Sacred Road Ministries:  

Holly & Evan Shaw

About Sacred Road Ministries:

In 1855, the Yakama people, along with 13 other tribes and bands, signed a treaty with the United States government which established the Yakama Reservation at the foot of Mt. Adams in south central Washington state. Since that time, the culture, families, and dreams of the Yakama people have steadily disintegrated.

The goal of Sacred Road Ministries is to be a unified and growing community of believers who have a passion for God, for each other, and for the lost, and who are prepared and equipped to serve the Lord by ministering in the community of Native America and the world. We believe that the good news of the gospel is very powerful and can bring life, hope, and change to the reservation.  


To read more about Sacred Road Ministries, please visit their website:  https://sacredroadministries.org/


About Holly & Evan:

After graduating from Geneva College, Holly & Evan worshiped with us at Covenant Community for a few years before they felt God's calling to the missions field and moved to the Yakama reservation in October 2019. In early 2023 they moved to Madras, OR where they minister now full-time to the Warm Springs Reservation (Oregon). 


Email: evanandholly@gmail.com

January 2023 Update

We have a big answer to prayer...We're moving to Warm Springs!!

Last week, we officially closed on our house in the town of Madras that will be our "home base" for ministry, 15 minutes from the Warm Springs reservation. God has opened so many doors that have allowed us to move. We ended up buying a house that had belonged to a man, Paul, we knew from the Madras Baptist Church. He helped maintain and take care of the church where the summer teams stay when serving in Warm Springs. While we were there each summer, he helped fix toilets, air conditioning, and many other things around the buildings. Unfortunately, he passed away last year.

In November, we began seriously looking for housing in and around Madras, as close as we could get to being in Warm Springs because it is a closed reservation when it comes to housing. We had a list of four houses to see that were in our budget and sustainable for our ministry and family needs. However, our realtor had one other house she wanted us to see. The house was in probate and not on the market yet, so there was no way for us to know about this house aside from word of mouth. We walked in and immediately thought, "This feels like the place." We found out later that day that it had been Paul's house.

There were many answers to prayer during the buying process. First of all, we've been blessed to work with both a realtor and lender who are Christians and have been a huge help. We made an offer, not sure if the seller would accept, and it was accepted without any back and forth. We also weren't sure if the probate process would throw a wrench in the works, but God answered prayers there as well! We closed on the house last week and we will be moving this Friday!

We are so thankful for all of you who have been praying for this move and transition. God has been moving and that couldn't be more clear to us. God put this calling on our heart more than five years ago and we're excited to make this move and jump into full-time ministry in Warm Springs!

Please continue to pray for us during this transition. Here are some specific ways you can be praying:

This transition brings lots of mixed emotions. We said many emotional "see you laters" at Hope Fellowship this past Sunday. We do have plans to visit again in March and on a fairly regular basis, but not seeing people we love here on a regular basis is tough. Even though we knew this transition was coming, it doesn't make leaving any easier.

Please be praying as we get settled in our new place and develop new rhythms, both of ministry and life in general. Pray that God would make it clear how we should commit our time and resources early on.

Pray that God will open many doors to new and deeper relationships.

Thank you so much for praying and giving towards Sacred Road's full-time ministry in Warm Springs! We're excited to be seeing some of you this summer on short term teams!

If you would like to help us with some kids ministry and food prep supplies for Warm Springs, please check out our Amazon wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/X8WRR0NS5Z1B?ref_=wl_share

Love in Christ,

The Shaws

Summer Team Week 2022

Kids are blowing bubbles, playing foursquare, running around playing tag on the playground, laughing and making good memories with "the church people." One of my favorite questions to ask the kids is, “What’s your favorite part about kid’s club?” Many kids say hanging out with friends, blowing bubbles, or jumping rope. But so many times they say things that surprise me. One little boy said, “My favorite thing is when you guys come here,” and other kids will say, “I love story time!" When they answer in these ways, it reminds me that God is growing a love for God’s Word and a love for his church in these kids. One of the team week videos that Evan made has a short montage of the kids telling him their favorite part about kid’s club - check it out below!

