Dear Praying Friends & Loved Ones,(From Kris with a footnote from Gary)
Wow! Where to begin? We have been back in AK for just a little over a month and we are in awe of ALL that God is doing.
We have 32 students at ACC this year!! All but three of our students are Native; most of them Native Alaskan young men and women.
This year our hearts have been especially burdened to pray fervently for the Lord’s work in these young lives. I am so excited to tell you that God is answering that prayer in big, evident ways already.
Two of the prayer requests that God has laid on our hearts this year are; that the truths of God’s Word will take hold in their lives in such a way they won’t forget or lay them aside easily. Instead God’s Truths will guide their decisions and how they live their lives. Secondly, we have been praying specifically that we will not have any pregnancies among our students. This one has been especially enjoyable to see how God is answering it. We have a young lady who has come back to ACC for our second year program. Last year God made Himself very real to her during a most painful breakup with a boyfriend. Through that experience she has come to realize Jesus is the ultimate “boyfriend” and she is “dating God” this school year. She is also a very influential and audible advocate for maintaining virginity and focusing on God through out the school year. The overall atmosphere this year is not like the Dating Game. The majority of our students truly have a hunger for God and a desire to focus on Him not on the opposite sex. Hallelujah!!!I am so blessed and excited that this school year because I’m on campus full-time instead of just a measly 15 hours a week. I already know ALL the students names. That usually takes me until Christmas! This year I have a mentor group that consists of 4 young ladies. We meet once a week. God has blessed me with 4 young ladies who are hungry to be taught and I’m anxious to teach and share my love for my Savior. We’ve only met three times but already we have had some very deep and life changing conversations.This year I’m also mentoring 4 young ladies on a one on one basis. Two of these students are also in my mentor group so this will give us time and opportunity to go even deeper! The other two young ladies I’m spending one on one time with are second year students and are in my “Encore Girls Bible Study” that meets every Wednesday night at my house.The mentoring is where my heart is and I enjoy it the most. But I’m also filling up my 40 hours a week with administrative duties in the New Hope Counseling Center. NHCC has become my home away from home this year. The atmosphere in the office is quiet and inviting and always open for visiting~I LOVE visiting!
God has allowed Gary to be used in a most wonderful way on campus this year. During the summer he was on-call for computer emergencies and got the opportunity to get more familiar with all the workings of the IT side of ACC. In the process, our Office Administrator, Millie, asked Gary about a program called ACCESS. Gary was familiar with it. Being the truly awesome man that he is, he jumped into this project with both feet, learned more about the program in a matter of a week than most could possibly learn in a year AND got the ball rolling, getting all of ACC’s mail and e-mail information merged into the ACCESS program. Millie considers Gary her best buddy when it comes to this project. Getting the ACCESS program up and running will be a most valuable tool in keeping ACC’s records organized and complete.
Family-wise, all is going well too. Gary and I are adjusting to only one child at home-I’m a “mother-hen” and I miss my little chicks who have flown the coop!! But, we are finding this season of our lives quite enjoyable as well. Thank you again, with all our hearts, for your prayers, e-mails, financial gifts and your love! We love you and we cherish this opportunity to partner with you in this fantastic ministry.
Loving Jesus,
Kris
Gary's Addition - - As you can see by the student body picture of ACC. All the front row and part of the second are native students. The impact ACC has on native leadership is becoming quite incredible! As we left Arctic Barnabas Ministries full time to work with native students a while back, my prayers turned to "Lord, one day soon let the leadership ABM ministers to and the students that ACC are dicipling in while-life discipleship . . . . . one day, may they be the same person. Native leaders in native villages.A native elder who I look to with much respect, who founded a very prominent naive Christian Men's group here in Alaska, he told me once "As much as this group has done for Christ in the past 20 years, if I would have instead focused on just 5 men from 5 different villages . . . . how much of a difference that would have made." Well each year, ACC focuses on about 30 native men and women. You do the math.
I finally put all the pictures we took while in Seattle. http://home.gci.net/~motherlode/CassieSeattle05/
There's quite a few thumbnail pictures with larger ones behind them. As you look at them, marvel with us that all that happened and Cassie is doing so well. God is good . . .all the time.
Oh Yeah, one last prayer request. Prayer for our family needing another vehicle. Our van has about 175,000 miles, has been in a few accidents over the years, and really seems to be held together by tie-down straps. bungie cords, and a whole lotta prayer. We also hace an '84 Jeep Jimmy (Still runs great, Steve) . . . but I don't want to take that too far in decent weather, let alone the cold thats coming.
THERE or in the air!
Gary
