Spring 2015 Newsletter

Spring 2015

Our days at Victory are busy, very busy! We cannot express the joy we have received by answering God’s call for us here. We also cannot express our thankfulness to all our financial and prayer supporters.

      Today, I find myself helping proctor state testing for the home schoolers in our community. Another opportunity for me to love on more people. Tomorrow, I will be helping with a men’s retreat  by doing dishes in the kitchen. Chris is ripping out drywall, trim,carpet and pad,vanities, and all other absorbent materials in the lower level of Alder. Alder is our biggest housing option on the conference side of camp. It also houses many work teams throughout the summer. Unfortunately, the sewer backed up due to tree roots and non biodegradable items (wet wipes) in the sewer mainline. Obviously not a budgeted remodel! However, God works in inconceivable ways and He will direct our paths in finding a solution to fixing it all before summer.

I am sitting in the original Alpine Lodge, built in     , next to the stone fireplace. Hand craved in the mantle is “Victory in Christ”. Three words that say it all. I think of all the people who came before me and sat in the same place as myself and invited Jesus into their hearts! As I look out the expanse of windows to the east the sun shimmers off the ice on Index Lake. The ice road is still in use, but probable not for much longer. We have sunlight now until 10 pm and we gain almost 6 minutes of daylight each day.

In addition to the Lazy Mountain Men’s Retreat here this weekend we are also hosting our Victory Ministry board members. They volunteer their time and travel to be here from all over the U.S. As in the business world, things are always changing. Please be in prayer, alongside us, that God's will and plan for Victory will always be at the core of our ministry. Victory in Christ. Satan works overtime here, but he is always defeated by the mighty power of prayer.

In May, VBC hosts the Mat-Su Valley area public school kids for Outdoor Education. This is an awesome opportunity to share the Biblical truths of creation. We take them to the Matanuska Glacier and to Victory’s fossil beds for educational hikes while explaining the process of God creating the earth. Their physical presence at Victory also serves to encouraging them to come back for summer camp.

Speaking of summer camp, VBC changes into camp mode soon. Counselors, horse wranglers, activity coordinators, music team, A/V crew, housekeeping, and maintenance people will arrive. Summer camp is a very dynamic time. A child may come for a week and meet God here for the first time. A child spending a week with God will prayerfully mean a lifetime living by God's truths. This sending out of His word can and will change the world. For this is God’s great commission:

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew: 16-20.

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COMING SOON - SAVE THE DATE

We are looking forward to being in Pella Saturday evening, May 30th through Thursday morning, June 4th.

Sunday, May 31st - Trinity Reformed Church will be hosting a  bike ride/walk/ice cream social activity. We will be sharing during the ice cream social at about 6:00 pm. We hope to see many of you there.

Wednesday, June 3rd  - We will also be hosting our 3rd annual Pizza Ranch Tip Night from 5-8 pm.

Our contact number is 907-341-7922.

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Ephesians 3:20:   “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

We say Amen!

The Power Of Camp

Watch this video - The Power of Camp - thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDL-3D6fOMs&feature=youtu.be

Power of Prayer

The power of prayer is beyond our mortal understanding. As human beings we want to see, touch, smell, and experience all that we believe in. Yet this is not how God designed us. We must walk by faith. We must live by His truths. We believe the Bible to be the fully inspired Word of God and the ultimate and final authority for faith and daily living.

Inspired - When people speak of the Bible as inspired, they are referring to the fact that God divinely influenced the human authors of the Scriptures in such a way that what they wrote was the very Word of God. In the context of the Scriptures, the word “inspiration” simply means “God-breathed.” Inspiration means the Bible truly is the Word of God and makes the Bible unique among all other books.

Ultimate - maximum; decisive; conclusive. 

Authority - the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine.

Our world is full of evil and we must use the power of prayer to believe in and have faith in God's inspired Word.This is the most important thing we can all do everyday.

We have been teaching about putting on our full armor of God in Sunday school, but the inspired word says it best!