LOADING PLAYER…

Summer 2022 Update

A highlight from my summer was when Julie, one of the girls that I’ve known for many years, had just sat down for story time. She got her snack and excitedly waited for the story to start, but her caregiver came to pick her up and tapped her on the shoulder. Julie looked over and said, “The story is about to start! Can I stay?” Her caregiver looked at me and asked how long the story was. “About 10 minutes?” I said, and she nodded. Julie sat and watched the story while her caregiver also listened to a story about Jesus’ power - how He healed a paralyzed man and how He can also heal our hearts.

When I look back on this summer it feels like a blur! So much happened in such little time. I want to share a few stories that have encouraged me as we patiently wait for our move to Warm Springs.

God is working in peoples' hearts. One lady we have worked with closely the last 6 or 7 years - we’ll call her Caroline - has always been clear in expressing her gratitude for Sacred Road and the work we do around Warm Springs. However, this summer Caroline connected closely with two adult women from our one week teams. Caroline has shared many personal and cultural stories with them and has built a strong friendship with each of them. One of them she actually visited in Kansas City (while she was attending a conference) and the other she plans to visit in Portland. Although Caroline does not claim to be a Christian, God has been drawing her to strong Christian women. I pray the Holy Spirit is working in her heart as she fellowships with these women and continues to serve alongside the church. As we get closer to moving, I pray her heart would be soft to the Gospel and that she might attend our Bible study in upcoming years.

God has also been moving in and through the work that is being done. We were in Warm Springs for four weeks this summer and each week we built a ramp for an elder in the community. One lady was confined to a wheelchair and had to go to dialysis multiple times each week. Anytime she left the house she was carried to the car. Now, she will be able to safely use the wheelchair ramp. Another ramp was built for a gentleman who, at the end of the week, sat outside the whole day and shared stories about his life while our team finished the ramp. Praise God for placing us exactly where He wants us to be.

During the last week of summer teams, our group was invited to attend a pow wow, which involves traditional dancing, drumming, and singing. We've been to larger pow wows before where the competition is much more intense, but this pow wow felt more like a small community event that we were welcomed into with open arms. The MC invited us to learn a couple traditional Warm Springs dances alongside their kids and we were given an honor song by one of the drum groups. It was a blessing to be there.

This summer in Warm Springs, we hosted church groups from Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Kansas! Some teams have never worked with Sacred Road before and one team has been coming since the first team in Warm Springs in 2007! It was encouraging to work with two of our home churches and watch them build connections with a community that we love. If your church might want to bring a summer team in 2023, please e-mail: info@sacredroadministries.org for more info!

In Yakama they hosted five weeks of summer teams from all across the country. However, each week that a team was in Yakama, about 20 youth from White Swan were also on a worksite - painting, picking up trash, weeding, and serving their own community. We also had about fifty kids attend middle school and high school Young Life camp. Many houses were reroofed, painted, and cleaned up. One lady expressed her gratitude by hosting a hotdog roast and another gave handmade items to each person who worked and prayed over her home. If you want to see and hear more about what is going on, please follow Sacred Road Ministries on Facebook - we post updates with pictures throughout the week all year round!

Towards the end of the summer we also celebrated Ezra’s first birthday! With Ezra’s first word being, “ball,” we decided on the theme: Come have a ball!

In other news, Evan, Ezra, and I plan to make a trip back to Pennsylvania in the beginning of October. We are in the process of planning our trip now. If you are in the area and would like us to visit your church or you would like to host a dessert night or hangout night for a group to catch up with us, we would love to try to do that. Please e-mail, text or call!

We also are getting close to our move to Warm Springs. We plan to look for housing at the end of this year and move by Spring 2023 if all goes well. Please be praying for housing and that God would make it clear regarding where we should live. We will have more updates in the coming months on specific needs and ways you can be involved.

Thank you for praying and supporting our family and Sacred Road Ministries. God bless you and yours!

Prayer needs:

Pray that God will provide housing in or close to Warm Springs for our family as well as for Tomo, and that it will be clear where we should be.

Pray for each of the kids and adults that we connected with this summer: that their hearts will be made soft to the Gospel and that they will want to know more about what it means to be a part of the church.

