The Final Post

Thanks so much for all the wonderful prayer support.  I think the adjustment back to Atlanta time was harder than I anticipated.  That, and a few technical difficulties, have kept me from posting more pictures.  Here are a few, what few I could get!

Safely Home!

Thanks so much for your prayer support.  The team arrived safely home in Atlanta and we are now making our way home.  The first flight went smoothly.  In Minneapolis, we ran into some delays with the aircraft.  But after a 40 minute wait, the plane was fixed and it was smooth sailing home.

I'm tired now.  Pictures tomorrow!

A Day at Denali

It was a wonderful day of rest and relaxation as the team went to Denali National Park.  We were up early (4 am) to be on the road by 5 am for a 2 1/2 hour drive to the park.  Once there, we boarded the bus to Eielson Visitor center and enjoyed the views.  The first animal viewed was a moose.  Funny how we never saw one in "Moose" Creek!   After that the sightings came quite quickly.  The bears you see below were wonderful.  We watched the 3 of them pig out as we went towards the Visitor Center.  Then, on the way back, they were sound asleep in nearly the same place.  Unfortunately, Denali wasn't visible to us at any time.  After a wonderful dinner, we came back tired and ready for some sleep.

Jack McCormick will be leaving for the airport soon (his flight leaves at 1:30 or so this morning, which is 5:30 or so Atlanta time).  We will straggle along a little later at 5:00 (9 am Atlanta time).  Keep the team in prayer as we travel home!

It's the Last Piece!

Hip, hip, hurrah!  Gary secured the final piece of drywall today, ensuring that the Child Development Center has walls ready for mudding, sanding, and (at some point) painting.  Of course, we won't be here for all of that, but it felt great to see the last piece come into place.

Now, the guys are putting up the corner bead (the metal strip on outside corners that keeps them from being knicked and dented up) and finishing the clean up.  Looks like we'll be finished early today.  The center looks great.

Last night really rocked, too.  The church youth came over and made a chicken taco dinner for the whole team.  We enjoyed talking and fellowshipping with them.  There must have been at least 20 or so youth present, a good sign always!  The best part was getting to see one of their own be baptized after the meal.  Rick commented that its always a good day when the baptismal waters are stirred.  So, congratulations to Brooklyn, one of the newest members of the family of God.

Cleaning and Working

The ladies of the team were busy today!  Yes, we continue to provide meals for our team, but we took on an extra task today.  The church currently has no one coming in to clean, vacuum and dust; so the ladies took on the challenge.  We were busy vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing and emptying trash for most of the morning and afternoon.  Pastor Bob was so happy (guess who would have had to clean the church if no one else showed up to do it), that he offered to take the ladies over to Eilson to see the park and static display.  We enjoyed seeing the various aircraft used over the last 50 years in Alaska and all over the world.  It was definitely hotter today, maybe around 75, but we were surprised by pea sized hail this afternoon.  It quite coated the ground, but (due to lots of cleaning) I didn't get a picture in.

I won't leave the men out, though.  They were busy drywalling and mudding today, finishing another large chunk.  The center should be fully dry-walled by the time we leave.  Keep up the hard work, team!

Happy Birthday, Charles!

Yes, once again Charles Fowler celebrated his birthday in Alaska.  This is the fourth year in a row that he has celebrated at Moose Creek.  He was a good sport and let us silly string him outrageously.  (Check out what the shirt he is wearing says.)  We enjoyed a fruity cake after he blew out sparkler candles.  His birthday is on July 4th, but due to fatigue from our outreach, I was unable to get this up last night.  Sorry about that!

Answered Prayer!

God is so wonderful!  I asked for prayer last night that God would provide for a way for us to continue to work during the power outage.  Well, here's what God did.  First, Pastor Bob had (or found, I'm not clear which) a generator.  It had some issues, but it was a good possibility.  Then, the power went off at 10 as we were told and came on at 10:40, instead of 2 as previously scheduled.  I'm not sure why the outage was only 40 minutes, but I thank God for it.  So, we were able to continue working, finishing up a lot of sheet rocking.  Now, it's time for the mudding. 

