Dear Friends,

As Cassie's surgery approaches, I just have to tell you that God
is loving us up in so many different ways and thru so many
different people. Thank you!

I have been busy this summer with several major projects at ACC.
The main IT guy is gone for the summer, so I have jumped in and
have sort of been on call for the school all summer. It's been
fun, and challenging. But only because I have had to "learn as I
go" in terms of the network infrastructure on campus.

I have also been doing a fare share of database work in Access
related to the master mailing list program the school uses to
generate mailings and e-mail updates. I am also trying to build
up my computer business and have had some significant contacts
over the past few weeks.

Kris has been very busy this summer. She has stepped outside of
her mentoring role for the summer, working in the kitchen and
assisting the new book keeper. Cassie is known as one of the
"Campus Kids" and spends her days usually with Mom on campus.
All the staff there are basically extended family, and she feels
very comfortable there and helps out whenever she can.

Tyler is working for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation here in
Kenai, and travels up and down the Kenai Peninsula as a
roust-a-bout at various oil-related facilities. He is still not
walking with the Lord, but he has settled down into a regular
work routine, and I have to say that we are very proud of him.
Keep him in your prayers.

Chelsie . . . . Let's see, who is she??? Oh yeah, Chelsie is our
16 year old daughter who we never see! She is working at a local
cannery, and living there as well, Her shift is, now get this, 12
Midnight to 5 pm. I kid you not. She stops home every few days
to say hello, but not nearly enough!

Things are looking pretty good for Seattle. We have a room at a
hotel only 4 blocks away, reserved for the whole period. I will
not get to Seattle until the 7th, and if all goes well, I will
head back to Kenai on the 21st. Kris and Cassie will be there
form the 3rd unit the 23rd.

I got a call the other day from a dear friend from a local church
that partners with us in ministry. They are praying. There are
so many people and groups, Sunday Schools, ladies groups, men's
groups, youth groups and groupie groups all over this country and
others who are praying for Cassie. But you know something. That's
not for God. He doesn't need the noise of all those prayers to
get his attention. No, that is all for us. We need the sound of
all those heartbeats to keep us going. Thank goodness growth
never comes in a vacuum. It comes in the context of people, and
prayers.

God bless each of you!

Gary Harris
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Alaska Christian College, <http://www.akcc.org> www.akcc.org
35109 Royal Place
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Cell 907-252-1574

Cassie's Surgery Date is Set - 7/12/05

Dear Praying Friends,

Well, it looks like things are pretty set now for Cassie's next
trip to Seattle for Surgery. Here are the details, followed by
some specific prayer requests:

1. Arrive in Seattle either the 3rd of August or early morning on
the 4th, for an 11 am appointment. On the 4th and the 5th, they
will be determining left or right side of brain for speech
center.
2. The following Monday and Tuesday they will be placing a GRID
in Cassie's head and she will again be monitored for seizure
activity for a week
3. They will compare the results of the speech center tests with
the GRID Monitoring and prepare for surgery to remove dead brain
tissue
4. This surgery will take place on the 16th of August. It could
take 4 or 5 hours or longer. They will be removing dead or
damaged brain tissue
5. After surgery, the recovery period in the hospital will be 5
to 7 days.
6. Cassie will hopefully be able to return home the 23rd or
thereabouts

You know, I really gotta be honest. In just a few hours I have
gone from "This is what's going to happen sometime in the next
couple months to "This is it!" The inevitability is pretty
stifling. Please pray for the following:

- That the Lord will give Cassie a special peace through all of
this. She will have a whole week without medication while they
have the grid on her, which means she will be having many
seizures. It will be a very difficult week. She has been
incredible. But she is also tired and very scared

- That Kris and I will be able to hold up just a little bit
longer thru all of this. Cassie's seizures currently are less
frequent, but they also seem to be more violent. What a trade.

- That all the doctors involved would be touched by Cassie's
faith in a way that brings real significance to this whole mess.

-That there might be someone I can stay with in the Seattle area
and transportation back and forth from the hospital will not be a
problem (Seattle has a good public transportation system, I am
told)

-That Cassie will be home and recovered and be able to get
enrolled in school, even if it is a bit late.

