” - Romans 6:4

Soon, Tevin wants to explore leadership opportunities such as Village leadership. For ministry, he is hoping to let Christ’s light shine through him as an RA on CWU’s campus by displaying the fruits of the spirit and resisting worldliness. “Take the basket off my candle and help shine my light into the world through Jesus,” Tevin says.

God can use anything or anyone for his purposes and our good. Even though Tevin experienced apprehension, he saw the importance of sharing God’s work with others. “You may think your testimony is mediocre, but God can use the most mediocre things to further His kingdom.” 

Similarly to Tevin, Devon Carson, a sophomore studying psychology at CWU, has been able to engage further in this community. After spending the last two years in Resonate, Devon says he was convicted by the Lord to be baptized: “I felt it was the right time.” 

Baptism is a commitment to walking in new life with the Lord, by burying the old self and being raised as a new creation. It is always a celebration in our church to create personalized signs for those being baptized and rejoice in what God has done. 

However, not everyone chooses to believe in or submit to Jesus. Only one other member of Devon’s family is a Christian, so this was a roadblock for him at first. “My parents wouldn’t let me do it under their roof, they didn’t believe in baptism.” 

Since Devon came to CWU, though, he was able to decide on his terms. Devon was able to see visible differences in his relationship with God in the weeks that followed. “Trust in God more. Going to Him before other people with other problems I have.”

Ted Wolfe, Ellensburg’s site pastor, expressed his pleasure and honor in baptizing Tevin and Devon. “ I praise God that we get to see people come to know Jesus as frequently as we do and get to baptize them. It’s a huge joy to be a witness of God’s saving work.”

After praying over them, Ted announced a call for baptism to those in attendance that night who had never taken that step. This has not been a tradition for Ellensburg in the past, rather something new incorporated into this baptism service. Ted shared the example of scripture in Acts 8:26-36 where Philip and an Ethiopian demonstrated this practice. One of the Ellensburg staff team values is their desire to promote courage, which fits perfectly with this invitation.  

“We know that Bellingham has done it, and so it’s not that crazy. If there happens to be someone who responded on the spot to following Jesus or felt convicted to get baptized that night but made a decision to follow him sometime before, then we wanted to offer that opportunity. If the Spirit’s at work, we don’t want to miss it.”

Indeed, God is so evidently at work in stories like Tevin’s and Devon’s, as well as in the lives of students all over. If you have not proclaimed your story yet or experience doubts about taking the next step, I hope these testimonies are encouraging. Let us celebrate and rejoice that God is in our presence. We can thank him for the opportunity to share our testimonies, be baptized, and live as sent people for those who don’t yet know Jesus. 

Story of God at Work in the Summers We Give Up

By Chelsy Massa

Why go spend five weeks of your summer on a summer project with Resonate Church? 

Many of you may go, “If you tell me because it’s fun, I’ll scream,” Well, good news, that’s not where I am going. This isn’t going to be a long, drawn-out list of 10 biblical reasons why you should go or even a convincing story of transformation. I am simply going to say, why not go?

Honestly, I think you should go because why not? I promise you that you will work and make money for the next 40 years of your life. Why start at 19? That is a societal standard that is silly to me. Youthfulness is about learning, growing, and discovering who you are. Why not do that in a place that is designed to figure those things out while in college?

Due to the rise in influencers today, there is WAY too much pressure on young people to be successful. This is your permission slip to be imperfect. To be messy. To ask those embarrassing questions. To fail while trying. To learn what it means to bask in God’s everlasting grace. Be young, and feel free to figure it out. 

Summer projects like Elevate are specifically designed for you not to figure out some real-life things but rather important spiritual things. Global projects broaden your view and make you go deeper while interacting with God’s global church and the weight of lost people. These projects are curated for YOU to be safe in failing and to wrestle and figure out our infinite God just a tiny bit more than you did at the beginning of the summer. 

Now, should you always go because it's about you?

NO! Of course not; it's about God and His glory and the call to Christian people to take up their cross, wholly surrender to His Lordship, and live leveraged lives for His renown and glory. 

Yet, my young reader, don’t grow up too fast. Your 20s are a time to be young. I am 32 and still figuring out who I am and what I want to be when I grow up, and am still in complete and utter awe of the depth and vastness of who God is. I kind of wish there was an Elevate for people in their 30s figuring out marriage, jobs, and how to raise kids. 

Go because you can. Go because I guarantee you have not felt busy yet. You have so much time and are free of so many other responsibilities that will come for you eventually. Go because you are free to go. You can work when you're older. You can be mature when you're older. Be free to be young. Will your youth be marked by your remembrance of your Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1)? Will you let that remembrance carry you for the rest of your days on this side of Heaven? 

Story of God at Work in Corvallis

By Hannah Lewandowski

In a world where chaos is in the air and commitments don’t always last, faithful obedience can be hard to come by. There is something that sets apart our God and a people who believe in something steadfast that remains true and fortified despite every reason not to. Finding favor in the eyes of the Lord, Noah, a righteous and blameless man “walked faithfully with God”, standing out amongst the wickedness of the day (Genesis 6:9). Throughout the book of Genesis, Noah’s consistent obedience to the building of the infamous ark to the flood that wiped out creation forged a legacy of God’s grace. Eventually, it led to the restored creation and a lineage of faithful descendants. The difficult, messy, and costly obedience of Noah made way for the ultimate descendant, the one who would redeem all of creation, Jesus. 

The legacy we build is important, it has an impact far beyond what we could imagine. When Keith and Paige Wieser stepped out in bold faith and obediently built an urgent collegiate multiplying network of churches by God’s grace, they couldn’t have anticipated the outcome, they merely dreamed and hoped for what God would do. The very church that was planted in the rolling wheat fields of Pullman, Washington led to a fourth-generation church reaching the lost in Corvallis, Oregon. From 2007 to 2025, God has been faithful and His people have been obedient; not perfect, not sinless, but obedient.

In the fall of 2019, after being in Monmouth for two years, Colin and his team had prepared Ben and Jess Wenzl alongside a team of leaders to be sent to plant a church in the Spring of 2020. Their eyes were set on Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. The funds were raised, homes were sought out, the campus was scouted, and the laborers were ready. But God had different plans. 

As many of us are familiar with, the pandemic of 2020 became a devastating reality to those throughout the world, particularly people gathered in heavily populated spaces, like college campuses. This would later lead to churches, businesses, colleges, and other fragile establishments closing their doors for good. 

While the future of the university was questioned, moving to Ashland was taken off the table and conversations about shifting eyes to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon began. Redirecting their gaze to a city merely 20 miles down the road, the Wenzls were ready to be sent by the Luomas and the rest of those staying in Monmouth, until they found out they were expecting twins. Although this was a celebratory moment, it altered the feasibility of planting a new church and starting a new family. Once again the conversation changed. Despite the vision from the beginning aimed at sending a church from Monmouth in 3 years, Colin and Jessi Luoma went from being the planters of Western Oregon University seeking to stay and send out another team, to being the team that would be sent once more. 

With half of the original team staying behind in Monmouth and the other half recommitting to church planting with the Luomas, a new launch date was put in place. Lamenting what could have been and waiting in hopeful expectation for what was to come, creating a temporary barrier in the shifting of their sights from Southern Oregon University to Oregon State University.   Warming their team up for this new reality, God graciously allowed them to take a trip to see what would later become their home in March of 2021, ultimately finalizing their team by April of that same year. Officially making the move, the Luomas and their team traveled down I-5, arriving in Corvallis between May and September of 2021.

“From 2007 to 2025, God has been faithful and His people have been obedient; not perfect, not sinless, but obedient. ”

With eyes set on launching in January of 2022, Colin and his team quickly transitioned into life in a new city and pursued the campus, hoping to build momentum. From the first few outings on campus, it became clear that their strategy would have to be different than that at Western Oregon University, as there were a multitude of options pulling at the attention of each student, and even more so away from their need for Jesus. Going from a big fish in a little pond to a small tadpole in a large lake with a group of students who were fearful of getting physically and emotionally close to others coming out of the pandemic proved to be a fortified barrier for the team in Corvallis. 

Due to the restrictions at the time, Colin and the rest of his team had to operate under the radar when on campus, posing yet another barrier to getting the word out about the church they were planting. If it wasn’t the mask mandate, distancing guidelines, or vaccination requirements distancing the team from engaging with students, it was their chock-full Google calendars. How does one even begin to articulate to a 19-year-old their need for a Savior amidst a season of isolation, fear, and internal chaos? Just like Noah, the Corvallis team had a multitude of reasons to give up when faced with the grandeur of the task ahead of them, and yet they pressed on, all the while the Lord was building something greater through faithful obedience. 

Unsure of the impact they would make, the Corvallis team spent a lot of time in prayer over the interactions they had with the students they came across the first year on campus. During that year some of the guys on the church plant team randomly met a student, Hans, on campus. Upon meeting him, they learned Hans was in a frat and they asked to share about Resonate in one of their weekly all-member meetings. He obliged, the team shared at this meeting, it felt awkward, but they trusted God would do something great. Flash forward three and a half years, Hans has become incredibly involved in Resonate Corvallis reaching other fraternity men, and he and his wife are on the Corvallis staff team, dedicating their time to reaching the lost just as they were once met as college students.

Following that interaction with Hans, Colin, Josh Sweet, and a few other people on their team were conducting a “spiritual survey” on campus and they happened upon a guy in a dining hall, unsure of the future of this contact. He was interested in learning more about Jesus, eventually being discipled by Josh, and as he is growing in his faith, he keeps mentioning his heart for his brother and the desire he had for his brother to know Jesus too. Fearful of leaving his brother behind, he spends five weeks at a discipleship program in San Diego, Elevate, with Resonate, and returns to his brother noticing his relationship with Jesus and joining him at OSU this past school year. Eventually, he gets to share the gospel with his brother who would go on to accept Jesus as Lord, changing the legacy of their family forever. Although their parents weren’t believers and they weren’t believers themselves not too long ago, their grandparents are and when they found out their grandsons put their faith in Christ, they met Josh and his wife Traci with tears in their eyes, saying that they had been praying for this very moment for years. God cares about our family and has the power to change the narrative of our legacies.

Within the past few months, seven people have decided to follow Jesus, which is more than Resonate Corvallis has had in the first three years of their church plant. Colin shares that he’s “really been enjoying the diversity of their various missional communities”, as they are beginning to reach the lost in a way that is tailored specifically to the people in their spaces. After three years of faithfully pursuing the campus, the team in Corvallis is just now seeing the fruit of their labor. The ark of Noah wasn’t built in a few days and nor was the church at Oregon State University. 

God used Noah’s obedience to make way for new life by building the ark as He established a new covenant with His people. God used the obedience of the Corvallis team to make way for new life in the students and community who were once dead in their trespasses and are now alive in Christ. Our Heavenly Father is faithful to His promises, and He is making all things new. 

In the process of building, God used the growing pains of planting a new church following a global pandemic to humble the hearts of the team, level their expectations of what He could do, and later showed up mightily. Matt Woodley says that “through his obedience, Noah bore witness to and left a legacy of God’s grace”; by no means was it easy, but by all, it was worth it. 

From Adam to Noah to Abraham to David and Judah came Jesus. From Pullman to Ellensburg and Monmouth came Corvallis. God is writing a story bigger than our imagination. The faithful obedience of those who came before you matters for He is at work in the day-to-day and the generations between. We are better together. We need each other. Like an anti-fragile forest of aspen trees, our roots are connected, creating stability, and hope, and guiding our gaze to the Sovereign King we serve.

