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Two Weeks in Soldotna
 A culinary adventure.
I had the great opportunity of spending the last two weeks here in Soldotna getting to know the MARC team a little bit better and learning more about what God holds in-store for us here in Alaska.
The 12 families that represent MARC here in Alaska have been extremely hospitable to me. I'm definitely missing Karin's cooking, but I've had so much good food here it's ridiculous. (Karin was amazed that I've actually eaten fish twice ... salmon and halibut. Well, OK, admittedly it was more out of an obligation to be polite than because I really wanted to ... but I'm guessing it's not the last time I'll eat fish in Alaska either. I just tell the guys here who make fun of my non-fish eating preference that they'll begin to appreciate it more when they're getting to put the fish I'll catch into their freezer :-)
It also sounds like we'll be eating moose frequently, as MARC is on the list of organizations the State Troopers call when there's been either an illegal kill or when there's been a road kill. The MARC families actually got 12 moose this way this year so far. With the high price of groceries here in Soldotna, they jokingly (or so I think) refer to just "scraping by." That gives a new mental image to road kill, doesn't it? But, the moose chili and roast I had were quite tasty! Thank you Ford and Chrysler.
A place of spectactular beauty.
During the evenings and weekends, I've made the most of the beautiful weather to get out-and-about in & around town to enjoy the natural beauty of Alaska. Although we have had a considerable layer of marine fog on many of the mornings, the sunshine eventually burnt through most days to make some spectacular afternoons.
Hopefully those of you who follow me on Facebook have been able to see some of the beauty through the pictures I've been posting. Yesterday I took a 6-mile hike enjoying some river falls and became simply fascinated at all the types of trees and the natural beauty of their different colors & textures. I was thwarted in my hopes to see a bear along the way, but God probably knew that wasn't really in my best interest. Most of them have moved away from the rivers to higher elevations and to eat berries now that the majority of the salmon runs have finished. Maybe next year :-)
A place of overwhelming need.
More important than the food & scenery, I had the great pleasure of beginning work with the MARC team. The fun stuff was helping load a couple of planes that were headed out to remote sites & villages. Samaritan's Purse is in the process of restoring a fishing camp that will soon serve as a ministry retreat for wounded military veterans & their families. The picture you see above is of us loading 300 pound logs onto their Casa cargo plane for use in the construction effort.
The not-so-fun stuff was learning more and more about the incredible spiritual and physical needs in rural Alaska. I can't tell you how many times I had tears in my eyes as I was researching & rewriting some support documents for MARC detailing the extent of the spiritual darkness here.
I don't tell this story to exaggerate the need or to "tug" on your heartstrings for an emotional response ... it's simply a story you need to hear to begin to comprehend the extent of the real need here in Alaska:
Prior to joining the MARC team, one of the families here had served for two years at a remote Bible camp that exists to provide children from the villages exposure to God's unconditional love. (MARC is greatly involved in flying many Native children to four different summer camps located throughout western Alaska.) During a training session this past week, the wife of this particular family was relating one of her first experiences at the camp, where she was responsible for a small group of pre-teen girls from one of the villages.
As you may know, early sexual relations is a significant problem in the villages, so she had planned to have an abstinance discussion with the girls. Well very early into her planned discussion, all the young girls were crying and sobbing. What she then painfully learned was that none of them had even been given a choice in that matter--they had all already been sexually assaulted before the age of 13.
That's the incomprehensible reality of a place where rampant drug and alcohol addictions help spawn a child sexual assualt rate six times the national average. The rapid introduction of conflicting social values in rural Alaska has steadily destroyed the protective factors that were once so strongly present in the traditional culture and lifestyle. Despite a strong missionary influence since the early 1800s, the incredible acceleration of the moral decline in western Alaska has simply outpaced the impact of existing Gospel resources. The people are needlessly suffering and dying from the sin and decay around them. We need to do more to reach them ... and we need to do it quickly.
That's why we're moving to Alaska. Simple, yes ... but the reality of fixing the scope of this problem on a human scale is so incredibly complicated.
Thankfully, God's unconditional love isn't complicated.
Like everyone else, they just need someone to tell them about it.
David
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:14
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