"For as the earth brings forth its bud,
as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."
~Is. 61:11
March 30, 2022 Today's sunrise/sunset: 7:13 a.m./8:38 p.m. Length of day: 13 hr, 24 min Today's high/low temp: 31*/7* Yesterday's length of day: 13 hr, 18 min
Dear <<Greeting name>>,
After spending a week in Grayling under quarantine, we had one of our most encouraging days of ministry! The majority of the day was spent with young teenagers who have been part of our lives for the last 6 years. Some of them showed up at the house before church then accompanied us to the service. After the service, they came to the house for lunch. One of the young men had many questions about following Christ from the scripture we covered (Luke 14:26-35). James talked with him for about an hour and a half about sin, confession, forgiveness, repentance, the Word of God, and Bible reading and memorization. Meanwhile, Shannon was having some encouraging conversations with the girls about some of the family struggles they are having. They stayed on into the evening and were part of doing a church service, which we broadcast over the village’s marine band radio for the benefit of those still cautious about coming to church, because of the recent covid outbreak in Grayling. The young man told us that that day was the first time he had actually sung, and he participated his best in singing during the broadcast! We can see the Holy Spirit is working in these kids’ hearts. Please pray for God to continue His work in them and to see their lives and family life transformed by His work.
Training modules have also been an encouraging sign that ministry is getting back to normal. February 8–12, we had our first training module in Palmer since before covid in 2019. It’s exciting to see the more mature Christian men exhorting and teaching the younger people in following the Lord! A week later, we flew to Grayling and were there from February 20–March 5. On March 8, James traveled to Copper Center for a training module on “The Big Picture,” an overview of the Bible. From Copper Center, James drove to Anchorage and flew to the Lower 48 for a combination of a missions conference and a visit with his parents. Another training module is scheduled for April 19–23 in Palmer. Pray for an opportunity that is developing to have our first off-the-road system module sometime this summer.
Village ministry in Fairbanks. Over the last school year, we have had the chance to reach out to a couple of girls from Grayling who are living in Fairbanks and Nenana. Shannon has been taking the girls to the Native church’s youth group with our teenagers, Christa and Jared, and we have been able to have them in our home a handful of times. As we talked with some of the teenagers in Grayling on our last trip, we realized that this could be a continuing area of ministry as some of the kids take the opportunity to go to high school in Nenana (75 miles from us). James also continues to remotely facilitate the Holikachuk language class in Grayling this semester.
Summer projects. We are finally seeing some of the snow melt away. We are currently down to only 31 inches left on the ground! With the summer comes outdoor and building projects. This summer, we need to finish our exterior siding and build a small garage/shop. We have the materials but could always use extra hands. If you want to come help us on our house, we would be glad to host you. In the fall, we are planning to finally install a finished kitchen.
Please pray for a couple of Native men who have stumbled in their walk with the Lord. We are glad to see repentance and the work of the Spirit in renewing their resolve to obey Him.
Family news: last but not least :) The happy day is set for May 28.
