Thank you for the prayer coverage you offered up on our behalf this for the week we were attending the Survivors of Abuse Leadership Seminar put on as part of the Family Warrior Wellness Initiative I have told you about in the past.
The seminar was held just 60 miles from where we live, and we didn't need a plane to get there! It was held at Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing. Princess Lodge is owned by the Princess Cruise Line. I must admit, it sounded a bit decadent when we first found out the location - - - - but in retrospect, I appreciate the wisdom of the organizers.
From early morning to late night for 5 days, we were involved in intense training sessions and small groups from 8:30 in the morning to 9 PM at night. We were really wiped out emotionally, and appreciated so much the surroundings and the way all our needs were cared for. Incredible!
In short, the seminar packed a 13-week program for small groups into a week. So, by day 3, we were 9 weeks into the program, having met in our small groups as many times! Talk about accelerated growth! I feel closer to those guys in my small group after a week than I do to many of my friends here at home!
The term "SALTY EYES" was used regularly to describe the way people looked as we dealt with grief and pain, in an emotionally charged atmosphere of safety and care. One person that we know of accepted Christ as she was captivated by the love of God being expressed in the stories of those who had been abused, and later (sometime much later) healed by the power of Jesus Christ and an understanding that the abuse they suffered as a child in some dark, painful place - simply was not their fault!
Please pray for the following:
1. Two of the ABM team are flying as I write this e-mail to Shaktoolik, a village on the east shore of Norton Sound for a weekend of participation in a conference between two villages. They are flying out in a small plane. Pray for safety, good weather, and safe return sometime Monday. The plane flight will be 5 hours or so.
2. ABM will be traveling to Idaho in early February to pick up our plane!!! We are so excited! An economical, twin-engine plane fully certified to fly in the worst conditions Alaska can throw at us! But you know, they say the cheapest thing about owning a plane is buying it. The price tag is nearly $200,000! We raised 40% of that ourselves, and the balance was awarded to us in a grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
3. Arctic Barnabas Ministries will be having our first fundraising event on February 14th at the Soldotna Bible Chapel in Soldotna, Alaska. The theme is "Love and Caring in Action" and the goal is to raise money for the Airplane and General fund and widen the awareness of our ministry in our local area. The week before, we will be taking Dave Beegle, the guitarist and dear Christian brother who is coming up from Colorado, into a few villages across the Cook Inlet for a couple of concerts. He will then be providing the music at our banquet, and doing a concert at our church the next night.
4. Between now and March, I will be focusing on reviewing and revising ABM's policy manual, especially as it relates to our work of pastoral care.
5. Kris and I hope to be in Anchorage Part of the week of Feb 17 - 21, to attend the Native Musicale and some of the sessions being held during the day.
6. I will be in the village of Koyuk in early March. Koyuk is about 90 miles northeast of Nome, and Kris will be doing her Woman's Tea in two villages on the Alaska Peninsula in late March, early April (That's the long arm that stretches down and to the west, on the south side of the state.)
7. Kris and I will be attending the FamilyLife conference in Anchorage in Mid March. If you know about these conferences, then you know how refreshing it can be for husband and wife. Because of our ministry with ABM, we have been offered a special rate for the conference. But we still need to pay for two nights in a hotel and all our meals. Please pray and consider helping us in this. Also, we were able to negotiate so that people we serve in the villages could attend the conference at no charge! Of course, they would still have to pay for their trip in, hotel and food. But we were able to send a special mailing out to our focus families, inviting them.
This is just a few of the scheduled events for this winter. It doesn't include some of the last minute trips we may end up making in response to some crisis of call for help.
As we become closer to some of the folks we serve, we become more and more aware of the need to continue in our ministry. It's not a ministry to natives, and it's not a ministry to non-natives. It's a ministry to anyone in a position of Christian leadership in small, remote areas. When we are saved, we are saved for a purpose. Please continue praying for us as we do whatever we can to keep people in ministry LONG-TERM.
We are currently at just under 50% of our needed support. Both Kris and I long for the day when she doesn't have to "work on the side" and I, likewise, can say No to all side jobs.
Thanks for your partnership with us in this ministry.
Gary
