Where We've Been
Itineration is the process of going from place to place to share our heart for for the ministry God has laid before us and to bring people along in partnership through prayer, giving and passion for God's work to be accomplished. I've covered the what and why of itineration before in this article, so no need to rewrite the script, but many people want to know, "Where all have you been." We'll probably come back to the topic again, but if you'd like to see where we've been in this journey, We'll try to lay it out here.
Google. (n.d.). The Rody's Itineration Service Stops screenshot. Retreived March 28, 2025 from https://maps.app.goo.gl/w5iQYLELTYnmiXtL8 .
Our last "Where We've Been" post was way back in August. Since then we've been all over Washington State. Unfortunately, we did not always remember to take pictures, but we're working at it and sharing quite a few of them here.
##So...Where have we been?
We were in Concrete for a weekend.
what a privilege to be with friends who mentored and encouraged us in ministry and to see their adult kids we knew oh so long ago. Can it really be that long.
Speaking of old friends, we've run in to the Ericksons a few times. They ran the nursery Sunday nights at Bellevue Neighborhood Church in the early 1970's. One of Mike's earliest memories is playing football with Warren when he was only about 3 years old.
One of the great memories from our year at Calvary Temple Seattle, now Calvary Christian Community Assembly, is when an elderly lady approached us to ask Mike, "are you the son of Julius Rody". I had to tell her no, I was his grandson. With that she went on to tell how my grandfather Julius and great aunt Tracy used to come out to play in the band in Yelm, Wa with the team that planted the church there. What a privilege to be at Yelm Prairie Christian Center, the church they helped plant so very long ago.
We were at Bremerton, Normandy Park, Tacoma and Toledo, WA. What a great privilege to minister alongside all of these pastors and their teams, and one very cute dog.
In Malone, Chelly was the speaker. She did a great job speaking for their Women's Christmas Brunch and challenged them all. I get my opportunity later in July when we'll be there on a Sunday morning.
Our itineration journey has taken us to some very interesting parts of Washington State. It's fun to meet old friends, relatives and mentors, but we've met many pastors and church people for the first time. Most of the churches we've been to we'd never been before. If you know we were at your church but don't see the pictures, please remind us to take a picture next time we're there.
Did I mention we've met some very cute dogs.
Our last stop was Bellevue Neighborhood Church (BNC), Mike's childhood home church. We had a great visit and saw a lot of people we know. BNC and it's people have made a huge impact on both of our lives. We so appreciate their influence and now their partnership in missions.
Many of those impactful people have gone on to other places and ministries. We've run into a few of them along the way. People who have had significant influence in our lives and ministry development. We were at the memorial for Rick Enloe, Mike's youth pastor and saw lots of friends from youth group days. We were recently with Matt and Barbarah Chambers at South Whidbey Assembly. When Mike was filling in as the Jr. High Ministry Director at BNC and Matt would pass him in the hallways, Matt would always tell Mike, "We're praying you in to ministy." Seems to have worked. Later when we pastored in Ferndale, Matt was our Executive Presbyter and was one of the people to call when we had questions. He had a significant role in making opportunities for leadership development as well. We really appreciated our time with Matt and Barb at SWAG.
Lots of travel and visiting and encouraging. We appreciate all the churches where we've been and all the opportunities we've had to share. But this is not why we do it. We really want to get back to ministry in Indonesia. Can you help us? Please keep us in your prayer and please join us as a financial partner. You can get more details at the bottom of our giving page.