Ephesians 6:10-18New International Version (NIV)

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God,so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Summer Camp At Victory

Winter newsletter

Winter 2015

It is the middle of January and any day now, we will welcome the ✹ back into our home. Many of you think we are in darkness all day, however it’s just that we don't have direct sunlight. The sun rises and travels along the horizon until sunset. We can see its yellow glow behind the mountains but it doesn’t climb high enough. Because of the low angle of the sun we have many beautiful sunsets. It is as if God drew in the sky with orange, red, and pink crayons. By March we will have daylight from 7:30 am to 8:30 pm. The snow cover reflects the light of day and boosts the brightness outside.The snow is very dry and not good for snowmen at all. It is excellent for filling in our potholes on the camp roads. We usually walk everywhere we go at Victory. The dry conditions actually make 10 degrees feel pleasant.

Since we wrote you last we have hosted several church/social groups at Victory. Over the Christmas holidays we were filled up with family outings. It is encouraging to see families choose to spend their time off work in a setting where God can speak to them away from the distractions of life found in a world that is truly hostile to God! We, as a culture, hurry from one errand, event, or appointment each day and we miss so many appointments with God. “He waits for us to knock...but we don’t...but God waits.” (Rev 3:20).  He stands on the threshold. To open the door is to pray to Him.

Prayer is the hand of faith on the door handle of your heart. The willing pull. The happy welcome to Jesus: “Come in, O King. Come in.” “The kitchen is messy, but come in.” “I didn’t clean up, but come in.” “I’m not much of a conversationalist, but come in.”  -  Max Lucado

Chris will have cataract surgery the end of January. He will literally have the veil lifted so he can see clearly. For example, Chris was standing off to the side, helping back up a truck to be hitched to a trailer. He said. “Stop, it‘s perfect.” As he approached the hitch, he found that he was a foot off!  Life is like that many days when we try to do it ourselves without prayer. We can really be out of alignment.

We praise God for the blessings over the past year. Excellent health for our camp/staff families. New babies born. The donation of two near new passenger vans and one used plow truck. Several projects, many involving maintenance on buildings, were completed only because God brought the right set of work teams to camp at the right times to accomplish them. But most importantly, above what we can visually see, is God at work in the hearts of all the youth and adults that pass through our gates. This summer 55 kids accepted God as their Savior for the first time. 116 kids rededicated their lives to God. Please pray for these youth to be continually built up in their daily walk. The reality is the family unit is on shaky ground, drugs are readily available, and the desire to walk the narrow path is set aside by the enticement of many idols.

Many of the camp buildings are dated and so we continue to brainstorm new ways to keep them useable. Our heating systems take the biggest hit. The high calcium content in our spring water plugs up the water flow. One of the most important jobs each day is to do rounds. This entails going from building to building to check for possible water leaks, open windows or doors that would allow pipes to freeze and that the heating systems are functioning.

We drive the hour, carefully, into town about twice a month. We don’t like to drive after dark because of the curvy dark highway with rather large obstacles moving about! Darn moose.

We were so happy to have both our daughters visit us for two weeks over Christmas. Our time was spent outside a lot, ice skating, sledding, hiking, and  country skiing. We also laughed till we cried watching old home movies. We weren’t going in different directions each day and truly enjoyed each other’s company. We pray for our son and his wife to be able to visit next summer. Our neighbors had fireworks on News Year’s Eve and the families here closed down the road up to Ranch Camp to sled on (at night). It is a tradition here on Victory Road. The windy snow packed road is about ½ mile long. Plenty of screaming abounded. We even got a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Many of you probably would rather have the lights of the city, but God knew what He was doing when He placed us out here in the woods.

Liam is doing well in school and has taken to Alaska. He continues to clean the school buses each week for spending money and helps run the computer during church. In the past few months he has helped one friend work on his cabin and another to rebuild a truck engine.  I help out wherever camp needs me and especially enjoy God’s leading in allowing me to sub at school. Chris and I are teaching Pilgrim’s Promise with our Sunday school class. It is a version made for first through sixth graders. Chris also is on the missions committee and I am on the Sunday school committee. Glacier View Bible Church supports several mission families from Burma to South America to Africa.

