posted 11:08am CDT June 15, 2009

Our first night was actually pretty good, with most people sleeping very well with the sun still up at 11:00pm!  We woke up early to clean up and get ready for the congregation to arrive to feed us breakfast and for Worship.  We met several people from the congregation, and ate a very tasty breakfast of muffins, cereal, and fruit.  One member of the congregation, Barb, told us about the local Anchorage populations, especially the homeless which far outnumber the facilities to help them.  During the week, we plan to help both those in Anchorage and a congregation in nearby Eagle River.  During Worship, we introduced ourselves to the congregation, and learned about growing in stature and wisdom in Christ in sermon and song.  For one song, we even got to clap along as we sang about serving God. 

After Worship, we had lunch and then broke into our VBS and Work Crew groups to prepare for the week.  Some of us had a chance to take some time at a park to play Frisbee and toss around a softball.  Some of us visited a grocery store to stock up on supplies for the next few days, and pick up a few of the basic things we forgot to bring – such as pillows and towels. 

We are also finding favorite things to do to spend our free time.  Some of the most popular things are Frisbee, cards, Scattergories and Hearts.  We will be looking for a new Hearts champion – we have one every trip.  For devotions tonight, we learned about serving, and also created our “Happy Fun Bags” - a kind of mail box where we offer affirmations and encouragement to each other over the week.  We will also once again go to sleep in the daylight to rest up for another day tomorrow.

Thank you for supporting us!

posted 11:08am CDT June 15, 2009

Our trip started early in the morning. We were all very tired, as we had to meet at 7 in the morning for our 9:30am flight. All 27 of us. The flight took 6 hours, and we arrived 1 o'clock Alaska time (4 o'clock back home). We picked up our five vans, which took about an hour. We drove to get some much needed sustenance at a local Wendy's. When we arrived at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, we were greeted by contact Mary Charlotte McCall and the intern pastor Dr. Reverend John Carey. We toured the building to see where we would sleep, eat, and hold VBS. We also enjoyed the first of our nightly devotions, during which we talked about understanding God's will in our lives on this trip.

We will make sure we will get lots of sleep tonight, though at 11 o'clock it is still as bright as when we first arrived. Tomorrow we will worship with our host church, enjoy lunch, and hear from a member of the mission committee who works with the homeless community of Anchorage. We will also prepare for our week's work.

PS: Being up in the land of the midnight sun, we may have some Internet connectivity issues.