START

Written By Dave Helmuth

As we were listening to the Lord for direction and a word for 2026, Dave sensed one word: START. It resonated with both of us. It’s been a year of traveling and transition; lots of new beginnings.

ANCIENT SEEDS, NEW FRUIT

In February, Dave led a worship-team day retreat for two churches’ teams. It was the church his parents founded in the 60s, and another pastored by a dear friend who Dave’s Dad mentored in that first church. Dave was able to sow new seeds into the beautiful ministries that his parents birthed. He described it as “Wild and honoring”.

A month later, Dave, Aspen, and Clementine led a retreat for another Costa Rican church.

He didn’t look for these opportunities, just said yes to the invitations.

THE COACHES ARE COMING

Bathroom closets make marvelous recording studios. Thanks to ours, Dave has now released the brand new audio version of his book “FIVE FADERS”! (Available here) But Dave has also been hard at work developing leaders and building infrastructure to set up coaches in Pennsylvania, Colorado, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Florida. He’s creating a coach certification program to facilitate the development of these Ad Lib hubs. And these coaches are coming to him! We are excited and grateful for the Lord’s provision and leadership in this ministry!

BEAUTIFUL AND EXHAUSTING…

This summer, Aspen and Clementine have been serving at Spruce Lake and Black Rock, respectively, two Christian camps in Pennsylvania.

Each week when they’ve reported on what God’s been doing, they say some version of “it’s been beautiful and exhausting!” Hard to believe we will be welcoming them back home in the next two weeks. This has been both their first jobs and their first extended time outside our home. And for all of us, it’s begun a new season of life.

CAMPS, CAMPS AND MORE CAMPS

Earlier this year, we accepted our friends’ invitation to serve at their 3rd-6th-grade kids’ camp in Oklahoma. In June, we gave a week and led worship: Dave on guitar, Heather singing, Louis on drums, Huxley on bass, Juliana played piano, and Caspian had a cameo on vocals for one of the songs. Hux and Cappy also participated as campers, while Lou and Julz served as youth sponsors. And of course, Lissy drew everyone in with her beautiful blues and sweet smile, not to mention her aptitude for learning dance moves. :)

It was AWESOME! And more than that, the Lord used that time away to reignite our hearts for the mission of loving and serving the folks back home (in CR).

A few weeks later, back in the country, Dave taught, and he and Huxley led worship for our church’s kids’ camp. Caspian had a GREAT time with his church friends, “Exploring their faith,” in safari suits and all.

Two weeks ago, we led our youth group on a 3-day camp at our friends’ mountain home. As Cleme and Aspen have said, the time was beautiful and exhausting. We are grateful for our team of leaders. We continue to embrace the leadership of our church’s youth group. We were honored to be a part of what God is doing. And the group is beginning to thrive! (Here’s a video recap)

THE PRAYERS OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN

During the next six months, Aspen hopes to find work; Clementine anticipates graduating from High School; Louis will complete 10th grade, Juliana 8th, Huxley 4th, Caspian 2nd …and little Felicity will turn two!! Heather is dreaming and praying about starting a homeschool co-op. Dave plans to continue traveling periodically to speak at three conferences in the US this year: he was in Ohio in January, Pennsylvania in April, and he plans to go to Chicago and Denver this October.

Friends, your prayers and financial support are invaluable! Thank you for carrying us in your hearts.

Love,

Dave, Heather, Aspen, Clementine, Louis, Juliana, Huxley, Caspian, and Felicity Helmuth

If you like to support us financially, there are several options to give:

Dave Helmuth

Out-of-the-box, relational, and energizing, I’m the founder that leads Ad Lib Music and a catalyst that builds connections that strengthen the Church.

https://adlibmusic.com
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2025 Year in Review