Greetings and Happy New Year!
We hope everyone’s year is off to a great start.
In early December, we traveled as a family to the village of Galena for a team meeting with the other missionary families that serve in the Interior villages. There are seven other SEND families serving in the Interior: three in Galena, one in Allakaket, one in Huslia, and one in Nulato. Each of these families fill different roles and vocations in their villages, but all are focused on church planting and discipleship. Our focus is different. We focus on serving these families' basic needs so they can focus all of their efforts on building relationships with the folks in their village. So for us, the team meeting was extremely helpful in giving us insight into how we can better serve them. Do they need encouragement? Mark can make flights in between villages flying one missionary family to visit another for a day or two. Do they need more supplies? We serve as their roadside contact for getting necessary items shipped to their village (ex. stoves, groceries, and recently, a pair of sled dog puppies!). Since we are on the road system, we brought out all of the groceries needed for our weekend team meeting. As you can see in the attached picture, it was a tight fit, but we were all thankful to be able to make the journey.
We embark on the Lower 48 portion of our home service this Monday night. We will be gone January 8th-April 2nd. When we return, we will spend the month of April here at home and will then travel to Anchorage for the month of May to continue our home service there. We are greatly looking forward to seeing you all! Not all of the dates in our schedule are confirmed yet and there is a possibility of adding another church visit in Columbus, IN, on March 18th, but here is our most current schedule for our Lower 48 travels. (Dates not listed will be days with no scheduled visits, only travel.)
We are continually thanking the Lord for his provision of a rental RV, courtesy of one of our supporters. Thank you!! We anticipate that the RV will be very helpful in allowing us to maintain some semblance of normal home life and routine as we are on the road.
We covet your prayers as we make this journey. Here are specific ways you can be praying for us:
- Wisdom in maintaining a good balance between family and social time. We want our kids to have fond memories of this trip, not bitterness and struggle.
- Loose expectations as we are sure to encounter setbacks along the way.
- Guidance in our words, especially as we are sharing about ministry and life here in AK. We want to communicate clearly the realities of life here and the needs of the people.
- More supporters. We are hoping to increase our monthly support by about $700.
- Quality time with friends, family, and supporters. This trip may seem very isolating for us as we will be away from our usual support system and traveling often. Please pray that the time we spend with people will be refreshing and uplifting, for both us and them.
- There will be a young family staying in our home for the first month of our trip (they will be working on one of SEND's airplanes in our hanger). Pray that their time here will be good and that they won't freeze!
- That above all we would bring glory to the Lord.
We will have different phone numbers on our journey. If you need to get a hold of us you can contact us at: Mark (907) 687-8791; Nicola (907) 687-8794.
Thank you so very much for your prayers and support!
- Mark and Nicola