Pray that God will provide patience and clarity for those of us involved in the process of figuring out details and providing proposals to the Sacred Road board regarding the move to Warm Springs.

Praise the Lord for the many ways we were able to be in community with people in Warm Springs and Yakama this summer! God is opening doors and moving in ways beyond our understanding.

Pray for our trip to Pennsylvania as we look to connect with more churches and people in that area.

In Christ,

Evan and Holly Shaw

Summer 2022 pics

Pictures from hosting different summer teams at the Warm Springs Reservation - from ramp building to kids' club!


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Spring 2022 Update

These last couple months have been filled with so many good things, it might be a struggle to fit them into this one email!

To begin with, we just said “see ya later” to our third and final Spring missions team. We were excited to host folks in Yakama from colleges and universities all across the country for the first time since 2019. That meant work projects in the community like roofing, painting, pulling weeds, chopping firewood, and more. Overall, we did work on the homes of three different families, making or strengthening connections with folks in each house as well. We also had some team members working on a new project at Sacred Road - a shop that will offer training for the youth and young adults in our community to get experience in welding, vehicle and small engine repair, and carpentry.

The Spring teams also meant kids club, something else we hadn’t been able to do since 2019! There were about 80 kids every day across two locations, many of whom had never been to a kids club before because they were too young. The love that the Spring teams shared with the kids here was much needed - it was so encouraging to watch relationships between kids and team members develop each week. We’ve also seen an uptick in kids coming to church on Sunday because of those interactions at kids club! Ezra also experienced his first kids club (the first of many!) as Holly brought him several days each week. He loved watching the kids playing, especially with bubbles, and does really well with being around new people and groups.

Prior to the arrival of the Spring teams, Tomo and I, as well as a couple other folks on staff, went down to Warm Springs a couple of times to build or repair ramps for elders there. One lady we built a ramp for had been promised a ramp five different times (a couple of those by another church group), but no one had ever followed through. As the movie, “Grizzly,” says, broken promises on the Rez are dangerous, and it definitely made me upset to hear that. We spent two days working at her house and the Lord gave us plenty of chances to talk with her, listen to her story, and share why we were there.

If we want to continue building ramps for elders in Warm Springs, we need to raise enough money to do so. On average, the materials for a ramp costs us over $1,500. Please consider giving to the Warm Springs general fund so that we can keep reaching out to the Warm Springs community in this way! You can give online by clicking here!

There have been so many other good things God is doing: kids and youth coming back to church that we haven’t seen in ages, our youth band leading singing at youth group for the first time, a great Bible study on God as our shepherd, expanded vocational opportunities for our church family as they look towards the future, and more. Tomo's ordination service was also on Sunday, so that was an exciting day! Many of his family and close friends traveled to be a part of the special service. He's officially a pastor now!

There are still the hard, grueling things that are part of living on the Rez, and hurts that go deeper than words can describe. While those things are very real and can knock folks in our church off their feet, they have a church family who walk alongside them and a God who holds them close. Even in the dark, we are able to look at all the good things that God is doing and remember that he has a plan for his people.

Here are some prayer requests:

Please pray that enough financial gifts come in so that we can continue building ramps for elders in Warm Springs. Pray for every person in the houses we work on, that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and lives.

Please pray for Chris and Mary Granberry and their household, as they currently have three teenagers and one younger girl who have nowhere else safe to go living with them.

Pray for our church family, that they would continue to grow in their faith while reaching out to those around them.

Pray that all the interactions the Spring teams had in the community would bring hope to people in dark places, even after they are gone.

Pray for the Warm Springs staff team, as we look at more and more involvement in the community, especially as we will have summer teams there once again. Pray for Holly and I, as we figure out how best to take care of Ezra in the midst of that.

Pray that when we begin to look for a place to live in or near Warm Springs (hopefully towards the end of this year) that God will make it clear what place is best, as looking at the housing/rental market in that area right now can be discouraging.

Thank you all of your prayers and support! As Chris likes to say, sometimes we feel like a little duck paddling as fast as we can down a river. The duck is going along at 20 miles per hour, but it's not because he's paddling as hard as he can, it's because the current is carrying him. Lots of good things are happening here on the Rez, but it's not because we're going as hard as we can - it's because the prayers of God's people are like a current carrying our church and ministry along.

