Well, I'm back all safe and sound from the caribou hunt. Had a wonderful time with my pastor and his brother-in-law visiting from Michigan in the mountains on the east side of Tustemena Lake for the first few days of Caribou season.
I've never really been much of a hunter, but was excited about this trip simply because it's a beautiful area of the peninsula that I have never been to before. The added logistics and weight of packing out the meat from one 400+ lb. beast in addition to all of our personal and base camp gear was a real challenge.
We had a grand time trying to sneak up on a group of 7 we could see thru the spotting scope in a snow patch about 2-3 hours walk from where we were spotting, and an additional 1000 feet higher. We made our way towards them in a real surreal situation where we were trying to maneuver around in full view to where they couldn't see us but we could see them if they darted from their "snow chorale, " a bull caribou shot out of the bushes just about 100 feet where we were standing, and Pastor Dan got it on the 2nd shot with Randy's 7MM Ruger. We looked back up at the snow patch and the others had disappeared. The two shots from the rifle no doubt sent them off far, far away.
Why didn't Dan defer to his bro-in-law, who had to pay big bucks for an out-of-state license and tag? Well, Randy was limited to 1 cow only, and Dan could take a bull and two cows. If a cow had popped out of the bushes, it would have been Randy's
The fun sort-of ended as soon as that trigger was squeezed. And it was just about too late in the game to even consider trying to get another one. Dan had a wedding rehearsal the day after our last available day out, and a wedding the following day. I just don't think that missing that would go over too good with the bride and groom, even here in Alaska where hunting and fishing seem to work their way to the top of most people's priority list.
Dan and Randy carried out the meat, and I carried out whatever else we needed to make the long trip back to the boat and again back up to our base camp to pack everything else out the second time. Things were complicated by the fact that the weather got bad on us and we had to deal with some rain and really ferocious winds. (At one point, only about 1/2 mile from our base camp, I felt like God was actually pushing me up hill, the wind was so strong at my back.)
The caribou was shot some 8 miles inland from the lake where we beached out boat, and at about 3000 ft higher altitude, so it made for a real challenge to get things back out. But thankfully we were able to get back to the boat with enough time to spare and we even waited till next morning to "shove off." We had to travel about 25 miles on this lake, so weather and calm waters were a real important factor. Not to mention the fact that the lake is fed by a glacier and the water is very, very cold. It all added up to a great experience. In all, we saw 13 caribou, 3 black bear and maybe 5 or 6 other people the whole week.
Our base camp was on a mountain ridge and it looked really cool looking back at our tent from the next ridge over. Looked like it was parked on the side of a cliff!
I sure enjoyed and needed the time away. And I hope you enjoyed my first ever hunting recap!!
Cassie came back today from 5 days in Pedro Bay, where she was visiting friends that she knew from Child Evangelism training. She had a great time. Today is her birthday, and we plan on celebrating this evening.
Chelsie came back from her wilderness training class with a newfound love for wilderness hiking. Breaking in her new shoes on the hike (not a good idea, you think??) was probably the toughest part for her.
This next weekend Kris and I will be traveling to Kodiak and the villages of Ouzinke and Larson Bay. Actually, I guess Kris will be in Ouzinke with Linda Ross and Heather Overbeek, doing a Ladies Tea and community Outreach and I'll stay back and visit with Alan and Mark. The Rosses and the Overbeeks are InterAct missionaries serving in Kodiak and surrounding villages.
The following Sunday Kris and I will be sharing a ministry update at Kenai Grace Brethren Church, and the Sunday following that, we will be visiting supporting churches in Anchorage. And we are entering the final planning stage for ABM's Ministry Family Retreat in Port Alsworth Alaska Sept 30 - Oct 3rd.
Please pray for a new project I will be organizing for ABM, called "The Arctic Last Minutemen." The concept is simple. By the time someone call US in the middle of the winter for help, they have usually used up most of their other options. A generator goes down, need for firewood, help with engine repair, plumbing problems, who knows. We want to have a database of people locally with different skills. This isn't to organize and plan out trips in advance, but to be available to make a last minute trip out into a village to help with a critical need. The only commitment initially is just to be on the list we call when a need arises. You can guess how many people I will need on the "call list" to even be able to find a few that will be available at a last minute's notice. One advantage here in Alaska, is that many people work a week on and a week off on the North Slope or an oil platform. But we want the list to be very big so we won't need to call on the same people over and over again. In fact, we might not have this need arise at all one winter, and quite a few times another.
While the concept is simple, setting it up and coordinating it with local churches will be a very big task. I need your prayers and the Lord's direction. Thanks.
I would also appreciate prayer for the possibility of some short-term income for me that will take me away from ABM a few times this fall, although it will expand our contacts in the villages long-term. It will mean a two different times of two-week commitment on my part. More specifics later. Right now, I just wish you would pray that God would give us wisdom. At one time, I would say that something like this was "taking me away" from ministry. But I need to feed my family, and I really believe that God will use it to enhance our ministry in the future.
Finally, Kris will be traveling back to Indiana and Illinois for about three weeks in October, after our Ministry Family Retreat. She will be visiting churches and family. We really, really, really (Did I say really) need to kick start out support raising, which is still hovering at just under 50%.
Thank you for your partnership as we prepare to head into yet another winter season in our ministry.
By the way, I am asking for a "Read Receipt" back for this particular message. There has been some concern lately about spam filters on servers and people's machines NOT letting distribution e-mail's thru. So please allow the return receipt to process, just to help me confirm everyone is getting our updates
Gary
