McGrath Community Church Mission Work – Update August 9, 2015

Greetings from McGrath Alaska where it is a cool 53 today and light rain. To all our friends back in Alabama we are so sorry for all the heat. You are welcome to come visit! We have still been having Internet issues and the library has not been very consistent with adhering to their schedule! Guess I will have to volunteer as a library aid! I keep building my resume. One day I am going to decide what I want to be when I grow up!

Things have been going great! I will catch you up on all the great things that are happening here in the most beautiful place…definitely the Last Frontier!

Ministry Update
Christie and I have been able to do some visiting. We have left cookies and a door hanger about McGrath Community Church on the houses on our street. We have had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks late in the afternoon, so we have been limited by how much we can do. But we have made a lot of contacts around the village. We have been here long enough that people are seeing us around more. Christie has become a regular at the local grocery store (called the AC Store). The couple that run the store have kids and grandkids that came to VBS this year for the first time.

Christie has connected with a lady in town that is a baker. Every Saturday she has homemade cinnamon rolls at the cafe. It cost me a fortune to get out of there the Saturday we had lunch! Christie made her delicious banana nut bread and took her a loaf. If these two ladies get together the whole town will be calling Jenny Craig!

Last week I started a series at church called “Life Interrupted”. We are looking the lives of people that Jesus met and “interrupted” the life they were living. Last week we looked at the woman at the well and this week we looked at Simon of Cyrene. I have had an awesome time with this series and I think the folks have also. It is a much different approach to the messages that are used to, but I feel that it is what was needed here.

The church is in a very difficult place right now. The founding pastor is getting well up in age and does not want to preach any more. Pastor Wayne, who I am filling in for this summer, is still dealing with aging parents, a sister whose cancer has resurfaced and a son that is deep into substance abuse, will not be back in the village for a while. (Please pray for pastor Wayne and his family) The person who was helping pastor Wayne is also going to be in and out of the community working on an online education curriculum. So the leadership of the church is not consistent right now. God has always provided leadership over the last few years and this will be no exception. Please pray for the church leadership as they seek God’s direction right now.

Christie and I are having an awesome time working and ministering here. We are connecting with folks that are not church attenders and just loving on them. There is a young girl who lives next door that we have known about as we have had VBS here over the last few years. She has had a hard life and just recently got saved and baptized at a youth camp several weeks ago. She is the same girl i met the night I was at the laundry place studying…the night God had placed me at the laundry place to connect with this girl and my friend who stopped by the house. She has been to church the last 2 Sundays and after the service today we talked and she shared a little with me about what is going on in her life. She shared a devotion she had read with me and asked Christie to go over to the cemetery with her and see the graves where some of her family were. This is a HUGE connection for Christie. Christie invited her to come make cookies with her one day and she gave Christie her number. Pray that this connection will lead to a relationship where Christie can pour into this young girl’s life.

Kidz Zone Update
Due to the construction team from Pennsylvania being here last week, we had to cancel our Bible clubs last week. We had many of the kids still come and want to have it. We will resume this week with our clubs.

School starts here August 19th. Anyone know where the school is located? Yep, right next to the church! I am excited about the possibility of catching the kids leaving school and getting them to the Bible clubs right after school. I am praying that God brings lots of kids to Kidz Zone. We had almost all the elementary kids in VBS this year so I hope the kids that are coming now to Kidz Zone will invite their friends to come after school.

If anyone would like to help fund the Kidz Zone we would appreciate it very much. The things we need most are snack items, powder drink mixes, maybe hard candy for prizes, and maybe kickballs, soccer balls (all deflated of course). I am looking for an earth ball. It is a very BIG ball that the kids can play with outside.

I believe this ministry is going to be a huge part of the work we do here. I have seen more and more parents coming and interacting with us than ever before at VBS. This year our Fun Day for VBS was a big success as far as parents attending. We had lots of parents come for the cookout and stay for the closing program.

