Sacred Road Ministries Summer Update

Summer 2026 has come to an end! Short Term Teams wrapped up, our last Summer Interns have headed home, and students across our communities have now started back to school. As we look back on this season, we are so grateful for everyone who partnered with Sacred Road Ministries this summer. Thank you for praying with and for us, and for investing your time, energy, and resources in the work God is doing in these communities. We are grateful to have shared another summer with you!

In late May, we welcomed our Summer Staff and Interns, a team of thirteen who served with us for twelve weeks. They helped us host short-term teams across three locations throughout the summer, going through detailed training, preparing for arriving teams, and playing a huge role in feeding, leading, and caring for each week’s team members once they arrived. Over five weeks, short-term teams partnered with us to work on homes and host Kids Clubs in our communities.

For our Summer Staff, these twelve weeks were about much more than simply keeping summer ministry running. They stepped into a summer of radically loving their neighbors and leaning into opportunities to grow as leaders and servants. As one of our interns, Avery Flatt, reflected, “A common phrase used at Sacred Road is ‘hard but good.’ It’s a phrase that sums up working with the ministry in such a concise and accurate way. There is no denying that the summer is hard. In many ways, summer interns are stretched to their limits, but through the struggle, hearts are changed forever. I know mine is.”

Another phrase that stayed with Avery throughout the summer was, “It’s not about me.” He wrote, “It’s one that I have aspired to live up to in my walk with Jesus. Never has it been easier for me to live that phrase out than this summer.”

For Simon Shepley (pictured above, on the right), one of the most meaningful parts of the summer was the trust he saw growing between our staff and the kids in our community. “The level of trust we were able to build with the kids is incredibly special and something that could’ve only happened through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the coolest thing ever that their place of fun and safety and trust is the place where they hear about Jesus. They loved us and we loved them with our whole hearts.”

And for Kobi Rodriguez, Kids Club became one of the clearest pictures of what the summer was about: “Kids Club was something amazing - a beautiful sign of hope for them.” Through the long days, the work, the laughter, the challenges, and the relationships, our Summer Staff experienced again and again the joy of seeing God at work in His people and in these communities.



Five Weeks, Three Communities

Our Summer Staff helped make it possible for Sacred Road to welcome short-term teams into three different communities this summer: Yakama, Warm Springs, and, for the first time, Umatilla. Each location had its own rhythm, its own relationships, and its own stories of God at work. Together, these five weeks gave us the opportunity to serve alongside teams from across the country while continuing to build relationships with the children, youth, and families we have the privilege of walking alongside throughout the year.

Here’s a glimpse into what God was doing in each community this summer.

Yakama, Washington

Sacred Road Ministries was established in Yakama in 2003. More than twenty years later, Yakama remains at the heart of Sacred Road’s summer ministry. This summer, we welcomed short-term teams for five weeks, with 60-80 team members joining us each week to work on homes and build relationships throughout the community.

Alongside the work of the short-term teams, our summer staff hosted Kids Club in two locations on the Yakama Reservation, where around 100 children came through over the course of the summer. Every Tuesday, we continued investing in approximately 75 different teenagers through Youth Group, and Hope Fellowship gathered each Sunday as our church plant continued to grow and serve the community.

Ann Marie, the oldest of the Granberry children who moved to Yakama in 2003, now serves full-time with Sacred Road in Yakama. She shares a little of what this summer looked like from her perspective HERE.

Her younger brother Davy, the youngest of the Granberry children, also spent a few weeks with us this summer. Davy works as a film editor in Los Angeles and came to help us capture the final week of summer teams in Yakama and Umatilla. Here’s a glimpse of that week through his eyes:

Warm Springs, Oregon

Warm Springs was busy this summer! Over the five team weeks, more than 170 short-term team members joined us to serve alongside the community, working on homes, building wheelchair ramps, caring for elders, and helping with community events. Our teams also hosted Kids Club at two locations, with around 65 children joining us at the height of the summer. Alongside the work of the teams, our staff continued investing in local youth through Young Life, summer trips, and camp.

The final week of teams looked different than we had expected as the Bench Fire spread across the reservation, burning more than 67,000 acres and destroying homes and other structures. Our teams were able to step into the uncertainty and provide practical help and encouragement to families affected by the fire, including serving at the evacuation shelter and helping distribute supplies and organize donations. Even in a difficult summer, we saw God open doors for relationship, encouragement, and the sharing of His love.

