Missions Update - June 2026
Monthly Missions Update / June 2026 / volume 3 issue 6
Hello Morning Star Family!
Summer is almost here! Check out the Missions opportunities abroad, here in Salem, and in our church!
Read ahead for all the details:
local partner - salem for refugees
World Cup Finale watch party here at Morning Star:
Join us Sunday July 19th for the game the world will be watching! After the 9am service we'll set up for the game that starts at Noon. About 300-400 of our New Neighbor Refugee families who Salem For Refugees serves will be joining us! This is a great opportunity to get to know someone we might not otherwise see. We'll share a meal, watch the game and be able to show Jesus’ love to our neighbors.
local partner - REID SAUNDERS
Reid shares:
We have exciting news. Our team is heading back to Indonesia next week!
Indonesia is a beautiful country made up of thousands of islands and home to the largest Muslim population of any nation on earth. Sharing the Gospel in this context comes with unique challenges, but we are stepping out in faith, full of hope and expectation for all that God is going to do.
In 2024, we had the privilege of proclaiming the Gospel in Bali, where the population is predominantly Hindu. Now, we are preparing for an even larger outreach in Java, a region where the population is predominantly Muslim.
We believe God goes before us and with us, and we are trusting Him for open doors and open hearts!
I invite you to pray with us over the schedule and prayer requests below. If there is a date on the schedule or a prayer request that stands out to you, please email me back and let me know you will be covering that in prayer. It is such an encouragement to our team to know our friends are lifting us up in specific ways.
Schedule:
May 31: Team arrives in Indonesia
June 1 & 2: Build BMX ramps
June 3: Women’s event & medical clinics
June 4: Youth event, medical clinics, church event
June 5: Church event, set up for festival
June 6: Festival night
June 7: Share at church services
June 8: Team returns home
Prayer Requests:
Festival committee as they work to secure our visas to perform and share the Gospel
Logistics for flights and travel
For the heat and humidity to be mild
For our interpreters to share the Gospel clearly
For the kids to be drawn to the children’s area and hear about Jesus
That the youth who come to the youth event will be drawn to Jesus
For the women who come to the women’s event to feel loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father
For the medical clinics to be a blessing to all who come, and that we are able to pray with all the patients and present the Gospel to them
Excitement for the Christians to invite their non-believing friends to the festival
Peace for the local government, Muslim community, pastors, and the team
For God to be in charge of the schedule and for him to be glorified through it all
All for Jesus!
Reid
Also from Reid Saunders:
I’m excited to share something special happening this month, and I would love for you to be part of it!
On Sunday, June 28, I will be sharing the Good News at OneFest in Dallas, Oregon. This gathering is a large community outreach that brings churches together from across the region to share the hope of Jesus.
This outreach is especially meaningful to us because it represents something many RSA supporters have encouraged us toward for years: bringing more evangelistic ministry to the Pacific Northwest. And now, by God’s grace, it’s happening!
RSA is not only participating in the event, we are also collaborating with the festival committee and equipping local churches through evangelism training leading up to the outreach. We are also excited that Danny, one of our EEP-trained evangelists, will be participating alongside two BMX riders as part of the festival program.
We believe events like these are important for uniting churches around the Gospel and reaching people who may never walk into a church.
Please pray with us:
For hearts across the Dallas community to be open to the Gospel
For the churches involved to experience unity and boldness
For Reid, Danny, and the entire team as they minister
For many people to respond to the invitation of Jesus
If you are local to the area, we would love for you to join us and invite any friends or family who you would like to hear the Gospel. Here is the link with the event details: valleylife.love/onefest.
Thank you for your partnership in proclaiming the Gospel both around the world and here in the PNW.
All for Jesus!
Reid
Local Partner - Salem FREE CLINICS
From Salem Free Clinics to Dental School
The future of healthcare brightens when compassionate young adults are given opportunities to learn, serve, and grow. At Salem Free Clinics we get to witness this firsthand, and want to highlight two remarkable previous dental interns — Kandee Xiong and Marie Tarrab — whose time at Salem Free Clinics has already begun shaping the future of dental care in underserved communities.
Both Kandee and Marie first joined Salem Free Clinics as volunteers before stepping into internship roles in our dental clinic. Since their internships, both have been accepted into OHSU School of Dentistry on full-ride scholarships — an incredible accomplishment and a reflection of their dedication, intelligence, and heart for service.
Kandee Xiong served as a dental intern during the 2024–2025 academic year and is now in her second year of dental school at OHSU. During her internship, she worked closely alongside our Dental Coordinator, helping schedule appointments, manage clinic days, and support our sterilization lab.