Story of God at Work in Our Remembrance

By Hannah Lewandowski

Two years ago, I was making the routine drive back to Pullman with a friend after a holiday break, and God spoke to me clearly amidst the mundane. It was as if He were saying, “Hannah, I’m calling you to remember.” My brain jumped to a surface-level response, and I wrote this down in my notes app and replied to God superficially, “Yeah, of course!” 

I didn’t know why God was asking me to remember, what exactly He was asking me to recall, or when He wanted me to put that into practice, but I couldn’t shake this heart posture of recollection the Lord was inviting me into.

Circumstantially, the past few years have been tough. My heart slowly grew weary, and my mind began to insecurely believe in the truth about who our God is and who I am in light of that. 

From my dad having cancer to family friends passing, being in the room with friends who’re on the receiving end of phone calls where they were told their family member had passed or got into an accident, losing large ministry partnerships, heartbreak, discipleship troubles, family arguments, and much more; the enemy was at work, but so was our God. Was He asking me to remember these points of pain? If so, why? For what?

After coming down from the heightened emotions of these experiences, I would always feel the spirit bringing me back to the idea of remembrance, rather a call to it. With my tendency to avoid hard emotions and press forward for the sake of progress, remembering wasn’t something I wanted to do. Although God was calling me to it, I knew it would mean recalling both the fun trips abroad and wholesome memories, but the heartwrenching, discouraging, and traumatic ones, too. In doing so, I realized that remembrance isn’t just about my circumstances but actually about who God is. We see the triumph of God’s might, the tenderness of His love, and the perfection of His power when we remember what He delivered us from and, even more importantly, what He’s delivering us into. While I was slowly getting a grip on the type of remembrance God was calling me to, I didn’t quite understand the whole picture until Sunday evening of Resonate Conference this past January.

I walked into this final session of the conference exhausted and expectant. My feet ached, my back was sore, and my posture was horrible as my body compensated for the thousands and thousands of steps in somewhat comfortable footwear that had taken place leading and coordinating an event of this scale. 

As the session unfolded, people began to share stories of how God has been at work in their lives, delivering them from darkness and into redemption. People of different ages, experiences, and backgrounds vulnerably shared as a room of over 800 people listened. The celebrating didn’t stop at the sharing of stories but into a time of uninhibited worship. As I stood off to the side, taking it all in, I heard the faint whisper of the Lord, “See, this is why we remember.” 

“The celebrating didn’t stop at the sharing of stories but into a time of uninhibited worship. As I stood off to the side, taking it all in, I heard the faint whisper of the Lord, “See, this is why we remember.” “

As Christians, we have a reason to praise, always, even in the driest of deserts or deepest of heartache. Our eyes are fixed on what is to come, our gaze fixed on the glory that is to appear, and our minds remember what God has already done because of who He is. Familiarizing yourself with the character of Christ leads to a deep adoration of who He is despite who we are, leading us to genuine praise and worship. That is exactly what I saw in the last session of ResCon, both on the sidelines and as I sat next to the women in my village, many of which decided to take their faith seriously and submit to the will of God more than they ever have before. Enduring joy isn’t just for the believer but is coming after those He is chasing after, too. I witnessed this as I watched one of the unbelieving freshmen my village brought to the conference start the weekend, disengaged in a session and, over the following day or two, left conference singing wholeheartedly to worship songs they had never heard of before. The enduring joy found in Christ alone is infectious. 

Endurance is for the moments of pain. We must remember that our God not only can, but desires to bring joy from our pain, turn our mourning into dancing, and bring the dead back to life. God has been at work and continues to be right before our very eyes. May we be a people familiar with the movement of our Father from the Old to the New Testament, throughout the rest of history, and in the small and vast moments of our day-to-day. As we reflect on His steadfast faithfulness and redeeming grace, may we adore Him more, and may that adoration always lead us to arms raised, voice loud, full mouth grinning, weepy-eyed worship.

Story of God at Work Through the Joy of the Youth

By Chelsy Massa

Sunday night at Resonate Conference, I was sitting in the front as I was helping facilitate some of the elements we had planned for the evening. The band was singing, and suddenly, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. 

A multitude of students stood and began leaving their seats to come to the edge of the stage to worship. Hands up, voices raised, bodies jumping. It was startling, and I was ready to judge and roll my eyes until this verse popped into my mind:

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9). 

It’s easy for me to forget the good of being young. The raw experience of confession, worship, and learning something new about Jesus. The urge to lose yourself in a moment of being in God’s overwhelming presence. I am so glad that I not only witnessed that happening around me but that I was being edified through it. I was challenged not to be embarrassed to cry or jump up and down while singing praise to the One who deserves it all. 

The church needs young people. The church needs college students. I’ve known that, but God revealed a new “why” this year at Resonate Conference. 

The young person reminds the church to be excited. To be giddy at what God could do. They remind us of what it was like before we were hurt, tired, and weary. They just got started running the race, and it's exhilarating. I was reminded of the cheer that is in the days of the youth while watching the students I do life with worship, and I wanted to cheer alongside them.

Confession: I am a cynic at heart. It is only because of Jesus when I am not. Yet, I was convicted by the youthfulness of our church to stop. If God has it all rigged, why am I in the back with my arms crossed, anxiously tapping my foot, waiting for the other shoe to drop? That is not who God is, and that is not the posture of a saved one. It's the posture of someone who’s had their teeth kicked and is protecting themselves. It's someone afraid to worship uninhibitedly. As a Christian, I have proclaimed that I believe in a God who brings life from death, a God who makes things and calls them good, and who has the power to redeem all things. That belief should be expressed in a hopeful joy that I have seemed to have lost due to the scars of experience. 

So I left the conference asking God for a little more expectant hope, a little more courage to worship freely and emotively, and praising God for the young and the young at heart. 

To the young - keep being you, keep being young, keep running fast. Remind us of the abundant life Jesus has given us. Push us to worship uninhibitedly. Remind us the good days are not behind us but in front of us, wrapped in the promise of Jesus’s return. 

A Weary World Rejoices

By Hannah Lewandowski

Whether Christmas is your favorite holiday or not, we can all agree that there is something special about the holiday season, which approaches with cold temperatures and frigid wind each year. There is something undeniably impactful about receiving warmth and redeeming light during the darkest month of the year. 

It may just be coincidence, or maybe the storyteller of a God we have, but with the birth of our Savior comes a new year, renewed hope, and the desire to change, all the while gazing toward the light that is to come, the redemption that is to be had. We see this in heavily discounted gym memberships proposed on January 1st, the countless resolutions and goals set for the new year, the desire for more, and the desire for better. The season of Christmas, the birth of our King, prompts something in our hearts every year; the redemption of darkness Jesus offers never gets old, and the hope of a new year of Him at work sparks rejoicing. 

At this point in my life, I’ve heard the “Christmas Story” a million times. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, Joseph’s ancestral hometown, to obey the order of the current Roman Emperor to conduct a census. There was no room for them at the local inn, causing them to not only stay the night in a rank shepherd's hut but also birth a child and lay Him in a feeding trough. There was nothing glamorous about the entrance of our Redeemer, so why do we expect our own lives to be? 

This Christmas season, as I was at a Christmas Eve church service, the story of the birth of Christ was unfolded, and a few songs of worship were sung, and I couldn’t help but remember the lyrics that remind us “a weary world rejoices.” As the rest of the church continued to sing “O Holy Night,” my mind kept circling that phrase, and after what felt like an impossibly difficult year for myself and so many, I felt seen by the Lord. It was personal. And shouldn’t it always be? 

Maybe the most recent elections didn’t go how you wanted, or maybe they did; perhaps you got a pay cut, or your favorite news outlet reminds you of another death, another shooting, another war update; maybe your heart feels heavy; how would you not be weary? Our circumstances are hardly glamorous, and neither were Christ’s on Earth, but amidst the dark twists and turns of our lives on Earth, there is a greater glory upon which to fix our gaze. What if moving out of this Christmas season and into 2025, we longed to see the glory of Christ come and behold His glory in the here and now? A weary world rejoices not because of an opportunity to accomplish a New Year’s resolution but because Jesus paid a debt we could never pay for ourselves in the most brutal ways so that we could dwell in the perfection of His glory for all of eternity.

Instead of tossing around the phrase “new year, new me”, why don’t we shift our gaze off of ourselves and enter this new year remembering who our God is? What if instead, we were quick to say “New year, same God”, reminding ourselves and others of His ultimate sovereignty? Doesn’t that sound refreshing? We can lay down the weariness found in self-improvement and look to a God who never changes because He doesn’t need to. He alone is perfect; may we love Him and let Him change us through our relationship with the one who lived apart from sin, died a death we deserve, and rose again. There is no one like our God. 

In this new year, I pray that the birth, death, and resurrection become personal to you. You would no longer be apathetic or numb to the reality and depth of Jesus’ love for you. O come let us adore Him, Church, and may our weary hearts rejoice.

Story of God at Work at Resonate Conference

By Craig Lovelace

The very first Resonate Conference was in 2017 in Bellevue, WA. In years prior we’d had events like Rescon but we just called it, “Winter retreat” or “All Church Retreat.” At that time we were all close enough to each other geographically and knew each other so well that we were much more “one church.” It felt like a big family reunion with everybody who had all come out of Pullman and Moscow. Our family is much bigger now and comes from many more places – but it still holds that family reunion vibe.

The first Resonate Conference felt different from every “all church retreat” prior. It wasn’t just a family reunion moment. This was a turning point. It was a time for our broader Resonate family to worship together, celebrate, and recommit to our shared mission to multiply disciples and plant collegiate churches. The vision was bigger than ever and you could feel it in the room. We were reuniting after being sent out to plant churches and for many, it felt like coming home from the mission field to be welcomed and encouraged by dear brothers and sisters.

I’ll never forget the feeling when Chris Routen came out on stage to welcome everyone. He said something like, “The first annual Resonate Conference… What took ‘em so long?!”

It was the perfect way to capture the feeling that it had been a long time coming. A gathering that felt fresh, new, and exciting – and at the same time like it had always been. About 600 people gathered for the first Rescon. 

Since then it’s grown to nearly 1000 and we believe that we’re going to see many more in the years to come.

The theme of the first conference focused on what it would take for us to become a multiplying church. This was one of the first times we boldly and publicly cast a vision for us to become a disciple-making, multiplying people as we saw in scripture. We would no longer be OK simply gathering for worship and community – we are a missionary people following a missionary God.

This truth has been a hallmark of Rescon ever since.

Over the years, Rescon has changed venues five times, been organized by many different teams, and we’ve had thousands of people experience it with us. But some things have never changed.

It’s always been about being together, remembering God’s work, and receiving kingdom assignments from Him.
Every year it feels like a family reunion and the sense of love and excitement to see one another is tangible. I mean it; you can feel it when you walk into the room.

Remembering all that God has done in our lives has always been an integral piece of Rescon. A significant portion of our time at Rescon is devoted to creating space for people to hear from God because we expect and believe that God will uniquely speak to them. Jesus is always waiting for us to come to a place where we are ready to receive the way, truth, and life He’s offering. For many, Rescon is that moment every year.

