10,000 Miles in 19 days

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
(Psalm 8:3-4) - Photo by Keith Ramos

Bedded down dog teams in Galena - by Keith Ramos

Photo by Keith Ramos

Aliy Zirkle leading the pack into Galena - Photo by Keith Ramos...I'm not sure what I would do without him.

As Dorthy said in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” We arrived safely back in Galena on Friday morning at 11am after leaving Lafayette, Louisiana on Wednesday at 8:30 am. We would have been home sooner, but we decided to schedule a dentist appointment in Fairbanks for Thursday. Nothing quite like flying all night and then getting a dental cleaning first thing after landing! We left Louisiana at a balmy 70F, and our first morning in Galena it was a cool -25F. No place like home.

We had such a blessed time visiting with biological family and faith family while we were in Texas and Louisiana. I was honored to get to preach at three different churches and meet up with two other churches for food or dessert. Shell and I are so thankful for the love and support that we receive from our ministry partners, and the excitement of everyone about what the Lord is doing in Galena and the Interior.

The Iditarod is coming through Galena this year. We made it home just in time to see the first team come into town.  Several of the SEND Missionaries and other church members are volunteering at the check station. Many of the mushers are waiting to run their dogs at night because it was below zero, and easier for their dogs to run!

Next week we begin a series at church I’m calling “Epic Grace”. When you think of an Epic story, they usually follow the same pattern: 1.Intrigue/Paradise, 2.Lose/tragedy/conflict, 3.Contending, 4. Restoration/Resolution.  This has been the story of our relationship with God up until today. It’s God’s epic story of grace. Be praying for us as we go through this study.

Things you can be praying for:

• Brad Fox (SEND Missionary) and a couple of teens from church went to Nulato this weekend to help with a Kid’s Club meeting there. Pray that Brad was able to connect with the believers  that are there, and that we’ll see God’s will in starting a church in Nulato.
• 10 people from The Gathering Place Church in Pineville Louisiana will be traveling to Galena on the 30^th of March to serve on a mission trip. Pray for safety and effectiveness of their efforts to further the Kingdom.
• Several leaders in the church have been holding a parenting workshop for the past couple of Thursdays. Pray that new community members would feel welcomed to come and that we would have success in helping parents love and nurture their kids.
• Pray for spiritual protection for the men in the bush. Pray that suicide would be prevented and the Gospel would replace hopelessness.

Rest and Rush

Thank you so much for praying. The Lord answered our prayers and gave us relief from the bitter grip of winter. The temperatures have been in the 20's...ABOVE zero for about two weeks!! The day's are getting longer, the sun is shining, and vehicles are working. It's all good.

On the 31st of January Martin Hornfischer (SEND Missionary) and I flew to Anchorage then drove to Soldotna for an ArcticBarnabas Men's retreat. Martin and I used our time the best that we could to meet with people and tell the story of Galena and what God is doing here. We met with the dean at Wayland Baptist College in Anchorage and his wife for dinner in Anchorage our first night and then went to an Evangelism Conference to meet Baptist Pastors from around the state. Wayland is looking to forge a ministry partnership in Galena with the Bible Church, SEND, and YoungLife and we are prayerfully looking at ways to foster that connection.

On the first a van picked us up to head down to Soldotna. A blizzard also decided to tag along. You know you live in Alaska when a "retreat" involves pushing a 4x4 truck that's stuck while its chained to the 15 passenger van that you are riding in! Once we finally reached Solid Rock Bible Camp we were finally able to relax. Neither Martin nor myself really realized just how physically drained we were from the month of average -45 temperatures. We had the opportunity to meet missionaries from all over the state and encourage one another in love and good works. Some of the stories that I heard broke my heart and others gave me great joy at what the Lord is doing. One brother who's family has been serving in a small village (about 150 people) has done 26 funerals in five years, of which only 2 were natural deaths. He also shared a story of a native man who was walking out of the village with a rifle to end his life. The man was intoxicated and later told him he heard a voice say "turn right". He he didn't see anyone but thought "I can walk out of town that way too." so he turned right. A little bit latter he heard the same voice say "turn right". Still not seeing anyone, he turned right again, which led him up the steps of the missionary's home, at 3 in the morning. The man let himself into the house, and my missionary friend had to jump up to see who it was. The man handed him his rifle and said, "I know you, I can talk to you." After a couple pots of coffee, and God's amazing grace that reached into the souls of men this man put his faith in Jesus and is now a regular attender at the village church! Thank God for coffee and Jesus!!

