We arrived in Anchorage and drove by van to the First Covenant Church last night. Arriving just after 1am Anchorage time (2am San Diego time), the students were wired for sound while the adult leaders were very happy to see a few couches to elevate us off the floors. Gaining a few hours sleep, we awoke to a fresh Alaska morning, cereal and muffins, 30 minutes of personal bible time and then church with the Covenant Church. Long white church, open beam ceilings, wood pews .... 100 in attendance today. 60 visiting. 28 (us) from San Diego and 30 from Minnesota completing their mission trip.
Live worship band (mellow and traditional)
Family prayer time ( different for our students)
Children's message (on Babylon)
The Pastors message on Babylon - Jeremiah 29: 4-14 (engage the City where you've been called / bloom where you are planted /good message)
Lots of stand up, sit down :-)
Spent some time just hanging out, killing time ... random lunch, and we are on our way to Soldotna. We traveled along one of the world's great drives starting in Anchorage and leading south on the Seward Highway towards Portage Glacier. It's the trip, not the destination, that makes it worthwhile. The two-lane highway along Turnagain Arm, chipped from the foot of the rocky Chugach Mountains, provides a platform to see a magnificent, ever-changing, mostly untouched landscape full of wildlife. Known as one of the most beautiful in all of America. To the right large expanse of mud, much of it quicksand cover the surface until water is reached. Tides comes in and go out every 6 hours and at times can reach 30 feet high! Winds can max out at 100 miles per hour making it a haven for wind surfers. Across the water snow capped mountains rise up 4000-5000 feet in the air. On the left of the road a few houses peek out, hiking trails go up and every once in awhile you see a pipe coming out spewing fresh water where people can literally fill up their jugs with fresh water.
We took a break from the drive and stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center- a non-profit center gives homes to injured and orphaned deer, moose, owls, elk, bison, muskox, bear, fox, and caribous. Although you can drive through this 200 acre preserve, we got to walk through it giving us unique opportunity too see the animals in their namtural habitat, even watching two bears wrestle.
As we drove for nearly 2 1/2 hours high energy chatter fell silent as one by one the student fell asleep - not even the beauty could keep them awake. Off the side of the rose you could see the Kanai River now with fisher men in the wader standing hip deep waiting for their Salmon and Halibut .... 'this the Season.
Finally, 7:30pm we rolled into the Alaska Christian College. Tomorrow begins our work schedule. Please pray as we begin to define the difference between "camp" and "mission" .... "Work" and " fun".
Tonight we toasted marshmallow by bonfire in broad daylight at 10pm ... weird!
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