Dear Family and Friends,

We want to begin this update by potentially irritating you just a little ... yesterday's high temperature was a balmy 57 degrees here in Kenai.  Well, maybe that factoid isn't intended to irritate as much as it's intended to inspire you to come to Alaska for a visit.  When those summer temps making you start run for the air conditioning and shade, remember it's a beautiful time to visit David & Karin :-)

Yes, it does get a little warmer than that here, and we've really been enjoying the early days of summer here in Alaska.  Everything is growing like wildfire with all the sunshine, and the greenery is especially nice.  We have enjoyed two nice weekends of camping recently and have taken several hikes here on the Kenai Peninsula along the Russian River and the Kenai River.  Karin joked that God must think we're quite the pair:  I'm hiking along praying to see some bears, while she's right behind me praying just the opposite.  So far, Karin's prayer life appears to be the stronger of the two, since we still haven't seen any bears along the trails ... yet.

Our extended MARC family is very busy this summer.  With the extended daylight hours come many outdoor projects & chores that aren't possible in the winter, along with the seasonal fishing and hunting that many Alaskans do in the summer to fill their freezers before winter.  The red salmon are just now starting their second run on the Kenai River, and today marked the first day of "dip netting" (where you can catch fish with a pole net), so the road in front of our house has been unusually busy with traffic as people are heading down the street to the beach where the river empties into the Cook Inlet.  The netting limits are 25 fish per head of household and 10 per family member.  To put that in perspective for you, the world-record red salmon that was caught here in the Kenai River weighed 15 pounds and three ounces, so you can imagine how much meat that is for a family of 5 with a 65-fish limit!  You have to be an Alaska resident for at least a year to dipnet, so we'll have to wait until next summer for our chance.  Too bad neither of us really like salmon ... but our friends will be more than happy to eat our catch, we're sure!  (Don't worry about the fish ... the state monitors the run closely and makes sure enough fish make it upriver to spawn again to keep the continuing cycle alive and well.  Up to 60,000 red salmon will enter the river each day over the next month.)

While the daylight and recreation grows, the ministry work here for our MARC team also grows during the summer.  Bible camp flying is now in full swing, as MARC supports several of the larger camps located throughout remote Alaska.  As each of our primary aircraft hold only nine passengers, on many days our pilots are flying multiple runs back-n-forth to the different villages where the kids are originating from to transport them to Bible camp.  But, regardless the level of effort, this is one of the most rewarding parts of the job for our MARC team.  Take a moment to read our Kids Camp flyer, so you can understand why it's so important for these Alaskan youth to experience a week at Bible camp.  Many of the kids we get to fly to camp come from extremely bad environments characterized by suicide, alcohol, addiction, and abuse.  As these kids are the future generation of Alaska, it's our privilege to help expose them to the unconditional love and hope of Jesus Christ.  God's love can make a profound difference in Alaska.

I had the chance this past weekend to fly over to Port Alsworth (about 1 hour away) to visit Tanalian Bible Camp.  The main purpose of our flight was to carry a plane load of construction supplies to the Iliamna Baptist Chapel in the settlement of Iliamna, which is relatively nearby across the Cook Inlet.  (This is just yet another example of how MARC is supporting and literally "building" up the churches of Alaska.)  After unloading the supplies in lliamna, we flew another 15 minutes to visit Tanalian Bible Camp.  We were able to share lunch with the campers and the youth missions team of College Heights Baptist Church (Kenai, Alaska) who had just arrived that morning to prepare for counseling and supporting the next week of camp.  Other pilots from our MARC and Samaritan's Purse team had flown the 26 volunteers from Soldotna to Port Alsworth while we were flying to Iliamna.  Before jumping back on the plane to return to Soldotna, I had the chance to watch the campers' activity time on the lake.  Imagine 8 to 10 girl campers plus 2 to 3 counselors in a single canoe, multiple that times 3 canoes, and no paddles except arm power ... add a race to the mix ... then imagine one of the canoes dumping over with all those screaming girls into 50 degree water, and then you can imagine what I got to experience.  It was fun ... not for the cold wet campers, I don't think, but I'm sure they'll look back on that camp adventure fondly later in life.  Camping is always the best way to generate enduring memories, right Karin?!  :-)

We've been hosting for the last couple of weeks a young couple who are here for the summer volunteering at MARC.  Brendan is an aircraft mechanic and pilot, and Rebekah is a nurse.  The Yoders have been a great help to our MARC team, and it's been great getting to spend time with them while they're here.  They'll stay with us until the last week of July, when Karin's dad and two cousins arrive for a week-long visit.  But, as you hopefully gathered from the opening comments, we love having guests, so please come see us sometime!

Yesterday's sermon at Birch Ridge Community Church were we attend was particularly good.  During his sermon, visiting speaker Rev. Isaac Smith presented a simple metaphor explaining that God didn't design Christians to serve as reservoirs where we just continually store up all the great love and blessings that He bestows upon us.  Rather, we're to serve more like a river ... where God's blessings, love, and forgiveness flow through us to others.  That's certainly our desire!  Over the past seven months, we've been bestowed with God's love & blessings manifested through many of you.  We could never adequately say how much we appreciate your faithful prayers, support, and stewardship; but we hope we can demonstrate our appreciation by further flowing those blessings to those here in remote Alaska as best we can for Christ's honor and glory.

Thank you for your shared involvement! 

With love,  

David & Karin