Sacred Road 2026

Warm Springs was put on a Level 3 evacuation this evening as we were heading over so Highway 26 was closed which we use to drive to Madras. We were able to detour around through Maupin which added time to our travel but the roads were safe. We are at First Baptist Madras and are settled in for the night and while there is some smoke in the air, we are in no danger of the fires.
We don’t know what the week will hold for us. Everything is going to be fluid day of based on if we can get into Warm Springs and what the air quality is like. I bought N95 masks for all of us if we do work outside and Sacred Road will have other options for inside jobs if we can’t be outside or go to the reservation.

I already gave the team a heads up that things may change and to not have any set plans in their mind. Pray for us to adapt and humbly serve wherever we’re asked. Pray for the fires to be contained, for the residents of Warm Springs to be allowed to return home, and for the air quality to be good enough to work. Pray for everyone to get good rest and have good attitudes.
Tomorrow we will have our own Sunday school, then will attend service at First Baptist Madras, followed by training in the afternoon. I’ll give another report at the end of the day tomorrow.

This morning we had our own Sunday school time before service started at First Baptist Madras. We worked our way through Philippians 1:29-2:8 looking at the example of Christ’s humility as a pattern for us heading into this week. After Sunday school we attended service with the faithful saints of First Baptist Madras. It was fun to sing some classic hymns and praise songs, and Marc, Silas, and Josiah got to lead us in “Firm Foundation” before we heard a sermon on 2 Corinthians 7:10 on repentance.

After service we had lunch and then began a training on what to expect as we head onto the reservation. They always do a good job of cross-cultural preparation and sharing the history of some of the difficulties the Warm Springs people have gone through. I appreciate they do this before we’re on the work site so we have a deeper understanding of what to do and not to do to be more effective servants of Jesus.

This evening we enjoyed a delicious meal of pulled pork sandwiches and then had some free time to play games and fellowship with the other church that’s here with us. We closed the evening with worship and prayer just with our youth group.

Tomorrow we have tentative plans but everything is up in the air. There will be a crew building a 40 foot ramp off of a house to a car port; a big crew will be painting a house of a tribal elder; a small crew will go to the evacuation center on the reservation to do crafts and play games with kids and families who are sheltering; and the final crew will be the “flex team,” meaning we’re not totally sure what we’ll be doing but we’ll be ready to do whatever is asked of us, wherever we need to be.

Again, everything could change overnight or in the morning. Unfortunately the kid’s club is already cancelled tomorrow for safety. We hope it will be able to meet the rest of the week. Pray for us to be ready switch things up and be eager to serve in whatever way asked of us. Pray for the winds to shift and the fires to stop moving towards towns. Pray for the firefighters who are tirelessly working to contain the fires. And pray for those who have already experienced loss, that they may be open to the hope of the gospel in the midst of a difficult time. (

Today we were able to divide into the ramp, paint, evac, and flex team and do work on the reservation. With no kid’s club in the afternoon we just stayed on our work sites longer and got a lot done.

The ramp crew dug and cemented almost all of the posts so they’re moving along nicely. The painting crew scraped the whole house and started some of the detail painting on the home so they should be ready to start rolling on paint right away. The evac team spent time at the shelter all day. They did crafts, served lunch to members of the community, and got to have many conversations with some of the elder women on the reservation.

The flex team got divided into two jobs at the beginning of the day. Part of the crew went and cleared brush behind a home that would be nearest the fires if they moved down to the reservation. The other part of the crew drove back to Madras to buy as many gallons of water as possible to bring back to a distribution center in Warm Springs. This morning Warm Springs went on notice to begin boiling all their water because their supply has been contaminated by ash. We were able to bring 233.5 gallons of water for members of the tribe to come and pick up if they need it. Then the flex crew joined the painting crew in the afternoon to clear out brush around that house.

As of now the plan for tomorrow is that kid’s club will remain cancelled as long as Warm Springs is in a Level 3 Evacuation Zone. Hopefully that changes by the end of the week, but it’s not likely based on how the fires and wind are moving. The teams will all return to what we were doing today and we’ll plan on working another full day. It’s possible we may finish jobs early this week and may become a brush clearing machine to help protect houses.

Attitudes and spirits are good. I’m sure we’ll all sleep much better tonight. Continue to pray for the firefighters and for the situation to improve. Pray that we stay hydrated and safe from the smoke. And pray that we are good listeners to the members of the community who share their stories with us.

Today was a great day! Everyone worked so hard at their sites and it’s been a joy to see how the students are getting along with one another and our leaders. The ramp crew got a lot done and should be finishing up tomorrow. The owner of the house greeted them with homemade huckleberry cupcakes as a thank you for all they’re doing.

The paint crew got two coats of paint on the whole house and will finish up the trim and touchups tomorrow. Some of our students got to have a long conversation with the homeowner and hear their life story and how they are dealing with the current situation on the reservation. They are moving fast enough on the work site they may have an opportunity to finish up a house from a previous Sacred Road week that was quite completed.

The flex crew spent the day clearing a lot of tall grass and THOUSANDS of pinecones on a beautiful piece of property about 10 minutes away from the actual town of Warm Springs. The fire is starting to slowly head in that direction so the homeowner was very grateful we were able to create a barrier to protect the house. The homeowner returned toward the end of the day and said us helping at her house allowed her to prepare food for firefighters about 2 hours away who didn’t get a chance to eat. The dominoes of us helping her, being able to help others was cool to see.

