Thank you!
I am so grateful for the way our church has responded to the physical needs of those in our community. In just a week, together, we have given over $10,000 to our benevolence fund—what a blessing it has been to generously give to those in need in the name of Jesus. Thank you, church family, for your heart of generosity and your willingness to freely give what you have received.
Opportunity to serve our neighbors right after service:
As we move into the colder months, that same spirit of compassion continues through our partnership with the Hood River Shelter Services, which is opening on November 17th—they provide a warm place to stay, food, and access to local services throughout the winter. As a church, we have partnered with them over the last four years to provide meals on Sundays—thank you for all of you who have served in this way over the years!
This is a wonderful opportunity for us to love and share our resources with those in need within our community. It’s also a great way to serve as a community group, a family, or friend group. This year we are also trying something new; we will be serving lunch at church, and will be providing a shuttle to and from church for shelter guests. The shuttle will pick up before the service and drop off after the meal. Any remaining meals will be packed up and delivered to the shelter for use throughout the remainder of the day just like past years.
Sign-ups will be through the church center app this year, if you are interested please email kelseyandgarrison@gmail.com and we can get you on the list so you can view sign-ups, or help you register with church center (it is very easy). There are separate sign-ups for both preparing the meal and driving the van. If you are interested in being a shuttle driver, reach out to office@hralliance.org and Anders can help you get certified!
Meals will be prepared in the HRAC kitchen. Each Sunday has four volunteer slots available, but if you have a larger community group that works too! The meal leader decides the menu and gathers ingredients, and the other volunteer spots just need to show up! If you need ideas for recipes, feel free to reach out! We have lots of ideas based on the favorites from previous seasons. One cool thing to note, this program has always been fully funded by the members of our church + volunteers, not a line item in our church budget. We love that out of our abundance, we can bless others.
Our prayer for this season is that more people at the shelter feel seen, known, and loved—and experience Christ’s love and grace through us, and that we also experience Christ through them.Please reach out to Kelsey and Garrison Strand if you have any questions! kelseyandgarrison@gmail.com
Opportunities to serve outside of the United States
While we serve locally, we’re also looking ahead to how God is leading us globally in 2026. We’re thrilled to be planning three short-term mission trips next year:
Guatemala (April): Mark Johnson will be leading a return trip to continue building relationships and supporting our partners there. Here is an update from Mark: In 1995 HRAC made sent its first short term mission team to Guatemala. One of the highlights of that trip for me was attending the 25th Anniversary of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Guatemala. What I remember most was the rich tapestry of clothing worn by the people who attended the event that represented the many indigenous (Mayan) churches who are a part of the Alliance in Guatemala.
Last week the Alliance celebrated 56 years of work in Guatemala! Nearly 40 churches attended representing many of the regions of the country to praise God for his faithfulness and blessings over all of these years. Great things are happening, and God's Kingdom is growing in this beautiful country. It is such a blessing for Hood River Alliance to have a relationship with our Alliance brothers and sisters in Guatemala and support their work and partner with them.
Last March we sent a team of 15 from HRAC to Guatemala to minister in a variety of exciting ways. We worked very closely with our good friends at the Galilea Church in San Lucas (Just outside of Guatemala City). We did construction work on a new education building, we sponsored a huge youth outreach event, we partnered with their women's and men's ministries to support their work, and we had an amazing time as a group. We have been invited to return in 2026! The dates of the trip will be April 10-19. Once again, we will use the very comfortable Mission House in San Lucas as base camp for our time there. Our work project this trip will likely be a new church construction project in a nearby community. In addition, will we also be able to partner with Galilea in some of their weekly church ministries and evangelism work. I'm really looking forward to seeing what opportunities the Lord provides for us as well as who he brings forward to be a part of this team!
For those who are interested in going, please contact me or Tina and I'll be happy to answer any questions that there may be. We will likely have the first meeting for those who may be interested in December.
Ireland (June): Pastor Melissa will take a youth team to partner with a local church and share the good news of Jesus with young people. Students will be partnering with the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base to do ministry in Ireland.
Kenya: A team will travel to Nairobi to host a spiritual formation camp for three Remember Nhu homes, helping children rescued from trafficking grow in faith and hope. The team for this trip is nearly formed and we are looking at our first fundraiser which is going to be a lunch served after our Celebration Sunday service on January 11th. Save the date to stay after church for a delicious lunch for a good cause. Check out this video to understand a bit more about the ministry of Remember Nhu in particular to Kenya.
Whether it’s across town or across the globe, we are a church on mission—Practicing the Way of Jesus, in community, for the sake of others! We hope you will join us in serving our neighbors and even possibly joining a mission trip in 2026.