Hi from beautiful (in it's own way) Bethel Alaska!! I've kind of had a secret desire to blog for awhile now. Mostly because over the past few years I have been so much encouraged and challenged by a few different missionary blogs and news letters. I have no idea how this will go...I tend to be great at getting things started but not as excellent at the follow through, however, both Colby and I want to do the best we can to keep everyone back home updated on what God is doing in our lives. So if we let things slide feel free to spur us on a little!
The Journey...
God has been incredibly good to us in our adventure so far. We left PA early on Thursday morning August 17th and drove through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Montana and Washington on a beautiful 6 day journey. Our Ford Explorer was pretty loaded down with clothes, kitchen supplies and some other odds and ends, but she ran the 3200 miles like a champ. No real problems at all. We covered A LOT of miles pretty quickly (definitely spent more time in a car than I hope to do again for a long time) so there wasn't very much time for stopping to sight see. But we were able to see the Corn Palace in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, to drive through Badlands National park, many miles of open farm land (sunflower fields were my favorites) and some amazing mountains in Montana and Washington. Most of my pictures were taken out the window of a moving car, but we got some incredible views none the less.
The highlight of our trip was a quick detour we made in South Dakota to see Colby's brother Jesse who left PA in April to work on a combine crew. They started in Kansas, then went to Texas and have since worked their way up to North Dakota.
We finally arrived in Seattle on Tuesday and spent the rest of that day and Wednesday finishing up some last minute details including getting our luggage flight ready, buying and shipping a mattress, and loading the car on a barge in preparation for it's voyage north. We had some extra time on Wednesday and were able to finally do some stress free sight seeing with everything out of our hands. We saw the Space needle, Pike Place Fish market, the first ever Starbucks...all of those fun things that people travel to Seattle to see. We also took our first ever Uber ride (thanks to some advice from my sister and Penny) which was incredibly easy...highly recommend to anyone doing city travel without a car. Thursday morning we checked our bags and hopped on a flight from Seattle to Anchorage and then Anchorage to Bethel!
First Impressions
We've been asked by a few people what our initial thoughts of Bethel have been. Thankfully both Colby and I had set our expectations pretty low, so we are honestly able to say it's pretty much what we expected...There's nothing particularly nice to look at here, no mountains, not many trees...just a a few uneven dusty roads with lots of pot holes and a few houses separated by marshy tundra. Bethel was initially just a little fishing village beside the Kuskokwim river that grew into a larger village and then kind of sprawled out into the "city" that it is now.
When we arrived at the airport Keira (my manager and fellow PT) picked us up and gave us the grand tour of town (this took 10 minutes). She took us to the grocery store to buy some supplies for the next morning. (Sticker shock is something people in Bethel mention often when they refer to newcomers. Everyone says it wears off and we've already been given a ton of advice on ways to work around the high prices. To give you a quick example though, on our first trip we bought 1/2 gallon of milk for $4.49, 1 dozen eggs for $4.29, and a large container of Folgers coffee (another breakfast essential) for $15.99. What we did not buy was orange juice as a normal container of juice was around $18.00!!) When we were all stocked up and had seen all the great sites of Bethel, Keira dropped us off at our home for the next 30 days. As you can see below it doesn't look like much from the outside. But the inside is surprisingly cozy and is fully furnished with all of our basic furniture and appliances to help us get by until our things arrive. It is also complete with a large water tank in the entry way.
I guess that would bring me to one other interesting aspect of living in Bethel that we'll have to adjust to. Water is a pretty precious thing. Each house is complete with a water tank that is filled at regular intervals by either city water which is pumped in or by delivery from a water truck depending on where you live. Because water (like everything else here) is not cheap...conservation is a necessity. This means short showers...turning off water while brushing your teeth...fixing leaky faucets immediately...all that water conservation stuff we should probably do everywhere, but with greater motivation. We really can't complain though as many of the native people in the city and most of the people in the villages don't have running water at all and have to carry what they want to use for the day from other sources.
Although the landscape is not exactly appealing, the people we've been able to meet so far have been. As we are still waiting for the explorer to sail it's way up here we currently have to walk everywhere we go. Thankfully we are only about 1/2 mile to 1 mile from most of the places we need to travel (work/library/groceries and church) and walking is a very common way to get around here. There is actually a wide path along the side of the road that is designated for bike and foot traffic. Most of the people we pass are very friendly and smile and say hi. And now that we have a few friends, we've been scooped up part way through our travels on more than one occasion and taken to our destination.
