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Mason Mission Moment
Masons Update
Greetings to all from McGrath, Alaska! We are having a great time ministering in America’s Last Frontier. We have weathered the winter pretty good. The long time residents say this winter has been pretty warm compared to winters in the past. The temperatures have been in the 20s and 30s the last couple of weeks, with the nights about 10 degrees cooler. BUT, the temps are on the plus side of the 0 so we will take that!
We have made lots of adjustments to the long hours of darkness that we had when we first got here, but each day we are seeing more minutes of daylight. This is a good thing, but at the end of March we will push the clocks forward an hour, so we will
have to deal with a darker morning, but the afternoons will be good.
Our daughter Jessica, and her husband Marc, are doing well with her pregnancy (baby Jacob, due mid-May.) Caleb and Mason are excited about a baby brother. I am sure they will teach him all the ropes about mom! Clint and Hannah are really having fun with their daughter Dayleigh, who will be 2 this May. She has developed a little prissiness about her, but it makes her so cute!
Leah is doing well. She is having fun teaching, but there are days she has her challenges! She is doing a great job and one of the best teachers at the school!
Here are some shots of the walk I take almost every day. I get to walk across the Kuskokwim River and through what used to be old McGrath before it was moved to its current location. It such a beautiful place…you must put a trip to Alaska on your bucket
list!
McGrath Community Church Update
I am so excited to write and say that God is up to some awesome things in the church here in McGrath. As we meet and fellowship together you can just sense a spirit that is about to get crazy here…I mean crazy in a great way.
The first annual Valentine’s Date Night event was held this month. It was something that was very new for the church, but we had several couples attend. The church was decorated very nice, with candles and flowers on each table. We did not really know what to expect, as McGrath does not have other any “fine dining” experiences. As the couples arrived it was obvious that this was a DATE night as several of the couples were really dressed up. The couples had the chance to have a quiet dinner together and be waited on. After the dinner we played a good ole version of the Newlywed Game. I can’t let you in on ALL the details, but let me just say that it had its moments just like the version you see on TV! There was a lot of talk in the village about the fun that was had, so I think we have a gotten some good advertising. It was decided to make this “date night” a regular thing and maybe have theme nights! We are very excited about where this is going!
The K4G (Kids 4 God) weekly kids Bible Club has started off pretty good. We are trying different days and times to see what will give most of the kids a chance to come. This is a very high-energy, fun time of games, singing, videos and a good word from the Word each week. We also serve the kids a snack lunch which seems to be a good thing. It is so good to start connecting with the kids here.
One of the exciting parts of ministry here has been the youth pizza night each Saturday. The youth are a very hard group to reach. We have some young adults that have been hanging out with these guys for some time and have developed a good core group of about 6-8. We are hoping these guys will start moving to a more spiritual emphasis with these kids and not just pizza and games. Several weeks ago we showed the movie “Do You Believe” and we’re very excited that several kids stayed for the whole movie. After the movie, one of the leaders shared a brief gospel word using the movie for discussion. He did a great job and as I watched the kids I could tell that they were engaged with what he was saying.
Sunday has been awesome times of worship. We have seen several new people joining us for worship, and really engaging in the service. Each week we have a time for prayer as a fellowship, and a time for people to share what God is doing in their life or maybe a word they wanted to share. It has been so good to see how God is working here. We are currently in a series to prepare for Easter called RISEN! that parallels the new movie out by the same name. The church holds an Easter service for the entire village on Easter Sunday. This service is attended by many of the people who never come to church. Please be in prayer for this service and I will have the opportunity to share the Gospel to many who need to hear how Jesus died for us.
We have two women’s Bible studies that have started, giving young moms and other women of the church time to fellowship together and minister to each other.
Are you excited about all that is going on here? It would not be happening without your faithful prayers for the ministry here. We want to thank you guys so much for faithfully praying for us.
Website Update
Our website www.momentuministries.org is up and running so if you have some time check it out and look around. You will find the blog, newsletter and lots of information about what is going on here in McGrath. We are still tweaking the site so we welcome your feedback. You can contact us from the link on the website.
We are also looking to setup a FaceBook page in the near future. Please take some time to look over the site and let us know what you think and how we may be able to improve it.
Future Mission Trips
June 23 – July 3, 2016 McGrath, Alaska – VBS – Youth Outreach – Village Outreach – Special Day Trip ($800 + airfare)
July 29 – August 5, 2016 McGrath, Alaska – Possible Construction ($600 + airfare)
If you are interested in any of these trips please email me at [email protected].
Note: The costs of the trips, excluding airfare, are based on a minimum team. The costs are subject to be adjusted based on the team
make-up.
How You Can Help
We have been blessed by the financial support many of you have provided to help this new mission work. We still need financial partners to help with the monthly support. The church has provided the majority of the funds to build and furnish the parsonage where we will be living, so their contribution is the housing and utilities. We have to provide all other living expenses. The food and supplies must be ordered online and shipped into the village, which carries a high freight cost (the only way in or out of the village is by plane). The costs in the village are three times what we might pay locally here in the lower 48. Our ministry will also have to supply any materials for the children’s ministry, K4G Bible Club, youth ministry and special outreach events. The church, after investing in the parsonage, needs time to build its finances back up.
“Being filled with the “fullness of God” is powerful! It allows God to do immeasurably, abundantly more than I [we] can ever imagine. With God there are NO LIMITS, only the LIMITS I[we] place on God by not being completely surrendered to Him!” (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV) Is there maybe some “abundantly more” the Father wants to do in your life by partnering with us on a future trip, or partnering with us as we pray for God to continue to open doors in Alaska? We are looking for partners to join us in this Kingdom work in Alaska. If you would like to be a financial partner with us you can do so by donating on our secure website, or by sending a check to Momentum Ministries, 90 Anna Grace Lane, Wetumpka, Al 36092 and indicate on it “Ministry of Michael & Christie Mason.
~ Christie and Mike
P.O. Box 27 McGrath, AK 99627[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]