July is the busiest month of the summer for Final Greetings because it's summer camp season. We team up with lots of churches to help put together camps where we pour into the kids through mentorship, friendship and worship. This month we had three camps along with a few churches that we visited in our time on the West Coast.
The first place we went this month was a small ocean town near San Diego called Imperial Beach. They had a beautiful pier we explored, and then we visited a Calvary Chapel church for a bbq and Wednesday night service where we led worship. They were so excited to have us visit and were blessed by our ministry. We hope to go back again next year! #beachtown
Next we returned to one of our favorite places we've visited, Hermiston Christian Center in Oregon. They were so happy to have us back, and we got to hold a rock concert for the youth group again. It was great to reconnect with them that night. #oldfriends
That Sunday we helped put on Church in the Park for Hermiston Nazarene where we worshiped together outside under a gazebo and then shared a potluck lunch with the people. There were almost 160 people that we were able to connect with through music and food, and one of the kids even helped us pack our trailer. #newfriends
The Ottmars were gracious enough to house us during our weekend in Hermiston again, and this time Alissa made a friend with a puppy that they adopted. Garrett and Kyle befriended the cows, and the youth kids came over for a night of 9-square. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone. #hosthomeanimals
Final Greetings then worked our way west again to the Oregon Coast for a church campout in Tillamook, OR. There we partnered with a few local churches, including Tillamook Christian Center and Lighthouse, for a week of spending time together in fellowship. We led worship and hung around the campfire at night and spent the daytime sharing meals, exploring the coast and playing games with the families staying there. It was definitely one of the highlights of the month. #churchcampout
After the church campout we had about a week of time to spend working on our music and preparing for our upcoming Europe tour. We finished a rock song, started another and added a few more worship songs to our list that we now play at churches and camps. We're excited to get our new music recorded and out to everyone. #europetour
Next we ducked down to Eugene, OR to visit Living Hope Church before traveling with them to Salem for their annual Switchback Summer Camp. We got to play games with them like Dead Cat and color wars, float the creek, and hang out at their lunch tables. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with kids from all over the state who want to love God better and enjoyed worship as much as we do. #funtimes
We finished out the month as the worship band at the Northwest Gospel Church's summer camp Distinct at Twin Rocks campground. It was cool to see 250 kids split into 12 teams competing in relay races, human shuffleboard and ultimate octopus. But it was even more amazing to see their heart for worship. Every night they wanted more songs, and all of the kids were so passionate and quick to put distractions aside and to give God their all. We look forward to partnering with all of them again next year. #nations
This month was one for the books, and we have even more coming. Next month make sure to check back in to hear about how our Europe tour is starting! We can't wait to see what God is going to do while we're in Germany, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Cyprus. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get daily and weekly updates on what we're up to. Thanks for all your prayers and support. We couldn't do it without you.