Please let us know if there are any specific ways we can be praying for you!

Love in Christ,

The Shaw family

Christmas 2021

Tis the season!

We're coming up on Christmas again and we have so many things to be thankful for in the middle of a very busy season here on the Rez.

Firstly, we're so thankful for everyone who has given towards our Thanksgiving and Christmas ministry in Warm Springs this year! Because of the generosity that folks have shown, we were able to provide 250 Thanksgiving food boxes to the community of Warm Springs - not only did that allow us to provide meals for families who needed it this holiday season, but we were also able to make connections with the folks who we gave the boxes to.

Please pray that those little seeds and short interactions will grow into deeper relationships and questions about the gospel over the long term, especially as we look at living on-site in Warm Springs by this season next year. We know from the experience of folks here in Yakama that those relationships can take years to develop, but that they almost always start with things that may seem small in our eyes.

Putting together food boxes for Warm Springs with Tomo

I've found myself especially thankful that we're going to be able to have our Christmas service again this year, after not being able to last year because of COVID-19. I'm looking forward to it even more than I thought I would be, largely because it gives the kids in our church a good reason to celebrate and an opportunity to act out the Christmas story as a part of the service. It makes them feel really special and makes the message that they are loved by Jesus and by us very tangible.

We're also excited to head down to Warm Springs again in a couple of weeks to host a Christmas party at the Boys and Girls Club there. It's a time when we get the chance to see many of the kids we've come to love and care about over the years. We share fun and games, crafts, snacks, and the Christmas story with them. We also give them shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts that have been donated from all across the country.

This year, thanks to Operation Christmas Child as well as churches who donate shoeboxes directly to Sacred Road, we will be delivering over 2,500 Christmas shoeboxes to people here in Yakama, Warm Springs, and to other Native communities and reservations across the Pacific Northwest. In places where we don't have a full time presence, they will go to churches and other groups who have the opportunity to share the gospel with each kid who gets one. Ideally, they also have relationships with some folks there as well.

Needless to say, with everything that is going on in addition to the usual things (like delivering firewood and weatherproofing homes for elders), it's been busy around here with sorting and wrapping shoeboxes, doing Christmas deliveries, decorating the church with some of the youth group, and more!

Please be praying that everything we do during this Christmas season would serve the purpose of pointing White Swan, Warm Springs, and other Native communities to the hope of Christ and what his birth means for them. Every Christmas, I am reminded that Jesus wasn't born in a fancy palace or big city but in a small town that was looked down on by many people, much like the towns of White Swan or Warm Springs. He chose to spend his time with those that other people rejected and not only to treat them like family, but to actually adopt them into God's family through his sacrifice.

What an amazing Savior!

Prayer requests:

We still need to raise $750 to cover the cost of the Christmas party for the kids in Warm Springs, so please pray that those funds come in (if you are interested in giving, please go to https://sacredroadministries.org/give?form=SpreadJoyWarmSprings).

Pray for changed hearts as we share the good news of Christ in word and deed this Christmas season. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in us and in the hearts of those we interact with.

With the temperatures starting to get colder, please pray for those in our community who are either functionally homeless or live in homes that don't have sufficient heating. While we deliver as much firewood as we can, we can only do so much.

Pray for Ezra as he grows and pray for Holly and I as we continue to learn something new about parenting each day. Ezra had a lip tie and tongue tie released last month, and we are grateful that feeding has improved vastly for both mom and baby!

Thank you again for all your prayers and support. May you be encouraged by reminders of Christ's birth this Christmas season.

Love in Christ,

The Shaw Family

May 2021 Update

Deepening of faith and relationships...


That seems to be one of the best phrases to describe not only this last month, but the last several months here on the Rez. While some folks have fallen away during the pandemic and haven't returned to church, we have seen a deepening of faith in the lives of many in our church, both young and old. While our church may not have the width that it did pre-pandemic, it has grown in depth of relationship and desire to know God better.

