Chapter 2: North to Alaska: Warm Wet Winter Days

In our last update I mentioned that we were having a "real Alaskan winter" and talked about those seriously cold, but somehow wonderful, temperatures. Well lets just say I may have spoken a bit too soon. The cold stuck with us for a little while, but sometime near the end of January temperatures climbed above freezing, the snow began to melt, and then to make matters worse it started raining. After a few days of this, our beautiful white landscape turned into a flooded, muddy, icy mess. Several roads were temporarily closed due to the flooding, and those that were not closed became miserable to drive on as those massive potholes began to open up again and try to swallow our cars. The fire company had to pump water away from at least one house as the family inside stood on the porch of what had suddenly become their own personal island. Overflow on the river made it very dangerous to drive on, and as snow disappeared, travel by snow machine became very uncomfortable and difficult. All that to say, Alaska winters are supposed to be cold. Weather aside though, these last 2 months have been full of great things!

Hooper Bay

Early in January I made another work trip to Hooper Bay. I'm looking forward to these trips more each time as I have started to get to know the community and build relationships there. Early on in my travels I was able to make a great friend who happens to host a women's prayer night every Tuesday in her home. This trip I was able to take part in this again. Each time we read the prayer needs from a country somewhere in the world in The Voice of the Martyrs Global Prayer Guide, then discuss needs in the community and our own requests, before spending time in prayer together. It's so amazing and encouraging to me to be able to lift up these things before God with several women from Hooper. There continues to be a lot of hurt within the community as a whole. Just a few days before my last visit there was another suicide in the village. In the midst of the brokenness though, it's amazing to see God's light shining in the women there. Continue to pray that God will use them and their families to spread the truth of the of the Gospel to those around them.

The clinic parking lot in winter time...

Anchorage

I came very close to getting stuck in Hooper Bay on this particular trip, which happens pretty regularly when traveling to villages. I was supposed to leave on a Thursday afternoon, and after waiting for about 2 hours beside the radio in the clinic (I think I've mentioned but there's no airport in Hooper, so someone drives me to the runway when my plane is about to land) I found out that all of the Ravn flights for the day had been canceled. Thankfully, at the very last minute, I found out that there was a Grant plane carrying cargo that had just landed to unload, and would have room for passengers on the way back to Bethel. I made it to the runway just in time to take the very last seat!

My ride to the Plane

I was especially thankful to make it back to Bethel on time as Colby and I had planned a weekend shopping trip to Anchorage. We were definitely due for some groceries, but also needed to make an in person trip to Lowe's and Home Depot as we're making decisions and gathering supplies for our home remodel. Getting something like a bathroom vanity from the hardware store to our house in Bethel is a much more complicated process than it ever would have been in Pennsylvania. But after quite a bit of running around, overloading our rental car, weighing things and waiting in lines we successfully accomplished all we set out to do, and learned a good bit in the process!

K300 Dog Sled Race

The weekend after our Anchorage adventure we got to experience our second K300 Dog Sled Race. The weather was still beautifully cold at the time of the race, so the event was held on the river as it traditionally has been (last year the start had to be changed to a lake in town). We all huddled around the start line as each musher was announced and headed out into the dark. We had some pretty big name racers this year, including Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Nicolas Petit, Bethel's own Pete Kaiser, and this years winner Matthew Failor. Several of the competitors are now racing in the Iditarod which took off yesterday, Saturday March 2nd, in case anyone is into dog sled racing :) Because this is probably the biggest event of the year in Bethel, our church also uses it as an outreach opportunity. Each year we give away hot chocolate and cookies and also make gospel tracts and bibles available in a tent near the start line.

This year we also got to watch the start of the Akiak Dash. This is a shorter race, from Bethel to the village of Akiak and back, about 50 miles. Unlike the K300, all of the mushers start off at the same time for this race. While they were waiting, the dogs were crazy excited, lunging and barking at the end of their lines, but the moment the race started there was absolute silence (except for the patter of paws and the gliding of sleds) every one of them was down to business.

Marriage Retreat

Another exciting event his month was the second annual Marriage God's Way retreat in Bethel. Our friends Derek and Laura Black, and some of their friends from Soldotna, traveled out here to help lead and organize this. Their group provided food and childcare so that married couples from Bethel could spend a weekend learning and soaking in God's word together. One of the great things about the retreat is that the three major Gospel preaching churches in Bethel all take part in it. Our pastor, and the pastors from the Moravian, and the Evangelical Covenant Church each spoke at one of the sessions. We even got to learn more about marriage in the Yupik culture from an elder who spoke first hand about what she's learned through her own many years of marriage. Couples from a wide variety of age groups, walks of life and backgrounds attended this year. It was so good to step away from our usual weekend tasks to spend time in fellowship and to focus on honoring God in our marriages.

