NOTES FROM JARED AND ANN ON CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
May 22, 2020
Hello, Wonderful Evergreen!
We are so proud of you! Proud of the way you are caring for one another, with and without other's organizing those efforts. Proud of your amazing gifts to help people in need! And yes, proud of your patience with the online experience we are sharing during this pandemic. We are grateful for your love and faithfulness—you look a lot like Jesus!!!
We know we have all had a melt down here and there, a "wish I would have kept my mouth shut" moment or two, and most of us would not want a video of all our thoughts for the past two months to be posted anywhere!! Still, through it all, we are loving God and loving people, living as forgiven and dearly loved Jesus followers! That is something to cheer about!
While we look forward to meeting again in person, we are eager to meet with you online and will continue to do so until it is safe for everyone—kids, youth, and adults! Join us Sunday for a special message!
We love you, Evergreen!
Sending hugs!
Ann and Jared
April 21, 2020
Hey, Evergreeners!
We miss you and love you! We wish we could communicate with you face to face!
How are you doing? We are praying for you, friends. In fact, we have a bunch of people praying for you! Don’t hesitate to reach out on the Evergreen app and share your specific prayer request.
Today we wanted to share an update with you, in response to COVID-19 and our overnight summer camps scheduled for the month of July. Our District Supervisor, Gabe Barreiro, in conjunction with the region’s pastors, made the difficult decision that we will cancel our summer camps—Kids, Jr. High, and High School.
We are committed to looking for ways we can offer one day experiences later in the summer for each of these age groups.
Parents and students, you will be the first to know when we have something that is real on the calendar.
To our kids and students: We are sorry that camp will not happen. We know how much you look forward to it and this comes on the heels of other disappointing cancellations for you.
To our parents with camper age students: We are sorry that your kids will miss out on the camp experience this year. When Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, we look forward to offering some alternatives that capture some of the camp experience.
To our amazing camp volunteers: Thank you for the work you had already done to prepare for summer camp. Meetings, brainstorming, securing sites, and putting together your teams. We are so grateful!
Thank you, Evergreen, for your resilience, care for one another, and the way you continue to love and serve our community. Let’s give our students and kids some extra love today!
Love you all!
Ann & Jared
April 7, 2020
Hey, Evergreen friends,
ARE YOU READY FOR A GOOD NEWS WEEK?
It’s Passion week and EASTER is coming!!! We never imagined an Easter like this one. Different has a way of grabbing our attention in a fresh way! We will miss being with you but want to encourage you to take this opportunity to invite friends, co-workers, neighbors, family and all your online pals to join us for our online Evergreen Easter experience. Remember our motto about inviting, “Don’t say no for them!” Jared and I have a friend who when she heard we were online said, “That could be a great way for me to get back into church again.” Participating online can be the next best step for many.
We have created several Easter invites for social media. Please repost and share our Easter invitations to invite your friends to watch “with” you online. You can personalize with your own text underneath then share with your peeps! Pray about it and see who Jesus highlights for you!
It is so cool to hear and see how God is leading us to help others! This week, eleven of our helpers who signed up to grocery shop for others, were able to shop for groceries for eleven families in need through the school district! We were able to do this together, Evergreen!!!
A couple quick stories… Yesterday as I was checking in with people, I discovered that a wonderful Evergreen woman offered to help the couple I was talking to, with whatever they need—and has on several occasions. They feel so well cared for! Another Evergreen family invited one of our nurses to use their guest house to protect her family as she works in the ICU. Way. To. Go!
Here are a few changes we want to remind you of or share for the first time:
- Soccer Camp is cancelled.
- Evergreen Day Camp is cancelled. We are dreaming some other ideas should we be allowed to gather before the summer is done.
- Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services 5K/10K is now a virtual race. You can walk, run, or bike it on your own and raise money for ARMS. You can also donate! Look for the ads and links on our social media and future eBlasts!
- eKids online will be offered beginning at 7 am each Sunday and can be accessed any time after that. Check out their Easter Jam! If you missed the chin-emoji song then you need to backtrack and take look at eKids elementary video for April 5th.
Now for something new just for Passion Week! We are offering a 2–3 minute devotional done by an Evergreen pastor, at noon each day on our YouTube channel, Facebook, and Instagram. CLICK HERE if you missed today's.
We love you, Evergreen! Let’s keep being the church!!! Praying for you! Proud of you! Good news—Easter is coming!