For example, Tsennibah (a woman from the Yakama community who has been on full-time staff for about a year now) is taking her first online college class, a basic theology course from Indian Bible College in Flagstaff, Arizona. I (Evan) have the blessing of being able to take the class with her, and it has been amazing to watch God work in her heart as she learns more about Him. As she shares her thoughts, both in class and during the week, I've been learning from her what it means to rely on God alone for salvation and sanctification. Her growing trust and reliance on God is amazing to see.
Baptism service
We also have another praise! Just last Sunday, a 16 year old girl from our youth group was baptized! Her younger siblings have been coming to church for years, but we haven't really had much contact with her until a couple of months ago. We learned that she has already asked Jesus into her life and loves singing along to worship songs on the radio. She had a lot of questions about what baptism means, especially as she was "baptized" with smoke into the Indian Shaker church when she was small, and Tsennibah was able to talk to her about what Christian baptism symbolizes and what it means to be a part of the church. Holly is close with the girl and after Tsennibah talked with her, she went to Holly and said, "I've made my decision, this is my church family." We also have another baptism service coming up where 6 more folks are getting baptized!
Joshua Tsavatewa, our assistant pastor, baptizing the newest member of our church family
Community outreach
We are thankful that over the last month we have finally been able to start reaching out to the community in more normal ways! God is good. We have had more and more kids, youth, and adults from the community coming to church services, we have had about 50 kids who have been showing up for youth group, our discipleship groups are going strong again, and we're still able to take our mobile library out into the community to connect folks. We also had a wonderful Easter service in early April where close to 70 people showed up! We were able to have a meal outdoors, followed by an Easter egg hunt for kids of all ages! So many of the kids were so glad to be back at church and several adults who we've come to know better over the course of the pandemic shared with us how encouraging it was.


Kids at our Easter service having a blast as they look for eggs filled with candy and all kinds of other goodies!
A breath of air
As we have been getting out into the community more and more once again, and as we are seeing more kids that we haven't seen in a while, it is becoming evident how deeply the pandemic has affected the community. Not only have many people lost multiple loved ones, either to the coronavirus or to preexisting conditions, but kids have essentially been trapped in unsafe and/or chaotic home environments for a year. We often talk about how it's similar to the feeling of drowning, but how coming to church, youth group, or kids club is similar to coming up for a breath of air.  A lot of these kids haven't been able to come up for a breath of air in over a year.

It is also difficult because summer teams have been cancelled in Yakama, meaning summer kids club won't happen like they usually do. Please pray for our team in Yakama as we continue using Bookin' It, Kid's club deliveries, and other new creative ways to meet needs and demonstrate the love of Christ.

We put our hope in God's promises
We are thankful for the many ways God has allowed us to reach out to the community this past month (more than I can realistically fit in this newsletter!) and pray that we will continue to see both deepening and widening in the church body here. We also look forward with anticipation to spending a lot more time in Warm Springs this summer and pray that our relationships with folks there would deepen and we would have more opportunities to share the gospel. As we move into the summer months, where things are often very busy, especially as Holly and I will still be leading summer teams to Warm Springs, we place our hope in the many promises of God:

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18)

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." (Psalm 46:1-2)

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand." (Isaiah 41:10)
Prayer Requests:
  • Depth and width: Please continue to pray for our church family in Yakama who are just starting to be involved at church again. Thank God for the depth of relationships that have developed over the pandemic and pray for continued deepening of faith in those individuals. Also, pray that the Lord would broaden our church family once again as things begin to open up more.
  • Baptisms: Pray for those who have recently been baptized or are soon to be baptized, that they will grow in their understanding of the gospel, that they would be open to sharing their struggles and joys with our church family, and that the Lord would strengthen them in their new faith.
  • Warm Springs: Pray for the interactions that we will be having with the community of Warm Springs this summer, as we seek to build deeper relationships and share the love of Christ. Also, please pray for the logistics of running summer teams in Warm Springs with the many restrictions and issues that currently go along with that due to coronavirus precautions.
  • The hurting and brokenhearted: Pray for those in our community who haven't been able to come to church for a breath of air in over a year. As we interact with those folks, please pray that we will respond in beneficial ways, with the love of Christ, trusting Him even in the face of some really difficult situations. Pray that those who feel trapped and forgotten will find the freedom that Christ offers and that we, as the church, will be a place of healing.
  • Our baby and another vehicle: Please pray for health for Holly and our little boy as Holly is now in her third trimester. Pray that she will have enough energy for what she needs to do but also that she will know when to rest. We are also looking to get a pickup truck to use as a second vehicle so that I can still work in the community without the worry of leaving Holly and the baby without a car, so please pray that the right vehicle would show up in the next couple of months.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support! If you want to know even more about what God is doing in Yakama and Warm Springs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us - we'd be happy to let you know about opportunities to be involved over the next several months!

