Dear Family and Friends,
We pray this letter finds all of you secure in the word and hope of the Lord! He is our true and solid foundation, without Him, our lives would surely crumble and fall apart.
This newsletter is full of information and you might want to hang on to it for a bit to refer back to.
First of all, Chris’ mom went HOME to be with her Creator, our heavenly Father, on Tuesday, April 4th. We will have her funeral/memorial service in Leawood, KS on June 3rd. She was a faithful servant of God and will be remembered for her love of God, family and “old things”. You see, Carolyn was a collector of primitive antiques and each piece had a story to tell :) We can hear her saying now, “Do you know what they would use this for?” We will cherish the memories of a life well spent and be sure in the fact that we will all be in God’s heavenly realm together one day.
We had already planned an April 7th Minnesota trip (before Carolyn's passing) and so moved our departure up a few days so we could travel first to Kansas City to help Chris’ brother and sister-in-law with details regarding her home and funeral service. Unfortunately, we got caught up in the Delta Airline mess - not once, but twice! You just have to roll with it and ask “what does God want me to take away from all this?” or ,“How can God be glorified through this?”. To make a long story short, we went without sleep Wed. night and Friday night while traveling to our needed destinations. We finally rented a car in KC and drove all night to Minnesota. At least we didn’t have to watch for moose on the road (we only saw one deer)!
So, why were we travelling to Minnesota? God is changing our base of operations. We have served faithfully at Victory Bible Camp since June of 2013. In mid May, we will begin our journey back down the Alaskan Highway. We are being called to serve at Camp Lebanon in central Minnesota http://camplebanon.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/CampLebanon/. Interestingly enough, Camp Lebanon began the same year as Victory - 1947. Chris will again be serving in the Maintenance Ministry. We are looking forward to how God will use both of us at camp. Camp Lebanon is dedicated to providing “A Meeting Place with God, to help the Church do the work of Christ”. By providing the “funnest fun”, loving relationships, beauty inside and out, and Truth declared and illustrated, Camp Lebanon guests - both young and old - will taste the delight of being desired by their Creator, God!
Here, in the 49th state, we are in the midst of “break-up” season. It is not called spring! During the winter, the snow becomes packed on our camp roads. When it starts to thaw, it breaks apart into big sloppy chunks and with greasy, silty tundra soil underneath, it is a recipe for troubled driving (and walking). The Matanuska River does the same thing as it comes back to life. Ice jams and flooding are a common problem. Three years ago a large ice jam basically destroyed much of the village of Galena. Victory has sent work teams up there to help rebuild. God has used this opportunity to open the door to share His word and put God’s love into action!
Victory, again has been honored to host several guest groups since January. These range from the Girl Scouts, to the Alaska Fish and Game venue BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman),
to the Alaska Baptist Men’s Retreat. This last one, men even travelled from as far away as Canada. Maybe that isn’t really that far! Ha! We truly find joy in serving the variety of groups that we pray will find God waiting for them here or are renewed in their walk with Him.
In the past weeks Debbie helped proctor the local homeschool kids with their required yearly state testing. We know that serving God at camp does not stop at our yellow gates. Debbie is also very thankful for the privilege of substitute teaching at Glacier View School. With only 28 students in K-12, she has gotten to know each student well. God truly opened a door for her by serving at school.
Speaking of school, enclosed is Liam’s graduation announcement! We know it is highly unlikely that any of you would be able to attend, but we absolutely want to share with you the joy we are celebrating with Liam’s achievements. Next fall, Liam will head off to college, studying physics, aerospace engineering, and maybe a minor in youth ministry. This summer, Liam is looking forward to serving as the sole member of the AV/Media ”team” again at VBC. Many of his friends from past summers will be returning. Liam will then join us at Camp Lebanon for the remainder of the summer.
As, like Abraham, we will follow God’s leading down or up the next road. We take great comfort in a Bible passage shared with us recently:
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.
As we answer God’s call for us to change our base of operations, we cannot deny our joy at being closer to our family and our home church. Hopefully, many of you will come “see and serve” and experience the “funnest fun” at Camp Lebanon!
To our wonderful loyal and faithful supporters: While serving at Camp Lebanon, we will no longer be dependent upon your financial contributions for our sustenance. Therefore:
✞ If you currently donate to us via automatic banking, please contact Elainea@vbcalaska.org to
stop/change payment as of May 31st.
stop/change payment as of May 31st.
✞ We would joyfully encourage those who wish to continue supporting us and our efforts, to do so
via Camp Lebanon. Again, once there, we are not required to raise our own support, but
prayerfully hope you will continue serving alongside us by supporting our new ministry base:
via Camp Lebanon. Again, once there, we are not required to raise our own support, but
prayerfully hope you will continue serving alongside us by supporting our new ministry base:
Camp Lebanon
1205 Acorn Road
Burtrum, MN 56318
Phone: 320.573.2125
Email: info@camplebanon.org
Prayer Requests:
⭐ For God to provide us with wisdom and organizational skills as we gather up our things and pack them again in our 16’ trailer.
⭐ For VBC to experience the Holy Omnipresence and guiding of God for summer camp and work teams.
⭐For safe travels, 3000+ miles, to our next BASE.
⭐ For Camp Lebanon - whose motto is “A Meeting Place With God”, please pray for Biblical Truth to transcend through all the people through all the weeks of camp and beyond.
⭐For a smooth transition for us at Camp Lebanon and Liam as he travels another God-given path to college.
As we end this letter and reflect back on our years of service here we are soberly humbled by all your outpouring of love, prayers, encouragement, and financial support. Thank You.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:14-16
It is obvious to us that we were led here by God’s calling. Nothing else. Now God is pushing us again to follow and trust Him on this new path. We must act on it!
As a side note, Chris undid the bolts and changed this sign on Victory road near the entrance gates last month. We pray people will reflect upon these words daily!
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Serving in His Name - Chris, Debbie, and Liam
64741 S Victory RD. Sutton, AK 99674
