Message from Saturday

The team made it safely to Lima late Friday night. They are excited and ready to go. After a day of completing final preparations, the team will leave at 4 am Sunday morning to drive the 17 hours to the first village. Please pray for the team throughout Sunday for their travel.

Peru team taking off...

Our team has arrived at the Orlando airport, checked in and ready to roll.

Please be praying for our team as we travel for the remainder of the day. We will depart at 1:20, transfer planes in Houston and then arrive (hopefully) in Lima around 10:30PM. We will then go through customs and then onto the hotel for the night. There is not much hope of sleep before 1AM.

We have a great team: Annette Bushfield, Al Vaughan and Barbara Vaughan bring great strengths to this team. We will join with Shane Hess and David Jacola who are already in Lima going through the Summer Missionary orientation. They will make up part of a 4 person team who will spend the next two months in the villages that we have adopted. We will also have a translator travelling with our team. That brings the total team size to 9. We will be driving an 11 passenger van up the mountains - should be quite interesting. :)

Thank you for your prayers. This is where the difference lies between us taking a trip and us making an eternal impact.

Please also pray for the people in our villages. We are asking God to help us reconnect and deepen relationships with the people we met last year.

We will be updating daily. Thanks for joining with us on this journey. We count it a privilege to be part of a church that sends...

Kevin & the team

See you real soon...

Hatcher's Pass was visited on Tuesday night. Even though it has been a little warm, there was still some snow on the mountains. Some of us hiked up closer to the Mine Shack.

The kids had a great time in the snow, they had a snowball fight and made "Snow Angels".

Along the way we had to be very careful were we stepped, some places had water running under the snow/ice, where the snow had melted and been frozen again. You could see the entire Matanuska Valley, where the town of Palmer could be seen.

It's hard to believe that this is our last day here! There have been so many wonderful sights to see, all that remind us how awesome our God is. Yesterday, there were many "firsts" for some of us.

We went to the Iditarod, Jonathan and I were able to do the dog sled ride pulled by some of the winning dogs of past races. We all were able to play with the new puppies, some may be future winners themselves. Driving down the road, we saw a moose. The van was quickly turned around so that we could get pictures. There was one more stop, Cooks Inlet. What a view there was. We also saw the "Ghost Ship". Apparently, during the earthquake of 1964, a wooden fishing put was pushed up on dry land from a tidal wave.

All have worked hard, from washing down cabins, sewing curtains, raking leaves, to making bunk beds. Hoping that what we do will be a blessing to all of the children that will come to this camp this summer. We were all encouraged when we heard that last year there were 24 children that decided to follow Jesus, and that what we do now, helps lay the foundation for this summer.

We have just finished our morning devotions, about encouargement and finding our place, where God wants us to be. The friendships that have been formed through this Mission Trip will never be forgotten.

Thanks to all of you that have prayed diligently for us.

Julie

Why We're Here...

The Lord has blessed us with the most beautiful weather for our work day! We are able to wear shorts & t-shirts without the need for jackets!! We can see the clear blue sky and enjoy hearing the birds sing or the kids laugh.
Cabin cleaning is almost complete...when those men get finished building another bunk and fixing a screen...we can get in there to clean!! We cleaned the summer cabins and the snack shack this morning then finished the leaves up around the cabins!!!

I have REALLY enjoyed operating the leaf blower...only bad thing is that my job duration is predicated on how much fuel is in the tank...I am only allowed one refill...then...it's shower time. Julie & Rebecca are making draperies for some cabins that still need some black-out in the windows.

Kerry & Bobby are busy building bunk beds some for use now and some for future replacements and they have also made new screens for many of the cabins.

All the kids have been getting the canoes and paddle boats cleaned and ready for use. In between...we are all enjoying some boiled peanuts that Walter made on Sunday...YUM!
Today's devotion was based on the "Be The Church" evangelism card you may have recently seen for our church-wide event. I have one in my bible and wanted to share it with everyone this morning.
WHY WE'RE HERE...
Often people ask what brought us here, and why we're doing what we're doing. There are three simple reasons (we) came to serve others this week...
1. I met God one day, and He has changed my life...I care about people and meeting their needs in a brand new way.
2. I want you to see God's love in (our) service...(We) are serving because of God's love in our lives.
3. It is all about a personal relationship with God...read John 3:16 with new eyes.