Elise and Amy went to the evacuation shelter to hang out with the families there. They again got to serve lunch and said there were many more people who came today for food and to get information on things. Amy had a chance to pray with a woman who shared how difficult life has been. There were many more kids at the shelter today and they had a chance to take them outside to play because the smoke wasn’t as bad. Everyone was asking if they’ll return tomorrow to do more crafts and talk with them. It sounds like some special connections are being made.

Should be more of the same tomorrow. Flex crew has another house lined up for yard work, ramp crew and paint crew should finish, and the shelter crew will return. We’re still not sure about kid’s club tomorrow but are hopeful things may change by Thursday to allow us to do it for the last two days of the week.

Attitudes have been great. Continue to pray for us to get along, serve well, and get good rest. Pray for the winds to die down so the firefighters have a chance to contain things. Pray that power and utilities remain on for the people on the reservation.

If you’ve ever thought teenagers are lazy and don’t work hard, I wish you were with us today! These students rocked it. Everyone was working so hard to build the ramp (soooo close to done), paint the house (even closer to being done), cut down about 70, 50-gallon garbage bags worth of thorny vines and grass, and hang out with kiddos desperate for attention at the evac shelter. I’m super proud of our students and have challenged them to use that work ethic their willing to display away from home in their own yards and houses. Parents, you have my permission to remind your kids that they’ve been directly told the enthusiasm they have to serve strangers should carry home to the families that love and raise them.

It was a long day of work but everyone remains in good spirits despite the heat and the smoke. Warm Springs moved to a Level 2 Evacuation notice which means we’ll finally get to lead kid’s club tomorrow afternoon! Hopefully the kids showing up to club can match the enthusiasm we all have, because we are stoked to finally get to hang out and play with them.

We have the morning off from work projects before kid’s club so we’re going to join the other church that came on a hike and swim by a cool waterfall. It’s away from the fires and the smoke so we’re looking forward to some well earned relaxation in the morning before we’re back to it.

We’re in the closing stretch! Please pray that we all finish strong the tasks we have ahead of us and that we can connect quickly with the kids tomorrow.

The theme of today was the beauty of God’s creation. We truly are blessed to live in Oregon (in my opinion the most beautiful state in America…and has a case for all of the world). Our team had the morning off from work so we went with the other church that is here to Steelhead Falls. It was an incredible location south of us on the Deschutes River that had a place for us to hike, cliff jump, and swim up to a waterfall. We all had so much fun hanging out and taking a brief reprieve from the worksites.

In the afternoon we finally got to see all the kids again! They were super excited to have kids club back and everyone made connections quickly. Everywhere you looked there were little kids leading our students to something to play or do with big smiles on their faces. There was basketball, bubbles, kickball, chalk, crafts, swings, jumprope, and more, all with kids so excited to not be locked up in their homes or the evacuation shelter.

After we got back to the church and had dinner, we returned to Akira Cliffs, one of the most beautiful hidden gems in Oregon. It’s where the Crooked and Deschutes River meet with views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and the Three Sisters. We’ve gone there the last three Sacred Road trips to worship together as the sun sets. With the smoke in the sky, it was a different view than usual, but none the less amazing to look at and always a highlight of the summer to be praising the Lord together removed from all distractions.

Tomorrow we’ll finish our work projects in the morning and get to lead a final kid’s club. Everyone is doing great but the exhaustion is beginning to set in. I suspect we’ll have quite a few people napping on the way home on Saturday. I’ll give a final report tomorrow night, and then you can ask all the questions to the team at church on Sunday! Thanks again for all you encouragement and prayer.

We made it to the end! It’s been a long week that none of us could have predicted in terms of what we would be doing, but God was faithful to help the Sacred Road and Warm Springs leadership find where we could best be of service in a difficult time. Our students had great attitudes the whole way through, willing to adjust on the fly or be as patient as we needed to be while we discovered what would be next for us.

Today the ramp crew only needed a couple workers to finish the railings on the 40 foot ramp they built. The painting team kept the best detail workers to finish up the trim and touch-up and made the house look brand new. The flex crew got divided up working at the Emergency Distribution Center helping families get groceries, clothes, and lots of water for hundreds of people who came by. The Evacuation Shelter crew got moved to do a deep clean of Warm Springs Baptist Church which is on the reservation. WSBC is actually a SBC affiliated church that has been without a pastor for many years. We have been praying along with Sacred Road leadership that God would provide someone and thankfully, a new pastor will be arriving at the end of August. We all got to eat lunch there and get a tour a place we’ve been praying for, which was really cool.

Before we had our final kid’s clubs we got to visit the Warm Springs Museum and learn about the history and the culture of the Warm Springs people. There was a bonus exhibit of artwork from Warm Springs people that has been added since we last visited that had beautiful pieces ranging from pottery, to masks, to mosaics, to paintings.

The last kid’s club was a blast (and super hot) as we played games, made ribbon wands for dancing, heard the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples after His resurrection, and learning the “Fruits of the Spirit” song. We got to give all the kids a gift bag at the end which they loved. We all wish we could have had a full week with them, but we’re grateful we got any time at all with how things were looking at the beginning of the week.

Tomorrow we’ll clean up where we’ve been staying, pack up, and head home. It really has been a great week and probably our best Sacred Road yet. I’m so proud of who our students are and the way they love one another and serve God enthusiastically. We look forward to worshipping alongside you all again on Sunday!

Check in with us at church!