Ann & Jared
March 31, 2020
Good evening, Evergreen friends,
We love you and miss you!
Each day brings new adjustments and news that can be overwhelming. We are praying for you parents and students, as you navigate the uncharted water of school at home for the next two and a half months. We are praying for those who have lost jobs or taken pay cuts. We are praying for first responders and for those who have lost loved ones. We are praying for loved ones in far off places like Laurie Dickerson, our missionary in Uganda, who is now on lock down that includes no driving, limited phones and data, and many people with very little food. We want to pray for you too! Take a moment and click on the link in the graphic below and let us know how we can pray for you. A bunch of us are praying each day!
Thank you for the many of you who have volunteered to help others in various ways. Your response was so great that we don’t have enough needs for everyone to help. Here’s the deal. We know that there will be more needs coming but we also know that sometimes we hesitate to reach out for help. Please take the courageous step to let us know how we can help. We have people waiting to shop for your groceries, give you a phone call with a real person on the other end, pick up important supplies, or connect you with someone who can help with your specific need, or request some kind of benevolence. Please click on the link for Need Help?/Want to Help?, and let us know what you need!
A few cancellations to make note of:
- Soccer Camp is cancelled.
- Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services 5K/10K is now a virtual race. You can walk, run, or bike it on your own and raise money for ARMS. You can also donate! Look for the ads and links on our social media and eBlast!
Easter is coming and we are going to celebrate! Each morning of passion week, one of our pastors will be sharing a brief devotional related to that particular day in Jesus’ final week and reflections on how it relates to our lives. More news coming on that!
Praying for you and loving you,
Ann and Jared
March 24, 2020
Dear Evergreen and Online friends!
We love you and miss you!
The stories of your thoughtfulness and generosity precede you! Thank you for loving so well! Let’s share the stories of the goodness of God and how He is providing during this time. Let’s leave faith, hope and love in all our conversations!
Here are the latest updates and reminders:
Church Online will continue for adults and eKids at 9:15 am and 11 am and eYouth at 11:30 am!
4 Ways To Give:
Text 77977 and type in ‘evergreengive’
Click here to give online
Select your bank's bill pay option
Mail to Evergreen, 4400 NW Glencoe Rd, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Thank you for your giving. So many have lost jobs, are temporarily laid off or have taken salary cuts. We are praying for you and all of us together are living simpler during this time so we can help one another.
Want to help or need help of some kind? We have a group formed called Corona Angels who are available to help with various kinds of needs. If you want to volunteer to help or if you need help click on the “Want to Help?/ Need Help?” tile on our free app and we will help connect people with needs and helpers. If the app is inaccessible for you, please email [email protected] with your information and need or offer of help!
How can we pray for you? Check out the Evergreen Christian Center app which is free at the app store. We have made it easier than ever to share how we can pray for you and maintain privacy. Click on the picture that says “How can we pray for you.”
Work Day scheduled for April 4th is now cancelled. Stay tuned for a new date!
Our offices at Evergreen will close until further notice, but our phone will be responded to by Lori Scholz and each of the pastors will receive calls, emails, and texts.
All Evergreen groups and gatherings of any kind continue to be cancelled for now.
A few notes about those:Small groups can use Zoom at no cost to connect with your group and check in with one another. Zoom meetings are free for up to 40 minutes. If you want to connect for a longer period of time, you can schedule two separate meetings 10 minutes apart for the same group and put a 10 minute break in the middle where everyone goes off the existing meeting and comes back on for the new meeting 10 minutes later. All of that can be done for free!
Most Evergreen groups are on eOnline which can also be used to email or text the people within your group.
FaceTime is a great way to connect with one or two others!
The food bank is closed until further notice.
The Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services 5K/10K Race Event on May 16th is cancelled but instead they will host a virtual race and we invite you to give donations to the race. Links for both of these opportunities are shared below:
Click Here for Giving Link
Click Here for Virtual Race Registration Link
Thank you, Evergreen and Online Friends! We look forward to the day when we will be able to shake hands, hug, share meals, worship, and be together. I think God gets this! He has a great celebration planned for us when we are reunited in a face to face experience with Him! That, all by itself boggles the mind! He understands what we are going through. He is with us and ready for a conversation day or night! He welcomes all!
Love you, miss you, praying for you!
Ann and Jared & the Evergreen Team
March 18, 2020
Hey, Evergreen,
We love you! We miss being with you—up close and personal! We are praying for you and for our larger community and world!
