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.
