Flying Blind in Denali

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Finished up the conference in Fairbanks. Bro. Duffett is a very kind and generous man. He took me into the church bookstore and loaded me up with several free books. Awesome. The church gave us a very generous love offering, which will be a big help as always. I stayed up 'til 0130 Alaska time on Tuesday night to watch George Bush give Kerry a whuppin'. Praise the LORD! What a victory. It was a landslide, as predicted, for all you worry warts out there (*cough* Chad Burns *cough*). Picked up four seats in the Senate (awesome), six in the House, and Puff Daschle went down in flames. Matt Blunt is our governor in Missouri now, and the Republicans now have absolute power there as well. Outstanding night for the country. The next four years should be most interesting.

Back in the Anchorage area now. I survived the trip back. I actually saw a moose on the way! I was beginning to think they were mythological. On the way, I got stuck behind this double-trailer semi, which was kicking up this vast cloud of powder snow, creating white-out conditions for anyone trapped in its wake (towit, me, untowit). After enduring near-blindness and the tendency for oncoming traffic to just materialize out of nowhere for almost an hour, I finally got an opportunity where I could see enough of the road in front of me to gamble on passing him. Sheesh! Talk about a white-knuckler.

Then, as I'm descending towards Anchorage, I start picking up their radio and find out that I'm entering a huge winter storm that's blanketing the whole area in what turned out to be 14 inches of "frozen sunshine" as they call it up here. I made my way to Valley Baptist Tabernacle in Wasilla (Lynn Wycoff's church), and did a quick-change into my church duds for the Wednesday night service. I did the ususal (intro, slides, sermon), and it all went very well. I found out today that they're taking us on for support!

At the moment, I'm in Chugiak ('bout 20 minutes from Wasilla, and about halfway to Anchorage), in Bible Baptist Church (Tim Page). He's out running errands at the moment and has left me alone with his computer (mwa ha ha). I'm cleaning up the spyware he was infested with, and generally tweaking the system, and taking advantage of the opportunity to get some updates made to the journal. Things are going great. Tim Page is a great guy. Homecoming is in sight (woo hoo!)

More Meetings in Alaska

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Had church all day today. They have three services in Bible Baptist back to back, starting at 0830. I gave my testimony in the 0830 service, which seemed to go well.

All the services were great. One of the families took me out to lunch afterwards. I had an Alaskan Cheese Steak sandwich. Mmm Mmmm Good…

The meeting tonight at North Pole Baptist with Paul Frisbie went great. He is a very kind and gracious man, and it was very encouraging to me.

Love to all back in St. Louis…

Fairbanks

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Drove up to Fairbanks (350 miles, approx. 6 hours) today. Beautiful country around these parts. Made it here alive. The house that Bro. Duffett is keeping us in has DSL!! WooHoo! And cable news (double WooHoo!!) just in time for the election on Tuesday! So, for the next few days, I'll be able to get things done around here, and not feel like I'm operating in a news black hole, days before one of the most historic elections since 1864 (no talk radio to speak of up here). Interesting note: Bro. Boutwell is fixing it so I can fly down to Kenai from Anchorage, and back in time to catch my flight on Friday. So, I'll be able to turn the rental car in early and save some cashola. Pretty slick, eh? Bless his heart. So, I'll be able to be in his conference on Friday, instead of having to bug out early to drive four hours back to Anchorage. Praise the LORD! All for now. Should be a good conference here at Bible Baptist in Fairbanks. Bro. Halsey is preaching (coolness).

Later…

Yukon Update

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Kirksville went well. Plus, Pastor Rodgerson called us a few days ago, and Southside Baptist Church is taking us on for monthly support! They get the privilege of being plank holders (the first). It feels great to be a part of somebody's ministry like that, and to feel folks starting to line up behind you and support your ministry. At the moment, I'm in Alaska. Haven't had internet access 'til now to update anything, so the journal is a bit behind. Made the long flight up to Alaska the Tuesday after the meeting in Kirksville. The weather up here isn't that bad. It will be in a few months, but at the moment, it's not much colder than winter in St. Louis. They lose five minutes of daylight a day up here. At the moment, sunrise is around 0930, and sunset is around 1630. Beautiful countryside. Mountains all around. Quite lovely. I stayed with Pastor Roach and his wife to begin with. The Roach's are great folks, and made me feel right at home. Their church (Independant Baptist Church of Anchorage), was very receptive and friendly. I was there for the entire missions conference, from Wednesday through Sunday. It was a great conference, and I count myself privileged that I got to be a part of it. I stayed at their house in Palmer (about an hour outside of Anchorage) through Tuesday, and drove in to Anchorage on Wednesday, 10/27, for a conference in Pastor Carson's church, Victory Baptist Church. I showed my slides and gave a brief testimony last night, which seemed to go well. You should see the church. It used to be a night club and whore house 'til they got a hold of the building. They have completetly renovated the structure, and have converted the building so you can't tell what it once was. Pastor Carson is one of those "Mr. Fix-It" types that has a variety of construction skills at his disposal. They are working on a Bible Camp and a church way off in the hills in McGrath which is accessible only by plane. Alaska is a huge state, and is a mission field unto itself. I'm here through Friday, and on Saturday, I'll be driving six hours north to Fairbanks for Doug Duffet's missions conference. God is doing great things. Pray that the eight churches I will have been in during my sojourn here will all take us on for support. It would be a huge shot in the arm at this stage of the game. Looking forward to getting home… Love to my family…

Pending

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Last weekend at Calvary Bible Fellowship in Neosho, MO went very well. We had a great time of fellowship with Dan and Trish Frederick, the pastor and his wife. It was very refreshing to be able to have another young couple our age to talk to for a change, since there seems to be a shortage around these parts.

Tomorrow, it's off to Kirksville, MO for a meeting in Southside Baptist Church with Pastor Aaron Rodgerson. We're spending the day out there on Sunday, and are really looking forward to it. We'll be leaving tomorrow after I get off work to drive the three hours out to Kirksville. Pray for my wakefulness. This working a job, and then dashing off to churches without a break on weekends is very tiring. Case in point: on the way back from Neosho (5 hour drive), I fell asleep at the wheel and sideswiped a guard rail. No one and nothing was seriously damaged (Thank God), but it was quite a wake-up-call, no pun intended.

We have Monday off to catch our breath, and then I'm out of here on Tuesday for Operation: YUKON, my 8 church whirlwind schedule of meetings in Alaska for the next 25 days. While there, I will be missing a) my wife's birthday b) the World Series (with the Cards in attendance this time), and c) the General Election. I trust it will be worth it, and I'm very excited about going, but still, MY WIFE'S BIRTHDAY!! I'm renting a car, and will have to drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back, alone, with no one to keep me awake, so again, be in prayer.

I think God is really going to provide up there, which will be a great help to us so we'll be in good shape at the end of the year to go on full time deputation. Pray for us, and for me as I preach and present our work in Alaska, that I'll be able to minister and serve those folks up there well, and be used of God to encourage and edify them.