Martin and I were encouraged by the servant hearts of the men who serve at ArcticBarnabus, and were renewed in our passion for the work that we are doing here in Galena. I flew home on the 6th and on the 7th a youth team from Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake, AK came for a week and a half of service. This was the rush. My vehicle was the primary transportation for the team. In the week they were here we put about 250 miles on the explorer. Did I mention there are only about 5 miles of road in town!! They cut, split, and stacked close to 8 chords of firewood, cleaned homes, painted rooms, visited elders, baked cookies, helped with two youth group events, a teen valentine social, and the 10th annual YoungLife Valentine Banquette (which is the only date night all year). We housed the 7 girls at our house, and our house was also the site of all of the team meals, and devotionals. 20+ people at each meal makes for quite the full kitchen.

Galena Bible Church sent our second team out to the village of Ruby this past Sunday to support the church mission that is there. Brad Fox (SEND Missionary) preached and the rest of the team helped with a youth Bible study and game time after the service.We are so excited about the opportunities that the Lord is opening for us to build the Church in interior villages.

Thank you for your faithful prayer for us, and encouragement. Here are some things you can be praying for in the coming weeks:

• We will be traveling on the 20th to head to Texas and Louisiana to visit with family and do support raising. I'll be speaking at or with 5 churches while there. Pray for safety, rest, and Kingdom conversations. 
• Pray for Martin, and Brad as they preach at the Galena Bible Church while I am away. 
• Pray for a young man (22) who tried to take his life this past Saturday. The Lord spared him and he has expressed a desire to have a second chance at life. Pray for David Pavish (Galena YoungLife Leader) who will be discipleing him. 
• Spring has been a historical time of suicides in the bush. Pray that the Lord would hold back the spiritual darkness and allow the Gospel to replace hopelessness. 
• Pray for the Parenting Workshop that the Bible Church will be hosting on Thursdays for the next 7 weeks. Pray that community members would be encouraged to attend.

100 Degrees Below Freezing

We have officially been in Galena for one year! January 20th of 2011 my family touched down in Galena and began an epic journey of experiencing God's faithfulness, provision, and loving kindness. I could not be more happy to be serving where the Lord has led us to serve.

The past couple of weeks have been bitterly cold. Please don't hear me say that in a complaining way. That's just the way that life is here, and it is one of the unique aspects that affects what ministry looks like in the interior of Alaska. Saturday the 28th saw temperatures around town that were -70 and colder. That's 100 degrees colder than the freezing point of water.  In these climates, air begins to 'pocket' itself into super chilled low spots. A 10 foot elevation change may result in a 10 degree temperature difference. One of the painful trials that comes with temperatures like this is that fuel oil (a main source of energy for heat in many houses) starts to gel. This means that it will not pass through the small copper lines to feed the boilers, toyo stoves, and monitors. I helped gather up electric heaters so that community members who were unable to heat their homes would be able to heat the lines enough for them to fuel their main heat sources. Sunday the 29th was a sweet albeit challenging church service. The day started at -58 and didn't really come off of that number. Most vehicles will not start at these temperatures. Ours was no accception. We decided to cancel Sunday School and potluck, since dorm students are not allowed off campus when it's this cold. Most of my congregation that attended WALKED to church, some from almost 2 miles away. Did I mention it was -58!! One of the teachers who's van did start offered to pick us up. We also picked up the Fox family, but before we could get them in the van I had to scare off a moose that was in their driveway. Oh the things you get to do to make church happen in the bush. I am so humbled by the hunger for fellowship, worship, and teaching that I see in my church. Think about it...do you love your church family and crave the corporate praise of God  irregardless of the challenge of getting there?

I preached on the Great Commission concerning the understanding that we as disciples of Jesus are called to "teach them to obey all that I have commanded." It is not merely enough that we teach what Jesus commanded. We must OBEY what Jesus commanded. The mark of a mature disciple is not how much you know, it's how much you OBEY of what you know. We also talked about the need for disciples to remain teachable. Like leather that is hard, at first, becomes soft with use, so we too can bend to the will of the Lord even when he asks us to do difficult things. I then asked the church to share what God has been teaching them, or stretching in them. It was a great encouragement for the body to see each other wrestling with life through the lens of obedience to Christ's commands.

Things you can be praying for:

• A warm front. No explanation needed.
• I will be traveling to Anchorage on Tuesday and Soldotna on Wednesday to attend a men's retreat put on by Arctic Barnabas. Pray that God would allow me to connect with missionries from all over the state as we seek to bring the Gospel to every corner of Alaska.
• Pray for my family as they remain in Galena.
• Pray for myself and Brad Fox to have wisdom in mentoring young men in Galena. 
• Pray that the church would continue to have the resources and energy to meet the physical needs of their neighbors, coworkers, and friends.

