Where My Roots Began · Hammond, Oregon
Anchor Christian Academy & Riverside Fellowship
Every trail begins somewhere. Mine began in Hammond, on the north Oregon coast, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific. I was a pupil there, and I flourished there.
— Nathanael Elijah Smith, FNP-C, DipACLM
A Pupil Who Flourished
Long before Kitchen Monk™, before nursing, and before The EVERgreen Chronicles™, a Christian school and a church family in Hammond showed me what flourishing looks like. My teachers told me the truth, believed I could grow, and built foundations I still use every day as a nurse practitioner and storyteller. My church showed me what it means for people to worship together, share life together, and care for one another.
The Chronicles speak of lamps, anchors, and gardens. In Hammond, I found all three: teachers who lit the next step, a community that held steady, and a place where a young person could grow.
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil;”
Hebrews 6:19 (WEB)
⚓ The School
Anchor Christian Academy
To me, the best Christian school in the world.
Anchor Christian Academy is a Christ-centered, mission-based school in Hammond. According to the school, it was established in 1993 as North Coast Christian School, and today it serves students from preschool through 8th grade, pairing quality education with biblical values. Its motto says it simply: Educate, Strengthen, Love!
In Loving Memory of Mrs. Sandra Smith
Among my teachers was Mrs. Sandra Smith, my high school English teacher, who taught me to write what is truly mine and then give it wings. Her lesson lives on in Willow the Wise Owl of The EVERgreen Chronicles™. Willow is a fictional character inspired by her; the scenes Willow appears in are story, not biography. Every word on this website carries a little of what she taught me.
Visit: 796 Pacific Drive, Hammond, OR 97121 · (503) 994-1696 · office@acapnw.com
⛪ The Church Family
Riverside Fellowship
The essence of what a flourishing community is meant to be.
Riverside Fellowship is a church in Hammond on the southern shore of the Columbia River, near historic Fort Stevens and the Lewis and Clark trail. The church says it began humbly as the Hammond Gospel Mission, and its current building dates to 1969. Today it gathers on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.
To me, Riverside is what Kitchen Monk hopes every community can become: people who worship together, share life together, and care for one another.
Visit: Sunday Morning Gathering, 10 a.m. · 796 Pacific Drive, Hammond, OR · Please check the church’s website for current times.
Why a School and a Church Belong in a Story About Health
Kitchen Monk™ believes flourishing is bigger than the plate. People grow when they are known, taught, encouraged, and surrounded by a community that shows up. That is what I received in Hammond, and it is what I hope Kitchen Monk can pass on: to children, to families, to nurses, and to every caregiver who needs a place to belong.
🪔 A moment by the Lamp: who were the teachers and communities that helped you grow?
Named here with gratitude. Anchor Christian Academy and Riverside Fellowship are independent and are not affiliated with, and have not endorsed, Kitchen Monk™ or The EVERgreen Chronicles™. Details about each come from their own public websites as of September 2026 and may change; please contact them directly for current information. Scripture quotation from the World English Bible (WEB), public domain.