Our Warm Springs Director, Rev. Tomo Ito, and Site Coordinator, Evan Shaw, share more about the people, ministry, and ways they saw God at work in Warm Springs this summer.

Evan's Summer Update

Tomo's Summer Update

Above are three of the Summer Team videos from Warm Springs.

You can watch all of the team videos, from each location, on our Youtube Channel.

Umatilla, Oregon

One of the most exciting milestones of Summer 2026 was the opportunity to begin sending short-term teams to the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon.

Sacred Road Ministries is a church-planting ministry of the Pacific Northwest Presbytery, with a long-term vision of seeing healthy, Gospel-centered churches established in Indigenous communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. There are approximately sixty reservations across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and we would love to see the Church take root in many of these communities. We are grateful for the healthy church already established in White Swan on the Yakama Reservation, as well as the full-time team and church-planting pastor serving in Warm Springs, Oregon. At the same time, we continue to pray for the Lord to open new doors and deepen relationships with other Indigenous communities throughout the region.

This summer, one of those doors opened. Through a growing relationship with a local church in Umatilla, we were invited to serve there for two weeks. Chris Granberry, the founder of Sacred Road Ministries, helped facilitate these team weeks alongside Kobi and Avery, two young men working with us this summer. Together, they helped lead our first summer of ministry in Umatilla, working alongside short-term teams and beginning to build relationships in a new community. We are excited to see where the Lord may lead from here.

“To truly see the work of God move throughout the

community we served brought tears to me every time.”

- Kobi Rodriguez, pictured right

B.Y.G.E. Update

"Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6

A key word that comes to mind for our Youth Group this summer is "growth." We have seen the Lord at work in the lives of our teenagers in meaningful ways this past year and are continually encouraged and blessed by our youth.

Each week, we gathered for Youth Group, studying and working to memorize Psalm 23 together. We also invited some of our youth to join our short-term teams on worksites. Thirty teenagers ages 12–18 served alongside us, painting homes and learning new skills while building relationships with staff, team members, and one another.

To learn more about Youth Worksites, Young Life camp, and baptisms we celebrated this summer, read Connie Yallup's Summer Update HERE



Hope Fellowship Church

Our church has celebrated thirteen baptisms since May! Ten of those baptized have been teenagers who have been regularly involved in our church and Youth Group. We are so grateful to celebrate what the Lord is doing in the lives of our church family!

Back to School

Thanks to specific donations from our supporters, we were able to distribute 85 backpacks filled with school supplies to children in Pre-K through 5th grade in Yakama and Umatilla! We were also able to provide backpacks for our middle and high school students as they headed back to school.

Fire Season

Towards the end of the summer, our communities were heavily affected by multiple wildfires. Both Yakama and Warm Springs sustained losses. Thanks to specific donations from our supporters, we have been able to provide aid to families affected by these fires.

• Please pray for our staff - that the Lord would continue to provide for and sustain us as we minister in our communities.
• Pray for the communities on the Yakama, Warm Springs, and Umatilla Reservations as we move into a new season following a summer of relationship and ministry.
• Pray for our efforts to build connections with other reservations and Native communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. Please pray that the Lord would continue to open doors for ministry and relationship.
• Pray for the teenagers in our Youth Group as they continue to grow in their relationships with God, their leaders, and one another.
• Pray for our upcoming Christmas Ministry - Christmas is right around the corner! Pray for us as we organize shoebox donations, and prepare to celebrate the Advent season with our church family.

Following the busy summer ministry season, many of our staff members will be traveling to connect with supporters and raise funds for the coming year. Please pray that the Lord would continue to open doors and provide for our staff and ministry programs.

We have seen Him sustain Sacred Road for more than twenty years, and we are humbled by the generosity of the churches and families who have partnered with us. If you are interested in financially supporting Sacred Road, we would love to talk with you about what that could look like. You can learn more about various Ministry Programs on our website. Go to the GIVE page to see the various Ministry Funds.

Thank you for taking time to catch up with us and all that has happening with Sacred Road Ministries this summer! We are humbled by the support and prayers we have received. Please continue to pray for our ministry team as we serve in Yakama, Warm Springs, and Umatilla.

To learn more about Sacred Road Ministries, visit our website and subscribe to our Youtube channel. You can keep up with regular news and updates by following us on Facebook and Instagram.