Catching up

Me inside a 500gal water tank trying to fix a leak. Have I mentioned how much of my ministry involves plumbing?

I sheepishly begin with the reality that I have not done a stellar job of keeping current with our ministry blog. I want to say sorry for that. I've received several requests for updates as of late and I attribute that to the fact that...well I haven't updated. :)

Spring ans Summer were a blur of activity. Galena Bible Church sent it's first mission team to serve with Samaritans Purse down in Bethel, AK to help set the foundation for the Moravian Seminary that they were building there. This was the largest project that SP has taken on in Alaska, and was an incredible blessing for our team to be a part of. While there I had the privilege of preaching at the Moravian Church in Bethel and connected with the Dean of the Seminary. I have been given the opportunity to teach as a professor at the seminary the first two weeks of December. My class will be on the book of Isaiah, and I am humbled and excited!

Galena Bible Church Mission Team to Bethel

Triadedic foundation for the classroom building and dormitory.

Over the course of the summer we tried something new. We moved our Sunday worship times to the evening. This was to accommodate a couple of people who wanted to attend church but were unable to because of conflicting work schedules, and to just try something new. Although we did not experience a major boom of attendance, we enjoyed the relaxed nature of having service in the evening. One of my major projects over the summer was renovating a rent house. As we are supported missionaries (raising most of our support from outside of the local church) we have been looking for ways to offset the reality that missionaries lose financial support over time. From the outside it still looks like an old run down house (that's a next summer project) But the inside has been completely gutted and rebuilt. There are still a couple of small projects left on it, but the couple who will be renting it has already moved it!

In other family news, we announced that we are expecting our 5th child. After we miscarried in April Shell and I were extremely shocked and surprised to discover in mid June that we were expecting again. Our little girl is expected to make her appearance into this world sometime around mid February.

 Church life continues to be a joyous adventure. We launched the Casey family down river in August as missionaries to a nearby village. New families, and LOTS of new students have been connecting with the church through the church service, YoungLife, and Kid's Club. 

We brought on our first additional staff member. Caylee Redford is our Student minister and is also the YoungLife Area Director. We've been able to utilize the house we moved after the flood as her residence and she has made it a little home. It's been great to see students connect to her and streaming in and out of her home!

This past week we hosted three couples from FBC Ville Platte Louiaiana who came and did a weeks worth of training for Celebrate Recovery. CR is a Christ centered recovery program that isn't limited to Alcohol or substance abuse but deals with the whole sin nature. We are excited to begin the process with about a dozen members of our church as we prepare to launch the ministry in August of next school year.

Ways you can be praying:

• Pray that the villages of Rural Alaska would awaken to the hope of Christ. Reports of suicide and death have become a weekly (sometimes daily) event. Pray for laborers to be raised up. 
• We have heard and seen the enemy creating hostility towards God's people through various means. Pray that we would not bow out under persecution and that we would love visibly those who speak against us. 
• Pray for a healthy pregnancy for Michelle and our baby girl.
• Pray for wisdom for me as I seek to teach Isaiah to native pastors and church leaders in Bethel. 
• Pray for discernment as we launch Celebrate Recovery. Currently there is no CR being done anywhere in rural Alaska.