What an amazing weekend in McGrath, Alaska! The weekend started off with a painting party for the ladies of the church and village. This event was made possible by generous donations of supplies by Becky Darnell, Hannah Cooper and Rachel Nelson. And the beautiful results!
All the ladies had a great time and are already planning the next get-together!
The Sunday service was awesome! We had a praise team that consisted of 3 ladies and 1 young girl. WOW, what a beautiful sound it was! And the young girl sang a solo, “Christ The Solid Rock”! She did an outstanding job! The message was the last in the “Life Interrupted” series. This part was my personal story about how God interrupted my life. I let the people see how my life journey has been and shared some personal stories of my life.
At the writing of this update, Christie and I are in Anchorage. We left Monday as had been originally planned. What a gorgeous morning it was! And there was S N O W on the highest mountains. We have plans to travel to Soldotna, Alaska to meet with the Child Evangelism Fellowship Directors for Alaska. We have plans to start a CEF club in the McGrath school (well, at the church which right next door to the school) at the first of the year. We have been reviewing the material and wanted to meet these folks and talk with them. We will also visit Pastor Wayne and his wife who are also in Soldotna, where Rosemary is working as a Nurse Practitioner. We also will be shopping for some winter clothing! Yes, Christie will actually have to wear a coat this winter! We have already been given a pair of “bunny boots”, which are the best boots for the winter we will experience. They are white and look like moon boots! But all the people say they are the best! We will also visit the Surplus Store, a good thrift store and a couple of outdoor stores to pick up a few things.
Today we have a “play day” and are going to the Alaska State Fair. We have been warned not to expect this fair to be like the fairs back home. It is “different” they say. But we have been told we must visit the food vendor that sells “donut burgers”! Yes, you heard that right, D O N U T burgers. It is a hamburger on a glazed donut as the bun. For those of you back home, can you imagine a FRESH, HOT Krispy Kreme donut as the bun for a hamburger! Lookout for picture of our fair day!
I will put Christie on a plane Thursday night to head back to Alabama to start our preparation for coming back to McGrath. I will fly back to McGrath on Friday and stay through the third Sunday in September when there will be someone to fill the pulpit until we get back in late October.
We got some news this weekend that the church has contacted a mission group in Alaska called Artic Barnabas. They focus on helping village ministries with construction work. They have scheduled to come to McGrath in mid September to help finish the work on the parsonage to have it ready for us when we come back up in late October.
We are very excited about the opportunity that the Lord has provided. As part of the three year commitment Momentum Ministries made to the McGrath Community Church, we wanted to be in the village to experience the “winter” with the people and try to provide opportunities, for the kids and youth especially, to come together for activities and ministry. We have several holiday things we are working on, and children and youth things as well. Please continue to pray for us and the church as we try to be the hands, feet, and mouth of Christ.
If you have any questions or comments, or would like to talk about how you, or your church could help this ministry please contact me at [email protected], 907-574-0624 (Alaska cell) or 334-292-0090 (Alabama cell after September 20).