Rescon is an annual opportunity to recommit to our shared mission to make disciples and plant churches. The natural flow of culture and life is away from sacrifice. Everything is screaming at you to consume, seek comfort, and avoid pain. We follow a savior who bids us to take up our cross and follow Him. His mission is not one free of sacrifice. And yet, He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden is always light – He calls the weary to Himself. Rescon is the time and place every year that we get to remind one another that following His way is always easier for our souls than going our own way. 

Perhaps these lyrics from one of my favorite songs, “Follow,” from Rescon 2024 communicate it best:

”What a joy it is to follow Jesus

What a gift it is to bear His name

What an honor to choose surrender

And make Him my everything
Yes to surrender

Yes to the altar

Yes to Your plans for me

Yes to correction

Yes to confession

Yes to refining me
Yes to Your blessing

Yes to anointing

Your Spirit alive in me
Yes to salvation,

And resurrection

Yes to eternity”

There’s something special about Rescon that is hard to articulate if you haven’t been there to experience it for yourself. 

It’s that moment when you hear someone’s story and know that they understand your story even though you’ve never met.

It’s when you hear the word taught and God applies it to your soul in a whole new way. That moment when you are never the same because God brought you to this one moment.

I’ve had many of those experiences at Rescon over the years. I’ve been challenged, encouraged, humbled, and overjoyed. 

One of my favorite things we do is commission church plant teams. Those sessions are the clearest expression of our shared mission to plant churches on college campuses and to see lost people meet Jesus. We choose to go despite the sacrifice. We get to be like Jesus and leave the 99 and go after the one. Since the first Rescon, we’ve commissioned 15 church plant teams and over 100 core team members.

I hope we never miss a moment to fan into flame a passion for God’s mission. I’ve had the joy of standing on stage with many church plant teams. But as much as I love those moments there’s something I love even more.

It’s the moment when people are moved to confess and repent and pray with a brother or sister. The moments where friends meet in the lobby after spending a year in different cities because they said yes to the mission. The tears that are shed and the hugs that are shared as members of our Resonate family reunite. They get to harvest the fruit of their gospel goodbyes and tell stories of what God has taught them and how He’s worked through their lives to bless others. It’s the moment someone shares that they heard from God in the last session and they realize that they have to take action and obey.

These are the moments that make Rescon what it is. The power of Rescon isn’t on the stage. It isn’t in the music. It’s the cumulative effect of a thousand little moments where we love one another like Jesus and align ourselves to God and His Kingdom. 

This year, I’m praying that God would allow me to experience the joy of Jesus that our theme is aimed at. We live in such serious times. It seems like the world is only getting more chaotic and in times like these we need to be reminded that God’s got it all rigged. As Hebrews 12 says, Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. That joy isn’t something waiting for us in Heaven – it’s promised to us right now.

Many times we’ll find that joy on the other side of sacrifice as we die to self and are renewed in the image of Christ. But I’m convinced that there’s far more joy to be squeezed out of every moment if only we have eyes to see it. I think Jesus lived in this joy all the time. Maybe we can experience it together in a fresh new way this year at Rescon.

I can’t wait to see you there.

It’s not too late to register for Rescon! Get your ticket HERE!

Story of God at Work in Reno

A skyline painted with casinos, a place that permits prostitution, promotes promiscuity, and encourages substance abuse, may sound like the opposite of a place God would send His people. Just as Jesus entered the hostile Samaria to reach a weary woman at a well in John 4, our God sent a team of people from Moscow, Idaho, to Reno, Nevada, to make His name known in the summer of 2021. 

Steven and Nicole Trantham led the team planting in Reno after being asked to consider by Keith Wieser and a scouting trip where they met with local ministries, feeling encouraged about the new thing God could do there and a lingering feeling of desolation in that city. After announcing planting at the University of Nevada Reno at Resonate Conference and several scout trips, a team was committed to being sent. As the team began to settle in, they quickly noticed the depths of the brokenness not only on the campus of the University of Nevada but the city of Reno at large. The campus had 20,000 students and less than 100 of them identified with any faith, starkly contrasting the area many of the team members had moved from. Going from a rural Idaho town to a place of bright lights and showmanship in Nevada opened the eyes of the team to the severe need for Jesus. The need for the Light of the World is evident in Reno, and the enemy of our souls longs to steal opportunities, kill our joy, and destroy our identity, and our God has come to give us life in abundance (John 10:10).

“Understandably, when engaging with strangers, the students of UNR often proceeded with caution, establishing a barrier for uncertain and standoffish students. The enemy was at work, but so was our God. ”

Immediately, there were a multitude of hoops to jump through as the city was at the tail end of its COVID regulations, masks were required on campus, which made connecting with others difficult, the core team didn’t have club status yet, and as a result, weren’t allowed to hold a Sunday Gathering on campus either. Not only were people closed off because they were coming out of the distancing guidelines of the pandemic, but the city of Reno is generally unsafe. Understandably, when engaging with strangers, the students of UNR often proceeded with caution, establishing a barrier for uncertain and standoffish students. The enemy was at work, but so was our God. Working to fight against that barrier, the core team and staff were able to help move students into their dorms at the beginning of the school year, and they ended up being the only volunteers there. Slowly but surely, God began to chip away at the barriers present, connecting them with more and more students. Since they still weren’t a club on campus and were not permitted to table at the club fair, Steven and the team printed 500 fliers with information about Resonate on them, attached them to airhead candies, and passed them out on the perimeter of the quad.

Faithfully showing up and being a presence on campus began to establish familiarity among the student body slowly. Trial and error occurred often and led the team to figure out innovative ways to reach students who passed by, allowing them to engage if they felt comfortable. 

Making their faces known on campus, Steven and the team would consistently show up in highly populated areas on campus, which ended up being few and far between due to the fairly high academic focus most students have. Something as simple as lawn games on the quad established familiarity and led to 50 people attending the first small group gathering that the Reno team held. Not expecting many to show up, the team was completely shocked and began to realize just how much the UNR students desired a place to belong. The dark side of this desire to belong and be a part of a community is put on display in the rampant party culture that seeps from the casinos and clubs of downtown Reno to campus and beyond. During their first year in Reno, the team hosted a Halloween party for students at a few of the core team member’s homes, where 700 people showed up, and just about 500 walked through the front door. Although this party got out of control because a campus “party plug unintentionally spread it,” many got connected, and two gave their lives to Jesus the next semester. What the enemy meant for evil, the Lord used for His good, reconciling His people to Himself amidst darkness and hostility (Genesis 50:20). 

Ashton Shaul, a staff member in Reno, shared that many refer to Reno as “satan’s throneroom,” and despite it being made “clear the enemy didn’t want us here,” God was still faithful to shine His light in the suffocating darkness of the city. Ashton and their team noticed that people began to stick around despite their apathetic response to the gospel shared with them frequently. Ashton said there was a distinct presence of “people of peace with a lot of relational capital,” connecting them to the campus, which felt like it was sometimes working against them. If their goal is to share the good news of Jesus with as many as possible, they just need to find the right people with the right connections, just as Jesus revealed Himself to the woman at the well who quickly shared His goodness with anyone who would listen in her town.

One of the people Steven, Ashton, and their core team met several years ago during the first Week of Welcome. They were on campus, and he introduced himself as a “militant atheist” but still stuck around. Despite his self-declared disbelief, He would attend every event, including church on the weekend. God was working on his heart despite the faithfulness of the team to show up and consistently share truth with him, leading to his eventual declaration of Jesus as his Lord years later. Not only did this young man come from death to life, but he also is living into the call to mission, pursuing his classmates, campus, and city as a small group leader. As his graduation date is approaching, he’s decided to stay in Reno to be a part of their church, continuing to forsake the things of this world to advance the Kingdom of God. Steven notes that the death-to-life stories written in Reno are atypical of his experience in ministry in Moscow but just as impactful. Showing up to Samaria to save the outcasted woman at the well was worth it to Jesus, and sharing Jesus with the darkness of Reno is equally as worth it, for His everlasting light brings forth eternal life. 

Ecclesiastes 3:2  tells us that there is “a time to plant and a time to harvest”; in the same way, there is a time to plant seeds of the gospel in the lives of others and a time to reap a harvest of the fruit that is born in them by the Spirit. For the past three years, Reno has been a place of fervently tilling rocky soil and planting countless seeds with hopeful expectations of what will come. Steven shares they are in a harvest season, with four small groups reaching the campus, more Grow Groups than he can count, three baptism services, and several people getting baptized. Their church has grown from a group of 15 to 55, clearly displaying that “He has brought these people out of complete and utter darkness and that it is always worth it no matter the cost,” according to Ashton. The enemy uses barriers to stop us in our tracks to carry out his evil schemes, but our God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome evil in His mighty name. 

Less than half of the original team remains three years into planting in Reno, but God has proven faithful despite this. Steven and Nicolle are confident of this as they said, “we have never thought that we made the wrong choice in moving here,” for God alone is their security and safety. Remembering the character of Christ and His evident faithfulness postures our heart in worship, seeing that “he has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Not being allowed to gather on campus for longer than expected, hosting a party that got out of hand, and the countless rejection faced was all worth it, and even counted as a joy in reflection of God at work in Reno. Just as the woman clothed in shame and treated as an outcast was met by Jesus on a random day at a well while hiding from the other women, so are the people of Reno as the team continues to sow seeds of the gospel in their midst faithfully.  Maybe the woman at the well didn’t ask to be interrupted and shared words that would save her, but upon remembrance, I’d bet she’s beyond glad to have come face to face with her deliver. Finding temporary satisfaction in the attempts to fill a void with the things of this Earth may have charade as the “best life” to those in Reno, but encountering people who wanted to build a family and a God who called them into eternity would be the answer to the “eternity set in their human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The people of Reno can know Jesus as deliverer, savior, friend, and satisfyer as they walk in the light of His radiant glory, forsaking the emptiness of substance, promiscuity, loneliness, and addiction. There is more than we could ask, think, or imagine in Christ Jesus.                    

The Forgotten Meaning of Advent

It is the advent season. All Christians have received their freshly printed, vibrant devotional books. Moms are asking for Christmas lists. Trees are up, and the booming voice of Nat King Cole fills the air. 

Yet, the anticipation and tension that should fill this season is missing. 

The advent season should be a season of remembering and recognition. 

It is to remember the waiting that Israel endured for the coming of a Savior, and it is the recognition that the church is still waiting for Him to return.

Yet…

The spiritual dissonance of waiting has disappeared. 

Bright lights, traditions, and Christmas carols muffle the tension of longing. 

Though this is a sad reality, it is unsurprising for modern-day America. Our culture is filled with answers at our fingertips, immediate feelings of validation, cancel culture, and the constant availability of apps meant to deflect, numb, and distract you. 

Longing is not a virtue. It is the very thing we avoid the most. 

So, what do we do when God calls us to celebrate a season of longing? How do we reach a place in our lives where we enjoy spiritual dissonance? 

You may have heard of cognitive dissonance, a psychological state of discomfort that occurs when a person's beliefs, values, or attitudes conflict with their actions. Alternatively, spiritual dissonance is a moment when what you know or believe about God doesn’t align with your feelings, thoughts, or reality, causing deep discomfort and wrestling in the soul. 