Thank you for your continued prayer, support, and love for us. Please let us know if we can serve you in any way.
Blessings,
Chris Kopp
PO BOX 252
Galena AK 99741

Hardship and friendship

First of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope that so far 2012 has found you blessed, and able to serve the Lord and the people around you in many ways. I apologize about the tardiness of this update, but as you will read in a moment, things have been......busy There has been a great many opportunities to develop the virtue of patience since my last update. Physical hardships have abounded since the cold snap that rolled in at Christmas, but I have been so impressed by the believers as I have watched them meet each others needs, and the needs of those around them.

Our Christmas Eve service was very enjoyable. We had about 45 people who attended, and had 10 or 11 people that shared different music, and led Christmas carols. It was very simple and very sweet. Christmas morning the church met again for our normal Sunday service, but we did not meet for potluck. It was that weekend that it started getting cold. It was about -38 by the end of Christmas day and it just got colder as the week progressed. Many people in town and in the church began to have problems with pipes freezing, and vehicles not working. So a large part of that week was spent at different peoples homes helping to thaw pipes.

New Years Eve we celebrated at my brothers house and popped fireworks on the slough behind his home. It was so cold that the wax on the candle that we were using to light the fireworks wouldn't melt sufficiently to keep the fire burning.  New Years day we saw -54 at our house. Another couple at church said their thermometer was reading -60. We still had church! It was a light crowd but we celebrated the morning together. After that weekend was when the real hardships started to develop for people.

Let me explain a couple of things about the functions of life in the village of Galena. Most homes do not have running water coming from the city. They have tanks in their homes that have to be filled every week or so, or they have a well. There are a few (our home in that few) that has city piped water. Most houses in Galena have tanked water. They either haul this themselves (the cheapest way) or have the city deliver the water. The same is true about the sewer systems of the houses. Most have septic tanks that have to be pumped when they are full. We also do not have a garbage pickup service. There are two dumpster location in town that you can bring your trash to, or you can drive out to the dump yourself which is 7 miles outside of town (almost at the end of the road). I'm explaining this to you so that you understand what has been endured in the past two weeks.

Problem one: Water station freezes. The pump house where individuals go to haul their own water freezes, thus inhibiting anyone from hauling water themselves. Luckily they can have it delivered by the cuty water truckl. Unfortunately, it freezes on a weekend, and a water delivery call-out on a weekend is an additional $100. This was a minor problem compared to the next problem.

Problem two: Trash truck failure. Apparently hydraulics and -45 below do not mix well with each other. The city asked all residents to hold their trash until further notice, or haul it to the dump themselves. This however pails in comparison to the final problem.

Problem Three: Sewer truck failure. Apparently nothing mixes well with 45 below for an extended period of time. The one sewer truck for the city had a motor malfunction that stopped it from being able to move. So sewer tanks that  were in need of pumping when it broke down were full for about 9 days. That means no flushing toilets, no showers, no laundry and nothing down the drain.

A couple of days ago I posted a "You know you're in Bush Alaska when..." post here is an additional one that was discussed right after that post. 

Lady from Church "Chris, did you get your honey bucket back from the other people that borrowed it? Can we borrow it?"

Me: "Yes I did and you are more than welcome to use it."

Her: "You know you live in Bush Alaska when you borrow a honey bucket from your pastor and you're not the first to borrow it."

Shell: "You know you're in Bush Alaska when your pastor owns a honey bucket."

Me: "You know you're in Bush Alaska when you know what a honey bucket is."

For those that don't know, a honey bucket is a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid. Ah the glamor of Alaska missions. We have been fairing exceedingly well through all of this. We have had no major problem with our own home situation. So it has freed me to be able to help others. Thanks so much for praying for us and for our church and community.

Last Sunday we kicked off a short series on the Great Commission called Discipleship. This Sunday I began teaching the adult Sunday School class a curriculum that I wrote called "To be a Hebrew" on Hebraic roots in the New Testament. We're looking at the Blood Covenant of the Old Testament, the Tabernacle, and the Feasts of Israel. I don't know if anyone else is as excited about it as me, but it should be a lot of fun.

Things you can be praying for:

- Shell and three other SEND Missionary wives will be attending a Ladies Retreat in Soldotna, AK next weekend with Arctic Barnabas. Pray for their safety, and encouragement there.

- Pray for me because I'll have all three kids to myself from Thursday to Sunday. My goal is to have as many at the end as I started with. 

- Pray for the SEND Missionaries (Brad and Madeline Fox, Martin and Silke Hornfischer, Josh and Theresa Kaufield) as they struggle with their homes in this long cold snap. Also pray that they would have clarity to know where and how to best serve the community and make relationships with people.

- Pray for warmer weather. I think my church would hurt me if I didn't ask you to pray for this.

- YoungLife volunteers will be traveling this coming weekend to attend the YL All Staff Meeting. Pray that God gives them encouragement and a fresh vision for reaching native Alaskan teens with the Gospel.

