The Yupik Swim

These are some of the kids that went swimming in the water on the small island that we camped on.  Now this water is freezing.  It's run off from the snowy mountains.  It was even cold to wash our hands in.  You may notice how bundled up we were on the shore.

These kids loved it.  We had to make sure they didn't stay in too long and after they got out we had them immediately get in dry clothes and we put them in front of the fire.  The swimming was such a big highlight for them.  Crazy Kids.

Tired Campers

This was the second day of Camp in Togiak.  I wanted you to see these precious kids.  They were so tired that night.  Ask the Lord to give you a real heart for these little ones.  God has a true plan for their lives and it will take divine intervention for it to be realized.

Back in the Lower 48

We got home last Friday afternoon.  Truly a spectacular trip to Togiak, Alaska.  I can't do it justice in a few words here, but let me wholeheartedly say thank you for praying and for all your support.  It is really encouraging to know that you are reading the blog.  That means that you are interested and also praying.  To see that maybe 100 people were reading this everyday really meant a lot to us out there.

Togiak is quite the place.  When you talk about remote places in the world, this is one of those places.  800 people live in this little village.  There is no way in or out except via small aircraft.  For a local to go to the next town it costs them $200 in airfare.  They obviously, don't get out much.  Almost all the people who live there are Yupik and they have lived there for generations.  We spent much time with the kids.  And God has opened up nearly unlimited future opportunities to minister.  If you are looking for a chance to minister to the "forgotten" people, see me and we can hook you up.

Next year we plan to run a full fledged camp up river.  This is a vision that Joe and Lucy (two natives) have had for years and they watched it birthed right before their eyes.  What a privilege to be part of their dreams.  We loved the kids.  I will just include a few pics so you can see their precious faces.  

I will write more thoughts throughout this week, but for now I wanted to just get this updated.

Heading Up River

We will be unavailable for a couple days.  We are heading up the river until Wednesday afternoon.  What an adventure this could be.  This morning the three of us along with two guys from here will be going north and getting the spot ready.  Then in the early evening three boat loads will come up with the kids.  There will be some adults coming with them.  We hope  :-)

The kids are soooo excited about this.  It's all they can talk about.  And, I can imagine what a treat this is for them.  It would be much like a kid back home going to summer camp, but even greater here because there is nothing for these kids back in Togiak.  I'm not sure what we will be doing the entire time up there, but I'm sure God will show up in wonderful way.  Be praying that these kids would get flooded with the Amazing Love of God.

The Spirit is moving in the lives of these people.  Yesterday one of the guys came to the three of us and wanted to repent of some sins he had been involved.  We spent some time with him and I am convinced God is delivering him.  He was a different guy from the morning to the evening.  Then last night after our time with the church people we gave them the gifts we brought.  They loved them - maple syrup, honey, cups, and other stuff.  Well, one of the ladies who sometimes comes wasn't there and she heard about the honey and syrup.  She came over late last night to get them.  She has been staying pretty distant because she is a little back slidden.  At 4 am she called Marian and was overwhelmed by the conviction of the Spirit.  She repented and is ready to get her life back on track with Jesus.  Wow!!!

The camp is named Ngoo wha dah lik  which means "Where There is Life."  It comes from a song that also says there will be streams of living water flowing from them.  We have to go now and get ready.  Please pray for the kids, for our safety, for God to move, for good weather.  It would be nice to have a little sunshine.  The last 3 days, the weather has been raining and in the 40's.  We love you and will hopefully be back in touch on Wednesday.  We should be back in Togiak in the afternoon sometime.

Baptism

I have been involved in a lot of baptisms over the years and they are all special.  In my opinion, it's one of the greatest things a pastor gets to do.  Well, today was maybe the greatest baptism I have ever seen.  There were 8 adults that we dunked.  You can see by the pictures that we used a box that was in the shed.  Fortunately, it still held water.

Each of the candidates gave a testimony and wow was it amazing.  You should have heard what they said.  In fact, you will.  We recorded each of them.  I will post them sometime when I get to higher speed internet.  

