In the early hours of August 18, Hannah Schall set out with her friends, Matt, Reece, and Sheridan, to hike up Horsetooth Mountain and catch the sunrise from the summit. Six hours later, she was being airlifted off of the mountain with a broken pelvis, punctured lung, C7 vertebrae compression, cracked ribs, sprained ankle, broken nose, chipped

teeth, and abrasions all over her body. Emergency room doctors were amazed that she was alive. Hannah had fallen eighty feet down the crevice of Horsetooth Rock, landing unconscious and only feet away from another 200 ft. drop off the west side of the mountain.

The morning was meant to be a celebration of the final day of summer before school started. “We were up top, just enjoying the sunshine and the summer air. Matt and Reece, being typical teenage boys, decided to find a way down the crevice. Sheridan and I agreed that it was a pretty stupid idea.” But when Hannah saw the boys scrambling down the crevice, the soccer player and Rocky Mountain High School pole vaulter saw a challenge that she couldn’t resist.

“I don’t really remember how it happened, but I was climbing down and there was this little 2 - 3 ft. drop. I let go of the rock I was holding onto or miss-stepped, and fell backwards. It registered that I was falling and it was like, ‘Oh crap. This is happening.’ My body must have turned in mid-air and I saw Matt. He had his arms stretched out and was trying to catch me.”

Matt jumped/fell/slid down the side of the crevice to come to Hannah’s aid, sustaining his own injuries in the descent. “He basically saw that I had fallen and didn’t think about the danger.” In reflecting on the accident, Matt and Hannah have no doubt that God was looking after both of them that day

Sheridan immediately called 911 and Matt kept Hannah immobile and alert. “I wasn’t in a lot of pain. It was mostly just shock. I was uncomfortable, that was really the only thing that I was feeling. A lot of the time, before the rescuers came, I just thought it was a dream. I didn’t really process that I had fallen off of Horsetooth Rock.”

Meanwhile Matt’s mother, Annie Crane, called the church for a phone number to notify Hannah’s parents. Faith pastors were told of the accident and prayers were lifted up for God’s protection over Hannah, who was active in the student and KidzZone ministries.

Rescuers arrived 90 minutes after the 911 call. A man named Chris was the first rescuer to reach her. Hannah recalls, “I was in and out of consciousness and he said, ‘You have to stay with me.’ But I was so tired and kept falling asleep. So he kept pounding on my chest to wake me up.” It took a 4-hour-long rope rescue and hike to get Hannah to the medical helicopter.

When Hannah’s parents reached the trailhead they saw at least 20 emergency vehicles in the parking lot. Hannah’s mom, Heather, says, “When we were up at the trailhead, we were really calm. I don’t know if it

HAITIAN TEEN FINDSCOMMUNITY AT ENCOUNTER

THE MEANING OF BAPTISMAT FAITH

HANNAH SCHALLA Journey of Miracles

When Joe Torre was brought to Christ by Pastor Jim Olson ten years ago, he knew that the next step was to be baptized. Although he was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic Church, he wanted to make a conscious declaration of his faith in Christ.

This moment was so important to Joe that he decided to wait until his out-of-state relatives could be here to share it with him. As the years passed, his desire to be baptized never grew cold. The circumstances were just never ideal.

In October, 68 year-old Joe was going to be married. Since relatives were coming into town for the ceremony, he thought this would be a perfect time to be baptized.

Joe’s friend, Rod, was helping him prepare for his video testimony that would be shown before the baptism. When Joe included that he had been waiting all of these years so his family could be at the baptism, Rod stopped him. “I don’t think that’s right, Joe. You shouldn’t wait for a special set of circumstances to be baptized.”

Joe was baptized on October 12 in front of over 20 friends and relatives. While it was a deeply meaningful and joyful occasion, Rod’s words still weighed heavily on him. “It is something that has been on my mind. I waited all

of these years to be baptized. It should mean more than that. It should be about your relationship with God – not your own personal agenda.”

Baptism is an important step in the life of a believer because it testifies to your union with Christ in his burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Baptism is like a wedding ring. It is the outward symbol of the commitment you made in your heart. In being baptized, you are following the example set by Jesus and obeying his command (Mark 1:9, Matthew 28:19-20).

