Alaska Public School Bible Clubs

A young Native American heading home from the Tanacross school parking lot.

 We smiled when we saw this four wheeler out front in the school parking lot.  We smiled even more when, after the Good News Club was over, a student from the school hopped on, started it up, and drove away.  

We toured this small Native American village and attended the Good News Club led by the teenagers of Faith Chapel in Tok, Alaska.  These teenagers have been taught by C.E.F. workers, Troy and Rita Able and Strech and Sara Blackard. 

A young man named Johnny attended C.Y.I.A. in Soldotna for the first time last year.  He taught the missionary story at this club and did a great job at remembering all the facts and kept all the kids attention.  I was so impressed.  It is amazing to see such a group of teenagers enjoying each other's company,working as a team, leading an entire 1 hour after school Bible club!  I will post more pictures of these clubs as I receive parents permission.  These teenagers are giving up their Wednesday afternoons and evenings, as well as Sunday evenings for practice in order to share the gospel with children.  They also lead them in memorizing Scripture and singing songs and playing lots of games to help get the wiggles out.  All the kids loved it!  All the teens loved it as well as the adult leaders looking on.

Arriving at Tanacross Public School with the teenagers, ready to teach.

Playing a giant game of tag at Tok Public School

 The tallest figure in the line of children playing tag is Pastor Troy.  It blessed us to see him running and playing with the children.  You can tell that he throughly enjoys these clubs and so do all the other people around him.  There was so much energy and excitement in this group of teens.

Teens continue to teach at Wed.night AWANA's program at their church.

 I wish you could of all been there to witness the fun and the clear message of the gospel of Jesus Christ being shared by teenagers to public schooled children. It's legal! What a wonderful freedom we have in this country! May God bless America despite some of the recent laws that have passed in which we do not agree. May God have mercy on our country and give us much grace to continue to share the unfailing gospel of Jesus Christ whether people listen or not. May God bless Tok and these amazing teens and their leaders and the parents for raising such godly teens that care enough to share!

Tea Party in Tok

Fresh flowers in February!

The young ladies all dressed up...

Our beautiful hostess, Rita and her little guest putting on clip on earrings...

Getting a lesson in the art of unbuttoning a glove...

Enjoying each other's company and the final entree... sweets!

One more little sweet...

Sweet with style...

Last but not least, a visitor from the "Outside"

A male grosbeak in the foreground and a female in the back also came to visit.

We had the loveliest tea party with Rita as hostess.  She had the entire room beautifully decorated with teacups, books, lace, and fresh flowers.  She had set out necklaces, clip on earrings, scarves, hats and gloves to choose from.  The girls were practically speechless.  The sun rays came in through the window shining all across the picture perfect table set with dainty tea cups.  Each course was served separately by Rita and I believe my littlest girl, at the tender age of 4 nearly drank an entire pot of tea!  In every cup there was honey and sugar! 

We truly felt like princesses as we enjoyed the party and one an other's company.  A celebration of the finer things in life as well as the honor of womanhood and a good brush up on our manners was so much fun!  We went home refreshed and feeling great!

Picnic in the Snow!

Backyard hot dog roast in February at below freezing temperatures!

Many hands make light work...

Snug as a bug in a rug...

Hot dog anyone?

Help me up quick, the snow is cold!

Name this wild animal...

We had the funnest time at our friends house in Tok these past few days!  They built a fire in the back yard and had a full hot dog roast complete with chili, chips, carrots and ranch dip!  It felt like summer time, minus the green lawn of course.  The sun was out, the snow was sparkling and the kids eventually came in to warm their cold fingers.  It's kind of hard to eat a hot dog with snow mitts on. 

The little baby was napping completely warm and snugly out in the snow and woke up happy as a lark full of smiles when brought in.  Amazing isn't it?! 

P.S.  The wild animal is, "Nation", the family's beloved and very well behaved dog burrowing through the snow.

We had such a great time of encouragement while visiting in Tok.  Stretch and Sara were such an encouragement and joy to us as well as their two little boys.  We got to see the work of God through C.E.F. up close as we witnessed their various Good News Clubs in Tok and Tanacross.  They also had an awesome Awana Wed. night at their church.  We have so much more to blog but will finish later.  Just wanted to get these amazing picnic photos up. 

Baby Moose Smells the Roses...

I think I'll just take a peek in here....

 It's long legs are white from wading through the deep snow.  We have around 2 feet or so.

Mmmmm, could it be spring flowers already?

What a cruel joke, they're painted on!

Love this sunshine!

Aren't I cute?

We saw this baby moose wandering by our cabin today!  It was tiny.... in comparison to a full grown Mama.  It was so curious!  It smelled both of the painted blue flowers on the side of the shed.  I'm sure these moose must be really hungry about now!  Long winters, not a lot of greens....

What a blessing to be visited by such a cute curious animal.  We're almost getting used to these moose encounters.  We know they can be dangerous so the children stay inside and Mama snaps pictures from the deck.  Except when they come this close....

How close should I get?

When the moose came this close, I decided it was time to duck inside.

Trees, Turkey Anatomy, Knitting, and Snakes...

Morning Sunrise

Can you find the arctic monkey?

 The big blackish pole to the left of the dog is our power pole.  It is crooked because of the heaving ground due to melting permafrost.  I asked the power company if they could do anything about it and the man who had come out to check for underground electrical lines said it didn't look too bad yet, but if we wanted to, we could dig it up ourselves and put it back straight because once it's in, they can't do anything to it.  I thought he was joking at first, but quickly realized he was completely serious!  So I try not to look at it, because seeing it crooked bothers me.  I'm sure it's not going anywhere anytime soon, but it's just the idea that it is not straight!

Climbing trees, one of my favorite pastimes...

Examining the chambers of a turkey heart

You may be wondering how we got a fresh turkey in the middle of February... we stored it out on the bus, along with all of the rest of our stored items.  It's like having a great big freezer!  Several days, last week it reached 33 degrees and things just started dripping.  We figured it was high time to clean out the bus of edible frozen food and a science lesson to boot!  The Internet provides valuable information for any number of home school projects.

Our first knitting lesson...

 The girls had so much fun learning how to knit with "Aunt Deb."  They've always wanted to learn and I was amazed at how quickly they picked it up.  Aunt Deb doesn't even have to look at her needles!  They move so fast!

Making snakes with sister "Nanny"

Helping big brother with the wood trim and my new hammer...

It's a joy to see the older children working and playing with the younger children.  Sometimes they are asked and sometimes they just want to be with one another because they really enjoy each other's company.  You can see this beautiful process of learning to teach and interact with people of all ages as they grow and mature.  It's such a natural process in a big family.  The big children are learning to care for little ones far before they are ever parents themselves.  They don't have the same responsibilities but can begin to learn cause and effect early on.  It's such a blessing to Daddy and I to see them interacting in such a loving and kind way day to day.

Everyone has their moments, don't get me wrong here, that it's always this peaceful and happy.  But usually, when things are running smoothly and people's needs are being met, our home is a happy place, if not a little bit noisy and messy at times.... O.K.  It's always messy.  If you compare my home to a picture perfect magazine home, that is.  If you compare it to a typical homeschooling, lots of children home, it's probably about average, minus a toilet.

These are happy golden days for us, with a few blow out moments along the way.  Hopefully the blow outs can be mended, people grow, mature, and learn to forgive and in the end, there's so much love left over for all of humanity, you just don't know where to put it all.  Life is good because we have Jesus Christ to teach us, love us, and stand in the gap for us.  Praise be to God for all his wonderful riches that he bestows daily to us, even the trials.