It has been a week or so since I arrived back home. Over the last few days I have tried to reflect back over the summer in McGrath and look forward to what opportunities ahead. It was a great summer of connecting with new folks, spending time following up with the kids after Vacation Bible School, and just doing life in McGrath. The time this summer gave us a new perspective of the culture, people, and life in the bush of Alaska. By hanging out at the ball field, having lunch or picking up pizza at the cafe, attending local activities, or just talking to the folks of McGrath, we have gained a much deeper understanding of how life is in this part of Alaska; it is much different than you might think.
We want to thank the McGrath Community Church for allowing us the opportunity to fill-in for Pastor Wayne over the summer; the community of McGrath for allowing Christie and I to “do life” there this summer; and the awesome people of McGrath for making us feel welcome. We want to especially thank the kids of McGrath for a great Vacation Bible School, Kids Club, and the opportunity to get to know many of them better. McGrath is an awesome community!
On Sunday afternoon before I left it appeared that everyone wanted to come and say good-bye. I had never seen all my moose friends in the yard at the same time…PLUS, a new friend came by, Ralph! Ralph is a young bull moose and have not seen a bull moose, well, a live bull moose, the whole summer! I think Ralph was more interested in the females than he was in making friends with me!
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| Ralph |
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| Ralph |
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| Henrietta & her twins – with Ralph watching |
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| Lucy & her calf |
On Sunday September 20, I finished the series “I Challenge You” with “I Challenge You To Surrender It All”. After the challenges to “Read and Study The Scriptures” and “Make Prayer A Priority”, I challenged us to give everything to Christ and follow Him…out of the four walls of the church building, and into the community of McGrath where many of the people do not understand how much God loves them, and that He gave His Son on the cross to prove that love! In closing, I offered a challenge to spend 31 days in the Word. I challenged the body to read a Proverb a day for the next 31 days starting Monday September 21st. I passed out cards that had each day and the Proverb for the day listed. I suggested as they read the Proverb for the day, let one or two verses rise to the top and focus on those verses throughout the day. In fact, I encouraged them to email, call, or text someone what verses stuck out to them and encourage each other. I closed the service with this comment: “We must get to the point that we are no longer content with our walk with Christ, just “doing enough” to get by! If Jesus had had that attitude about His relationship with us He would have NEVER took the route to the cross!”
Update on Future Opportunities
As many of you know from following the blog or receiving our newsletter, the McGrath Community Church has extended an invitation to Christie and I to serve the church for an extended period of time. We met last month with the church and discussed this opportunity. We agreed to serve as missionary “pastor” for a six month interim period, leading the church and helping the church get connected in the community. We set a start date of November 1, 2015.
There is a real need to make Christ known throughout the community of McGrath. We feel like the starting point will be in the children’s ministry and the church body being more intentional about being Christ Followers! We feel very strongly that the current body wants to grow the church, but it must come from the “church” BEING the church outside of Sunday mornings.
For this opportunity to come to realization, two very important things need to happen; first, the church must complete construction of the parsonage and have it furnished and ready for us to move in November 1 (the parsonage and utilities are to be furnished by the church as their part of compensation); second, Christie and I must secure support for the initial setup in McGrath (getting several items of critical winter clothing, flights back to McGrath, initial grocery needs) and partners to commit to supporting us on a monthly basis. The church has invested the majority of its income in the construction of the parsonage. The church has no debt, but at this time cannot provide housing and utilities plus a salary. They hope to very quickly get to a point where they can provide some living assistance. There may be an opportunity for Mike to be the local Library Director, which will provide some monthly income. But the job has not been posted and there will be a interviewing process.
As of this update, I am not aware how close the parsonage is to being ready to move in. I am waiting on updates from the church for this. I know that September was a busy month with everyone in the village out moose hunting (most of the people in the community rely on killing a moose to provide meat for their family for the coming year). As for our support, we are well short of the initial funds needed to get setup and we have only five people who are partnering to support us on a monthly basis. I am scheduled to share our work with two churches over the next two weekends, one, Paoli Presbyterian, being the church responsible for the parsonage project. My goal is to share the potential ministry opportunities in McGrath, and make these churches aware of our part in these opportunities.If these two are not met we will to delay the start date until we can secure the funds, or potentially allow the church to seek another ministry to fill this position.
There is an old African proverb, “If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to run far, run together.” We believe the harvest is great in McGrath, but we need folks to come along side us and pray for McGrath, Alaska, and for us as we move forward to minister there. I have to admit, since that meeting with the church back in August, the enemy has launched an all out attack on Christie and I personally, and on us as a couple. I have been in some tough battles in my walk with Christ, but NONE as intense as this one. The enemy is not happy that someone dare to enter his territory, where he is destroying lives with alcoholism (one death this summer related to alcoholism), where he has created a sense of hopelessness, where he uses addictions to rob people of their joy and future, and where he makes every attempt to make the name and power of Christ meaningless. The love of Christ must be made know in McGrath, and the enemy needs to be out on notice that his territory is about to be invaded!
We would much appreciate your prayers as we work through the things needed to make this happen. We believe that prayer is where this battle will be won! Please partner with us in prayer for the work in McGrath. If you would like to be a financial partner with us, you can make a one time gift, or help support us on a monthly basis. You can make your check payable to Momentum Ministries and mail it to Momentum Ministries, 90 Anna Grace Lane, Wetumpka AL 36092. Please note on the check “McGrath Mission Work”. Momentum Ministries is a “Not For Profit Organization under Section 501(c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Service Code”. Your contribution is tax deductible and year-end tax statements will be provided when a valid mailing address is provided.
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please give us a call at (334) 543-2000 Home, or (334) 292-0090 Mike US Cell / (907) 574-0624 Alaska Cell, or email us at [email protected]. We would love to speak to your church, Sunday School class, or Small Group about the work in McGrath. We are in the process of refreshing our website, and hope to provide the ability to donate online. Check back for updates!