49th Ministry: December 2006

The month of November was bitter cold. The whole month hovered around 10 degrees or less. With the weather this cold it was hard for me to want to get out and do anything. We have not received any more snow since that first storm at the end of October. The temperature is supposed to climb back up and reach a balmy 29 degrees. Break out the shorts and sun block I’m going to go play volleyball. No seriously, 29 degrees is a lot warmer but the humidity makes it feel colder than it really is. I am not use to that back home. The daylight up here continues to fade. The sun rises around 9:30 am and sets about 3:50 pm. Being back for Christmas will be crazy because of how much day light there will be.

November was a life change month for me and for my girlfriend LeAnn. She came up to visit me for Thanksgiving. While she was up here, I lost a girlfriend but gained a fiancé. So I had a very thankful Thanksgiving. I asked her to marry me on Sunday the 19. LeAnn and I went out to take pictures of the sunrise on Sunday. While she was taking pictures, I read her a poem that I had written for her. The end of the poem was asking her to marry me, since she is my bride to be, I will let you guess what she said. We hope to get married in August. This should give us time to plan a wedding.

Thanksgiving was nice. Pastor Levi and his wife, Heidi, invited the team over for thanks giving. He is the Pastor of the church we have been attending. Amy was in Montana deer hunting and Chris went to a friend’s home so they did not go to Levi’s home. However, Scott, LeAnn, Ben, one of the APU guys, and I went. The food was good. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, and stuffing. For dessert, we had homemade pumpkin pie. I ate way too much food but it would not Thanksgiving otherwise right? The fellowship at Levi’s was nice and I enjoyed spending the time with Ben.

In sadder news, we have lost a teammate. Laura has decided to take herself off the team. She has had very rough childhood and needs to heal from some past wounds. A soldier will not last very long on the front line if they are not at full strength for the battle. God has given Laura wisdom to see this. She will be going to Portland to live with a friend and to get help from very strong Christian women there. The team will miss her but we know that while she may not be physically here she will be doing battle by praying for us. Many a battle has been won by a well-timed call to bring in the artillery. That is what Laura is going to be doing for us. She is going to pray to God to bring down the heavy guns to bring down the evil one’s strong holds.

Ministry has been very encouraging this month. Chris and I have been meeting with Ben, Tyler, and Jake, the guys from Alaska Pacific University (APU). Their passion and excitement to reach their fellow students has been a nice change. Because APU is here in Anchorage Chris and I have been able to get out of our apartment and meet with them. We have been going to Tuesday night chapel at APU. Chris and I meet with the guys after chapel to see how things are going with them and talk about starting a bible study. Ben, Tyler, and Jake filled out the application to be a student leader and signed the statement of faith paper saying that they agree with what Campus Crusade believes. The guys have no problem sharing their faith and from the sound of it, they have been sharing with people on campus already. APU now has a student lead ministry, praise God!

Chris and I explained to Ben and Tyler that we would not be leading the Bible study, nor would we be telling them what the Bible study should cover. We want the Bible study to be theirs. This will make sure that they take ownership of the ministry on their campus. We explained to them that the Bible study needs to be out reach minded, a place of acceptance, and a time for believers to grow. Ben and Tyler were encouraged by the freedom that we gave them. They ran their ideas by us to see what we thought. They have some good ideas on how to keep the Bible study fun but also a time to grow and learn about God. I am excited to see how God is going to use them. The guys leading the Bible study will be at APU for a while, which is nice to ensure that there is a ministry there next year. Ben is a freshman and Tyler is a transfer junior.

During Thanksgiving, Ben talked about their first Bible study. He was so jazzed and excited to have had the first Bible study of the year. I was so encouraged hearing the energy in his voice. The Bible study was on Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Tyler and Ben are thinking that they need to move the Bible study to a later time because some students that wanted to come could not because of class.

Chris and I will continue to meet with Ben, Tyler, and Jake. We will dig into their lives to help them grow in their ministries skills and their faith.