The Israelites lived this way for thousands of years, first, in Egypt, where they lived clinging to a promise made to their forefathers while they endured ruthless slavery. Then, from Exodus to Malachi, we see God’s promise of deliverance, salvation, and an intimate covenant over and over again, which is rejected by the very people who it was promised. Israel endured a plethora of seasons of oppression by bordering nations. Yet, they lived in a constant cycle of rebellion, consequential oppression, and redemption. God was doing something greater, though all of them couldn’t see it, so they came to believe. 

Despite their sin, they waited and let God build faith in them that salvation was coming. 

In the darkness of a night, in a dingy barn and a dirty manger, salvation did indeed come. 

It came as a baby—a baby that grew to live a perfect life, to become the perfect sacrifice, and to become the very life we experience today. Jesus was and is the promised salvation. It is at this time that we remember that our God does not speak empty promises but fulfills every single one. 

Yet, God has not ended the waiting for His people. 

The Church is waiting, too. It is waiting for the completeness of God’s redemption of His creation, Christ's second coming, face-to-face dwelling with our God, and the time when we will no longer walk by light but God’s glory alone. 

The picture above feels too distant at times for us. In the darkest moments, it can feel too hard to cling to because the world is so incredibly disappointing, and death’s reign on this Earth still feels too close. 

But in the Church, we have to hope in the spiritual dissonance. Our physical reality shows sin, death, and darkness, while our spiritual reality is one of compelling hope, everlasting joy, and eternal life. 

How do we live in spiritual dissonance? I assure you it is not avoidance, ignorance, or neglect of the call to wait. No, Church, there are things we should do with our spiritual dissonance while we wait for the return of our Lord. 

Pray

The longing for redemption should bring us to our knees. We should let the grief of this world lead us to pray like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. Hannah prays with a deep emotional outpouring that the priest accuses her of being drunk. Our God is a big God and can handle our grief. He can actually do more than handle it, but Jesus’ resurrection shows us that He has overcome the very thing that causes such sorrow. 

Commune 

We cannot do this alone, nor are we created to be alone. We must be a people who cling to each other. We are waiting for a second coming and a wedding day! Jesus is returning to His beloved Bride. She is us, the Church. We are not ready for Him, but His return will be filled with glory when we are. Revelation 19 paints this picture: 

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

    the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

    and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

    and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 

Church, let this cause deep groaning in our hearts and let our response be a constant fight for unity in the Church, reconciliation with one another, and a deep love for our local body of believers. 

Obey

In Jesus, we are a new creation. The way we live demands this. We do not cling to the idols, traditions, and dead things of this world. We are to get out of the grave and run to the Kingdom that is promised to be here already and is yet to come. I will confess that something about December makes me feel like all my sins come out. The long dark days, the months of hard labor, and the posture from abiding in Christ to abiding in myself is my undoing. Yet, I know I am not the only one. We have turned into people who just survive this world. But Jesus does not call us to obey through survival. He calls us to life and life abundantly. Life abundantly is a life of abiding in Christ, living and loving like Christ. We seek out the Kingdom where we are, we proclaim the gospel, and we love one another so that they will know we are His disciples (John 13:35).

Worship 

Our God delights in our worship of Him. Worship brings to mind a band and songs and hands raised. But I think true worship is the constant exultation of God in everything we do. It is a reminder that I should praise Him for giving me the words for this blog, the breath to be alive to write, and the knowledge of His word to share. It is the ever-flowing remembrance of His character and the praise that goes with it. Church, this is what we are looking for deep, eternal worship of God, and we should start now. 

Church, learn to live in the spiritual dissonance. The yet and not yet. The here and now and what is to come. The celebration of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the expectation that He will soon return just as He has promised.

Story of God at Work in Spokane

Home to a metropolitan population of over 500,000, Spokane is the epicenter of an increasingly houseless population, a corporate world overcome with busyness, a multitude of universities, a hub for medical training, and a long history of churches needing new strategies. Similarly to Resonate Boise, many things draw one’s attention away from Jesus in a city like Spokane, and the brokenness is evident. Despite the history of churches and religion in the town, many people live apathetically to the reality of their sin, denying themselves the freedom found in Jesus. Being the second largest city in the state of Washington, there is a field ripe for the harvest, yet the chaos of growing families, city life, and long work weeks often leaves little time for interruption. Ministering to a people who appear to have little desire to make time for the things of the Lord can make the pursuit of them feel impossible, but to our sovereign and mighty God, there is nothing He can’t do.

In 2020, a group of people led by Stephen Ward and his wife moved from Cheney to Spokane, a mere 20-30 minute drive many had done countless times prior, with the desire to be used by God to impact the city and those who resided within the sprawled town in a new way. Not long after moving to Spokane and beginning to phase into planting a church, the pandemic hit, shutting doors and what felt like opportunities as well. It became evident that the collegiate church planting model Resonate had seen much fruit come from at previous church plants didn’t have the same effect in Spokane. There is an elevated sense of flexibility in the schedules of college students that most people the Spokane team engaged with did not have. No longer could the strategy be highly invitational to many events during all times of the day, but it had to shift into the team intentionally moving towards them. By the grace of God, a connection to the Kansas City Underground, a missional micro-church movement, was made. People from this ministry helped coach those who were a part of the team, like Stephen and another staff member, Tori. She describes the micro church model as a “connected group of people seeking the Lord together and challenging each other to grow their faith while pursuing their contexts, which can be things like hobbies, your workplace, or schooling”. Through this model, ministry becomes the everyday moments of your life. The hope is that this model would be easily replicable and that there would be a network of microchurch gatherings reaching every part of the city. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, every interaction is an opportunity for mission.

Joining the Spokane church plant team in 2021, Alyssa Silvernail recalls working 60-hour work weeks alongside people 10-30 years older than her. This new setting differs from her collegiate ministry experience; she often asked God to clarify how to reach these people despite their lack of interest or personal differences. The collegiate model of weekly villages and endless life-on-life doesn’t quite do the trick when trying to minister to the 40-year-old mom of three in your company’s highrise building. Still, the microchurch model appeared to break down those barriers slowly. As a result of their minimal free time, the Spokane team pursued people in their workplaces by asking good questions and intentionally being a consistent face amidst the demands of their jobs. Alyssa details that this model feels more “genuine,” “authentic,” and “relational” as they meet weekly over a shared meal, read scripture together, and discuss the implications of each passage in their lives. There is unique ownership for each team member pursuing Spokane, some of which people like Alyssa and Tori have been slowly evangelizing for the past three years.

Being equipped to minister doesn’t only apply to the church staff member or the lead pastor of a congregation, but to all people who call themselves Christians. The power of being interruptable and attentive to those near bore much fruit in the ministry of Jesus on Earth and Resonate Spokane. Ultimately all people desire to be loved, even the person who openly calls themselves an atheist. Believing in this truth turns your barber, nail tech, and barista from scenery to a mission field. Alyssa experienced that as she faithfully pursued a woman she frequently crossed paths with, bringing her flowers after passing a challenging exam. She told Alyssa that she had never been loved well by her family and, as a result, has a tough time celebrating anything good in her life. Listening closely to this, asking good questions, and showing up consistently have allowed Alyssa to reveal the affection of Christ to someone who hasn’t experienced genuine love prior. Moments like these are big wins in the life of the micro church in Spokane, as they faithfully show up to the spaces God has intricately placed them in, expectant for Him to move amidst obstacles. Planting the seeds of the gospel in the people of Spokane and praying fervently that God would produce new life through their acceptance of Jesus has become the new strategy.

“Being equipped to minister doesn’t only apply to the church staff member or the lead pastor of a congregation, but to all people who call themselves Christians.”

Leveraging her time outside of her work context, Tori joined a running club during the pandemic and has experienced God at work through this hobby. She has met people like Faith and Suzie, who are well-connected people of peace. Although they haven’t declared Jesus as Lord, Tori sees the beauty of Christ in these moments. Upon reflection, Tori says she “literally couldn’t have done any of this without remembering it’s all for and of God and not anything [she] did apart from showing up”. Making yourself available to God’s people is a timelessly effective ministry strategy and sets believers like Tori apart in a city where the culture is rooted in the elevating of oneself. Time and time again, God reveals that He is the divine orchestrator. Our God consistently uses ordinary people in ordinary spaces, blessing faithful obedience to show up wherever He leads. 

In the coming and going of staff members and churchgoers and the tragic passing of a vital community member, Resonate Spokane has been through immense trials, but God has shown up for them time and time again. Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us that our God  “is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments”. He alone brings purpose out of their pain and He has always been moving in their midst. The rethinking of strategies doesn’t indicate failure, not having rapid death-to-life stories occurring doesn’t indicate fruitless ministry, and slowly gaining footing in the city doesn’t make efforts to minister to its inhabitants a waste of time; victory is found in the name of Jesus, and that is the source of Resonate Spokane’s rejoicing. It doesn’t take a high-level production to reach the lost, but merely a group of people equipped with the Holy Spirit, the truth of the gospel, and open hands to the mission of God. Our Heavenly Father can reach those stuck in the climbing of the corporate ladder, the parents who never feel like they have enough time to slow down, the hairdresser who has never heard the gospel, or the grocery store attendant whose family didn’t want her to be born; there is no wall too tall or barrier too vast for the never-ending and entirely redemptive love of Christ. Our God is a faithful promise keeper, for He sees us in our trials and makes a way in our uncertainty, amplifying His strength in our weakness.

Story of God at Work in Boise

A life that emulates Jesus is a life of coming and going, of sending and blessing those you encounter, and of complete obedience to the direction given by the Lord. The life of the disciple of Jesus is not their own, for they are living for their Heavenly Father as ministers of reconciliation, carrying out His divine will while on Earth. To reconcile is to venture into the darkness to pull a brother or a sister out and into the light. To reconcile is to reunite creation with its Creator, to tell the truth, even when it’s unwelcome, to move to places where the name of Jesus is offensive. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we are called to look and live differently, all because of Him, even if it means doing something that’s never been done before. 

Forging a new path through planting churches in areas of desperate need for the gospel is deeply embedded in the DNA of Resonate Church. Enduring in seasons that feel hardly effective, being faithful with little, and becoming deeply dependent on Christ have been our song. We can do the hard things because we aren’t doing them alone. At this point in Resonate Church’s story, the scary thing, the thing that hadn’t been done before was planting a collegiate church in a big city. Remembering stories of people coming from death to life in the meek places of Cheney, Pullman, Moscow, Ellensburg, Eugene, and Monmouth, the movement of God had been evident. But what if we were to take a risk, as a church, as believers, doing something outside of the norm to reach people who had not yet heard the antidote for their life ridden with sin and destruction? With a metropolitan population of just over 750,000, Boise ID is a place of rapid growth, quite different from the places Resonate Church had planted previously. Not letting these differences stop them from being sent, newly married Luis and Sammi Cuevas made the 300-mile move to Boise alongside their team comprised of families, students, young professionals, a guy from San Diego met through Elevate and Resonate staff members, all deeply desiring to see God move in the hearts of the people on the campus and in the city. If you’re going to do something hard, it’s far better to do it alongside people fighting the same battle.

Although several churches in Boise have established roots over the years and multiple college-focused ministries had been aiming to reach the 20,000 students at Boise State University, there was still a need. 5% of the student body had been reached and would call themself a Christian. Large cities are often known for their chaos and thus a people caught up in their own day-to-day, making them not easily interruptable nor interested in slowing down to take in the reality of their desperate need for Jesus and the message of the gospel. From pride parades downtown to the darkness of fraternity and sorority life, the idolization of performance, and accolades through athletics and academics, the people of Boise were being tugged in so many destructive directions at once. The need was evident and the team was ready by the grace of God.