A Day of Evangelism

Wow! What a busy day!  We started off early, heading to set up the games for today's outreach at Christmas Creek.  Christmas Creek is an outdoor market next to Santa House, where an RV camp used to be.  We were worried because the rain was coming down and the wind was blowing, but we trusted God would let us be able to carry through.  At 9:00, Rick, Suzette, Gary, Jack, and Steve went to help register people for the parade.  The first thing we had to do was mount about 100 flags on car window holders.  We all had a good laugh to see "Made in Israel" stamped on the flags!

While the rest of the team finished setting up (and visiting Santa House), Rick, Suzette and Gary went with Cher Morgan (church member) to judge the floats for the parade.  We had some splendid entries.  Here are a few of our favorites:

After we finished, the parade began!  The team regrouped at the games to begin the fun.  Stanley, our football receiver was a huge hit.  People were lined up to toss footballs and earn candy.  The balloon animals were a huge hit, too. 

We had supplies of about 500 balloons and we went through nearly all of them.  Personally, my fingers are still sore from tying those knots.  We were able to hand out all the door knockers for VBS and share with many people about Moose Creek Baptist.  I learned from Pastor Jeff that the Mormons have a big influence here, but that (in his opinion) most people are here in Alaska to escape.  And that includes having little to do with any religious influence.  Join us in praying that the Spirit will lead as we reach out to these people!

We ended the day with a cook out at Pastor Jeff's house.  While most of us are extremely tired right now, we still have a lot of work left to do here.  Tomorrow begins "drywall-o-rama".  This ought to be fun with a power outage scheduled for 10 am to 2 pm.  Pray that the Lord will provide a way for us to work, despite the outage.  He knows our every need! 

Thanks for all of you who are continuing to support us in prayer.  We are feeling those prayers and are very grateful for them. 

Resting and Preparing

Today, the team enjoyed a message on Moses that Jeff Baxter delivered.  The text was from Exodus 3, focusing on Moses' call from God.  Pastor Jeff challenged us to avoid excuses when God calls us to work for Him and reply with "Yes, Lord," instead.  Several team members commented on how much they enjoyed the message.  Afterwards, we enjoyed a spaghetti lunch and finished up our football throw game (see picture).  I have named him "Stanley" (sorry 'bout that Dr. Stanley, but he DOES look like a Stanley to me!).   I've grown rather attached to him and have jokingly told my husband about my "boyfriend".  Tomorrow we'll see if the kids enjoy him as much as we have.

After loading up the games, we headed for a little R & R at the Knotty Shop.  While some of the men enjoyed saving money by sitting outside, the rest of us enjoyed looking in this gift store full of hand-crafted Alaskan treasures (aka souvenirs) that we could take home for our friends and family.  I took another mosquito picture.  (Told you they were large!) 

 Now, we're back at the church resting in preparation for tomorrow.  We'll have to be up early in order to get to the parade grounds before vehicles are banned.  It's shaping up to be a big day tomorrow, but we are asking the Lord to hold off the rain.  Today's high, due to cloud cover, didn't break 65.  I think it was closer to 60, actually.  (Really, I am NOT trying to rub this in to those of you sweltering in Atlanta!)   Your prayers are being felt, so keep us uplifted!

Mosquitoes!

We are under attack, by mosquitoes that is!  They are really thick up here, so unlike last year.  The locals say that all the rain is to be blamed.  Here are a few pictures to help you understand.  Robert is holding a day's supply of repellent.  There's a picture of one I killed inside (the child size scissors are for perspective).  Yes, they are even coming at us inside the building. 

Divide and Conquer

We're working away at preparing the games and getting the drywall done.  Half the team is working on games and half is working on drywall.  Any ideas on a game we can do with hula hoops, a ball or two, and/or a pegboard?  That's my current challenge!  The little helper beside me is Naomi.  She is 3 years old.  Her mother and father are helping to decorate the sanctuary for VBS.

Breakfast is Served

We woke up to the happy smell of cooking sausage and hash browns this morning cooked by Chef Jeff and Chef Bob (see photo). We were joined by several church members and enjoyed the sweetest fellowship. Pastor Rick presented a copy of Turning the Tide to Pastor Jeff. He is very much looking forward to reading it. Now it's off to a day of drywall installation and getting ready for Monday. We have quite a few games to refurbish.