Transition... Transition!

Hello friends and family!

I do hope you had a little “Fiddler on the Roof” moment when you read the title of this month’s update. That wonderful old musical about how the past changes into the future has a lot in common with this month… and the months to come! Unlike the villagers of Anatevka, we know that the Messiah has come and that He holds our future, no matter how shaky our present ‘rooftop’ may be.

Camp News

2025 started with a bang and it was probably the sound of a nail-gun. With major remodels happening in the Broken I Ranch store and a double wide that will be summer staff housing, volunteer construction crews have been busy in the opening weeks of the new year. Both projects are coming along beautifully, thanks to two mission teams and our Nehemiah Work Week crew. The work week also saw lots of leaves raked, brush cleaned up, buildings deep cleaned, and good conversations enjoyed during all the hard work.

Our Ministry Crew shrank by one and grew by two over the last two months. Our spring semester rookies just finished their orientation training and are ready to jump into ministry. Meanwhile, the veteran Defined students have transitioned from their fall jobs to their spring work areas. Some of them are excited about the change. Others are sorry to leave work that they love. For everyone, the next few weeks will be full of stretching and adjusting. Growing can be painful! Please pray for these young people to have humble, cheerful hearts as they learn new skills in ministry.

Palkki News

Gabe didn’t have as many volunteers in the shop as he has in years past. This was actually a blessing because it allowed him to catch up on the vehicles that went down during the last half of December. (There’s a reason it’s called Christmas ‘break.’) The security truck was especially interesting as it’s had a slow oil leak for several months now. Gabe discovered that leaking oil plus lots of dust can turn a gasket replacement into an archeology dig. Though he didn’t have many volunteers, he did have a couple welders helping him build some truck bed seats and install a few new fences around camp. There’s a new assistant coming to the shop and Gabe was somewhat shocked to learn that he would be working with his brother-in-law for the next semester. My brother Montana joined Ministry Bound in January and was assigned to help Gabe in the auto shop and on camp prep. Pray for him… both of them.

The highlight of my January was a family reunion. The George/Craven mission team descended on Ironwood in the name of helping with a few projects. In reality, we just wanted an excuse to be together after eight years of living on opposite sides of the country. I cannot express the joy of hearts that have been knit together by passion for a ministry, by love for people, and by devotion to God. Suffice to say that it was a very, very good week. My other big news is that I have started training to take over leadership of the Hospitality team. This may seem like an abrupt jump from my other job area, but Gabe and I feel that this is the next right step in our family’s ministry here at Ironwood. There will be a nine-month training period where I will transition out of my other jobs before fully stepping into the team leader position. I am nervous but also thrilled at the opportunity to learn something new and take on some more cohesive responsibility.

Life is almost always in transition, in some way or another. And it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the uncertainty of new roles, new information, new experiences, new challenges. It’s no wonder that the fiddler on the roof clings to tradition, the things that never change, for stability!

But I’ve been reading an account in the Bible of a man who had to prepare an entire nation for a massive transition. Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy as Israel was about to go into the Promised Land. Over and over, that venerable prophet pointed not to the things that never change, but to a God Who had been good through many changes. One passage struck me in particular.

“For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” Deuteronomy 11:10-12

Moses urged the people to be faithful because God is generous to those who are committed to Him. He was already taking care of the land. All the Israelites had to do was step into it. What a terrifying step! And yet they were never safer than when they were doing what God commanded.

The same God Who transitioned the people of Israel from the wilderness to Canaan transitions us through our different stages of life. All along, He loves us and has a plan for our good. All we have to do is trust and obey.

Love in Christ,

Gabe and Cheyenne Palkki

PS: There are lots of cool project pictures in the Gallery! And there's an Ironwood fun fact from my Hospitality training hidden in the praises on our Pray page!