- Bible Church Youth Group will be starting back this Tuesday. Pray that we can continue to develop relationships with students, and model Godly love and wisdom to them.

Boiling water at 50 Below

Got some curious questions about boiling water and 50 below temperatures. So I though this might help. You are supposed to throw it out a second story window and it won't hit the ground, but all our windows are froze shut. So without further adieu...BOILING WATER AT 50 BELOW!!!

You know you're in Bush Alaska when...

You know you’re in Bush Alaska when…

1. You do not find anything strange about the statement, “It warmed up to -31 today.”
2. A half gallon of liquid bleach from the local store costs more than a movie ticket in the city.
3. You understand what it means to “torch” your engine block so that your truck will start.
4. You’ve been depressed because you want a snack, have looked in the pantry, not seen anything you wanted, and realized that it is EVERYTHING you have for the rest of the year.
5. You know what happens when you throw boiling water in the air when it is -50.
6. You regularly eat food that is past its “sell-by” date.
7. A night out on the town consists of eating a snickers bar down by the river.
8. The “riff-raff” at the local “mall” will not mug you, but might eat you. 
9. You’ve tried to find something for $1.72 so that you qualify for free shipping on Amazon.
10. Your physical address is made up, and sending something General Delivery will actually get to you.
11. Your village posts announcements on the radio station like “The City of Galena asks all residents to conserve any room they have left in their sewage tanks. The truck is still broken down and may not be operational at all this week.” And “To all Galena citizens and businesses, the city is asking you to hold your trash until further notice because of the trash truck failure in the cold weather. 
12. Your family in the lower 48 Google's directions from their house to yours and Google says "You cannot get there from here." 
13. You love Jesus and the people that live here so much that you choose to deal with the above mentioned things so that God can be glorified, and people can meet Jesus.

Thanks for the faithful love and prayer you have given us over the past year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Light Over Galena

 December 21st in Galena Alaska

Official Sunrise: 11:32am

Official Sunset: 3:18pm

 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8-10

What have we, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to fear? Only our own unwillingness to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Death has no sting. Persecution brings growth and unity with Christ. The rejection by family and friends opens the door to God's families' grace and acceptance. It is only our unwillingness to obey the revealed will of God, and the subtle urgings of the Holy Spirit, that we have any reason to fear. We fear that we will be tempted to walk in the darkness we formerly walked in. We fear that we will love the dark more than the light. We know that we love Jesus and are growing in Him not by our spiritual knowledge or Bible trivia, but by our simple obedience to "come follow me". 

Today marks the Winter solstice, the 'shortest' day of the year. The day in which the north pole faces away from the sun, reducing the daylight hours given to the northern hemisphere. This means...it's dark...a lot. When you are in this environment, you use the daylight to its fullest. You don't waist the time given. And you long for the sun's return, it's warm embrace (and the ability for the human body to process vitamin D) :).  I believe this is how it is with every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We may be surrounded by darkness. The only believer in our sphere on influence. But we long to point toward the Son. We uses every opportunity given by the Son to do the tasks he has called us to do. We don't waist the day.  Eph 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 

I know what God's will is for your life. Surprised? You shouldn't be, because you do too! God's will for your (and my) life is to "Go and make disciples of all nations..." I hope this is an encouragement to you to fear not, and obey, because even though it's dark...The Son is coming again!

 Meadowlark Lemon's Harlem Globetrotter All-Stars came to Galena and spoke at two school assemblies, a community meet and greet, and a YoungLife Club. The Galena Bible Church made soups and bread for the community meet and greet, and enjoyed Meadowlark sharing his testimony with the community. 

The Students at the boarding school all went home this past weekend. Some of them would be traveling for several days just to get back to their villages, logging several thousand miles of flying. Have I mentioned how big this state is!

SEND North's Cessna 180 which is now stationed in Galena

 On Sunday December 11th, Galena Bible Church sent it's first mission team out to a surrounding village. Three men, and one young lady (my niece Kaylin) flew to the Bible church in the village of Ruby, which is the next village up river from Galena. They preached, lead worship, and had a teen/kids club time after church. The Church there is lead by a local man who wants the encouragement and support of the Bible Church in Galena. They have been looking for a pastor for several years, and we are planning to fly there once a month to support them.

Inside the one room Ruby Bible Church.

Things you can be praying for:

• The dorm kids-Many are returning to home environments that are not positive, or communities that have no church presence.
• Dorm staff - The last few weeks have been tough for dorm staff, trying to love and encourage student. Pray that they would be able to rest over the break, and have their minds renewed for the task of encouragement this coming semester. 
• Support raising - We are coming to the end of the fiscal year. Pray that our financial support would remain strong as we enter the new year.

From our family to yours...A most joyous and merry Christmas!