I find it hard to believe as I travel around Alaska that it is part of my job and that my boss is God. I have been able to see some amazing works of God. For example on our way to Fairbanks 
we drove through Denali National Park. We were able to see Denali (Mt. McKenly) in all of it’s glory, towering over the land. Denali is so tall that it makes its own weather patterns around it. God also blessed the team with the ability to go sea kayaking on a lake in Juneau that is feed by a glacier. We were able to kayak over to a cove, beech the kayaks, and go explore an ice cave made by a stream that flows into the glacier. It was incredible to see where the glacier carved a trough through solid rock. I have some great pictures that you can view on my website.
The first day on campus is decoding which means we spend 2-4 hours walking around praying for the campus. The time we spend in prayer depends on the size of the campus. Next we find out about students, where they like to hang out, how many live on campus, what are the popular majors, and get a feel for the culture of the campus. We then track down 
the person in charge of student activities to see what it takes to be recognized by the school as a group. We find out where we can set up tables and hang posters so that we don’t violate any rules. Day two and three are giving out servival kits. These consist of a laundry bag with a copy of the New Testiment, a toy of some sort, a DVD of the Jesus Flim, a music CD, and a book. All that the students have to do is fill out a one minute questionnaire that lets us know their spirtual views. Day four and five are spent meeting with pastors to find out if they would be willing to partner with us, and meeting with potential student leaders. The reason for meeting with pastors is that we want a church we can tell students to go to. The church needs to be biblically sound and a place where they can grow in their faith.
Fairbanks is a beautiful place in the fall. Picture forests as far as you can see made of birch and aspen all turning their fall colors with a few dark green pine trees mixed in. Not everything in Fairbanks is bright however. The campus is very dark spiritually speaking. Some of it could be attributed to the long cold winter that has temperatures that hover around -30 to -40 almost all winter. Another possible factor is the three hours of daylight Fairbanks gets during the winter if the weather is good. We need lot of pray to break down the strong holds of the evil one at University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). There is a Christian club there that makes other believers not refer to themselves as Christians. The man that leads this group has been called the most hated man on campus according to newspapers. This club is an “in your face” pushy type. Their message is that of a street evangelist. I am sure you are familiar with the type. 
They tell you that you are going to hell because you are a wicked person who is full of sin. While this is true for some it is not the way our Lord and Savior taught us to share our faith. We had to change the name of Campus Crusade for Christ to CRU. Alaska so that people will not think we are connected to that guy and his group Creation Club for Christ.
Our time in Fairbanks was good. We were able to meet some believers that want to see some changes on their campus. The sad thing is that there were only a handful and the most eager ones were women. There is a lack of men stepping up to serve here.
Juneau’s climate is that of temperate rain forest. This make for lush green forest with dense foliage on the ground. The terrain is very mountainous and the clouds hug the hills closely. This sounds like a place where you would like to live right? Well I hope you like rain, a lot of rain. It rains there about 300 days a year. Chris and I were walking in the rain to a student’s apartment to meet with him and we notice a stream next to us that was not there a day ago.
The students at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) in Juneau are very open and friendly. There is stronger feeling of joy there compared to students at UAF. We had no problem getting to know students or giving out survival kits. God really blessed us with contacts on the campus of UAS Juneau. We were able to get more contacts than at UAF.
Sitka has two campuses, one is UAS Sitka and the other campus is Sheldon Jackson. Sheldon Jackson is a private four year school that use to be owned by the Presbyterian Church. But about 20 years ago the church relinquished control. Both campuses are small and students at UAS take most of their classes online which makes it hard for us to meet up with them. We are trying to figure out a way to do this. But in spite of this problem God has blessed us with some really strong believers that want to see things changed for God. We plan on helping them reach students however we can.
My definition of ministry is changing into a view that is simpler. We had a regional director come up during our time in Juneau and he did a good job of showing me this. He likes to say “give em heaven” which has helped me to see that ministry is life. Jesus told us to “go”, but this “go” is better translated “as you go”. I am starting to better understand this and how it plays out in my life regardless of what I am doing. Thanks for your prayers and keep them coming because we can not have too much prayer.
Things you guys can be praying about are: ~ The Devil’s strong hold in Fairbanks would be broken
~ Men would step up and serve like God has called us to
~ God would give the team wisdom in reaching the campuses
~ Pray for me to seek God above all and that this would overflow into my ministry
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Wesley Bennett
2 Samuel 22:33
ead the other way. This left Scott, our Spirit filled leader, to pray by himself. While walking around praying, Scott decided he should go through the parking lot and look for used cars. He notices a nice car but no for sale sign. What Scott did notice however was that the car had three different Christian bumper stickers on it. He took out a piece of paper and wrote down an invitation to help us launch a ministry and our team’s email address. After a quick prayer to God to prevent the rain from making the ink run, he crammed the note into the weather striping of the drive’s door. A week of Scott checking the email and no response left him with little hope the note survived. Nevertheless, God was at work.
r hearing a great message, we headed out to the lobby to see if some friends wanted to hang out. While deciding where to go a girl walks up to Chris and asks if he went to the University of Idaho (UI). It turns out that she was part of Crusade at UI and was in the same sorority as a friend of Chris’. She just happens to have transferred to APU and told us of a note from some guy Scott (which was crammed in her window) that she need to email. Before parting ways, she gave Chris her number, and told him she was anxious for us to get back to her. God is at work up here in 
