Greetings Everyone!

It's not that I personally know Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. It's just that I feel like I do. Those two kids had come to represent to me something bigger than myself. Bigger than the two of them. Bigger than their house, their careers, their bank accounts. Yes, those kids had come to represent to me the hope of marriage . . . .

For those of you who may not know me well, the above rambling was intended to be humorous (I couldn't pick Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston out of a two-person lineup). Anyway, I'm sure that most of you have figured out that I try to include some light-hearted material in every letter. My hope is that folks will actually read our prayer letter, and maybe even look forward to receiving it. It has come to my attention, however, that a small handful of Craig Chronicles readers are afflicted with a rare disease called Debilitating Absence of Sense Of hUmoR Syndrome, or DA-SOURS as it is commonly known in medical circles. If that’s you (and you know who you are), please don't be offended. Let me rush to assure you that we love every one of you bunches, and we want to keep you onboard with us, but we need you to do us a favor. Please, if you read anything that strikes you as being insensitive, or i nappropriate in any way, assume that it is not serious. I promise you that I will never publish a serious complaint or criticism in this letter.

Regarding the previous issue, Pastor Tom Hamilton is a very good friend, and we were having a lot of fun e-sparring over The Chronicles. I can't begin to tell you how much satisfaction it gave me to take things to the next level. (Thanks, Tom!). Also, Heidi helped me come up with the acronym for her "disease" (Debilitating Directional Dyslexia) or DDD. We kid around all the time about her sense of direction, or lack thereof. She has a great sense of humor about it. Every issue of The Chronicles must first pass her inspection before it is disseminated to the great unwashed masses.

Now, on to serious business. We've had a major change of which many of you are already aware. We have changed mission agencies from EBM to Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) of Houston, Texas. We didn't have a falling out with EBM or anything like that. We love the folks at EBM, and they have been a huge help in getting us "transferred" to CMC. The problem was basically philosophical. It had become obvious that the nature of the Alaska ministry was going to demand more flexibility than was possible under EBM policies– and that’s certainly not a criticism of EBM in any way. The decision was a mutual one. Both EBM and we could see that eventually we were going to have to go our separate ways.

At first, we were very disappointed with the way things worked out, but it has become obvious to us that the Lord has been moving us in the direction that He wants for us. The Lord used EBM in many ways to help us develop a ministry strategy, prepare ourselves for the work, and find His direction for the ministry. I'm certain that the Lord wanted us to work with EBM for these past three years, and I'm just as certain that He is moving us in this new direction.

For those of you who have never heard of Central Missionary Clearinghouse, it has nothing to do with a sweepstakes contest. Basically, they are a service organization that handles the ministry’s finances, and that’s all. Our actual mission board now consists of the pastors of our sending and supporting churches. Three of the pastors are officially recognized by CMC, and all the rest are recognized by me. The bottom line is that every decision regarding our ministry (support level, size, scope, direction– everything) will be made by us and the pastors of our supporting churches. Without exception, the response of the pastors with whom I've spoken has been positive. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "That’s the way it ought to be." It’s a little daunting, especially for our sending church, because of the higher level of responsibility that is laid on them, but it is a soundly Scriptural approach to missions, and one that I believe will produce great benefits.

Our support level is currently about 75%. We have seen a huge increase over the past three months. It has been exciting to see the momentum building so quickly. We now have an adequate level of support to work with the Starrs in Fort Yukon for the next year or two. During that time, we are planning on scheduling meetings in some of the churches in Alaska. We are praying that the Lord will enable us to raise the balance of our support by the time that we complete our internship so that we won't have to return to the lower 48 to finish raising it. By the way, the additional support we still need is to take care of airplane maintenance and expenses. Since we're still waiting on the Lord for the plane, we can get by without the other 25% for now.

1. We are working to raise a minimum of $8000 ($10,000 would be much better) for our outfit and passage before we leave. We will be shipping our belongings up to Ft. Yukon, most of which will have to travel down the Yukon River on a barge ($$$). We will have to buy serious winter gear when we arrive ($$$). We will be once again driving the Alaska highway (a week of motels ($$$), food ($$$), fuel in Canada ($$$), etc.) We will have to prepare for winter (stockpile heating oil $$$, three months worth of food, $$$, etc. $$$). We'll have to get our phone ($$$), and utilities ($$$) set up, etc. You get the idea– we will have all of the expenses of a move to a foreign country, plus the added expenses associated with living in a very remote, harsh environment.

2. Please pray for Andrew, Rachael and Stephen (and their mother!). It has been a particularly rough year for home-schooling. We have made a number of extended trips, and in spite of our best intentions, the kids have really fallen behind. They have a huge amount of work to finish before we leave this May. The kids have also made themselves quite comfortable here in Quincy, and are not looking forward to leaving their friends. Frankly, I feel terrible that they've been forced to do this twice in the past year and a half. I know that they will make new friends, and that they will eventually get over it, but they're feeling pretty miserable now, and I'm sure that they would appreciate your prayers.

3. Please keep praying that the Lord will supply that yellow airplane for Heidi!

4. We have several meetings scheduled between now, and the end of May. Please pray that the Lord will be glorified in all, and that we will be able to minister effectively to the folks in these churches.

5. Please keep praying for the van to hold out. We've now racked up more than 125,000 miles on it. It’s been a great van so far. Just about everything on it is still original (including the brakes!) I think about the only thing that we've had to replace is the tires and the front windshield (Alaska highway casualty) That’s great, but it tells me that we are looking at some major maintenance before too long.

We want to thank every one of you for your encouragement in so many ways. We love you, and wouldn't be able to do this without you.

Yours in the Lord,

The Craigs,