Parsonage Construction Update

Roger, Bill, Kathy, Peggy, Betsy & Jim – Pennsylvania Construction team

Jim Nolan and his construction team from Pennsylvania arrived on July 31st to start the final phase of the parsonage construction. The project list was very aggressive and included some much needed work on the church. The team hit the ground running and got off to a very good start. The weather, which had been rainy and cloudy the week before, could not have been better. The temperatures the early part of the week was in the upper 70s and high 80s and BEAUTIFUL skies! The team took advantage of the weather and got the whole outside of the church painted, and some much needed repairs on the roof, fascia and soffit. The church looks like a bright light shining on a hill, well, in the middle of town.

The parsonage work went very well. The team got several of the project list items done; kitchen sink and counter installed, oven connected and working, living room wall (custom cut wood) put up and first coat of varnish applied (it looks very nice), tile installed in kitchen, wood floor installed in living room, shower installed, and sewer connected. Roger and Bill did a lot of work in the parsonage. I had the “privilege” to work with these guys and they were a hoot! They worked very hard, but they had a good time!

Though the week was a very successful week, the main goal of the week, completing the parsonage was not accomplished. The work remaining to be done; complete installation of the shower, install bathroom sink and toilet, hot water heater installed, bathroom tile, install 2 kitchen cabinets and bar counter top, install refrigerator and stackable washer/dryer, and hook up all water lines. All the appliances are onsite, and the materials for the other work are also on site. It would take about two weeks to totally make the parsonage move-in ready.

Jim Nolan just hiding under the house!


Betsy (Penn Team) and John (McGrath) digging sewer line

John (McGrath) hard at work

Christie and the assistant cook Kathy – the food was delicious!

The completion of the parsonage is a major requirement to having a pastor at this church. Due to the cost of housing and utilities, the ability of the church to furnish this parsonage and utilities will greatly increase the possibility of securing a pastor. There are ministries in Alaska that provide the salary of a pastor to churches like McGrath Community Church provided the church furnish the housing and utilities. This is what birthed the idea of this parsonage.

Once the parsonage is move-in ready, it will still need to be furnished. The needs are beds and bedroom furniture (including a loveseat), linens and towels, living room furniture (small living area so a couch and chair will work), kitchen items (pots, pans, dishes, silverware, etc.), and bathroom items. I am going to look into setting up a registry at Target, Fred Meyer (Alaska Walmart), and Walmart in the name of McGrath Community Church. So if you feel lead to help support the completion of the parsonage you can do so through these registries. If you wish you can always send a donation to the church. Please make the check out to McGrath Community Church and note on the check “For Parsonage”. Mail the check to McGrath Community Church, P.O. Box 82, McGrath, AK 99627. You will receive a year-end contribution statements for your tax records.

Lucy and her calf update


Our Girl Lucy

We had not seen Lucy and her calf in a few days. We were really concerned about her. She is the “town moose” and when folks don’t see her they know that she must be up to something. Thursday morning Christie saw her at work again across the street where she had already “mowed down” the neighbor’s leafy lettuce, cabbage and other nice green tops! The one thing I had been told was that moose DO NOT eat the tops of potato plants…they just don’t taste good! Well, someone forgot to tell Lucy! She was mowing down the potato plants! She started moving down the street to the next “buffet table” and Christie went to get her camera. When she got back Lucy was well into mowing down that neighbor’s greens! I think she was having snack before she went to work on her filing!

Parting Thoughts
As I close this update, we want to thank everyone who have committed to pray for us and support this work. I cannot express how we have felt the prayers and seen the Father work in this place. Yes, it is a very hard place physically and spiritually, but oh what an opportunity for the love of Christ to be shared. The word “hopeless” is a loud word here…you see it all around. Each day we are learning more about McGrath and its people. We are learning to love these people more as we live life with them and meet with them on their turf, like the softball field as they gather every Tuesday and Friday nights; at the cafe where we talk with Todd the manager and Ben the owner; at the AC Store (the local grocery store); and just driving down the street and waving.

Continue to pray for us as we share the love and message of Jesus Christ! I plan to send out our newsletter this coming week with some exciting ministry opportunities! If you are not on our newsletter mailing list please send your information, including email address if you prefer it emailed, to me at [email protected].

P.S. For all you avid hunters, moose season opens September 1!

Some parting pictures