The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:22-23
Dear Homeschool Families,
As you launch into the new homeschool year, we hope and pray that God’s grace and faithfulness deeply bless you and your loved ones. It is with both heavy hearts and eager anticipation that we share important news regarding the 2025 Oregon Christian Home Education Conference.
After much prayer, reflection, and seeking God’s guidance, the Board has made the difficult decision not to move forward with the 2025 conference. There are several reasons for this decision, but the primary one is that we are facing new and relatively serious health and availability challenges among the members of our Board who happen to do the bulk of the work to put on the conference and make it a success.
Not having experienced individuals to take over these positions creates a significant void on the conference team. Despite our prayers and efforts over the years to recruit faithful key volunteers to help and eventually transition into these positions, we do not have the people needed to make the 2025 conference possible.
While we understand that this may come as disappointing news, we assure you that we did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and with a clear sense that the Lord is leading us in a purposeful direction for the upcoming year. None of this is a surprise to the Lord! And already — thanks be to God! — He has given us unity, peace, and clear confirmations that this is the right path for OCEANetwork and how He wants us to serve Oregon homeschool families in the coming year.
Friends, being placed in a position of greater dependence on the Lord is a blessing, and we are thankful to be in it. More than anything, we want to follow God’s lead and be good stewards of the organization and the work He has called us to do on your behalf. OCEANetwork’s commitment and passion for equipping homeschool families, encouraging home discipleship, and protecting and expanding your homeschool freedoms has not been diminished by these trials but has been strengthened by them instead!
The Lord is faithful! His plans are perfect and His ways are higher than our ways. He has not let our prayers go unanswered! God has brought new members and associates to our Board with fresh ideas and new energy. As the Board sought the Lord in prayer over these matters, He has given us direction and exciting plans for the upcoming year.
– Our Freedom Watch Team will submit a Homeschool Freedom bill during the 2025 legislative session, intended to remove requirements such as notification and testing.
– Apple Pie Day, our most important legislative event, will be our main focus for 2025! We have new lead organizers (Josh and Rachel Adams) and are excited about the expanded vision they bring with them. Wes and Deborah Butler have faithfully organized this event for years and are working closely with the Adams to make Apple Pie Day an even greater success. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements. We also need several volunteers, so please contact us if you’d like to participate in this exciting event!
– We will be prayerfully and actively working on building our volunteer teams and training them up, with the hopes that we can host another homeschool conference in the future! Contact us if you’d like to help.
We are particularly excited to be able to pour more into Apple Pie Day and hope you all attend! We are also working on ideas for additional smaller, local events in lieu of the conference to help meet the needs of homeschoolers around the state. Stay tuned!
The need is still great, friends. Our Board is small and stretched thin, but we know that the Lord has plans! While we’ll need more volunteers and the funds to succeed in these efforts, we are confident that the Lord will provide for whatever He calls us to do. Yaweh Yireh, friends — “the Lord will provide!”
Please consider joining us in prayer, by donating, and by volunteering your time to help. Homeschool freedom, family discipleship, and home education are worth fighting for!
In His service and grace,
The OCEANetwork Board
OCEANetwork Homeschool Encouragement Hub
While you wait for registration to open, take advantage of the great speaker sessions and resources in our FREE Oregon Homeschool Hub! Find out more here!
