March 2014
Wise words from Moses: “...now choose Life, so that you and your children may live and that you may LOVE the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your Life...” Deuteronomy 30:19. Although these words from the Bible were written thousands of years ago, they are still so applicable today!
Moses challenged Israel to choose life - to obey God - and therefore continue to experience His blessings. God doesn’t force His will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him. This decision, however is a life-or-death matter. God wants us to realize this, for He would like us all to choose life. Daily, in each new situation, we must affirm and reinforce this commitment. Obeying God is reasonable, sensible, and beneficial. The most difficult part of obeying God’s laws is simply deciding to start now. No excuses. Are we faithfully listening?
God can roar like a lion warning us like a road sign of Falling Rocks Ahead! If we aren’t alert are we apathetic to obeying God? Does His word really have meaning and value in our lives? Many people today are in a famine for the word of God. Perhaps this is why God directed our paths to Alaska. We usually think we might need to travel to third world countries to witness a famine. Yet there is a hunger here and we believe Victory is helping to feed the hungry.
Each weekend different groups come to Victory from young to old. We “feed” them with warm lodging, nourishing food, and loving “hellos” and “welcomes”. God does the rest and He is very good at it. They return home with their hearts FULL and alive! Victory is not a fancy hotel, it isn’t full of amenities like chocolates on your pillow and a person to park your car. We don’t advertise a 5-Star rating on Travelocity. No, Victory is God’s love - ready, willing, and waiting patiently for all to come - anyone and everyone.
Now for news on our daily lives here:
☺ We don’t name our storms
☺ Wait - we really don’t have storms. We have not seen lightning or heard thunder since
our arrival here.
☺ A snowmobile is called a snowmachine
☺ Moose and caribou crossing signs instead of deer
☺ Alaskans eat roadkill
☺ Rocks falling means really big grand piano size rocks!
☺ They don’t put down salt on the snowy roads - it attracts the moose! Roadkill!
☺ Snowmachines and 4-wheelers = cars here at camp
☺ The water pressure at our homes can be nonexistent
☺ It is a very good idea to plug in your vehicle when not using it (Oct.-April)
☺ Studded tires are our heros!
☺ Potlucks at church happen every month, just because
☺ Alaskans like to linger and talk a lot - we love this
☺ You can’t drive to another state over the weekend
☺ You probably should take a gun with you when you go hiking
☺ The little chickadees will eat right out of our hands
☺ Christmas lights stay up outside till spring - turned on too!
☺ We eat a lot of moose meat - thanks for the roadkill!
☺ School is never cancelled
☺ The sun doesn’t shine directly on us from mid November to mid January
Caitlin graduates from Iowa State University in Biomedical Illustration in May. She will go on to grad school in August, but be able to spend a few months with us and has a job at a resort down the road. We have our plane tickets purchased and will be back in Iowa for the last 3 weeks of May. We will be in Pella May 17th to the 23rd. We will be sharing about Victory on Sunday evening the 18th at Trinity Reformed Church. Please let us know if we can meet up and visit with you!
We praise God with each new day and are grateful to serve Him here at Victory. Each of you are a vital part of our mission work here and we acknowledge that without your prayer and financial support we could not function at all! A mere thank you doesn't seem like enough, but thank you.
Our support dependent annual budget for year two (June, 2014 - June, 2015) remains the same as year one and is $42,500. As of March 1, giving is at 30,880. We hope that clarifies any questions you have had.
We are excited for the work teams lined-up for this summer, especially from our home church! We love emails and letters that you encourage us with. They certainly brighten our day.
Please pray for God’s will and wisdom to show us and Victory staff the way to serve Him best each day. Please pray for our protection and good health.
If you would like to send us a care package, we always need stamps.
Blessings to all - as apostle Paul states in Galatians “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen”.
Chris, Debbie, and Liam
"Jesus calls us beyond our comfort level to step into obedience and watch God do great and mighty things. We say to God, "Show me and I'll believe." Instead, God says to us, "Believe and I'll show you.” This is the life of following Jesus Christ. We say, "God, show me your will and I'll obey you." God says, "Obey me, and I'll show you my will." God isn't looking for a bunch of "I should do this because that's what good Christians do" kind of people. He is looking for "I wouldn't miss this for the world" kind of people.” The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit Our Lifestyle? By Mike Erre
Spring - rebirth - redemption - the cross
