Fur Rondy & Iditarod

The Fur Rondy, was February 23 through March 4 this year. Vern Johnson is the father of the event. Johnson and his friends decided to establish a 3-day festival to coincide with the time the miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield. It was a three-day sports tournament February 15, through the 17 in 1935, and featured skiing, hockey, basketball, boxing and a children's sled race.

Many new events have been add since 1935. The World Championship Sled Dog Race in 1946, the World Championship Dog Weight Pull in 1967, Rondy Carnival, the Grand Parade, the uniquely Alaskan Men's Snowshoe Softball, and the Grand Prix Auto Race, one of the oldest street races in North America and ice bowling just to name a few. Rumor has it there will be a running of the Caribou at next year’s Rondy. Look out here comes Comet and he looks mad.

All of these events lead up to the Last Great Race on Earth, The Iditarod. The race is from Anchorage to Nome. Sled teams of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1,150 miles in 10 to 17 days The official start this year was March 4 with a ceremonial start, taking place in downtown Anchorage on March 3. It takes a tough individual to compete is such a race. While men hold the large majority of the teams, women also compete and win. The first woman to win was Libby Riddles in 1985.

Chris and I were able to see some of the Iditarod teams weave their way through the city of Anchorage. Loads of people come to cheer on the dogs and mushers as they leave Anchorage. Some come to cheer for their favorite team, others just to cheer.

Second to None

February has come and gone. The daylight continues to increase. We are gaining about five minutes of daylight each day. I remember waking up one morning and it was light outside. I am sure this is not the case, but it felt like the morning before was dark and then bang there was light. The sun is setting a little after 6:00 pm. We have had nice glorious sunny days this month. All the daylight and brightness is quite deceiving because the average temperature for February was about 10 degrees. A few days were quite chilly at the end of February due to wind. The high for the day would be 15 degrees but wind chill made it feel like -15.

During February, I decided that I would not be doing another internship with Campus Crusade. I feel that I need to pour myself into my marriage to LeAnn. I know that after a long day on campus I would not want to come home and talk with LeAnn because I would be worn out. I am beginning the process of finding a job in Bozeman.

Ministry this month has been encouraging. Ben and Tyler hosted a movie on the 28^th to kick off their bible study for the spring semester. They watched Bruce Almighty and provided pop and popcorn for the students to scoff. While this may seem like a bad movie, it in fact is not. I know that the previews made it look like a movie that makes fun of God, but it shows how bad things would be if we were given God’s power.

In the movie Bruce, the main character, blames God for all the hard things in his life and accuses God of not doing his job. So God gives Bruce His powers and tells Bruce to do a better job. Bruce uses his powers to make his life better but in the process messes up the city of Buffalo, NY. Bruce’s life comes all undone. He loses the woman he loves and in the end confesses to God that he cannot do it on his own and that he needs God.

I was encouraged at how many came to the movie. Seventeen students not counting Ben came to the move. Ben gave the students there a survival kit. The kit has a copy of the New Testament, a water bottle, the book Blue like Jazz, and other cool things.

I have been taking Ben and Tyler to University of Alaska Anchorage to go evangelizing. During our times, we have had good conversations with people. A few of the people we talked with do not believe in Heaven or Hell. They do not think about what will happen to them when they die. I would ask them what the purpose of life is and most of their answers came back that there is no purpose, or that there is no way to know what the purpose of life is until one’s life is over.

I was saddened by the state of students on campus. They do not know what they are living for. It is as if they are not living but just existing in this world. I wonder what brings joy to their lives, what helps them get through the hard times?

When I asked a student if I could explain to him how someone can go to heaven, he told me that he was content not knowing. I cannot fathom how anyone could be content with not knowing how to get to heaven. How do you bring the love of God to someone who is content not knowing it? I guess this proof that when someone gives his or her life to God, it is solely through His greatness.

Chris and I went to Charter College this month. Charter College is for older working people who are seeking to advance their education, or are seeking to switch careers. It is a very small college, which has only one building. Normally we take a few hours to walk around a college, become acquainted with it, and pray over the campus. It took Chris and me 15 minutes to accomplish this. Charter College is going to be a very difficult campus to reach. The students at Charter only go to campus to attend class and then leave right away to go to work or to go home to their families. To get a bachelor degree at Charter it takes two and a half years. This means the turnover rate of students is rather quick. I am praying that God will give us wisdom on how to reach the campus.

For Valentines Day LeAnn sent me a book entitle, The Five Love Languages Men’s Edition. While the book is meant for married men, it gives a lot of great insight into how to speak love to someone. The author, Gary Chapman, explains there are five love languages, words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. He explains that no matter how hard we try to show love to someone, if we are not communicated in their love language, they will not feel loved. The book is quite good and I would recommend for you all to read it, well maybe not the men’s edition since not all of you are men.

During my time in the word, I have been going through first and second Kings. I am always amazed at how many of the kings from both Israel and Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. I cannot help but think that these kings were not very bright individuals. Some of the kings thought that they could worship both God and idols. God would send a prophet to warn the kings and they would not listen and continue doing evil. God would then remove the king from power and replace him with another king. The kings never caught on to this pattern and kept doing evil.

God has shown me that I am really not all that different then the kings of old. I don’t have a prophet coming and telling me I need to change things in my life, but I do have God’s word speaking to me. So while I may not be worshiping idols, or make human sacrifices, I am still not following God in all the ways I need to.

Things you guys can be praying for: ~ That Macey would grow in her faith and understanding of God ~ For God to continue to soften the soil of students hearts ~ That I would trust God with providing me a job in June ~ Continue to pray for God to raise up more leaders in Alaska ~ For more students to come to Ben and Tyler’s bible study and APU

God bless,

Wesley Bennett

2 Samuel 22:33