The Moose

Two weeks ago, the temperatures dropped below freezing again long enough to open up the world to travel. At their first opportunity, Colby, Job, Job's younger brother Noah, and a visiting friend, took advantage of a fresh layer of snow and a colder day to head north to the Yukon River, where there happen to be quite a few moose. A one way trip to the Yukon is about 75 miles and takes about 3 hours by snow machine. Colby, Job and another friend had attempted this trip together a few weeks prior (when the weather was not nearly as good) and made it about half way before they returned with Job and their friend on one machine and Colby towing Job's machine behind his. This attempt was much better. The crew loaded up their gear and headed out of Bethel around 9 a.m. They made the trip up with no significant set backs and got to see some absolutely beautiful scenery. There is much more snow to the north of us, and as you get close to the Yukon there are also a lot more trees! I am very thankful for technology that allows me to track Job's GPS when they travel. The line they made this time was much straighter than their moose hunting adventure together last winter!

When they arrived at their destination, Colby, Job and Noah all successfully harvested their moose. Colby will tell you that finding the moose, (they are quite large and dark colored and stand out a bit against a white backdrop) and shooting the moose, was really not all that difficult (though it was pretty exciting). Packing the 800-900 pound animal onto his sled to get it back to Bethel was a little more challenging. When he approached it on the ground he realized in a whole new way that moose are more than a little bigger than white tail deer. Despite all the work that had to be done, the boys managed to load up their game and return home by 7:30 p.m. If you would like more details on the hunt feel free to ask Colby all about it!

KYKD Bethel

One last new event over the past 2 months is the start of our small involvement with Bethel's Christian radio station KYKD. KYKD is owned and operated by Voice for Christ Ministries, which is a missionary organization that aims to share the Gospel and Biblical teaching throughout Alaska via radio. The station plays a variety of christian music, however, most of the air time is dedicated to solid biblical teaching and programs designed to help listeners grow in their understanding of Bible. In Western Alaska where many people live in isolated villages, generally without a solid local church, the radio can be a powerful ministry. The KYKD station here in Bethel is currently run by a wonderful couple, Palmer and Bonnie Bailey, who we have gotten to know over the past year. Because I work 4 10 hour days and have 3 day weekends, I often have a little free time. I recently started volunteering at the station for a few hours each week to help read the sunrise/sunset times and tide predictions (fascinating I know : ) for each day. As funny as it may sound, I actually really enjoy it. I've learned to do my own recording and editing and enjoy learning from and spending time with the Baileys.

Colby also got to do a little radio station outreach this weekend. Every few weeks a man named Jesse flies into Bethel from the Anchorage area to travel to several villages in order to promote the station and spread the Gospel. This weekend Colby was able to travel with him by snow machine to three nearby villages, Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk and Atmautluak. They spent the day handing out some radio station items and mostly just visiting, getting to know people and start conversations about Christ as God provided opportunities.

Final Thoughts

I may have shared something like this in a previous post, but God has been convicting me again recently about the necessity and power of prayer. I recently heard a quote on the radio from A.W. Tozer, he writes "God is looking for people through whom he can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only things we can do by ourselves." Obviously that is only a quote from a man and not God's word, but so often those words ring true in my life! From my tiny, limited, human perspective I often feel that I know exactly what needs to happen to accomplish God's will in my life or in the lives of those around me. I think and plan and worry about what will happen if these things don't fall into place. As I am working my hardest to bring these good things about, I often forget to spend time in prayer and allow God to direct my steps. His plans are so much greater than anything we can imagine on our own, and truly we can accomplish nothing for His Glory without the wisdom and strength that come only from Him. I know that I have wasted a good bit of time, and created so much stress, in my life trying to serve Him in my own power. Very thankful that God is patient and takes the time to redirect and remind me that I need to bring every day, task, worry and decision to Him first, and trust that what He is doing through me is infinitely better than anything I could accomplish on my own.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" ~Ephesians 3:20

Prayer Requests

On that note :) Here are a few things you can be praying about for us...

Pray for wisdom and unity for us as we make decisions and move forward with necessary changes to our house. And especially for a clear mind and energy for Colby as he makes repairs.
That we would continue to grow in our own relationships with Christ and in our walk with Him together and that we would be a good example to those around us.
As we have both had the opportunity to be involved in discipleship, pray that hearts would continue to be open there and for guidance for us as we determine direction/material for meeting times.
And finally, pray that we would have open and willing hearts as we seek God's direction for future steps/decisions in our life.