Settling into Boise at the beginning of the summer of 2018, the Cuevas’ and their team weren’t alone, as an additional group of 13 people was sent down with them for a summer project called “Elevate 21” which aimed to get things moving in the early stages of planting a church in a new city. They helped the Boise team settle in, meet students, and strategize how to best reach them in the school year to come. Infiltrating the busyness of the people of Boise’s lives appeared to be the most fruitful strategy. One of the team members, Nicolle Vo, was working part-time at Panda Express on campus and sat down with a guy named Marc at lunch, leveraging her break time to reach students. Asking intentional questions and listening intently, Nicolle discovered that Marc had been to a Resonate service with his girlfriend, now wife,  Gabby in Pullman where she went to school. From there Marc got connected with Jonah, a Resonate Boise staff member, who taught him about missional living. Marc is now a pastor in training on campus reaching the next generation. God asks for our obedience and in making ourselves available to the unforeseen work He is doing in the big cities and the small farm towns, He receives the utmost glory, lives are forever changed, and ultimately, that is worth sacrificing worldly comforts and luxuries.

Making themselves available to students was a game changer amidst the hustle and bustle of those on campus and within the city of Boise. There were several religious clubs on campus and a multitude of churches in the city limits of Boise, yet so many were choosing a false gospel or living in dead religion. That same year Marc was met, a girl named Emily approached Jonah at the table they had put up at the campus involvement fair. As she approached him she said “I’m interested in learning more about following Jesus”, despite working at the Catholic church table next to Resonates. The power of making themselves both available and interruptable to engaging with God’s people by the prompting of the Holy Spirit continuously led to fruitful ministry, bringing people from death to life. From that interaction, Emily got connected to a life-changing community centered around Jesus, gave her life to Christ, was baptized at one of the first baptism services, and now serves on the Resonate Collective staff team. There is a difference between Jesus having complete lordship in your life and simply going through the motions of being a “good person” who goes to church on the weekends. When you come face to face with God, your future can’t help but bow before His sovereignty, leaving the trajectory of your life to follow an encounter with Christ forever changed.

Beginning by gathering in a team member's home for Sunday Gathering to moving to a local church the team was eager to start meeting near campus because Boise was a bigger city than they were all used to. Before this location shift it was hard to get students to come with them 20 minutes away to house church, but knowing their needs, God made a way. After making the gospel accessible to students by infiltrating their dorms and campus spaces, the team started to see God bring people to Him and then send them back to reach their peers. The forged community and the surplus of job opportunities kept many of these people in Boise after graduation. As Jonah shifted to the lead pastor role, he aimed to build on Luis' desire to see college students reached with the gospel of Jesus. This has led them to equip and send families all over the city of Boise for the good of the kingdom of God. Ministry doesn’t stop once you graduate college and neither does the city and campuses need for freedom through the truth of the gospel. A piece of the original church planting team and still in Boise to this day, Brooke Staszkow says “No one is here because they want to be a part of the trendiest church or the biggest services or because we have no issues. We are all here because we love each other and we are passionate about helping college students & our young professional peers find the love of Christ and the community we have.” City life is not for everyone, but redemption through Jesus is, and the BSU team pressed on because of that truth.

“City life is not for everyone, but redemption through Jesus is, and the BSU team pressed on because of that truth.”

Cities may make or break you but we endure despite our reaction to our location because Jesus endured. Brooke, in her reflection, says, “I think God has been glorified by our endurance. Church planting is no easy task, and I’ve seen people stick it out year after year because they believe that God is still doing a good work on our campus.”. Boise is a desirable place for people to work, build a family, and develop friendships as young professionals. One person, Brayan, was a part of their congregation, and he turned down high-paying jobs at Boeing so that he could stay in Boise and remain connected to this family of believers post-grad. Despite facing difficulty through restrategizing post-pandemic, an exodus of team members, the death of a faithful leader in the church, and hard conversations, God has remained faithful, honoring their endurance and giving them a steadfast spirit. 

Intentional patterns of consistent obedience amongst the team members of Resonate Boise have led them to overcome hardship time and time again. When team members leave, God has remained. When students reject extended invitations to build friendships or even reject the gospel in its entirety, God is still faithful. When it was hard to break through city life and make meaningful connections, God provided. The team present in Boise has been loyal to one another and their calling, sticking it out to see God’s promised harvest and movement.

Story of God at Work in Monmouth

Over two thousand years ago, the Messiah came humbly as a baby in a barn within the city limits of a town many had never heard of before, and yet we are still often surprised when God shows up in the meek spaces and unheard-of places throughout the world. On a much smaller scale, the city of Monmouth, Oregon parallels, being a town only a few know or spend extensive time in, until our Heavenly Father sent faithful followers to plow a field He desired to plant seeds in and later reap a plentiful harvest. In the early 1850s, a group of Christian pioneers moved from Monmouth, Illinois, to a 600-acre plot of land on the west coast, which would later be known as Monmouth, Oregon. There, these believers not only founded a city but also a university, originally called Monmouth University and now referred to as Western Oregon University. The legacy of faith in the Willamette Valley plowed the soil of the cities, preparing them for the movement of faith that was to come just shy of 200 years later.

“Moving to Monmouth to plant a church on the campus of Western Oregon University was eventually brought up to Colin, to which he promptly looked up the city on his laptop and immediately slammed it shut, thinking, “There’s no way I’m moving there.””

After planting multiple churches on various college campuses throughout the Mountain West, the need for the gospel was dire and students' receptiveness was evident. Hearing about the push to plant 21 churches by 2021, Colin Luoma received the clarity and direction he needed to dive deeper into the reality of his future, which was slowly becoming clearer. Due to Resonate planting for the first time in Oregon in 2016  there was an apparent need for more connectivity amongst Resonate churches within the same state. Being invested in living missionally, Colin and several other young men throughout Resonate Church’s network were part of a cohort led by Resonate’s original planter, Keith Weiser to process how planting churches and becoming a pastor would shape their futures. Moving to Monmouth to plant a church on the campus of Western Oregon University was eventually brought up to Colin, to which he promptly looked up the city on his laptop and immediately slammed it shut, thinking, “There’s no way I’m moving there.”. Colin’s mind would later change when he stepped foot on campus, meeting students in desperate need for the gospel when visiting on a scouting trip prior to moving. 

Saying that he would go wherever his leaders asked him to, Colin and his fiance Jessi, as well as just under 20 others, made the trek from Ellensburg, WA to Monmouth, OR; their sights set on bringing Heaven to Earth in the quant town just miles outside of the I-5 corridor. This team of people made the move in 2017 and quickly noticed that few of the 6,000 students at Western Oregon hung out in their student union building, let alone on campus at all, forging the unique challenge of finding people to connect with and invite. Meeting on campus throughout the week to seek out students and holding church in a team member's house on Sundays, this team held onto the promise of a plentiful harvest despite the difficulty of connecting with students. In September of 2017, they launched their first gathering, meeting in a church off campus, praying that the little exposure they had to the student body would bring at least a handful of students through the doors. Slowly but surely, 60 people trickled in, and despite the sound system not working for the first five minutes of their gathering, the gospel was still shared, and the name of Jesus was brought glory.

Western Oregon University doesn’t have a large athletic department to allure students, nor does it have sororities or fraternities, making it clear the student body needed something or someone to generate unity and community. This notion encouraged the team in Monmouth, as they believed they could be the group to gather people who typically trended towards isolation. Within the first year of moving to Monmouth, an employee of the university’s student affairs department approached the team, telling them he loved what they were doing on campus and that he believed what they were doing was exciting and needed, and until he retired, he continued to partner with the team through campus events. Being welcomed onto campus by people like this staff member took down a barrier other church plants have had, making it easy to establish predictable patterns on campus and creating familiarity amongst the students they crossed paths with. Resonate Monmouth had over 100 people connected within the first year of being on campus, quickly growing in momentum. The decades of prayer for favor made by the Christian pioneers who arrived in Monmouth over a hundred years prior came to fruition right before the eyes of the team. Not only was God at work in their obedient efforts toward reaching the students, but He had already been at work long before they stepped foot on campus in 2017. 

Six months into planting, the team held their first baptism service, where 12 people declared Jesus as Lord amongst the 200 who had shown up to watch their proclamations. It became evident to Colin that not only was there one God who could save but that the people in this tiny town were actively receptive to the gospel and that God was moving mightily in their midst. God’s intentional providence was clearly at work in this city despite the barriers the team initially felt. Over the years of reaching students, sharing the gospel, and gathering on campus, the goal began to shift from being seen on campus to cultivating an environment within the city that the people they reached would want to stick around for after graduating college. One of many who helped work towards this goal was Ben Wenzl, who moved with Colin to plant in Monmouth in 2017 and just three years ago transitioned to a leader pastor role as Colin and another team were sent out to bring the gospel to Corvallis Oregon. Since Colin, his wife, and their team moved to Oregon State University in 2021, Resonate Monmouth has adopted a new identity, blending collegiate and young professional ministries within their congregation. Due to urban sprawl and cost of living factors, the city of Monmouth has also evolved, making it a place of growth and new beginnings for many. As a result of the 21x21 culture that encouraged Colin to plan in Monmouth, Ben committed to go with Colin in 2017 but also take on the lead pastor role, realizing that being sent for the sake of making the name of Jesus known should be a “normal response to the gospel.” From sending their students to a church plant in Salt Lake City to sending out Colin and a team to plant in Corvallis, 90 people declaring Jesus as Lord publicly through baptism, and sending a guy from their church to Japan with the International Mission Board, Ben describes this movement of God in Monmouth as that of a mustard seed, something that starts incredibly small but grows to become bigger than expected, leaving an undeniable impact.

Time and time again, our Heavenly Father moves amidst the unassuming, working outside our finite expectations, reminding us that He has never forgotten us. Places deemed the opposite of a dream destination, home to humble people doing ordinary things, are the very spaces in which our God orchestrates the extraordinary. Colin says, “the greatest thing you can do for your family is to live for something more than yourself,” making it clear that the path of humility is that of the greatest impact. Being far from family members, not living in the same city as the best childcare programs, driving a used car with thousands of miles, and having “dry seasons” of ministry are all worth it to extend God the utmost glory. You don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to be insanely smart, nor do you have to be incredibly popular to belong and feel at home, and the community forged in Monmouth exemplifies just that. 

From struggling to be seen by students on campus to becoming the biggest organization on campus, God was faithful. From feeling like a test as a 3rd generation church plant to sending out a church of their own, God was faithful. From the prayerful venture of a group of pioneers establishing a university in Monmouth to an urgent collegiate church planting movement reaching the university over a hundred years later, God was faithful. There has never been a moment when the city of Monmouth, Western Oregon University, and all of its inhabitants were forsaken, for we serve a God who is steadfast and rich in mercy. Just as our God came from the small forgotten towns of Nazareth and Bethelem, a movement of God was birthed from a place just as quaint; God-things come from unexpected places, ultimately giving Him the utmost glory.