Baptism does not make you a believer. It shows that you already believe. Baptism does not save you – only your faith in Christ does that. As soon as you have received Christ into your life, you can and should be baptized (Acts 2:41).

When asked why baptism was so important to Joe that he wanted to make it a family celebration, he said, “Jesus is my Savior, and I wanted to show my faith to God.”

August 18, Hannah

Ric and Lynelle Detlefsen met 12 year-old Schneider while on a mission trip to Haiti in April 2011. He and 29 other orphans were being cared for by a crippled, 70-year-old Haitian woman in an unlicensed orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Schneider was dropped off at the orphanage at the age of three and had grown very close to the other children there.

The couple formed a bond with Schneider and asked the woman if he could be adopted. Initially, she said no, but later pulled them aside and said she had a change of heart. Lynelle says, “We knew he was a Christian, so we asked him to pray about the idea of us adopting him. We told him that we would be coming down regularly and he could give us an answer at another time. When we came down five months later, he told us that he would like to be adopted.”

The Detlefsens ran into another roadblock when they were told that Haiti would not approve the adoption since Schneider was

not at a licensed orphanage. They began working with America World Adoption, who found a licensed orphanage that would take Schneider. “Every time we would run into obstacles, God just said, ‘Keep going.’ He always provided the answers.”

In September 2014, three years after they began the process of adoption, 15-year-old

Schneider came home to his new family in Loveland, Colorado. The Detlefsens knew that Schneider was a social teenager, but he needed tutoring before he was ready to go to an American high school.

Not long after Schneider’s arrival, their neighborhood had a potluck picnic where the Detlefsens met Robert and Kitty Moore, members at Faith. Lynelle knew about Faith’s connection to Haiti from taking Creole lessons with two Faith missionaries. Kitty suggested that Schneider try out Encounter, Faith’s high school group that meets on Sunday nights. “She told us that some of the students had been to Haiti, so it might be a really good fit for him.”

The Faith teens were thrilled to have Schneider join them, some even used their limited Creole to communicate with him. Lynelle says, “He loves it here! The students were very welcoming, and he now has a place to hang out with kids his own age. He doesn’t fit in a lot of places, so for him to fit into a youth group is huge.”

The Faith students have formed a bond with Schneider and regularly text him throughout the week. In January, he will start school at Heritage Christian Academy in Fort Collins. Lynelle says, “So far, Encounter is his favorite thing about America.”

was because we didn’t completely grasp the seriousness of it, but I know for sure that part of it was because so many people were praying for us. People say prayer is palpable, and it’s true. It means so much. I didn’t even cry until we were in the emergency room and the doctor started listing off all the injuries they had found. And that’s when it really hit me emotionally.”

Amazingly, Hannah never required any surgery or casts for her injuries. She was on her feet the next day and taking miraculous strides toward recovery. Heather says, “The doctors, the nurses, the therapists … everybody was always surprised at how well she was doing and remarked how unusual it was.” After her tenth day in the hospital, Hannah went home.

“One of the first things that came to mind after the accident was that I wasn’t going to be able to play soccer and I was going to have to take the season off. I thought, ‘This sucks.’ Then I thought, ‘Yeah, I had plans, but God’s plans are better.’ I could be totally disabled right now. There are so many what-ifs. The presence of God this whole time has been mind-blowing. It is so much more real.”

She returned to school three weeks after the accident, on crutches and still in a neck brace. The support she received from both friends and strangers was overwhelming. “A lot of people said, ‘You are so strong, you’re so tough.’

And I’m like, ‘Not really. It’s mostly God.’ It has

opened up doors for me to talk to people about miracles, for sure.”

Hannah continues to recover and is already working to return to competitive sports. “Even though I fell off a mountain, I’m continuing as if nothing happened.” She has her sights set on collegiate athletics and plans to major in music education.

On November 8, Hannah was reunited with many of the 47 rescuers who helped save her life. During the celebration, Hannah and her family thanked them for the great care that was taken to get Hannah off of the mountain safely, as well as their concern in the weeks that

followed.

Heather says, “It certainly makes you a more grateful person, going through something like this. Sometimes it is hard to understand why other people have to go through harder journeys and we have had this journey of miracles. A lot of people will say, ‘Oh, she’s a really lucky girl.’ I almost always say, ‘We believe it was more than luck.’”