- Kris was going to travel with Chelsie, our oldest daughter, to
the Carolinas, where Chelsie will stay and work for a year before
returning back here to attend college at UAF. But this surgery
time table will certainly mess these plans up somewhat. Chelsie
and Tyler both have bee really good about all of this and are
just as concerned as we are . . . . But it will be hard having to
alter plans to spend a week with Kris.

- That we will make the right decisions about when I should join
Kris and Cassie. My plane fare will be covered via air miles, but
I will not be able to stay at Harbor View Hospital (Kris will be
able to stay in the room with Cassie). So I will need housing in
the area. Kris will use all of her vacation days, but I will not
have any income during the time I am with them. A few of you have
responded with funds sent directly to us to offset this. Thank
you so much. If you have not yet but would like to help with this
specifically, please respond with the check to either me or Kris
directly and mail to our home address 1136 Walnut Avenue Kenai,
AK 99611. I am told that it needs to be done this way because
these gifts cannot be considered tax deductible.

I can't remember if I have used this term in one of these updates
before our not, but I keep coming back to the concept of being
sort of "raw" over this whole thing. One day I can talk about it
normally without much difficulty, but at other times it's hard to
keep the tears from coming. I teach an adult Sunday School class
at church, and I'm sure they understand what I mean. They have
walked with us through this entire ordeal.

But so have each of you. I long to be able to return to the good
ol' days of ministry updates information about what we are doing
at ACC. There is a lot happening on that front, too, believe me.
But for some reason God is allowing some real difficult things to
come our way. As we "shoulder up" to the tasks before us, we also
are amazed at the little ways (and the big ways, of course) that
we are being loved thru these times by folks in our church, by
ACC families, and by you. Thanks for sticking it out with us.

Gary Harris
To Subscribe to ACCs Email Updates, click on:
www.akcc.org/accpartners
Alaska Christian College, www.akcc.org
35109 Royal Place
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Cell 907-252-1574

Surgery is a "Go" 7/2/05

Dear Praying Friends

Well, we got word this week that Cassie will be going back to Anchorage for
one additional test and then brain surgery.

The one additional test is to verify that Cassie's speech center is nowhere
near where the surgery will take place. As we understand it, this center can
be in different places and if it is in the same area as the surgery, then
there would be additional considerations to look into before surgery would
happen.

So, what will happen next is something like this: Kris and Cassie will go to
Seattle, they will perform the test. If everything is fine, I will fly up
and be there for the surgery and recovery (10 days), which they will do
immediately after verifying. If there's a problem with this test, then Kris
and Cassie might return home. We're not sure.

They need to schedule a lot of resources for the testing and surgery, and
they are trying to do it all at once. But that means that, as things look
now, it will not happen until late AUGUST. We are seeing if the test can
happen sooner, and then the surgery might also happen sooner, just not at
the same time.

Cassie has stabilized quite a bit. She was able to spend some time with
friends at church several different times this week. Kris and I were also
able to get out for dinner and a movie while Cassie was with friends. This
was really, really great!

I was turned down on the job I was looking into as well as another "business
prospect" I was looking into, both on the same day. To be real honest, I am
really struggling right now with what to do. God knows our hearts and we
keep seeing over and over and over again how we are making a difference over
at Alaska Christian College, but I sortof find myself wanting to crawl into
a hole for a while and crawl back out and just "function."

Thanks for hanging in there with us.

By the way, Arctic Barnabas Ministries is in the process of moving it's
website to another provider, and Kris and I decided to stop using our Arctic
Barnabas e-mail and use our ACC instead. So, at some point, our Arctic
Barnabas e-mail addresses will stop working. Gary@akcc.org and
Kris@akcc.org . Cassie is now forgiven_free@hotmail.com

THERE ir in the air.

Gary Harris
To Subscribe to ACCs Email Updates, click on:
<BLOCKED::http://www.akcc.org/accpartners> www.akcc.org/accpartners
Alaska Christian College, <http://www.akcc.org> www.akcc.org
35109 Royal Place
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Cell 907-252-1574