Saturday, January 22, 2011

An Awesome "Cold" Reception

Thanks to Illiamna Air Taxi............We made it!! God graced us with great flying weather for our trip from Anchorage to Galena. The only problem was the temperature difference between Anchorage (14 above zero) and Galena (-48). The owners of Illiamna Air Taxi are a Christian couple who really have a heart for Galena and the ministry that is happening here. They flew us and all our stuff at no cost to us from Anchorage to Galena on their PC12 airplane. What an amaizing gift! We are SO grateful for their generosity. There were eight church members who managed to get their vehicles to start (no small task when it's this cold) and came to meet us and all our gear on the runway. There is no baggage handling service in Galena, so we unloaded all 1800+ pounds of luggage and groceries into awaiting vans and cars. We then drove to our new home that members of the congregation had worked really hard to get ready for us. One couple had cooked a soup for us and others to eat lunch at our house after unloading, and another two ladies from the church had cooked another soup for dinner, with home made croissants, home made rolls, and cookies! What a blessing. We've been steadily working on un-packing and organizing what we were able to bring of our groceries.    The rest will arrive in the next few weeks as the Iliamna air taxi come and goes through Galena.                                                                                                   


I think we filled up the back of the plane.

 the Yukon River...frozen for now.

 The view from an upstairs window...our winter wonderland
 Our detached garage.
 Yes, it does say -45.
Gorgeous view from the kitchen window. 

It has been an interesting thing driving around town the past two days. There are a lot of people walking the couple of miles from "New town" to "Old Town". This seemed really odd that people would be walking when it's -50, so I asked about it. Many people here walk to where they are going because the cost of fuel is so high, but during the coldest parts of the winter even more people walk because they do not have vehicles that will start at these temperatures. Our van is one of these vehicles that does not want to start. Please pray that we can get it going. It's too cold right now even for snow machines to run.  Jason and Kim, my brother and sister in law, have been a blessing to us by getting us where we need to go.  Kim's taxi service is fantastic!
Please pray for the following things as you think about us:
-Pray that God would help us make great "first impressions" with the church members and the community.
- Pray that God would send us some warmer weather so that we would be able to get out and meet people, and so that people will be able to come to church services
- Pray for me as I begin preaching tomorrow.
-Pray that God would use the Denis Agajanian concert  on Monday to lead people to know and love our God.

2 comments:

Papa&Nonna said...

It sure does look cold out the kitchen window but hope you are nice and warm inside. We will be honoring all of your prayer requests and adding some of our own. Love Papa & Nonna

Debbie and Mike said...

Wow! It is beautiful out the kitchen window. No wonder you wanted us to be able to see out it. You are in a winter wonderland. Will continue to pray for everything and everyone!

Mom