Story of God at Work in Bellingham

Living mission-minded for the sake of delivering the gospel to the ends of the Earth is a life that is beautiful, incredibly worthwhile, and most definitely challenging. There are areas of the world that appear to be more appealing than others, making them a dream destination to some and not quite to others, yet the need for the gospel is dire regardless of how outwardly inviting those places may feel to us. But we serve a God who has eyes for the unexpected, the in-between, and even those who reject Him. He has the power and ability to reconcile people of all backgrounds to Himself; we are merely the tool He graciously uses to do so here on Earth. 

In the winter of 2019, after a shift in leadership, James Clark was pulled aside and asked to lead the church plant that was being sent to the Western Washington University campus in Bellingham, Washington. This city is known for its progressive ideas, beautiful natural landscape, and history of hostility towards the Christian faith. Despite moving to this city not being his initial plan or feeling qualified by any means, James and his wife decided to go, believing in the affirmations their leaders spoke over them, deeming them just right for the position they were about to take. A whirlwind of a decision brought James, his wife, and their team of 24, to the place that would eventually become their home, slowly trickling in and settling over the months of May and June of 2019.

“ He has the power and ability to reconcile people of all backgrounds to Himself; we are merely the tool He graciously uses to do so here on Earth. ”

Intending to hold a launch service for Easter 2020, James and his team set out on campus in an effort to cast as wide of a net as possible. In the 6-7 months approaching their launch date, they created predictable patterns of campus time, fun events like King of the Hill, coffee dates, tabling, and passing out free things to students who would stop by on their walk to class. During that first week on campus, one student, Kiley, was walking on campus, thinking about how someone had recently told her to find a church within the first two weeks of being a college student. Not looking too intensely for a church, Kiley happened to stumble across a table full of excited faces, giving away hot cocoa underneath a pop-up tent marked with Resonate Church branding one afternoon. She stopped to see what the people at this table were doing, met a girl named Anna, and ended up talking to her for nearly an hour, uncovering connections and feeling genuinely cared for. This conversation led to them going on a hike and then showing up to what she would later know as Resonate’s Sunday Gathering, all the while realizing that God was moving in her heart and ordaining her steps. Something as simple as a sweet drink and good conversation can be the entryway to stepping out of loneliness and into life-changing community. Kiley would go on to continue to live missionally, desiring to reach other students, just as she had been not long ago. From disciple-maker to student leader, and eventually staff member, the ripple effect of the obedience of people like Kiley on this team planted in Bellingham would make all of the difference.

Shortly after Kiley was met and connected, alongside many other students, the unthinkable happened; a global pandemic closed the doors to many establishments, turning their experiences into virtual ones, and bringing the momentum of this team working towards their launch service to an unfortunate halt. But God, knowing exactly what was to occur, had plans to move in spite of our world feeling as though it had stopped. Sunday Gatherings and Village small groups moved to computer and TV screens, and believe it or not, people showed up despite the unconventionality! Reflecting on doing ministry during COVID, James refers to that time as “a gift” because it allowed their core team to grow and mature, as things relied on previously were stripped away, changing the culture of their leadership team and church for the better over time. 

Coming out of the restrictions following the pandemic, Sunday Gatherings picked back up, as did villages, and even more so, prayer that the students would desire to fight against the isolation they had been stuck in previously. Things started off slow, with attendance being fairly low, and despite the discouragement that this was, it brought the team to prayer and rethinking strategies for reaching students. When life gets tough, it’s easy to try to fix the problem instead of submitting worries to Christ first; our instinct isn’t always to rejoice in greater dependence on Him. For many of us, prayer has become a last-ditch effort to make things better, but for the Bellingham team, it became something vital. Talking frequently with God was no longer a suggestion to get through the hard but essential to enduring faithfully. The culture and people of Resonate Bellingham were slowly sanctified through the rough, ultimately multiplying resiliency, complete dependence on the Lord, and the sense of feeling deeply known by those enduring alongside throughout their congregation.

Learning what it meant to forge through the wilderness of a hard season prepared the people of this church for what was to come, displaying God’s sovereignty before their very eyes.   As things changed and grew, the staff and church members in Bellingham sent out a church to be planted in Fort Collins at Colorado State University in December of 2022. Despite the chaos of the world at the time, God was still on the move, bringing the sentiment of Isaiah 43:19 alive within their team, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland". Not only was God doing a new thing in the lives of the people in Bellingham, but also in their church after facing the loss of pivotal members who moved to bring that same hope of the “new thing” to another college campus. Although a solid amount of their staff team and church members had recently left to bring the gospel to the lives of college students in Colorado, God was faithful to show up in Bellingham. In a season of newness, God reminded the staff and students that there had never been a moment where He had forgotten them, answering prayers tangibly once more. Reviving their ministry at the beginning of the school year in 2023, within the first two weeks of school, the Lord connected them to 15 freshmen. These freshmen were seeking a church to dive into the depths with them, and they found exactly that as they were connected. They began giving their time and resources towards reaching their campus themselves. Since the moment the leadership team set foot into Bellingham to the current state of their ministry, they have seen just over 30 people be baptized, many experiencing true death to life because they decided to put their faith and trust in Jesus and for others, the seeds of the gospel have been planted into their lives for the very first time. There is victory in Jesus' name for the students of Western Washington University and the people in the city of Bellingham, for He is making a way where there once appeared to be none. God has glorified Himself through the birthing of a church that stands firm in the truth of the Bible, overcoming the culturally normative pressure to conform to the patterns of the world.

Despite the hardship of team members leaving, sending out a church plant with many of the best and most consistent team members, the ramifications of COVID, and operating in a city where the label of bigotry is tacked onto any non-affirming Jesus movements, God has made Himself known. Circumstantially, opening and maintaining a church at Western Washington University appeared and often felt impossible, yet God displayed that He is outside of our worldly circumstances and expectations. In a time of barriers and hardship, God was and is in the business of bringing people from death to life, solidifying the truth that He is always faithful, regardless of our situation, circumstance, location, or cultural barriers. He is faithful, and He will continue to prove it, just as He has in Bellingham over the last 5 years.

Story of God at Work in Missoula

Tucked into a valley of the Rocky Mountains, Missoula, Montana, is a place known for its glorious natural landscape and people who remain there for the outdoor jungle gym that it is; a place wildly obsessed with creation but not entirely with its Creator. Known by many Christians and missionaries as a "church planter's graveyard", Missoula, and the University of Montana, desperately needed God to provide stability and a church that relentlessly pursued the lost. Fortunately for this city, a group of people adamant about sharing the gospel, fueled by the steadfastness and consistency of their Heavenly Father decided the reputation of the city would no longer dictate the eternity of its inhabitants.

After a trip to various Mountain West universities in the middle of a snowy winter, Keith Wieser and a group of young men interested in church planting returned to Pullman with a clear direction to pursue the cities and campuses found in Boise, ID, Missoula, MT, and Pocatello, ID. The next piece to this puzzle was who would lead these new churches, when would this team move, and who would they take with them?

Coming to the University of Idaho in 2014, Preston Rhodes arrived on campus with the desire to pursue an engineering career with NASA. Instead, he experienced immense heart change as Jesus began to sit more and more firmly on the throne of his life, entirely shifting the trajectory of his future midway through his sophomore year. Within the first two weeks of Preston's freshmen year, he met two men connected to Resonate. From there he became more invested in faith-centered community and spent his first summer vacation in college at a discipleship program in San Diego, known as Elevate. Returning to Moscow from this summer program, Preston came to campus on fire for the Lord. He deeply desired to live missionally and recalls calling his parents one night to tell them that he was no longer going to be an engineer after graduating, but a missionary instead. Following a summer project to East Asia, where the desperate need for the gospel to be spread was apparent, Preston recalls approaching Keith Wieser while tearing down pipe and drape after a Sunday Gathering in September of 2017. With certainty, Preston said "Hey Keith, I want you to know that I'm in, do with me whatever you want", to which Keith responded, "What do you know about Missoula?"; and from there plans took form, scout trips ensued, and conversations about a future core team began. Within two years of putting his "yes" on the table, Preston graduated college, married his wife Tracy, and was officially hired onto Resonate Staff. He was trained to plant a church, built out a core team, and made the nearly 300-mile move to Missoula, Montana.

A year before Preston moved to Missoula with his core team, a group of six was sent to lay the groundwork through continual scouting, gospel sharing, and relationship building. Between their arrival in the summer of 2018 and the arrival of the rest of the team in the summer of 2019, the team of six spent hours on campus, held impromptu swing dancing nights next to dorms, moved freshmen into their residence halls, threw frisbees around, climbed rocks with new friends, and welcomed recently-met connections into their home for dinner five nights a week. Jess Austin, one piece of the six-person team, remembers that during a scouting trip before moving in 2018, "God was opening relational doors like crazy", showing her and the rest of the team that God wanted to do something in Missoula and that He wanted to use Resonate. During this same trip, Jess experienced God moving in a multitude of ways that solidified her commitment to living sent. During one instance she happened to reconnect with a friend from elementary school she hadn't spoken to in years, only for that friend to give her and her team a tour of campus, as well as a sorority where she met a girl, Emma. She told Jess they specifically needed a "college church for students". Not only did Emma confirm the needs of the university the team had already started to see, but she eventually became one of many who felt like family and is a part of Resonate Missoula to this day. The need was clear and the team was committed to reaching the lost, believing if God was for them, who or what could stand against?

Flash forward to May of 2019, Preston and the rest of their core team of 20, joined Jess and the rest of the group of six in Missoula, moving into their homes and getting the lay of the land. They spent the summer gathering in living rooms for house church on Sundays, and the days in between on campus, growing closer to one another as a team and growing in hope and anticipation for the school year that was ahead of them. Following the University of Montana's move-in and Week of Welcome, after many hours spent extending invites, the Missoula team held their first Sunday Gathering on August 19th, 2019 in an event venue downtown called "The Public House". Their staff team recalls thinking to themselves "Oh, we're really doing this now!" as nearly 60 people trickled into the building for the service that was about to unfold. Within a few weeks, they were able to move their Sunday Gathering to a theater on campus in the student union building. This was an answered prayer, as this space was more accessible for students living on and off campus to encounter not just Resonate Church, but God Himself. The impact of moving from a space downtown to an on-campus location was felt pretty quickly, with nearly 12 students committed to living missionally towards their peers, five student villages, and nine death-to-life stories all within the first year on campus. The church planters' "graveyard" appeared to slowly be shifting into a ripe harvest field for those willing to labor.

“Effective ministry has proven to not be the big ticket events that occur annually, but rather doing the hard things, feeling the weight of sacrifice, and offering themselves to the lost in the mundane moments of everyday life.”

Not only was God working to shift the narrative of ministry potential in Missoula, but He also had plans to reach the University of Montana football team, previously known for allegations of misconduct. Within the last two years, the men in Resonate Missoula's leadership team have found unique favor among the players. Many of these athletes committed their limited free time to the gathering on Sundays, growing their faith in bible studies, and even getting baptized. Despite the depths of the pain found in the brokenness we all bear as humans in a sinful world, God has revealed to not only the football team but the campus and community that there has never been a moment they were forgotten. Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged". God works mightily in areas we can't imagine redeemed, glorifying Himself in circumstances that seem impossibly hopeless or without direction. God still moved despite Resonate Missoula being planted just six months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed doors and instilled gathering restrictions. By declaring Jesus as Lord, 21 people came from death to life between the spring of 2020 to the lifting of COVID restrictions in 2022. Effective ministry has proven to not be the big ticket events that occur annually, but rather doing the hard things, feeling the weight of sacrifice, and offering themselves to the lost in the mundane moments of everyday life.

