Tears were streaming down my face…to be honest I was a bit perplexed. I didn’t know why I was crying. I closed my eyes and tried to gain control after all I was in class and they were telling funny stories about 4 wheelers and snowmobiles. Nothing to cry over. I did not want anyone to realize I was crying…but still the tears flowed. What set it off?
It was Scott (the base director) telling about how much he and his family enjoyed snowmobiling and 4 wheeling and how he longed to own one or the other. He was sharing how it would be a blessing to his family and the ministry here for both machines are a way of life. He then shared with the students and myself the things the ministry is praying for. Land and a building so they wont be renting and will be able to build and improve what they have. A boat since 95% of Alaska is assessable only by plane or boat. As it is they have to buy ferry tickets and plane tickets to their outreach locations here in the state, which is costly. They spoke of moose hunting and I thought of their freezer full of beef (they bought), moose, bear or fish they hunted or caught. Yet steak is not on the menu….
That is what started the tears…back home at CWAM steak was regularly on the menu, we had a 4 wheeler, horses. My friends back home have 4 wheelers, boats, all these things that would be such a blessing here. I never once thought of a 4 wheeler as a gift of God, I never thought of a boat as anything special, horses were a 4 legged mode of transportation, I never thought of a steak as a delicacy. Here I had been so richly blessed and I never even knew it. I never took the time to thank God for such gifts.
Pray for YWAM arctic Mercy that God would bless them with the boat and the property that would enable them to both establish themselves in this community and reach out to the native community on the islands.