I also spoke about where our treasure is there our heart will be also...I was humorously reminded while blowing leaves yesterday and discovering Moose "treasures." While blowing leaves, and getting down to the clean and fresh ground...that's what God does to us...He gets rid of all the "chaff" and makes us clean again. He laid down His life for us...I'm sure none of us can say we would lay our lives down for a room full of people let alone everyone!!
Lastly, I read Matthew 6..."Do not anxiously look about you or worry about what you will wear or eat...look at the birds, they neither reap nor sow, yet your Lord in heaven knows what they need...let's all try to be like birds...in total reliance on God!

Market Day . . .

The morning began with beautiful blue skies, cool crisp air, loons on the lake, and fish scouting around for their breakfast in the clear shallows. It is truly awesome to walk quietly looking at all the wonders that God has created.

After breakfast we went to church; it was so nice to see familar faces from last year. The people were so friendly, they really made us feel welcome.

Then we were off to Anchorage to visit the open market. On the way, we were able to see the beautiful snow capped mountains. There is a lot less snow on them this year. Once in Anchorage, we "shopped til we dropped" in the open market and surrounding stores in the downtown area. We ate at a little open cafe and headed back to the camp where we were greeted with fresh boiled peanuts! Everyone here has made us feel like one big family.

Have a great day and take time to "stop and smell the roses". Rebecca Gillette

We are the 30%!!

Hi there! Kerry here on behalf of the Alaska Missions group. What a beautiful day in some of the most unbelievable country God created!! We got a good start on work here at camp yesterday so today we were treated to some sightseeing with George and Pam. After starting the morning with some bisquits and gravy we loaded up in the camp van and traveled north to the town of Talkeetna. Talkeetna is an old quaint little "tourist" town filled with shops and cafe's along the Talkeetna River. Many of the buildings sported signs indicating they were built in the early 1920's. Moose and caribou antlers were hanging above doorways and some roofs were mounted with old dog sleds. We spent some time walking along the river. Although it has warmed up nicely there were still large chunks of ice along the banks of the river. In the distance Mt McKinley was clearly visible and stood out bright against the blue sky. Only 30% of the people who come to see McKinley actually get to see it because of clouds.

We could see the entire mountain range!! The mountain climbing season has just started and there are over 1000 climbers scheduled to have a try at the 20,000 + foot snow covered summit. While at the ranger station we saw a group of "weathered" climbers checking in that had just returned from their adventure. You don't see guys like that every day. After many photos we headed back south to stop by a "reindeer farm". After feeding reindeer, moose, and elk we headed to the Knik River to drive along the foot of snow covered mountains on our way back to camp.

One of the remarkable things I noticed was that after I had admired mountains and taken pictures until I thought I was done...along would come a ray of sunshine to shine on them and make them look even better. I guess that's a little like the life God has for us. All we have to do is keep looking.

We're Here!!

After a much delayed flight from Houston to Anchorage by way of Seattle...we made it to LaVerne Griffin at approximately 1:30amET!!! It was a long day, but without any incidents! We had a real treat of riding on the airport tram carts in the Houston Intercontinental Airport!! It became a great opportunity to tell of where and why we are going to Alaska! We had chances like this throughout our day and are grateful for these moments!

Pray for strength for this team. There is rain today, which is slowing us even more...you know, rain=sleep! We are tired, but very excited to see what the Lord has planned for us while here at LGYRC. As of now, we ladies have cleaned 8 cabins ceiling to floor and the men have begun to build much needed bunkbeds!

Pray for the needs of the camp, the Chastain family, the Lorenz family and for the healing of a camp visitor's aunt, who is dealing with pneumonia. We look forward to reading your encouraging words!!

Love from Alaska~

2009 Alaska Mission Team

And they're off! The Alaska Mission Team left Ocala this morning bound for Wasilla and the LaVerne Griffin Youth Recreation Camp. 4 of the team members also went last May and are eager to see the Lorenz and Chastain families again. The team will be working to prepare the camp for the summer. Stay tuned for details of their journey as God leads them along a path He has chosen for them.