One of the very significant things was how much they were impacted by the ISOM school that they are involved in.  Each of the ones who are in the school got baptized because they came to an understanding of the truths of scripture that they never have had and they now understood the significance of baptism.  It was really great to hear them talk about how much Jesus has used ISOM to change their lives.  Be encouraged Dr. Rich and Berin.  Afterward we played some fun games with them.  They are a blast.

Tomorrow we head up river again.  This time we stay for two nights.  We first need to build a latrene and construct our tent.  It is just a canvas.  It's a very nice, high quality tent, but doesn't have any of the structure.  It would be very easy to do at home, but up here our resources are pretty limited.  We are feeling like such boy scouts.

I will write more later.  God bless you all.  We really are blessed by the fact that you are reading this and are praying for us.

Morning service

What a great time we had this morning with Togiak Assembly of God.  This is such a great body of believers.  I think there were 15 of them in attendance this morning an it was such a wonderful fellowship together.  Tim led some worship songs and they also led some.  I love hearing their songs in Yupik.  Very rythmic and happy sounding. 

It was very great to present the students from the Bible School here with their certificates.  The 6 of them felt very special as we brought them up front and made a big deal about what they accomplished.  They have now finished their 4th semester, so there is one more until they graduate.  This is very exciting.  Good job Rich & Berin.  You both would have been very proud of all that going on in the ISOM curriculum up here.

I taught on adoption and how we are defined by our Father.  They responded very well.  We prayed for them and had a great time together around the Lord's Table.  There is something very right about taking communion with people of other tribes.  

We have a quick break now and then we will baptize.  After the baptism we will have a pot luck supper.  This is when we are having some of the real native food.  We will do a few more building projects this evening and then get ready to head to camp tomorrow.

River Camp

This is the view up river where we will be camping with the kids. It is absolutely beautiful! The place where we will put the camp is like a beach area, but it is gravel. We are going back up Monday morning to clear some land and build a latrine, and then they are bringing the kids up later in the day. The plan is to stay up here until Wednesday.

Saturday

Last night with the kids was a great experience.  They have about 30 - 40 kids who come every Friday night.  They are really special children.  We went up river today to scout out the camp.  Wow, is this exciting.  (Unfortunately, the internet here is too slow to upload pictures, so they will have to wait until Anchorage.)  The land is 12 miles up river and the ride and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.  Much of the land is muddy and full of brush, but there is a lot of "beach" area.  That is where we will have the sleeping quarters (tents) and the campfire.  It is also where we will play.  We walked the land and prayed over it.  

We thought we were going up there on Monday and helping to clear the land.  Well, it turns out that we are going to be building an outhouse and then in the afternoon they are bringing up a bunch of kids and we are holding a camp for two nights.  I think it's so funny how God has surprises lined up for us in this great life.  

On our way up we saw up close and personal a beautiful bald eagle.  Wow, what an impressive bird.  

Tomorrow we have church service in the morning.  Well, here's another great surprise.  There are about 7 people in the church who want to get baptized.  So, in the afternoon we are having a baptism.  We have a little baptismal that they have never used and we put it in the sanctuary.  We will have communion the the morning, presentation of ISOM school certificates in the afternoon.  Baptism at 3:00 and then a Pot Luck supper to follow with a bunch of Native food.

I will try to update this tomorrow evening but then we will be up river Monday - Wednesday so I won't be around the web.

On a side note, after 3 days up here I think we finally got caught up on sleep.  Last night was the first night that I really got any sleep.  I think about 6 or so hours.  It's not the jet lag, it's the fact that it never gets dark.  This is really messes with the mind.

We are having an unbelievable time and we thank you all so much for praying.

The Kids

What a great day we had today.  First of all it has been fantastic to just be with Marian.  She is truly a remarkable woman of God.  Right after we got here we began rebuilding one of her stairways to get into her house.  We just about finished it this afternoon.  We had a great dinner and then we met with the kids this evening.  There were about 40 of them that gathered in the church and we had a great time.  We played some games and oh, did the kids have a ball.  We sang some songs.  They sang some of them in the Yupik language - that was great.  It was just a great evening to connect with the people.