It has been so good to hear stories of how God is leading us to care for others and how He is providing. One family took a family walk around their child’s school, praying for staff, students, and families represented there.
Our food bank received a call from a local food vendor who had to close so they wanted to give their perishable food to our food bank. This was an answer to prayer as the food hoarding that has been happening is having the unintended consequence of grocery stores having very little left over to donate.
Jared and I had the opportunity to invite a woman who has not been to church in quite a while, to try church online. She told us, “that might be the perfect way for me to come back after all these years! I’ll check it out”! Invite your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and students to join us online!
Here are today’s updates:
- Evergreen will continue to meet online through April 26th. You will find our services including eKids on Sundays @ 9:15 and 11 am and eYouth @ 11:30 am. We are brainstorming some ideas for your Easter experience @ home.
- Four ways to give!
TEXT 77977 and type: evergreengive
Select your bank's bill pay option
On our website (click here)
Mail to Evergreen Christian Center 4400 NW Glencoe Rd. Hillsboro, OR 97124 - eYouth Wednesday gathering will be on Instagram live @ 7 pm for now. Students and parents stay tuned for weekly updates.
- Office hours at Evergreen are 9 am–12 noon, Monday through Thursday.
I had this picture of when our kids were little and not feeling well. I would hold them in my arms and sing over them. One of the favorites was Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord, Emanuel, God is with us. Blessed Redeemer. Living Word. In my picture, it is Father God who is holding each of us and He is singing over us, embracing us, reassuring us, and inviting us to trust Him.
In His hands with you!
Ann and Jared
March 13, 2020
Hey, Evergreen!
We have decided the best course of action to love and serve our most vulnerable people, is to postpone all small groups and Wednesday night eYouth group for the next 4 weeks. Small groups will resume sometime in the future: Participants in any of our small groups can expect to hear from your leaders sometime in the next 4 weeks when a date to resume your group can be set.
These groups are on hiatus. We are postponing not cancelling. We will update you when it is appropriate to reschedule.
Ilcian and Carlos, our student ministry pastors are working on creating some lively online/social media content for our Wednesday night eYouth. Plans are in the works and will be shared with you by Tuesday, March 17th.
Sunday is coming! We will be sending you links to our YouTube channel for you with Jared sharing the final message in the series, "The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor". The eKids team and the eYouth team will have some fun, engaging videos for your kids and students as well!
Loving our neighbors and you!
Ann and Jared
March 12, 2020
Good afternoon, Evergreeners.
We want to connect with you about two things: First, how we get to love those around us in a time of uncertainty and for some, fear, as the corona virus continues to spread. Second, we want to give you practical information about our Sunday services.
First: We invite you to be the thermostat and not the thermometer as you share, post, and communicate with others! 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Let’s speak words of life and offer to pray with people if they are fearful or worried. Jesus is with us in this! Let’s pray persistently and trust Jesus with all we’ve got!
Second: We want to share some practical information about our Sunday services since Governor Kate Brown has banned gatherings of 250 or more to control the spread of the virus and protect those most at risk, those with underlying conditions and the elderly.
What this means for the Evergreen Community:
In place of our weekend services we will offer a pre-recorded service on a YouTube link each Sunday for the next four weeks so that you can participate from home. This includes a fun pre-recorded teaching for eKids that parents can let their kids watch on a device. eYouth will also provide a pre-recorded experience for our students to participate in. You will receive links to all of these via the eBlast, the Evergreen app, or social media!
Small groups and other smaller gatherings will continue to meet at this time. Your participation in your small group is a personal decision based on your health.
We encourage you to give online, by texting with no spaces: “evergreengive” to 77977, or you can mail your check to 4400 NW Glencoe Road, Hillsboro, OR 97124. Thank you for your generosity that helps lots of people find and follow Jesus here, near, and far!
Evergreen office hours will remain the same for now: Monday–Thursday, 9 am–5 pm.
The food bank will close effective March 22nd until at least April 5th. We will provide updates on when the food bank will reopen on social media, our eBlast, and the website.
For all of our gatherings large and small, please practice good prevention:
Wash your hands for a full 20 seconds under warm water with soap.
If you or your child have any symptoms of illness, stay home.
No touch greetings will be our practice until further notice.
Currently, the recommendation is that this restriction on large gatherings be in place for four weeks. The situation is fluid so we need to be as well. We will continue to update you with any changes to the plan we have outlined.
Praying and Trusting with You,
Ann & Jared