This weekend brings over 200 middle school kids to Victory for our annual Snowmania. We sponsor this event and a similar event is held in early December for the high school kids. There is always a lot of spiritual warfare during these weekends and our staff is asked to pray frequently for these kids and us.

We are humbled servants here at Victory and are honored to do the support work to keep our doors open. God is here! We praise Him for all He has done. We give thanks in advance for His future plans for Victory. It took us many years to answer God’s call...

“Perhaps changes are in the air right now. Maybe you are in the midst of a decision. It’s disrupting, isn’t it? You like your branch...And you’ve been a pretty good branch sitter. And then you hear the call. “I need you to go out on the limb and… forgive someone, move to another place, evangelize to your coworker, sacrifice your bonus check to a needy neighbor… Though your heart may say yes, your feet, voice, and actions say no. Eventually you are left staring at a bare tree and a hard choice. His will or yours?”  - Max Lucado

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit,                          

Serving in His Glorious Name -    Chris, Debbie, and Liam                                    

Victory Bibe Camp   www.vbcalaska.org  ☎ 907-745-4203  

Mocks   cdcmcl@hotmail.com      

Winter In Alaska - The Joy of the Lord

We apologize for the delay in posting these photos and blog. Debbie flew out to Iowa to help her mom after surgery and life keeps zipping by at a faster rate than expected! In addition, we have attached our winter newsletter for those of you who are not on our mailing list - if you want to be, please send us an email and we will add you. The sun is back in abundance and we still have about a foot or more of snow on the ground. As you might know, Chris had cataract surgery that was very successful and we are grateful for all of your prayers. God led us to a Christian doctor that prayed with him before his procedure. 

As we head into spring, Victory continues to be busy with conference groups, family, and pastor retreats. In May, the youth from Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla will come up for outdoor education classes that our staff leads. It is a humbling privilege for us to be able to serve all the different walks of life that pass through our gates.We are really enjoying teaching Sunday School also. Our Pilgrim's Progress curriculum is a huge hit and the kids are learning important truths of the gospel and gaining a richer understanding of Christ's work in the life of a believer. 

Last week we were taking a walk and we both commented about how joyful we were to be serving here and how at this point in our lives we possess the least amount of "stuff" and are at our happiest. Joy is a gift that God has given us. "The joy of the Lord is your strength" - Nehemiah 8:10. God focused us in on His plan for us and we rejoice over what He has done for us.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  Romans 15:13.

Our pastor urged us in church last week that if you want this God designed life you must know the designer. We cannot know the will of God without studying the word of God. But when studying, take the word from your head to your heart! Now give action to God's word and bear much fruit!

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night". Psalm 1:2.  Now go to your Bible and read all of Psalm 1.

Please cry out to our God and ask Him for all you need!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you - Chris, Debbie, and Liam

Ice skating on Index Lake

A hat Debbie made as a baby gift

Surprise baby shower!

Christmas presents!

Women's conference at Victory featuring the author Tracie Peterson

Victory Peak

Fund raiser and silent auction at Glacier View School

Morning sky

Everything grows bigger in Alaska!

Ice on Matanuska River

Debbie's mom visits Alaska

Game time!

Chris doing morning rounds

Christmas party!

Christmas vacation with the girls!

Christmas tree hunting!

Hockey or broomball

                    This is a example of what it looks like on a winter day without direct sunlight

The creeks tend to glacier over and threaten the nearby roads - a constant battle!

Just like going to the beach!

Sledding down Ranch Camp hill

Our chickadees - how many do you see?!

Plaque dedicated to our founder on Inspiration Point

The sun hits us up on Inspiration Point for a few minutes! January, 2

The view from Inspiration Point, January, 2

Cross-country skiing

Chris after his cataract procedure!

Our Sunday school class acting out the Armor of God.

 What Liam did over spring break - geometry!

 Spring hiking