Love in Christ,
Evan and Holly Shaw

March 2021 Update

It has been a busy couple months!

God is good and faithful in His promises and we’ve seen that in a lot of ways throughout February and the beginning of March. While physically tiring, I’ve found that most of what we’ve been doing has been spiritually invigorating and encouraging. God is preparing us for ministry in Warm Springs, and although I can often be impatient to be there full-time, I am learning every day to trust that He is developing relationships and preparing things in the best way.

Ministry in Warm Springs
On the last Wednesday in February, Holly and I, and two other staff members, were able to make it down to the Boys and Girls Club in Warm Springs to do a belated Valentine’s Day party with the kids. There were more kids than the last time we were there, as things have started to open up a little more and kids are back in school. The girl in picture has been attending kid's club for  many years. Being out of practice, I forgot to pray at the end of kids club but this teenage girl shouted a reminder to me before we ended. What a blessing it is to know that she remembered to pray. We’re hoping to make our trips to Warm Springs more and more frequent as the coronavirus vaccine is more widely distributed and cases continue to decline. Please be praying for open doors and wisdom as we figure out how to love our neighbors in Warm Springs during this season.
 
Evan telling the story of Jonah with the help of some kids in Warm Springs
We’re also looking forward to the very real possibility of summer ministry happening in Warm Springs again this year. We’re currently talking with various folks in Warm Springs who enable us to reach out to the community, so please pray for guidance as we try to work out details and figure out how things will work, with so much being different this year. Also, please pray for churches across the nation who are figuring out how they can best be involved in the ministry this year.

More and more going on here in Yakama!
While we look forward to being in Warm Springs more, we’re seeing God at work here in Yakama. We’re still spending most of our days helping kids in our online school assistance program, which has continued to grow and as we have kids coming more consistently. I’ve been working one-on-one with one first grader in particular, who we started picking up at the beginning of this year. Our first day with him was the first day he had signed into his online classes all school year, and he was over 90 assignments behind by that point. With a lot of hard work from him, which included some really hard days and some really good days, he has just recently caught up on all of his assignments. When he realized how close he was on the day right before he caught up, it was amazing to see how excited he was! While it takes a lot to keep up with him sometimes, I’ve found that he’s been showing me how God is present in both daily struggles and successes, in both the highs and the lows.
One of the kids in the school program on the 100th day of school
We’ve also started meeting weekly with our discipleship groups again, for youth who are interested in learning more about Christ and what it means to be a church family. In addition, we are having in-person church services again as we are allowed to have 25% capacity in our building again. It has been a blessing to see how excited families and kids from the community are to be back at church and to see folks we haven’t spent much time with in a while.

Also, we’ve been able to take our tiny mobile library, “Book’n It!”, out into the community again on a weekly basis. So far, we’ve had around 35 kids and adults stop by each time to check out books, play some games outside, and let us know how they’re doing. As the risks associated with the coronavirus continue to decrease, we’re looking forward to many things, including meeting with our youth group in-person again.
We've seen around 40 kids and adults turn out for Book'n It each week!
It’s a boy!
In other news, Holly and I were excited to find out recently that the child we are expecting in July is a boy! He looks to be healthy and Holly is doing quite well. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for both the baby and Holly’s health!
The moment when we found out we are having a boy!
Prayer requests:
  • Warm Springs - Please pray that we will follow God’s lead as we look for opportunities to love our neighbors in Warm Springs during this season. Praise God for our chance to connect with folks around Valentine’s Day! Also, please pray for summer ministry in Warm Springs and for wisdom about how that happens. Pray that God will prepare hearts for the gospel.