Kandee hopes to one day serve underserved populations through a Federally Qualified Health Center or rural dental practice. Throughout her internship, she was deeply impacted by the gratitude shown by patients receiving care that many people take for granted. Kandee brought thoughtfulness and joy with a constant desire to improve systems and care for others. We are so proud of all she has accomplished and know she’ll make an incredible provider in the near future.
Marie Tarrab joined Salem Free Clinics as a summer intern in 2025 after volunteering with us previously. Marie, who is Jordanian and Honduran, shared how her experiences across cultures shaped her passion for serving people.
Though she knew through her childhood she wanted to work in healthcare, her experiences shadowing various jobs in high school and volunteering at Salem Free Clinics solidified her love for dentistry. Marie was especially moved by the stories of patients traveling long distances for care at Salem Free Clinics and by the gratitude they expressed even in difficult circumstances. One patient called after an appointment simply to thank the clinic while driving home to Seaside after having eight teeth extracted. Marie explained that this voicemail stuck with her even after her internship ended. She couldn't believe how someone unable to find care elsewhere and drove so far, was grateful enough to call back just to thank the team of volunteers again. Moments like these affirmed Marie’s calling to the dental field and the importance of compassionate care. She credits the relationships she built with our staff and volunteer dentists as pivotal in her decision to pursue dentistry and will begin at OHSU School of Dentistry this summer.
At Salem Free Clinics, we are deeply grateful to play even a small role in the journeys of students like Kandee and Marie. While volunteerism and internships provide valuable work experience opportunities for young adults exploring healthcare careers, we often find that these students inspire and teach us just as much as we teach them. Their compassion, curiosity, and commitment to serving others remind us why this work matters and gives us hope for the future of healthcare in our community. Kandee and Marie are just two of many students who have volunteered at Salem Free Clinics with a heart to serve and gone on to pursue meaningful careers in healthcare. We consider it a privilege to be a space for those stories to begin.
Community Partners Making Care Possible
We are incredibly grateful to the Willamette Philanthropic Investors of Atkinson for their generous $12,000 grant in support of dental services at Salem Free Clinics. The group, made up of MBA students at Willamette University, partners with United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley to invest in organizations strengthening Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties as part of their class project focused on philanthropy and community impact.
Their team chose to support Salem Free Clinics’ dental program in response to the growing need for no-cost dental care in our community and the continued growth of our volunteer dental provider team, which now includes eight providers. Because of their investment, more patients will have access to compassionate dental care they may not otherwise be able to receive.
We are also deeply grateful to the Ralph Hull Foundation for their generous $25,000 grant in support of our Volunteer Coordinator at Salem Free Clinics. Our Volunteer Coordinator plays a critical role in organizing and supporting the schedules of more than 300 volunteers—including providers, nurses, interpreters, admitters, and many others who keep our clinics running each day. In 2025, our volunteers contributed over $1,084,157 worth of service to our community. Because of this investment from the Ralph Hull Foundation, we are better equipped to support and sustain the incredible volunteers who make compassionate, no-cost care possible.
Local PartneR - Hope Station
Thanks to several generous donors, we have a matching challenge totaling $33,000! Your donation can double from June 1through June 30, 2026. Please don't miss the opportunity for your gift to be matched up to $33,000! We appreciate any and all support, whether through in-kind donations, financial gifts, and/or prayer — every contribution to our mission makes a difference. Thank you!
"It's a joy to see my kids' faces light up"
Watch a short video testimonial from Nick, one of Hope Station's members, as he details the impact Hope Station is having on his family. He describes having to make tough decisions between food and bills, and recounts at one point saying to his wife, "this is dire — what are we going to do?"
NOTABLE RECENT DONATIONS
Hope Station has newly partnered with Roth's Fresh Market and Charlie's Produce, who donated 7,840 lbs. of apples! We are so grateful for it because we didn't have any apples on our shelves to give to families!
Another of our most notable donations include a total of 20,000 lbs. of onions from Dickman Farms, a multi-generational farm local to the Willamette Valley! We were able to feed about 12,000 people with this incredibly generous donation.
Finally, Campbell's Co. donated FOUR PALLETS of soups, of which we were running really low. This is a huge blessing to the people we serve!
We are deeply thankful to these and all the other companies for helping us feed all the families in our community.
Volunteer Highlight
Gretchen Harvey, has reached her THIRTEEN-YEAR anniversary of volunteering with Hope Station on May 20, 2026. We are so grateful for her generosity with her time and energy, her consistent presence in the office every week, and her willingness to fill in for others when they are away from the office. Gretchen truly embodies the definition of steadfastness, and we are blessed to have her!
To learn more about each of our Global & Local Partners, CLICK HERE. If you’re interested in helping more with Missions at Morning Star, please email: jared@mstar.church
Thanks for all you do to help share the Good News of Jesus with a world in need!
– Morning Star Missions Board