I DIDN’T REALLY PROCESS THAT I HAD FALLEN OFF HORSETOOTH ROCK.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD THIS WHOLE TIME HAS BEEN MIND-BLOWING.

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Five years ago, a GO team visited the home of Ismael and Tracy Cervantes. They chatted with the couple about their background and what they were up to in life. Eventually they asked the question, “Do you know for certain, if you died today, that you would go to heaven?” Ismael responded, “Well, I don’t know. I think so.”

The team then asked, “If you were stand before God and he said, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ How would you respond?” “I didn’t know what to say. I thought about it for a while and answered that I should be let in because I was a pretty good person.”

The team proceeded to share the gospel. “They said if this was something I wanted to accept, we could pray. When they put it that way … that I can know for sure just by believing … I was like, ‘Yes! Let’s do that.’ So we prayed. That was a good day.”

Although he had been attending church for a while, Ismael wasn’t involved in any groups or ministries. “Now I had this urging in me. This is how I came to know what God has to offer. I wanted to give that opportunity to other people. If I could be a part of making sure that someone else doesn’t get missed, I wanted to be a part of that.”

It took some time, but Ismael finally gathered the courage to join the GO ministry. “I didn’t feel comfortable with it. I knew that, by signing up, I was going to go to other people’s houses and talk about Christ. I just felt this huge weight, like

it was up to me to convince them. But I quickly learned that you are not going to have all of the answers, and it’s not up to us.”

One GO experience re-affirmed this for Ismael. “We were out on a call and we couldn’t get anywhere. My trainer, Randy Henckel, suggested that we do the questionnaires. As a trainee the questionnaires are even scarier because you are talking to people with no connection to the church.”

The team parked at the first apartment complex they saw and prayed. “Randy’s prayer was, ‘God, put somebody in our path that you would like us to talk to. Let us speak the right words. With your strength, we will talk to the first person that we see.’ I thought that was a very direct request.”

They approached a man who was walking his dog. “Even though it didn’t look like it, this was an appointment set for us to talk to this man that evening. He was very attentive during the presentation of the gospel, and he prayed to receive Christ right there. It was one of the first glimpses I got of a prayer answered immediately … specifically. There were things that could have gone wrong because it was outside and it was cold, and there was the dog. But everything worked out.”

Ismael spent two semesters in GO as a trainee and became a trainer this past fall semester. He has also been on three mission trips to Latvia.

“GO showed me that evangelism can happen in our backyard. But in the same way, those skills helped me in Latvia to be able to share the gospel with students and adults. I think of it now as GO Global.”

“At Faith we have a great mission to help people develop a thriving relationship with Jesus Christ, and it starts by knowing the gospel. So if we can help deliver that to people, no matter where they are spiritually, and meet them where they are at, I think it’s awesome.”

Alpha Center: A Christian medical clinic that serves our community by providing free services and education related to sexual health

Established: 1985

Location: Across from the CSU Campus

Mission: To provide a safe support system for individuals making important decisions related to their sexual health and unplanned pregnancies.

Services Offered: Pregnancy testing, limited ultrasound, STD screening, options counseling, and support services. Safe and confidential setting for women to discuss their emotions following an abortion. Alpha Center does not perform or refer for abortions.

Faith’s Involvement: Annual Baby Bottle Campaign, team painted clinic on ACTS Saturday, monthly support from church budget.

Testimonial: “I am SO glad I came here. I wasn’t very worried about the test results, but I felt such a sense of peace when I came here. It was very reassuring to hear God’s love for us and I definitely have become more thirsty for God in these past few weeks.”

Stats (2013): • Served 658 women through 1710 visits,

rendering 5419 services• 20-24 year-olds served - 53%• 70 women received ultrasounds• 15 participated in Earn While You Learn

program for those in need of life skills• 420 people received STD testing

Christ Clinic: A free community medical clinic

Established: 2012

Location: Faith Evangelical Free Church

Mission: To follow Jesus by providing spiritual and medical care to members of the Northern Colorado Community who experience hardship in the face of illness due to lack of access to health care. Services Offered: Provides family practice medical care for the under-insured and the uninsured of all ages. In addition, basic laboratory testing, school physicals and well-woman exams are available.