The weekend...
This weekend my coworkers Keira and Jesse (who have been amazing in helping us get our feet on the ground here) invited us to go out fishing with them. They took us out on their boat onto the Kuskokwim river (along with their daughter and their dog tucker :) and cast nets for salmon. In a very short period of time Jesse had caught 12 silvers! After the fish were cleaned and vacuum packed they sent us home with a freezer full of most of the fish! It was an incredible day...so good to be out on the water, to get to know new friends, and so thankful to have fresh salmon to eat!
On Sunday we went to Bethel Baptist Church which is where Keira and Jesse go. It's a very small church that meets in an even smaller building but we felt so welcomed there. After church there was a potluck (we chose the right Sunday :) and fellowship time. During this time we were able to talk to quite a few people and became much more aware of the depth of ministry needs in Bethel and the surrounding areas. Colby was able to meet Job (the local contractor and missionary he will likely spend some time working with) and to hear about the work he is doing and his ministry. Job has a plane and flies from Bethel out to several of the nearby villages on a weekly basis to lead discipleship based bible studies, he is also involved in some ministry with kids in the local youth detention center and helps to lead bible studies through the church in Bethel. We were able to talk to the pastor who also emphasized the significant needs especially in the neighboring villages. The pastor and some members of the congregation will be flying out to St. Mary's this week to help a local pastor. We also talked to an older couple who work in christian radio and were recently able to provide radio to areas of the Yukon Delta Region that were previously unreached. They made Colby aware that they are very much in need of more help and would welcome any volunteer time he would be willing to spare. I think we both left the church feeling a bit overwhelmed at all of the needs and ministry opportunities in this part of the world. But also with a significant peace that God had lead us here for exactly this. We're praying that he will give us wisdom to know exactly where to plug in and how we can be best used by him during our time in this community.
Finally...
So this is getting just a bit long, but I wanted to make sure I got a good solid update in while I still have time (I start work tomorrow). In closing I wanted to share just one thing that I feel like God has really been pointing out to me lately. I guess I could sum it up by saying that it is the importance of remembering. During my free time on our trip I read a book called "Hinds Feet in High Places" that Penny gave me before we left. It's kind of a fiction book with incredible parallels to our walk with Christ. Throughout the book after each major event where The Shepherd (God) comes through for her, the main character picks up a stone to help her always remember what occurred. As I was reading this I also happened to read the account in Joshua 4 where the people of Israel cross the Jordan River on Dry ground. After they cross the Lord commands Joshua to have the people bring 12 stones up from the Jordan and set them up as a way of remembering what God had done for them at that place. Coincidentally (or not at all :) the pastors sermon this weekend was on 1 Samuel 7:12 where Samuel raises a stone and calls it Ebenezer to help the people remember that "till now the Lord had helped" them. And I'll just top it off by saying that the first time a similar situation happens in the Bible (I think it's the first time anyway) is in Genesis 28 when Jacob has a dream in which the Lord promises to give him the land he is lying on. When he wakes he sets up the stone he had been sleeping on and names the place Bethel :) Anyway...I'm learning in life that when things are repeated I should probably listen. God's hand has been so evident in every aspect of our preparation for this trip, in our travel, and especially in our time here to this point. We're so excited to see what He has in store for us, but likely there will be times when we get discouraged or aren't able to see him working as clearly as we do now. My prayer is that during those times we're able to look back and remember His faithfulness and continue to trust!
Prayer Requests...
That's all for now! I'll just finish with a few quick Prayer requests...and a picture of my x-tra tufs which finally made their way home :)
- We have a great place to stay for 30 days...but after that time we are ousted and will need to find a permanent place to rent. Housing in Bethel is not exactly easy to come by, so your prayers would be appreciated.
- Work officially starts for me tomorrow. Pray that I will be able to learn all then new aspects of this job quickly and be a help to the team
- Colby started classes today...sitting and reading for hours is not his thing. Pray that he will be able to focus and absorb information. And maybe also for his sanity (and mine).
- Colby is also planning to work with Job at least a few days/week. Praying that he will be able to be a help to him, and that he will know how to balance work/ministry and school!
