May, 2009

Greetings Everyone,

Many have written asking about the results of the flood. While there were several homes and buildings that suffered some damage, our house and the church stayed dry. We are on fairly high ground. We could see the water from our front yard, but it didn’t get any closer than about seventy-five yards from the house. The Lord really took care of us. We know that many of you were praying, and we believe that it was your prayers that prevented a disaster. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Please pray for us this week. We’ll be flying down to Manchester, New Hampshire for Andrew’s wedding. We’ll fly into Fairbanks tomorrow morning, then drive down to Anchorage. That’s about a six hour drive, but it will save us a little more than $800 on air fares. We’ll then fly from Anchorage to Manchester. Andrew’s bride-to-be is from the Ukraine, and the church that she attends is a Russian Baptist church. I will be performing the ceremony with an interpreter. It should be interesting. I’m not too worried about having an interpreter– I’ve done that before– but I’ve heard rumors about Russian men. You know . . . how they aren’t afraid to kiss one another on the mouth. That scares me. A lot. Pastor Richard B. Jones of Elmer, New Jersey told me to be sure to take plenty of Chapstick. Obviously he fancies himself to be a great comedian. I was kind of hurt that he would laugh in the face of my potential trauma.

This summer is going to be especially busy for us. The last week of June, Rachael is going to travel with a group from Hamilton Acres Baptist Church in Fairbanks, up to a village on the northern coast of Alaska to help with a teen leadership camp. The first week of July, we’ll be hosting a group of college students who are coming to help us with VBS. Right after that, we’ll be leaving for our first furlough. I can’t believe we’ve been here for four years. The time has flown by. Anyway, I’m reluctant to be away from the work here any longer than necessary, so I’ve condensed things down to ten weeks which includes two full weeks of travel time to drive back and forth across Canada. Our schedule is as follows:

July 6--  Leave for the lower 48

July 12--  Lighthouse Baptist, Casper, Wyoming

July 15--  Calvary Baptist, Dysart, Iowa

July 19--  First Baptist, Hartland, Wisconsin

July 22-26--  Berean Baptist, Bunker Hill, Illinois

July 26-29--  Calvary Baptist, Quincy, Illinois

August 2--  Calvary Baptist, Brazil, Indiana

August 9--  Faith Independent Baptist, Frostburg, Maryland

August 12--  Bethel Community, Blackwood Terrace, New Jersey

August 14-16--  First Baptist, Newfield, New Jersey

August 19--  Faith Baptist, Erial, New Jersey

August 23--  First Baptist, Elmer, New Jersey

August 30--  First Baptist, Medford, New Jersey

September 6--  Pine Forest Estates Baptist, Pensacola, Florida

September 9--  Head back to Alaska

This brings me to an urgent prayer request. I have someone to fill the pulpit and take care of our house and pets (one dog, Levi, and one cat whose name is irrelevant) here in Fort Yukon from August 11 until we get home; I still need someone to fill the pulpit (and fill my house) from July 6 to August 10. If any of you are interested, or if you know of anyone who might be interested in a short term missions opportunity, please let me know as soon as possible. The church here will be able to pay for your air fare, but you will need to raise some support for food and spending money. We’ll do our best to stock the pantry and freezer, but our best might not be adequate given the extra travel expenses we’re anticipating. Even if you are only able to fill in for a week or two, please let me know. We might have to kind of piece things together, but that would be okay.

After being off the air for nearly seven months, our transmitter was finally returned to us. That’s a huge praise. We’re broadcasting twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week again. That includes five live broadcasts every weekday– actually, the entire broadcasts aren’t all live, but I have to be in the office to make announcements and run the equipment. Anyway, it keeps me busy.

This January, the public school asked me if I would start a music program for the elementary grades, and I agreed. Although our ministry with the kids in town is the most successful area of the ministry up here (we’re still averaging between twenty and forty kids every Thursday night for "Kids’ Night"), there were still many of them with whom we had little or no contact. Now I know all of the kids in Fort Yukon sixth grade and under. It’s been a great opportunity to begin establishing a good rapport with them. We’re praying that the Lord will use this to help us make further inroads into the community.

The school also asked me to be the male chaperone for the senior class trip last month. When I was a senior in high school, we went on a fifteen mile canoe trip down Sugar Creek in Turkey Run state park; the senior class of Fort Yukon High School spent a week in Oahu. For those of you in Elmer, Oahu is one of the Hawaiian islands. (Take that, Pastor "Be Sure to Take Plenty of Chapstick.") Sometimes the hardships we face as missionaries are difficult to put into words.

Seriously, we’ve had a very difficult time reaching the teens, and the trip really helped me get to know some of them. We’re praying that we’ll see fruit from it in the future.

Please continue to pray about the camp property. I received a letter two weeks ago from the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal Government informing me that the transfer of the camp property to us has been denied. The transaction was filed incorrectly (not our fault), and it has to be re-filed. Please pray that this time there will be no glitches, and that things will move much more quickly. Also please continue to pray about our tax exempt status with the IRS. Day Star Baptist Youth Camp has been granted non-profit corporate status with the state of Alaska. Now, we’re waiting for a response from the IRS regarding our 501(c)3 standing (if that’s the correct way to phrase that). This whole process has been a trial. In every thing give thanks . . . in every thing give thanks . . . .

We are still having our Bible studies with Bonnie and Mae. Please pray for them to continue to grow and mature in the Lord.

Please pray for a man named Mardow. The first time I met him he said, "You know what I don’t like? When white people come up here thinking they’re going to tell us savages how to do things." I wasn’t sure what to say to him, so I said, "You want to talk about savages? I just came from a church in New Jersey." (Sorry, Newfield) Anyway, Mardow laughed, and we have since become friends. Mardow grew up in the Episcopal church; as a matter of fact, his father, Mardow Sr., is a lay minister there. Mardow still sneaks into my office or over to my house every now and then for a talk. Earlier this week during one of his visits, Mardow said, "You know why I come over here? Because I’m looking for answers, and I haven’t found them yet." I’ve been through the Gospel with him several times, and he claims that he has trusted the Lord as his Savior, but the questions that he asks, and many of the things that he says lead me to believe that he is still unsaved. Please pray that the Lord will give Mardow the answers for which he is looking.

Well, I need to get moving. We’re heading over to Dr. and Mrs. Sastic’s house for an indoor picnic a little later (the picnic is indoors because the mosquitoes are outdoors in full force). Anyway, I’m in charge of grilling the salmon. You know how we missionaries suffer.

We love you all. Thank you so much for your love and your prayers. I know I say it in almost every letter, but it’s true– we couldn’t be here without you. We can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate you.

We remain yours in the Lord,

David, Heidi, Andrew, Rachael and Stephen