The culture of "follow me as I follow Christ" established a resounding sense of family, stability, and sacrifice within the church body of Resonate Missoula. This eventually led half of their staff team and many church members, including two women Jess Austin met as students, to plant a new church at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado, forsaking the comfort of their homes in Missoula. There's truly nothing like moving hundreds of miles to share the gospel and disciple college students only for those same students to leverage their own lives and move hundreds of miles yet again to do the same thing. This made it clear to Jess that "God was doing something bigger" than what she had envisioned when moving to Missoula quickly after graduating from college in 2018.

God used Resonate Missoula to show that He is the God of life, changing this town from a ministry graveyard to a fruitful church. God has used His faithful servants to bring redemption in the lives of athletes, to teach students to live missionally, and by sending out a church plant. God has made it abundantly clear that He not only has the power but also the desire to redeem any and all things. There has never been a moment when our Heavenly Father declared the city and campus in Missoula as "too far gone", let alone forgotten or thought less of a town, a sports team, or a people group because of what others labeled them as. Our God doesn't operate under the labels and limits placed upon us. The sins of our past, our love for the Father's creation apart from Him, our suffocating expectations, and unavoidable realities all bow at the feet of Jesus. There is nothing that our God can't do, for He is in the business of making all things new.

Story of God at Work in Ellensburg

How often do we miss out on the abundance of a relationship, a town, a book, or a meal because we take our assumptions too seriously, only believing in the worth of something from its face value? If we’re honest with ourselves, we do this far more than we think. The college town I thought would be boring is now a place I cherish and call home. The foods I thought I hated because of their look or smell are now things I long for in each meal. The people I thought I had nothing in common with are now my closest friends. God has a way of humbling our hearts and making the mundane extraordinary. 

The year was 2013, and Resonate Church had two growing collegiate ministries on the campuses of the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Hearing the faint whisper of God asking Resonate to think bigger, conversations began to unfold about where to go next. The church planting legacy for gospel sharing began to gain traction. Leaders and staff members at the time started praying about and going on “Scout Trips” to potential locations for a church plant, traveling to Ellensburg, Cheney, and Missoula. On these trips, God began to clarify the cities Resonate should plant in first, allowing staff members to meet students on these campuses who would later be a part of their launch team. All the while, Jacob Dahl, a staff member at the time, had recently returned from a church-led trip to East Asia, processing where God would call him and his wife, Jess, to live missionally. They thought East Asia might be the place or maybe the familiarity of Pullman, but God gave a direct call in their asks for clarity. One evening in his apartment, Jacob had a significant encounter with God, receiving an astonishingly clear vision about his future in ministry and the church plant he was to be a part of. Jacob refers to this vision from the Lord as close as he’s ever been to experiencing God audibly, making it unmistakably clear that God had a purpose for him and his wife in the future church plant the leaders of Resonate were pursuing. When God speaks to you and makes Himself known, a response is always required. What will you do, where will you go, how will you live?

In May of 2014, Jacob, Jess, and their team made their way to Ellensburg, a city known as a pit stop town filled with farmers and young adults after a degree, to bring the goodness of the gospel and a life-changing community. If you’re from Washington or have traveled through the west on Interstate 90, you would likely have either breezed on by or stopped to fill your tank and grab a snack in Ellensburg. To many, this town is merely a blink in their time traveling, not ever going beyond a half-mile radius of the highway exits, but our God had bigger plans for this farm town nestled just east of the Cascade Mountains.

“When God speaks to you and makes Himself known, a response is always required. What will you do, where will you go, how will you live?”

One month after moving, Jacob and his team held their first preview service for the students at Central Washington University during their last week of school, and later, they would have their launch service on September 28th, 2014, upon their return for the fall quarter. In between these big moments, a culture of gospel sharing quickly and often began to be formed as Jacob and his team worked toward the goal of sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus 300 times or more in periods of 4 weeks at a time. Maximizing the time they had while students were present before the summer break was crucial and incredibly effective; God honored the intentionality set before His bride. 

Proving that the harvest truly is as plentiful as it says in Luke 10:2, God blessed the Ellensburg church plant in their first year with 41 students coming from death to life and declaring Jesus as Lord through baptism. Evangelistic efforts became a strong suit for the team, and they had their eyes set on the goal of sending another team to plant a church within 3 years of their own plant, genuinely living into the ideas of sacrifice and mission outlined throughout scripture. By 2017, their staff team had grown, their student leadership increased, a second gathering for families in the community had launched, and God empowered them to send a team to plant a church at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon. Within this time, crucial team members, Ted and Jacquelyn Wolfe,  were met as freshmen, came from death to life, joined Ellensburg’s staff team, and would later be unified in marriage. Students bought into the mission of sharing the gospel and living sent was high; students experienced the freedom of living transparently and, because of that, lived in a fortified community that many viewed as family. 

Many students, like Ted, had lived a double life, not fully committed to the things of the Lord in every facet of their lives. However, through consistent pursuit and a culture of honesty, repentance, and belief in the entirety of the gospel, it became a part of Resonate Church’s anthem. Ted recalls processing through the trajectory of his future during his senior year of college, asking himself and his wife-to-be, Jacquelyn, “What do we truly want our lives to be about?” guiding them to begin thinking about church planting, engaging in the missional culture of their church on a personal level. 

Around year 6 of living in Ellensburg, the Dahls started praying about what it could look like if they were to plant another church, allowing younger leaders in their church a chance to live into their callings, while also reaching more cities themselves. They sent a team of people from their church to plant in Bozeman, Montana, in 2019, which Jacquelyn and Ted thought they might be a part of until Jacob and Jess asked them to consult the Lord in the prospect of taking over their roles of pastoral leadership in Ellensburg instead, as the Dahls were about to move as well. The relentless pace being set was matched time and time again, and the Wolfes stepped into what the Dahls and, ultimately, the Lord were inviting them to, saying yes to the call to pastor. In awe, Jacob remembers feeling humbled at the idea that God would use people in their mid to late twenties without seminary degrees to reach hundreds of college students for His namesake, reveling in the honor it’s been to serve the city of Ellensburg for the years God allowed. 

As leadership transitions were made, Jacob, Jess, and their now two children moved to Seattle, Washington, to bring a Resonate Church to the students of the University of Washington. Time and time again, a need was acknowledged and met through the honest acceptance of the current reality and a desire to live in the ways God was asking them to meet it. Leaving this town behind, it became clear to the Dahls that this tiny, often polarizing town was not merely the pit stop on a road trip across the state that it once was but rather a place where Jesus moved mightily, used them beyond their means, provided endlessly, truly building His kingdom out of their obedient “Yes” to the call the live sent. When asked what makes giving your life and your family’s time to something like the local church, Ted responded, “It never gets old hearing someone confess, experience kairos, and watch something click when they’re experiencing the tangibility of God’s character.” Jacob answered this question by saying that his children have seen scripture come to life as they learn why they live sent, telling them, “We move because people don’t know Jesus, joy, love, and peace.” Sacrificing the highly esteemed children’s program and well-paying jobs in the climbing of the corporate ladder is worth it because his kids know what living beyond themselves looks like, and more importantly, they see that church is people and not just a place. 

“Leaving this town behind, it became clear to the Dahls that this tiny, often polarizing town, was not merely the pit stop on a road trip across the state that it once was, but rather a place where Jesus moved mightily, used them beyond their means, provided endlessly, truly building His kingdom out of their obedient “Yes” to the call the live sent”

From inconspicuous beginnings came the outpouring of awe and reverence for the holiness of God, leading to an unforgettable impact on the lives of the campus and community of Ellensburg. A place voted #1 pit stop town with little to offer to the one glancing by became the ripe harvest field of the laborers willing to see beyond what meets the eye. Somewhere that felt temporary for many transformed into the place where they met the one true God came to the end of themselves, and were granted eternal life. What a kindness it is to set aside our preconceived notions to share the one true message that every soul longs to know; it doesn’t matter if you have a chip on your shoulder, if you vote red or blue, if you’re a college student or office personnel, the hole in our soul longs for Jesus and although we don’t deserve it, He sees us, He knows us, and He cares deeply for us. Ellensburg may have been undesired by man, but there was never a moment when its inhabitants weren’t desired by Him.

Story of God at Work in Moscow

The story of Moscow is one of ebb and flow. The storms will come, as they always do, but amidst the confusion and uncertainty, this church prevailed in hope due to the depth of God’s faithfulness and an expectancy of brighter days ahead. It doesn’t have to be grand or astounding, but the body of believers at this church experienced the blessing God places on their faithful obedience. 

 No matter who you are or what you do, you know you can’t do this life alone. It may be tempting or seem more manageable, but we would be selling ourselves a lie if we operated out of the belief that who we spend time around doesn’t matter and that we are merely here to coexist. Maybe family has been anything but simple, and friendships have never lasted. Still, a collection of people can become a family that endures through trial, proving to be stronger as a result, laying a foundation for a unified body, and this story is just that. 

In 2006, Matthew and April Young moved to Moscow, Idaho, a small but lively town on the northwestern border of the state, neighboring fellow university town, Pullman, Washington; the move was rooted in a desire to minister to people in a place outside of the bible belt, as both Matthew and April had come from Texas to the Northwest several years prior for seminary school in the Portland area. The Youngs took over ministry roles in a local Baptist church within Moscow upon their move, grabbing onto an opportunity to be near a 4-year university that wasn’t a commuter school, was outside of the bible belt region, and was just under 10 miles from their dear friends, Paige and Keith Wieser, who had made the move from Texas to Portland to Pullman not to long before they had.

University of Idaho, Moscow

Their time in Moscow began by being a part of a ministry that already had weekly gatherings, resources, and connections within the town, contrary to what God would invite them into the building in the months and years to come. As they spent a semester getting to know students on and off campus, they would meet with their friends across the state border, the conversation often moving towards the church the Wiesers were praying about planting for Washington State University students and the community of Pullman. Although Matthew and April weren’t entirely on board yet to plant a church in Moscow, they were and remain incredibly supportive of the ministry the Wiesers desired to establish, attending Resonate Pullman’s launch service in August of 2007. From there, they began to build connections with the Wieser’s team, serving one another through offering to lead worship at a Tuesday Gathering, helping staff members raise funds, creating relationships founded in reliability, and ultimately paving the way for a culture of community to be deeply embedded in the ministry of Moscow. 

Four months after sitting in the rented chairs at the event center of Pullman’s launch service, Matthew and April, with their toddler son and newborn daughter, attended a November retreat where they distinctly recall being asked to start small villages on the campus of the University of Idaho. Students had been traveling to Pullman for the Resonate Sunday Gathering and needed a small group to connect with in their city. Being a family of four, Matthew and April weren’t sure how to balance meeting college students on campus while raising their young children. Yet, they committed to doing so despite challenges after discussing it with one another and consulting the Lord. 

The difficulties of being a campus minister and a parent of young kids called for a change in the way Matthew and April did things, leading to the building of their team that would later comprise a launch team of their very own. As they began to try hosting small groups at the University of Idaho, several students came to check it out. About 15 or so of those students became regulars, encouraging them to press into the change before them. In May of 2008, Matthew and April purchased a new home, committing to Paige and Keith that they would plant a Resonate Church in Moscow in the upcoming school year. Knowing change would come after the retreat back in November, this change didn’t feel entirely like a surprise, as God was slowly but surely letting them take glimpses at the carefully crafted plan He had in store. The Youngs didn’t move out to Moscow, intending to plant a church. Yet, God faithfully encouraged them through their obedience in the mundane moments, the joyful praises, and the challenging experiences.