  • Kids - Please pray for the kids we are seeing on a more regular basis, as well as the ones who are still pretty isolated. Pray that the Lord will give them reminders of their value and that they are loved. Pray that he will draw them close to Himself.

  • Sacred Road staff - Please pray for wisdom, energy, and endurance for the Sacred Road staff and volunteers, as we are excited to keep doing more and more with the community in the upcoming weeks and months.

  • Our pregnancy - Please pray for Holly as she is now into the second half of the pregnancy. Pray for health and energy for her and pray that I will know how to love her well during this time.

  • Support needs - Holly and I are still looking to raise an additional $500 in monthly support, as our health insurance changes and the anticipated costs of having a baby have increased what is needed. Please pray that God will continue to provide through brothers and sisters in Christ who share the desire to spread the gospel to the people of Warm Springs. Click here to give a gift or monthly donation: https://sacredroadministries.com/7/giving

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! If you have any questions or want to know more about how God is working, in Yakama and Warm Springs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We love you all and pray that God will continue to work in your lives for His glory, as God changes each of us from the inside out.

Love in Christ,
Evan and Holly Shaw

It's a new year!  January 2021

This time of year I’m always eager to look ahead to new things - to anticipate the new year! I love wondering about the things that God will do, the ways he will work, and the lives He will change. However, this time of year reminds me to look back and reflect on the year - a really tough year and a really good year.


Reflections on 2020

I’m thankful to look back on 2020 and remember my family around me. My family in Pennsylvania has been nothing but supportive. I’m so thankful for them. But I have my second family - my church family, both here in Yakama and across the country, who I treasure so dearly. They’ve loved me, supported me, and walked beside me through the lows of this year. They’ve loved Evan and I unconditionally. I have felt and experienced community - sharing our griefs and joys. As I reflected on the year with one of the ladies on staff, we both felt we ended the year less lonely than when it began. That even through the most difficult things of this year - ministry being cancelled in Warm Springs for 8 months, our miscarriage in May, some health issues, and some of the kids that we love being so far from the church, Jesus never left my side and has never left any of His children. He walks with them through their joys and struggles everyday. Thank you Jesus.

Here are a couple of my favorite moments from 2020:

One of the girls from church who is now a part of our afterschool program, asked for just one thing for Christmas: “All I want this year is a Christmas tree.” She has probably never had a Christmas tree, but this year she did! She has also come to our school assistance program a few times along with her brother, and it has been really good to see her smiling and laughing. Praise Jesus for finding joy in the small things.

One of the other highlights from December was our Christmas party in Warm Springs. Typically we have about 50-65 kids around Christmastime and around 70-100 in the summer. Talk about a little chaos. This year we had just 8, including the youth. Being in such a personal setting allowed 1 on 1 time with kids. Not only this, but some of the Boys and Girls Club staff (who were the parents to all of the kids there) sat down with me at the craft table, specifically a woman named Jackie. This rarely happens because there is usually anywhere from 5 to 10 (or sometimes even 20!) kids in the summer doing crafts with me at one time! But at the party, I had just one kid - her kid - doing a craft and Jackie sat across from me. Jackie hasn’t started any conversations with me prior to this. She has always been more cautious and quiet, observing the way we interact with the kids at the club for years.

At the party, she started talking with me about what their typical traditions look like at Christmas. That her and her mother would typically cook a Thanksgiving and Christmas feast at the longhouse, but that those plans were cancelled. They were spending some time with family, but not nearly in the capacity they normally would. She shared stories of her kids, family, and the things she was missing this year. I sympathized with her. This year has been hard.

After kids club, I was in awe of what God had done. He led Jackie to open up her heart to us. Maybe not fully, but enough to show a level of trust. In Native culture, sharing stories is a means of love and trust; sharing a story is like giving a gift. Although this Christmas party was nothing like I pictured, it was beautiful. And God is working. And I couldn’t be more thankful and excited.

An addition to our family!

We also have some other good news! Evan and I are expecting a baby at the end of July, which is a huge blessing. I am 14 weeks along and feeling tired, but I’ve still been able to do everything that I need to and be part of the ministry that is going on at the church. I’m very thankful for that as well!

