Crossing the Finish Line

April has come and gone and we are just finishing our last week of work. The students are in their finals week, which is the first week of May unless you are an Alaska Pacific University (APU) student, in which case you would have taken your finals the last week of April.

The weather up here is great. The sun is shining, the snow is gone, and I am able to enjoy going outside in sandals and a t-shirt. The sun rises earlier than I want to be up and it sets around 10:00 pm, but it does not get completely dark until after midnight.

Ministry in the month April was busy. We facilitated three different outreaches at three different campuses, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and APU. I was glad to be able to have these different outreaches because it was a great change of pace. I was having a hard time keeping my mind in the fight during my last month of being with the students. So while I get nervous and a little scared for doing outreaches, it was a much need change to the normal schedule.

The out reaches at UAF and UAA were the same. We created postcards that have the website EveryAlaskanStudent.com on the front and have a brief description of the website on the back. The website allows student to safely explore questions about God, Jesus, stress, sex, binge drinking, the purpose of life, and many other topics that are relevant to college students. To go along with these postcards we created posters that said EveryAlaskanStudent.com. We put the posters all over the campuses in every possible place that school would allow.

So how this out reach works is, Chris, Scott, and I would split up and cover the three busiest areas on campus that we could find and hand these postcards out to anyone who would take one. I use the term anyone because students, professors, campus employees, and people that came to campus to use the school’s computers where all given a card. We have had 170 plus hits on the EveryAlaskanStudent.com website in the last three weeks, which is great.

For the most part, people just took that card and walked on. I did have a few conversations with students. Some were with fellow believer who thanked me for what I was doing. One conversation stands out the most. These students defined all religions as a cult, and wonder why I would promote a cult. There seem to be a lot more going on below the surface but I was not able to find out because he had to catch the bus.

The Stump the Pastor out reach did not bring in as many students as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I know that the two students that showed up were there for a reason. One of them will be a suitemate with Ben and Tyler next year. The other guy was very out there in his beliefs. This man thought that if we do not use the exact name of Jesus, which he thinks might be Yeshua, he believes that without calling Jesus’ proper name, not the English translation name, you cannot be saved because Jesus will not know you are talking to him. The same is true for prayer. During the conversation if Pastor Levi said “Jesus,” this man would ask “who?” So then, Pastor Levi would have to say Yeshua in order to carry on the conversation. Pastor Levi was able to get this man’s email so that he could talk to him further.

What have I seen God do while in Alaska? Well first off, I saw Him use our team to have a huge impact in our team members’ lives. God used our team to help Laura deal with the wounds of her past. God used our team to challenge Amy to grow and trust in Him more. God used Chris, Scott, and me to work in each other’s lives. He helped Chris to be able to confront people when they do things that bother him. He used Chris and me to stretch Scott in many ways. God used Chris and Scott to show me I have some pride issues that I need to work on. God also used my roommates to teach me to listen to constructive criticism and not lash back. I could probably write a book about all the ways God has used us to work in each other’s lives.

God did some great things in the lives of students. He used Chris and myself to get a bible study started at APU. He used us to challenge Ben and Tyler to grow. God brought us into contact with Macey, showed us she needs someone to help her grow and then He gave us Jolee to work with Macey. God used Chris to challenge students in Fairbanks to be more proactive in reaching UAF. He used Chris, Scott, and myself to help the UAA ministry get healthy. God worked through us to plant seeds in over 371 students hearts across the state of Alaska during the spring semester. You, my support team, are apart of all that God has done up here. Thank you in your faithfulness in giving financial, and for praying for us. You have made a huge impact in Alaska. So thank you on behalf of myself and the students of Alaska.

Things you guys can be praying for:
~ That God would continue to work in the

lives of Alaskan students
~ For God to continue to soften the soil

of students hearts
~ Continue to pray for God to raise up more

leaders in Alaska
~ For students leaders to be bold

in proclaiming Jesus
~For my safe travel back home

Thank you for a great year and God bless,


Wesley Bennett
2 Samuel 22:33