“The Youngs didn’t move out to Moscow, intending to plant a church. Yet, God faithfully encouraged them through their obedience in the mundane moments, the joyful praises, and the challenging experiences. ”

From cheerleaders of their church planting friends to church planters themselves that fall, the Youngs and their team handed out hundreds of flyers on campus, inviting students to their launch gathering and into fellowship they hoped would become like family. The Nuart Theatre in downtown Moscow housed the church plant’s first worship gathering in the fall of 2008. As the worship team from Resonate Pullman rushed over from their evening service to lead Moscow’s gathering, 60 people trickled into the theatre, expecting what God would do and interested to see what this new church was all about. Around 30-40 of those initial 60 stuck around, attending one of the two villages. The idea of closing what had just started was tossed around as the strategies and approaches to building a church felt uncertain, attendance was rough at times, and more help was needed. God revealed to them through the leveling of expectations and the truth of their current reality that He hadn’t forgotten about them and sent the team solid leadership to assist them in their growing pains. 

The idea of what success looked like felt foreign and not applicable to the state of the early church plant in Matthew’s mind. Yet, he was comforted by the ways that the Lord was still using their efforts to reach the lost through campus gatherings and their ability to show up consistently. It was clear that what they were doing was important, whether they could see it or not, and thus, the Youngs and their team pressed on.

Between 2009 and 2010, things began to change once more, as their team's innovation brought a refreshing excitement to the culture of their evolving ministry. People began to see Resonate Moscow as a church that was different than anything they had experienced before, launching the fall semester with a Music and Magic show that engaged the students and community in a new and creative way that packed out the theater.  Soon, they welcomed 200 people into Sunday gatherings and nearly 300 for a baptism service. The consistent faithfulness and behind-the-scenes service became the launching pad God would use to grow them into the church they are today, sending several teams to plant in other locations across the Mountain West, countless students to mission and serve trips, creating foundational discipleship resources, all the while facilitating the hunger to know Jesus into life-changing encounters with Him.

University of Idaho, Moscow

With the stress of transitioning to be fully on staff with Resonate, raising financial support, and a family, God made it clear to Matthew and April that they weren’t done in Moscow. On a flight back home in the summer of 2011, a woman sitting next to April on the plane asked her about what she does for work, to which April described the strategy and value of reaching college students in the name of Jesus. After going back to their books for the remainder of the flight, the same woman who had inquired about April’s job previously looked up from what she was reading, telling April, “I’m supposed to support you and introduce you to my dad,” growing their ministry partnership team and strengthening their faith. Moments like these reminded both April and Matthew that God knows their needs, cares for them, and will make way for them to stay in Moscow and continue shepherding their young church. 

From that point on, it quickly became clear to Matthew that “What happens between Sundays is where the gravity is. People here show up and are so connected and invested in one another’s lives. They hear the gospel and then see it lived out”, and appear to be left forever changed, as multitudes of people have caught the vision of being sent, sacrificing their young adult years to bring the gospel to campuses near and far. Met as a freshman during Week of Welcome in 2016, Emma Smith describes the culture of Resonate Moscow as “a family who are deeply connected and incredibly resilient, committing to the things God invites them into” despite the hardship. Emma and her husband Logan are some of those people, leaving behind the city that has become home to them over the years to plant a church at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom alongside other faithful leaders from this church. The most beautiful thing about this is that they aren’t unique in leveraging their lives for the sake of sharing the gospel. They are doing what so many already who have gone before them have done: Living a life on mission and for a greater purpose has become the heartbeat of their church. They share the sentiment that God’s glory is worth any and all sacrifice, saying, “What else is there to do?” If not, commit your whole life to serving the bride of Christ.

“What happens between Sundays is where the gravity is. People here show up and are so connected and invested in one another’s lives. They hear the gospel and then see it lived out”

From sending out three teams to plant churches in separate cities to facilitating a culture of generosity, service, and sacrifice, Resonate Moscow has become a community that strives to emulate the life and character of Christ for the glory of God over everything. In times of struggle with few staff members to seasons of triumph, as people of their congregation live into the high calling of the Great Commission, God has never ceased to show up, always making a way when there appears to be none. Moscow is not merely a community surrounded by farmland with a University at its center, but rather a vast field ripe for the harvest where God is at work. 

Story of God at work in Pullman

The greatest Storyteller of all time has authored one book and endless lives. God writes the kinds of stories that are unforgettable, the kinds of stories that only make sense when you see that He is the author; the kinds of stories that change hearts and shift futures. It has been a humbling honor to be the bearer of stories with the magnitude in which Resonate Church operates; the ripple effect of obedience has left the Mountain West forever changed, and soon enough, the nations beyond as well. 

There is no better way to tell the story of Resonate Church, and more specifically, Resonate Pullman than inviting you to think deeply about the things you care most about. Have you ever loved someone so much that you would do anything they asked of you? That you would commit your life to them? For the believer, this might feel reminiscent of your personal encounter with Christ. The captivating beauty of who our Jesus is and what He’s inviting us into is often incredibly irresistible to our souls, making “no” an un-stomachable response despite the perceived difficulties our minds wander to. Our fears, desires, hopes, and dreams pale in comparison to the greater story our Father is inviting us into. 

Keith and Paige Wieser were faced with this reality in 2004 when they ventured from Portland to Pullman to take over a ministry planted by a woman from Oklahoma in 1975. Fresh out of seminary; looking to hear from God and venture where He called, they left a presumably comfortable position near friends in Portland to a new city that felt unfamiliar, and even undesirable; when you desire the will of the One you love more than anything else, saying yes becomes variably easier. The resounding question the Lord kept meeting Keith with along the journey was “Do you trust me?”, something we all wrestle with at one point or another, and this move from Texas to Portland and later Portland to Pullman wouldn’t be the last time trust in the Lord was called into action. 

“The resounding question the Lord kept meeting Keith with along the journey was “Do you trust me?”, something we all wrestle with at one point or another, and this move from Texas to Portland and later Portland to Pullman wouldn’t be the last time trust in the Lord was called into action. ”

Throughout Paige’s time processing what the Lord was saying to her, she couldn’t shake three resounding details of where she and Keith should go and what would differentiate this place God was calling them to from any other ministry opportunity; the breadcrumbs the Lord fed them in their moments of uncertainty were that what they were called to do would be out of the bible belt, with young people, presumably college students, and that something about this movement they were to be a part of would be undeniably “different”. Moving to Pullman, Washington was clearly out of the south, they knew it was a university town where they would interact with young people often, but the “this will be different” piece didn’t quite make itself clear within the first two years on the Palouse. 

From 2004 to 2005, Paige and Keith would invest in the local church and community, and meet students on and off campus, all the while hearing the low whisper of the Lord encouraging them to remember the “something different” part He had spoken to them during their process of deciding where to move. Despite days of low attendance to bible studies or students promising to show up to events only to never be seen again, God was still at work. It became clear that asking college students to come to them to hear the gospel and experience life changing community wouldn’t be nearly as effective as going to them, seeking them out, and pursuing them intentionally. Something had to change in order to walk fully in the different kind of church movement that God was faithful to remind them of time and time again. Over many discussions with friends, supervisors, and other wise counsel, Paige and Keith decided to again take a leap of faith. As they dreamed of what was to come, in December of 2005, Paige, feeling the weight of impending change, said to Keith in surrender, “What do we have to lose if this is what we know the Lord wants us to do?”, referring to the notion that if they are to make an impact and pursue the entirety of what God has called them into, they would have to act and not just wait. The reality of both Heaven and Hell being real and the brokenness of the college campus before them collided into a call to action for the Wieser family. 

Washington State University, Pullman

Shortly after this moment, Paige and Keith began meeting bi-weekly at a local church to nail down the details with students, community members, and church friends who craved to see death to life on the Washington State University campus, just exactly how they would accomplish this. They would later have their first “core team” meeting at a bookstore on Colorado Street, dreaming about the lives that would be changed and asking God, through prayer, to do something far beyond what they could ask, think, or imagine. From the first “core team” meeting on February 11th to May, they began to gather with 60 people; God quickly responding to their prayers of desperation. Just as things were beginning to pick up with excitement and hope, the school year came to an end for the summer, sending everyone separate ways for several months. In our minds limited by worldly circumstances, we would be tempted to think that all momentum would be killed and that the next school year would be even harder as the team would need to start from scratch again. But God had other plans.

Come August, the core team of leaders heading this movement, would come back together to piece their entire launch plan for the school year and preview service content, praying God would do something incomprehensible. Two weeks later, on August 19th, 2007, the chairs were set up in their rented space, 5,000 flyers were handed out, hundreds of people on Facebook were asked to come out, and yet still, they had no gauge of who would be loyal to the half-hearted “Yes” they received from those invited to the launch service. Pacing back and forth in the back room, Keith was going over his notes and overseeing last minute tasks, only to be interrupted by Paige, overwhelmed by the Spirit of God at work at that very moment, sharing with him that he’s “not going to believe this, but people are still arriving”, and to their surprise 190 people showed up, breaking the room’s fire code and their personal expectations for what God could do with their yes. Keith heard the gentle whisper of the Lord amidst chaos, speaking to the 22-year-old boy from Texas who wanted to be a part of something bigger than himself, “See, if you just trust me…”.  From that point on it was evident that people truly wanted to be a part of the life-changing community centered around a world-changing purpose rooted in the gospel truths of Jesus that they had longed to see be revealed from the moment they moved to Pullman. 

“he’s “not going to believe this, but people are still arriving”, and to their surprise 190 people showed up, breaking the room’s fire code and their personal expectations for what God could do with their yes.”

Paige and Keith would continue to gather with their young children, students and community members, asking them to stick around if what they were discussing “resonates” with them, and from there the Resonate Collegiate Church Planting movement was born. The work of God didn’t stop there, as thousands of students would come in contact with a church that started as a dream to reach young people different than the traditional means of a Sunday gathering. The church has experienced leaders of great caliber and humble hearts, has been the launchpad and birthplace of 16 church plants across the mountain west, and the place of sacrifice for families young and old. The current pastor, Chris Routen, who was met as a first-year student in a fraternity house at WSU Pullman, says that by God’s grace, being a part of church planting and pastoral leadership have been the “healthiest things [my wife Tannis and I] have ever done for our marriage” and the “fortifier” of his family as they live missionally. God sees our sacrifice, honors it, and graciously reminds us that our labor is not in vain as we seek the building of His Kingdom above all else. 

While many of us were children or unruly teenagers, God was leading Paige and Keith to invest in the lives of those they didn’t know but knew they needed to reach. In moments of doubt and choosing the safer options over the bold step of faith, God was orchestrating a beautiful symphony that would culminate to the body of believers formed in Pullman on the college campus. The resounding heartbeat of Resonate Pullman is the truth that it is at its healthiest and most potent form when giving itself away. In the same way, a cork tree lives for a thousand years and thrives when pieces of it get cut off and planted to grow elsewhere, never to grow greater than its small stature, but nonetheless the birthplace of generational fruit. The city marked by Greek life parties, rebellion, and sub-par football is being reclaimed by God as the place of eternal rescue and everlasting redemption.