Prayer Requests:

School Program - We’ve added a couple new households! One boy, who is in 7th grade, has not attended school since March. Although school isn’t a priority in the home, this boy is motivated and working hard, despite the tremendous amount of work ahead of him. Please be praying for our kids - that they would be diligent with their work, but perhaps even more so that they would feel like they are accomplishing something important. Please pray for motivation as they often have to wake themselves up for school. Pray that they would come and feel safe, loved, and valued.

Many of you are asking how the 2 boys are doing who were shot the week before Christmas. Both of them are home and recovering. We brought food and gifts to them this Christmas. The caretaker for both of the boys posted on Facebook how special and meaningful it was that the church was looking after them. They came to our afterschool program once since we started back up, but are still very tired. One is still in a wheelchair and has a long road to recovery ahead of him. Please continue praying for their recovery physically and mentally from this traumatic experience.

Personal health - Evan has had some recent appointments for stomach pain he’s been having the last few months. After taking some medication for a couple of months, those issues seem to be clearing up. Just a few days ago he stopped taking the medication, so please pray those issues don’t come back. Also, please pray for me and our unborn child as we head through this second trimester.

Support - In December, Evan and I were looking to raise an additional $800 per month due to health insurance and accounting changes, and the anticipated arrival of our little baby. We have raised $250 in monthly support and are looking to raise an additional $550. If you would like to give yearly or quarterly there are options for that too! You can go to https://sacredroadministries.com/7/giving to set up online giving, or you can mail checks to: Sacred Road Ministries, PO Box 400, Harrah, WA 98933.

We are extremely thankful for those of you who have started giving or increased support. Evan and I feel well loved and cared for by all of you, but we are especially grateful for how you are enabling us to reach the people of Warm Springs and Yakama with the gospel.

Heading into this new year, we are excited for this new phase of life and for the new things this year will bring, as we look with hope to the promises of God being worked out in Native communities.

Love in Christ,

Holly and Evan Shaw

  • All I want for Christmas....

    One of the girls from church who is now a part of our afterschool program, asked for just one thing for Christmas: “All I want this year is a Christmas tree.” She has probably never had a Christmas tree, but this year she did!

  • Christmas party

    One of the other highlights from December was our Christmas party in Warm Springs.  This year we had just 8, including the youth. Being in such a personal setting allowed 1 on 1 time with kids.

  • Baby!!

    Evan and I are expecting a baby at the end of July, which is a huge blessing. I am 14 weeks along and feeling tired, but I’ve still been able to do everything that I need to and be part of the ministry that is going on at the church. I’m very thankful for that as well!

Photo Updates

UPPER:     [First two pictures from left] On the Monday before Thanksgiving, we gave out those food boxes at a drive thru distribution at the K-8 school in Warm Springs. We were blessed to work with Warm Springs emergency management once again, as they provided masks and hand sanitizer while we provided food. There were cars lined up down the road before the distribution started and thanks to God’s provision, we were able to give everyone in that line at least one food box. [Second from right] We were able to spend a couple hours having a small kids club at the Boys and Girls Club in Warm Springs. Due to COVID restrictions, there were only 4 of us from Sacred Road and around 20 kids, but it was a huge blessing to connect with some kids that we haven’t seen for several years. We shared laughter, fun games, a Bible story about Jesus healing a lame man, and gifts with each of the kids there.  [Far right] Sacred Road will be giving 2,000 Christmas shoeboxes to kids on Reservations and Native communities all across the Pacific Northwest in the coming weeks, as well as around 400 to people in Yakama, Warm Springs, Celilo, and Georgeville.

LOWER:     [Far left] Evan and other staff working on Book'n It, a mobile library for the community. [Second from left] Kids, youth, and adults at our first in-person church service since March!  [Second from right] A small group from Seattle helping chop and stack firewood for elders in Yakama.  [Far right] Trunk or Treat! More than 300 people came to the church throughout the evening!

  • Distributing 150 food boxes

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  • Holly packing food boxes

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  • reading at kids club

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  • packing shoe boxes

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  • Book it! Library

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  • Outdoor service

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  • Chopping wood

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  • Trunk or Treat!

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