GO - SHARING WHAT GODHAS TO OFFER

THE MINISTRY OFFAITH AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSFAITH’S OFFICE STAFF

Lately there had been a stirring in Tom’s heart for something more in his life. He thought God might be the answer, but wasn’t sure where to start. So he Googled, “Churches in Fort Collins.” He saw that Faith had a 7:00 PM service, which worked well with his schedule as a healthcare worker. Tom listened to a few of the online sermons, and he knew this was the answer he had been looking for.

He attended his first service and was moved to tears by the music from the worship team. He filled out a Communication Card and put it in the offering basket. He read in the bulletin, “Your First Step to Jesus,” and knew what he needed to do next.

The following Tuesday, a GO team from Faith visited Tom’s home. That night, he prayed to receive Christ. He called the church the following week, signed up to be baptized, and joined a small group. Tom is now in a thriving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Tom’s journey may have looked different if not for the ministry of the office staff. Because Kitty Moore maintains the website, he was able to find our church and all of the ministries offered. Because Martha Notess formats recordings of the sermons each week, Tom could listen to them online.

Tom was able to enjoy a warm and comfortable environment because Sandra Bladow makes sure the utility bills are paid on time. If not for

Larry Williams’ preparation of the music, Tom’s heart may not have been softened for the sermon. Because Brenda Carroll printed the bulletins on Friday, Tom saw what his first step to Jesus needed to be.

After Amy Marchio entered Tom’s information in the church database, the GO ministry had his name and address. When he called the church and

talked to Rayna Vikse, she found the perfect small group for him. Jamie Murray connected him with Pastor Brad to talk about his baptism. Because Diane McCoy coordinates this staff, tapping into each individual’s gifts, these things occur seamlessly each week.

This is just a snapshot of what Kitty, Martha, Sandra, Larry, Brenda, Amy, Rayna, Jamie, and Diane do on a weekly basis. From 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday thru Friday, they are working on a myriad of important tasks to ensure that the church’s mission continues beyond services on Sunday.

On a regular basis, the staff sees a wide variety of people walk through the door. Some are new to the area and want to know more about

our church. There are those in need of spiritual guidance or financial assistance. They see salespeople, maintenance techs, and delivery drivers. With every caller and visitor is the opportunity to make Jesus’ name great.

This year we are taking everything that comes in above and beyond our regular contribution budget and giving half to pay down debt and half to some great community organizations. These three Christian non-profits are able to extend the love of Jesus to those who may never set foot in the door of a church. They invest in the people they serve, developing relationships and creating long-term plans for healthy and productive lives. Below is a snapshot of these three vital community organizations:

Faith’s Involvement: Provides facilities for the clinic, funded initial start-up of clinic, monthly support from church budget.

Testimonial: “I was blind but now I see.” That is how Sam summarizes his experience with Christ Clinic. He came to the clinic, concerned that he was going blind. He had no health insurance and had not seen a doctor for years because of the expense. The doctor who saw him recognized severe cataracts in both eyes and was able to work with one of the specialists in town to provide surgery for this young man. Indeed he can literally see now and has asked to return to the clinic weekly to help with set up as his way of saying thank you.

Stats:• Recipient of Group Publishing Community

Service Award – Special Church Award• Capacity for 18 patients each evening• 1090 appointments with 513 individuals

served in its first two years

Fort Collins Rescue Mission: An emergency homeless shelter

Established: 2012

Location: Downtown Fort Collins

Mission: Changing lives in the name of Christ by meeting people at their physical and spiritual points of need, with the goal of returning them to society as productive, self-sufficient citizens.

Services Offered: Serves homeless men and women by providing shelter, meals, spiritual guidance, and life-changing programs. Assists the community and other agencies in aiding the poor and needy in their own and other institutional environments.

Faith’s Involvement: Donation of NIV Bibles, replaced bunk beds for one dormitory, purchased commercial dishwasher for kitchen and tables and chairs for dining room. Purchased three laptops for their Nextjob program to help people find employment. Testimonials: “Through the program, I’ve reconnected with God, bringing me to a new level of my faith. He has saved me from myself countless times.”

“Chaplain Tom and Jim didn’t just give me a handout, they gave me a hand up. That means all the difference in the world. They looked inside me and saw a person worth saving.”

Stats: • 75 beds• Breakfast and dinner served daily; lunch is

served to those in programs• Capacity for 90 men and women nightly