Well thankfully life has been a little less "out of the ordinary" since our last post. Mostly just good opportunities to begin getting to know people and serve the church and community. Sunday the 30th was our second Sunday in Galena. That weekend the YoungLife Area Directors for the state of Alaska were in Galena for an annual meeting. One of them had been scheduled to preach for months, so after not preaching the first Sunday in Galena (see previous blog), I didn't get to preach the second Sunday either. I jokingly told the church council that this was going to be the easiest church in the world if I didn't have to preach. It was a great feeling to get to bring the Word to the body at Galena this past Sunday. I praise God, because of what he has already been doing in the life and health of the church. We almost didn't have an empty seat in the sanctuary! We'll need to add additional seating next week. I preached Exodus 33:15 and shared God's leadership in showing us that we were to go serve in Galena.
Several fun and important events that we were able to attend helped us get to know more of the church, and many members of the community. YoungLife hosted a luau at the city pool that drew about 25 students to come. Basketball is a major cultural and civic event in this village. Most everyone in town comes out to watch the games. We had the chance to meet quite a few people at both of those events. Shell was able to attend a "ladies lunch" this past Friday that was done in one of the church members homes for any ladies in town that want to attend.
An answer to prayer: Last post I had asked for prayer that our van would start. It did! The battery was shot in it and wouldn't hold a charge. Because of an accident that it was in several years ago, there was no room to get the old battery out to put a new one in. So questions: What do you do when there is no auto body shop in town to fix a busted up van...Simple. You hook a chain to the chassis of another truck and onto the crumpled up metal of your van and back it up really hard several times. Works like a charm. (I have the words "you might be a redneck if" floating in my mind for some reason) Thanks to a donated battery, we now have a van that will start when we want it to...so long as it's above -25.
Things you can pray for:
- Feb 8th the youth group from Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake, AK is coming out for a week to serve the community and connect people to the church. Please pray for their safety in travel, and while they are here cutting firewood for elders and working on other service projects. Pray that God would use them to start conversations that lead people to him.
- Feb 9th Pray for me (Chris) as I fly to Fairbanks to fix a tooth that split in half the night before we flew into Galena. (no time to fix it before we left) There are no dentists here, so it requires a 300 mile flight into Fairbanks to have work done.
- Pray for Mrs. Virgina (a lady that attends Galena Bible Church). Her daughter is on life support and is scheduled to be taken off some time this week. Pray that her love for Christ would be a witness to her family during this painful time.
- Pray for opportunities to continue to connect with the people of Galena.
A quick tour of running errands in Galena:
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| Sweetsir's Grocery Store for 6 bananas and a bag of baby carrots (Total $9.59) |
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| Galena Post Office to check our PO Box. |
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| Back to our home in the trees. |
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| We are currently taking suggestions on a name for the van. Current leaders are "One Eyed Willie" and "Alfred P Moose" |
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| For the ladies that read the Blog: The latest arctic fashions, Ladies Steger Mukluks, and a little girls rabbit fur hat. |
1 comment:
Love the pictures, the stories and the news. Helps us know what things are like when you talk about the store and PO and your house. Talk to you soon!
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