Portland LINK

1 2020 in Review

2 2020 Photo Gallery

3 2020 Photo Gallery continued

4 Meet Our Photographers

Rarely has a date been more anticipated than January 1, 2021. As 2020 progressed and one plan after another was canceled, a one-word explanation was all that was needed: “2020.” Usually accompanied with a groan.

While it’s easy to focus on the disappointments the year brought, there were some unique benefits as well, most of which we are still experiencing. Through Zoom, we’ve been able to attend Sunday school with people from outside our own city, state, or even country. The young people are able to keep in touch through online youth connection meetings, with congregational singing (with most microphones muted), Bible studies, testimonies, specials, and the odd Kahoots game. Girls’ Club is also on Zoom, and the year ended with gingerbread house kits being delivered, and then assembled together as a group.

The weekly Sunday school videos streamed on YouTube have demonstrated the diverse talents of

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teachers and students alike. On any given Sunday, we could have a stop motion Bible story, songs led from living rooms in Happy Valley, Oregon or Sacramento, California, and perhaps an impressive science experiment for a review.

Outside of church, people exercised their creativity to keep in touch and look after each other. Some made and distributed face masks by the hundreds. Others, experimenting with banana bread and sourdough recipes, left the delicious results of their labors on doorsteps. A team made soup semi-weekly, providing dinner and support to many who couldn’t easily get out. There were drive-by birthday parties, online cooking or painting projects, and family game nights over the internet.

As we have put 2020 behind us and moved into the new year, we can remember that we have experienced how the Lord can be with us during all manner of trying times.

A P O S T O L I C F A I T H . O R G

Selections from our website and more

(Top) A distanced Sunday service in March with no congregation in the sanctuary. (Bottom) The Barrett/Oilar family quartet special in October.

January 2021

2020 in Review

January: Timothy Sobol sings “Our Father” in a Tuesday night service.

January: Arthur Ruiz teaches a fifth-grade Sunday school class.

February: Sunday morning rehearsal for the junior orchestra.

February: Showers of blessing in the Beginners Department.

March: The combined choir sings in the Tuesday service of special meetings.

March: Group activity at the special meetings Saturday youth event.

April: Church at home, as experienced by people the world over.

May: Josh and Ilanya Piper recording a Mother’s Day special.

May: Sunday morning music by the Lambert and Rael families.

June: Distanced trombone special and limited sanctuary audience.

June: Mimi Witham and granddaughter Eloise.

June: Trent Paulsen managing the webcast.

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July: Darrel Lee leading tabernacle services.

July: Gary and Kristi Riler and Maria Green sing a trio number.

July: The Mathews family, enjoying the 2020 version of camp meeting.

August: Charity Hinkle and Elouise Tonning prepare a Sunday School video.

August: Joseph, Sarah, and Sam Asaya sing together.

August: Evora Green—messy hair, don’t care.

October: Gayle Warberg and Sarah Walden at the Sunday School drive-thru.

October: Katrina Butler, with newborn son Noah.

December: Shelby Warberg and Azaria Charles at the youth Christmas event.

December: Christmas music provided by a young men’s brass ensemble.

December: Catey Hinkle leading Girls’ Club activities via Zoom.

December: David Lambert leads in prayer.

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What would a newsletter be without photos? Or a magazine, or a website? Some of us may skim through the words in any publication, and spend much more time poring over the details in the accompanying pictures. At the Apostolic Faith church office, photos are used in almost all of our outreach efforts, as well as to document and preserve our history. In order to have those photos, we rely on our exceptional church photographers. We count on them to record all of the happenings here in Portland, edit the photos, and then send them to the office. It is a big job and we appreciate Ryan Parker, Kenny Cripps, and Bobbi Downey’s efforts.

Kenny Cripps

Bobbi Downey

Ryan Parker

Meet Our Photographers

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Ryan Parker was born in the Philippines. He came to the United States and joined the Parker family in 1987, when he was two years old. He was immediately loved for his affectionate and hilarious personality. Ryan’s experience with photography began as the subject rather than the photographer. There are thousands of photos of Ryan at the beach, Disneyland, on road trips, and at every holiday throughout his life. When he grew up, he became interested in being the one taking the photos! He received his first camera in 2003, and began experimenting.

Ryan got saved as a young man. As he has grown and matured, he has remained

steady in his desire to serve the Lord. His well-constructed photos of all manner of church activities and the campground covered in everything from Christmas lights, to snow, to wildfire smoke in 2020, are a service we enjoy now, and will for years to come.

Kenny Cripps was born into a family with deep roots in the Gospel. The Lord began to talk to his heart when he was sixteen years old, and he answered God’s call. Since that time, Kenny has been wholeheartedly serving the Lord in whatever ways he can. You will see him ushering many services, or sometimes he is up in the control room helping the audio/visual team. Wherever he is, he will have a camera by his side.

Kenny married Trisha Lee and a few years later, Shelby was born, and Kenny’s photography hobby began. Shelby’s, and later Hunter’s, childhoods were fully and beautifully documented. Shelby married David, and they welcomed their daughter, Kennedy Joy Warberg, this January, seven weeks early. Grandpa Kenny is going to have some fun capturing baby Keni’s every expression over the next few years!

Photography is not Kenny’s only interest. The making and consumption of pasta, coffee, and bread, as well as building furniture and gardening are other ways in which he spends his time.

“Hobby” is really too casual a word to describe anything Kenny does.

Bobbi Downey grew up in Central Point, Oregon, and her spiritual heritage also goes back several generations, with Christian grandparents on both sides of her family. She testifies that as a child, she always loved the Lord and wanted to be saved, and while she was still young, God helped her to receive salvation.

After Bobbi moved to Portland, she began teaching Sunday school, playing her violin in the orchestra, and singing in the choir. She also works at the church office, helping in the foreign language department, the editorial team, and the web team in a wide variety of tasks. Recently, Bobbi decided to develop some new skills that she thought would be fun and also helpful in the Lord’s work. One of those was playing the ukulele, and she has performed with bluegrass ensembles during church services. Another was photography. Bobbi and her husband, Brian, both love photography and being in church, so it was a natural fit for her to take photos during services. She especially enjoys capturing candid moments of happiness and fellowship among our church family before and after services. These are the details of life that we treasure, and her photography helps us not to forget them!