Looking Back at April 2025

Over the next handful of days, I am going to be sending out three different letters. This first one will look back on the last month, and then the next two will begin to answer the most common question we receive, which is, “What’s Next?”. 

Family Life

Since returning to Vancouver from the Phoenix area in late March, Spring has sprung, and we have certainly been busy. As soon as we were home, we jumped right into a new season of soccer for Mabel and Estelle, and Rosie jumped in right where she left off in her ballet class, too. Now we are 3 games deep into the 8-game soccer season, and Rosie just had her ballet recital on Sunday afternoon (she loved the limelight of the stage!). Leanne continues to homeschool the girls three days a week, as a part of the hybrid learning program that they are enrolled in. And Rosie just had her very last day of Kindergarten Co-Op that a bunch of moms from EBC run together. Oh, and Rosie learned how to ride a bike, too! A big moment in a kid’s life.

EBC Church Ministry

Of course, all my (Ryan) regular responsibilities at Evergreen keep me plenty busy each week. The biggest thing ahead on my plate at EBC is gearing up to lead our yearly Men’s Retreat, which is scheduled for May 30 – June 1 at Black Lake Bible Camp in Olympia, WA. I also re-started the Monday Men’s Group that I lead, and we are studying our way through the second half of Mark, after doing the first half in Jan-Feb. I’m also working on lining up some summer ministry activities to happen while I’m gone and re-developing our newcomers class that we call Discover Evergreen. I also am feeling particularly burdened lately to breath some new life into some of our ministry rhythms that are in my areas of responsibility. It can be so easy to simply keep doing things the same ol’ way, but I want try to chart some new paths before we find ourselves in too deep of a rut:).

Rock Nest Ministry

With regard to UIM ministry, we were able to host one of our Rock Nest teammates, Vance Christophersen, for 5 days in the middle of April. That was so great, because it allowed us to get to know Vance, and for him to get to know us, in totally different ways than what happens in the busy life at camp. Not everyone gets such a “behind-the-scenes” look at daily craziness that is Donovan family life! And then, as you know from previous letters, I drove him to the Canadian border, where he was able to obtain a 2 year work permit, which was a huge blessing for him and for the overall ministry at Rock Nest. Last week we also submitted the paperwork for our girls to get passports, which should make border crossing a whole lot easier for them in the coming years. I have also continued to meet with the Rock Nest Leadership Team on Mondays on zoom to talk and pray about the summer. And just last week I joined the weekly UIM Canada Team Zoom Prayer Call for the first time, and I will try to join that as my schedule allows, to stay connected with the larger team.

One of the other things I have been working on is finishing up a website all about us and about this new ministry role at Rock Nest Ranch. If you’re interested, you can find that at www.donovan5.xyz.

Keep a heads up for two more emails with further info on some of the next big steps for us in this ministry, as well as some ways to be praying for us. Thanks for your partnership in this ministry endeavor!

Ryan and Leanne Donovan