We will soon be traveling "outside" as they say in Alaska. We are all busy here getting camp in order for the summer staff and camp kids to arrive. A truly very exciting season for Victory Bible Camp.
It all started in 1947 with 75 campers came for a short stay with tents and a few picnic tables. Although we have grown enormously since then our mission has always been constant. Share the LOVE and word of God. SHOW what truth, grace and mercy really look like. VBC fills a unique place within the needs of Alaska's Christian and non-Christian communities. Our ministries touch thousands of lives each year with the goal of leading guests towards a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ through quality programs and top-notch facilities. Come and see for yourself!
Below is attached our latest newsletter sent out in March.
SPRING 2016
Today is March 8th, 2016 and as we write this letter we are reflecting on ALL God has done for us here at Victory! Before this missive continues, here is a portion of our first blog written on September 8th, 2012:
All I can say is, Wow, we never thought we would be moving to Alaska 2 years ago. But God knew and knows all beyond our understanding. "Be still and know that I am God". We are all created to give God His glory and share the Gospel. That is it! Our story will hopefully be a faith walk with God. We really don't know where God is leading us through our mission work with Victory, so it is like a leap of faith for us - even as we are jumping, we do so with the knowledge that even though we may not be able to "see" our Father's arms, He sees us, and that's all that really matters!
This is not earth shattering news. We have all heard it so many times before. Oh, so maybe you did hear it, but did not receive the message of the Gospel into your heart. It all sounds so incredibly easy to “know” the Gospel. But to grow in HIs word and feel the pull of the message is another thing altogether. To not be able to do your normal day to day living because this message in your heart keeps telling you with an unstoppable force to act on God’s divine word. Wow, what does a person do with that? His voice is alive in you and it is like a water faucet that you cannot turn off. It is like a hunger you cannot satisfy. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. This is what happen to us. This leap of faith was hard, fearful, uncomfortable, inconvenient, divisive… well the list goes on and on. However, the incredible reality of following after Jesus has placed us on the most joyful, truly amazing, life changing path we could have ever imagined.
We desperately want to thank each of you who has faithfully prayed us along this path each and every day. We humbly want to praise you also for financially blessing us. We are all a team on the scrimmage line together. The plays cannot be called if we don’t all know the moves we are to make. A beautiful dance indeed!
Victory has seen a very mild winter and spring break-up is already upon us. We still do have snow covering the ground. This is a big deal because most of the people who come to Victory are from “the Valley” and Anchorage and they have not had enough snow to play in this winter. We would like to think the white snow is a reflection of God’s love on this place and all who enter through it’s gates.
Please be in prayer for all of these people who come to Victory so they may hear and know God is in their hearts.They are from all walks of life and all age groups. May His word be an unstoppable unbeatable force that keeps them on His narrow path of righteousness.
Anchorage and Alaska have the worst statistics per capita for a failed family unit, hard core drug use, sex trafficking, child abuse, alcoholism and depression. More languages
are spoken in Anchorage than any other city in the USA. Please pray that God will lead many to Victory to feel His love and forgiveness. Then they, in turn, can go out and share the Gospel. Amen
On The Home Front
Liam is on a 10 day mission trip with 9 other people from our Glacier View Bible Church. The organization is called Reach Beyond - The Voice and Hands of Jesus Together. Their group is focused on assisting indigenous people in a village near Chillanes, Ecuador with potable water and sanitation. They have been working on digging a meter deep trench that is 0.8 of a mile long from the spring source. In addition to digging, they carried 40 lb. bags of gravel up to this same mountainside spring to add to cement to create a concrete dam. Then, in the afternoon, they are sponsoring and teaching vacation Bible school. Entire families from the village come to hear the Word. So awesome!
Caitlin graduates from her Medical and Biological Illustration graduate program at Johns Hopkins on May 16th. She is very, very busy finishing up her thesis project. 
We just recently bought our tickets and will be able to be a part of her big day! We will then move her back to Marion, IA where all the rest of her belongings are and she will job search from there - if she does not have a job already!
As for us, we will be in Baltimore for probably a week then head to Iowa and stay with Debbie’s mom. We hope to be in Pella May 22nd for the day. It will be an open house/Mock potluck at church after the second service. Our desire is to just be able to sit down and visit with everyone at church.
Bountiful Blessings on each one of you - Chris, Debbie, and Liam
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