Then afterward we really had a great blessing.  Joe, one of the leaders in the church is a fisherman.  We got to talking with him and we got to go out with him tonight and check the nets.  So at midnight we are on an 18 ft. aluminum boat with a 30 hp Yamaha outboard motor.  We went about 15 minutes out and came upon his net.  We got 3 big King Salmon in it.  It was raining and cold but it was awesome.  We are believing that God is going to really bless Joe and Lucy and their fishing business.

Sorry if my writing is poor.  I am totally exhausted as I write this, so this may sound goofy.  We Tomorrow we are heading back out to check the nets at high tide and then we are going up river to scout out the camp.

At Marian's house, pic of Togiak from air

We are in Togiak

Well, we made it!!!!  What a tremendous sight to see Pastor Marian.  We are sitting at her kitchen table sharing and having a wonderful time catching up and catching a vision for the week.  The trip up here was beautiful.  We traveled over some spectacular mountains.  

We traveled in on a Cessna 208 for those of you with plane interests - 2 pilots, 5 seats and a bunch of cargo.  We were met at the gravel landing strip by a guy in a truck.  He took us to the church and we got settled in.  It's overcast and in the 40's. 

Some pressure treated lumber from Dilingham arrived today.  We are going to tear down some broken down stairs out back of the church and rebuild them.  We are heading off to the camp tomorrow to scout out the land and pray.  Then we will go back up on Monday and take tools and begin clearing it out and getting a site plan.  The future is very exciting when it comes to the vision for this camp.  I can tell that this camp has potential for a long term relationship between PF and Togiak.

I would love to write more, but Marian is putting us to work. :-) Off we go.  We will also meet with the kids tonight.  God Bless.

Sent off by the Blicks

We had a great time with the Blicks tonight.  Dinner and then a send off.  I have to say it was a true blessing to see them, spend time having fun and encouraging each other and then praying for us and sending us on.  There was a true sense that we stayed this extra day in Anchorage not just to be a tourist, but to see them.  

We leave tomorrow morning on the plane at 8:15 and arrive in Togiak at 11:30 am.  We are really eager to get there and meet our dear brothers and sisters in Jesus.  We continue to covet your prayers.  On a side note, I must say that Jim Gillete and Tim Smart are two of the finest men I could ever minister with.  I feel very privileged and blessed.

A day in Anchorage

What a blessing today was.  The three of us went south toward Portage Glacier and Wittier.  It is absolutely gorgeous up here.  God is sooo good in displaying His glory in His creation.  Truly "His righteousness is like the mighty mountains." 

The Word says in Isaiah 55:12  "You will go out with joy and be led forth with peace the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands... this will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed. "

We prayed as we left this morning that the Lord would give us something special - even unexpected today.  Well, as we were having a cup of coffee at Starbuck's, Jim was talking about their mission trip to New York City and how Julie Blick taught him how to order at Starbuck's. Anyway, I told him to give her a call.  I thought they would be in airports today on their way home from Alaska.  As God would have it, they were on the other side of Anchorage and are flying out tonight.  We are having dinner with them in a few minutes.  How cool is that?  As PF continues our unintentional tag-team mission to Alaska this summer, we will have the opportunity to get tagged by the Blicks. 

God bless you all and thanks for praying.  We leave tomorrow morning for Togiak at 8:30 in the morning.

In Anchorage

Well, we made it!!!   Jim, Tim and I had good flights and made it no problem.  We got in at 9:30 pm Wednesday night.  We are 4 hours behind you.  We will be in Anchorage as a tourist today, so we are hoping to see some pretty cool stuff.  Our first stop will be at the Visitors Center and see what they suggest.  

One cool thing that happened today.  Jim brought his shofar along.  He took it as a carry on and as he was going through security in Buffalo they questioned him about it.  He told him it was a horn and they asked him how it worked.  So, right there in the airport Jim let 'er rip.  The guard smiled and off we went.  So, we feel the Lord sent us out with a blast of trumpet and the shout of victory.

Tomorrow (Friday) morning we jump aboard the little plains and head out to Togiak.  We are really excited about getting out there.  It seems that they are most excited about getting the camp started.  So, we get to join them in the pioneer process.  God bless you, thanks so much for praying and I will update this this evening.