November 2009
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November, 2009
 
 
Greetings Everyone,
 
It was traumatic.  It was humiliating.  I could have been seriously injured.  There should be a law requiring weight limits to be printed on toilet seats, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
 
Well, we're back.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We had a great time visiting all of you, and we truly can't begin to thank you enough for your hospitality and your gifts.  You all were wonderfully generous, and we've been praying that the Lord will bless you accordingly.
 
We all know that God is in complete control of our circumstances, right?  Heidi and I were reminded of that forcefully as we headed home to Fort Yukon.  Because of some unforeseen events (unforeseen by us anyway), we ended up short of cash for our return trip.  We couldn't afford more than a night or two in motels, so Heidi and I did some marathon driving.  If I recall, our longest drive without stopping was thirty-six hours, and we drove through the night a couple other times as well.   Normally, we would have taken at least a week to make the 4,369 mile trip, but this time, we made it in four days.  We were feeling kind of sorry for ourselves, but when we reached the city of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, we called Fort Yukon and found out that one of our church members, Bruce James, the son of Gerald and Evelyn James, had been killed in a terrible accident.  We never would have made it to the funeral if we had been able to travel at our normal pace. 
 
Please pray for the James family.  They have maintained a great testimony in town in spite of horribly difficult circumstances.  They are going to be hurting for a long time.
 
For the second time since we've been here, we were called by a lady who believed that she had demons in her house (a different lady this time).  She asked if I would come and bless her house, so Heidi and I went to her home to see her.  I explained that the only way to rid her home of the demons was to invite the Lord to stay there.  I explained the Gospel to her, and she said that she was pretty sure that she had been saved several years ago, but she wanted to make sure.  We prayed with her and we talked about assurance of salvation.  She hasn't missed a church service since that night (about a month ago), and she has begun coming to our ladies' Bible study on Friday evenings.  She has also brought several of her relatives to the services with her.  What an encouragement!  Please pray for her continued growth and faithfulness.
 
Church attendance has been very good since we've been back, especially the past few weeks.  We had more than eighty people attend our harvest party, and we've been running in the mid-thirties the past few weeks on Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings.  We had thirty-seven kids show up last Thursday for Christmas program practice.  We should have an interesting time the night of our Christmas program.  If every kid brings only one parent, we'll have people standing in the aisle-- we normally only set up thirty-six chairs for our services, and that pretty much fills up our "auditorium."  By the way, I want to be very clear that the good attendance isn't because of anything that I'm doing; this is 100% the Lord's doing and all of the glory is His.  It's just exciting to see Him working up here (in spite of me).
 
We learned something interesting a couple of weeks ago:  If one slips and falls in the mud room while carrying a crock pot full of beef stew in November in Fort Yukon, the beef stew instantly freezes when it comes into contact with the walls and floor of the mud room.  It cannot be wiped off.  It must be scraped and chipped off.   The question naturally occurs to me:  Does the stew then become chipped beef?  Heidi was sore for a couple of days but not seriously hurt.  She was sore at me for a somewhat longer period of time for what she mistakenly took as a lack of concern and inappropriate levity.  I tried to explain through my tears that my laughter was due to my great relief that she was uninjured, and not in any way related to the chunks of potatoes and carrots in her hair.  She wasn't buying it.  Women can be so unreasonable.
 
There's been no new progress on the paperwork for the camp property.  Things are in the apparently arthritic hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Moving quickly just doesn't seem to be their thing.  Still, we know that the Lord is in complete control (see paragraph #3).  We are confident that we have acted according to the Lord's will, so we believe that He will work out the details when the time is right.  Please keep praying.
 
Prayer Requests
  • 1. Please pray for the James family.
  • 2. Please pray for the kids as they pursue their college careers.  Please pray that the Lord will guide them.
  • 3. Please pray for Heidi as she has opportunities to talk to the ladies where she is working, and as she continues  her radio broadcasts on Sunday mornings.
  • 4. Please pray for wisdom for us as we work on plans to build our new fellowship hall next summer.  Also, please pray for the teams that are working on getting up here.
  • 5. Please pray for the ladies that are coming out to the Bible study.
  • 6. Please pray for the special programs and services that we have planned for December.
  • 7. Please pray for Dr. and Mrs. Sastic.  They are doing a phenomenal job up here, but I know it's tough for them to be away from their family, and it's tough just to live up here-- for a variety of reasons.
  • 8. Please keep praying about the camp property.
  • 9. Please keep praying that the Lord will provide an airplane.
  • 10. Please continue to pray for several folks up here who are unsaved.  Pray for wisdom for us as we have opportunities to share the Gospel with them, and please pray that the Lord would give us boldness as well as tact.
I know this letter is kind of short (compared to my usual rambling tomes), but nothing else out of the ordinary has happened since we've been home-- at least nothing is coming to mind.  I suppose I should be thankful for the relative quiet.  A storm is probably on the horizon.  You might want to pray about that too.
 
Thanks again for everything.  I am convinced that we have the greatest family of supporters that any missionary has ever enjoyed.  You are wonderful, and we love every one of you.
 
Yours in the Lord,
David and Heidi Craig