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Download a copy of our monthly prayer calendar here.
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The Flight Plan |
Download a 2-page print copy of this newsletter.
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Hey, Kids! Download a copy of our MARC coloring book featuring Aurora and Yukon here.
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| It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! | |
Well, the snow has been on the ground here in Soldotna for more than three weeks now... so, yes, it is beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas here in Alaska!
It's a great time to think about making a difference in Alaska this season by participating in MARC's annual Christmas Gift Catalog.
You can help make some significant improvements in our flying and maintenance operations this year by getting involved. These operations are critical to spreading the gospel and hope of Jesus Christ across the many villages of remote Alaska. Your gift can help make a real difference!
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| Impacting Alaskan Youth for Christ |
 | | Tanalian Bible Camp |
Sure, it's easy to talk about how many takeoffs and landings our crews have recently made, how many remote villages we've carried work teams into this summer, or even how many passengers and cargo we've transported in support of ministry efforts across Alaska this past year.
But, when we serve a Shepherd who searches for that single lamb lost in the hillside ravines just as diligently as He cares for the larger flock safe in the fold, we know it's impossible to truly "quantify" our impact for Christ. Ultimately, we can only do our best to share God's plan of unconditional love and redemption with others and then rely upon God for the results.
James Walsh, Tanalian Bible Camp's executive director, recently shared with us a short note recapping this year's camp results, and we love the way he described their standard of success while ministering to 286 campers this past summer:
Many people have asked me, "How did camp go this year?" This is a great question. The short answer is "camp went well." But when I really think on this question I have to ask, in what way? When we look at logistics, did we get all the campers here and home safe with their luggage? Yes! Did we have enough staff and were they quality staff? Yes! Was the food good (teenagers ask that)? Yes! Were the activities fun and exciting? Yes! But that is not how we measure whether camp went well or not.
The question we should ask and the standard by which we should measure is, was the gospel clearly and often presented? Were the campers and staff challenged to go to the next level in their relationship with God? Were they able to have a genuine encounter with the Living God? Was the Word of God emphasized? This is what camp is all about. If we failed in this we were just doing activities and eating good food.
So how did camp go based on the above standards? Camp went great. There were 12 decisions for Christ. Many of the campers desired to learn the Word of God. We had six from the villages who came for their week of camp and then stayed to serve the rest of the summer. One of our goals is that we rise up kids from the villages who can serve on staff. Each year we see more and more doing just that.
In Amos 8, Amos talks about there being a famine in the land, a famine "not for bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine for hearing the Word of the Lord." The Word of God has been preached and taught faithfully in Southwest Alaska, but their hearts are just not hearing it. We pray that God would lift the famine. Would you pray with us for this?
From this I think you can get a glimpse of our heart and focus. MARC was a huge help this year in keeping the costs down not to mention the pilots are just plain pleasant to deal with. If MARC wasn't flying for us and heavily subsidizing I am positive that we would have quite a few less campers. Thank you for all that you all do to help us reach the youth of Southwest Alaska with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- James Walsh |
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"The campers who came this year seemed more focused on actually learning and growing in Christ. Our first Junior high camp this year was the most biblically literate group of junior high campers we have ever had"
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Excerpts from Kokrine Hills |
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Kokrine Hills Bible Camp |
I was greatly encouraged through our elementary camp as well; we had an entirely new group of staff, and I'm so thankful the Lord brought in exactly who He saw fit to be there for the week with us. It was a week full of trials right from the very start, honestly.
Gunnar and I discovered that a dear friend of ours was in need of an immediate brain surgery, one of our students from GILA had taken his own life, and my childhood neighbors were both in critical condition with a 10% chance of recovery after a brutal car accident. Additionally, the day after camp started, our Activities Director heard from his wife that she had miscarried; this brought him home to be with his family in their time of need, and left us with no one designated to "run the show," so to speak.
Again, God provided us with just the right people to fill the void left by this tragedy. Satan continued to assault our team with attacks as the week progressed-our Bible Teacher for the week discovered his younger brother had a rare form of cancer and the outlook did not look positive. All the while Satan is throwing attacks our way, our dear elementary campers are opening up to the Gospel like never before.
I can remember a distinct handful of kids who in years past have been very disconnected from the program, and to see the growth in them both simply as children and in their capacity for building relationships and learning God's Word was amazing. Some of our toughest shelled young boys were in tears on the day everyone went home simply because they knew and recognized this was the first time they'd ever felt genuinely loved.
Oftentimes with young ones it's more about the fun and games of it all, but it was such an encouragement to me that in the midst of such chaos and Satan hurling attacks at us left and right, camp still happened. And not only did it happen, but He was at the center of it bringing us all together in His timing and details, having absolutely nothing to do with our own efforts.
- Adrian Johnson, Kokrine Hills Bible Camp
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| Our Condolences |
 | | Bethany Marie (Ward) Widman |
Join with us in praying for MARC missionaries Bob and Joyce Widman and their son Ben whose wife Bethany Marie died unexpectedly on September 28th in Fairbanks. Pray for God's grace and comfort to be upon Ben and their newborn daughter Coralie.
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Our Condolences |
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| | Harry "Buddy" C. Davis, Jr. |
Also pray for MARC missionaries Travis and Heather McCullough and their family as Heather's grandfather "Buddy" Davis, 89, passed away from natural causes on September 18th in Georgia.
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| Congratulations! |
 | | John Moses Durham |
On September 7th, MARC board member David Durham and his wife Carmen welcomed their son John Moses. Andrew and Hope were excited to meet their new brother!
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| Combined Federal Campaign | 
Federal employees, please don't forget to include MARC in this year's CFC giving campaign!
Our contribution code is 52947 and can be found on the national/international listing. More information is available on our MARC website or by contacting us at (907) 262-5388 or marc@marcalaska.org. |
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Contact Us
Missionary Aviation Repair Center
PO Box 511
Soldotna, Alaska 99611
Phone: (907) 262-5388
Impacting Remote Alaska with the Hope of Jesus Christ through Missionary Aviation |
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