Alaska - Day 1

Don and I are excited for the opportunity God has put before us to travel to Alaska. During our time there we will be ministering in various ways as well as preparing and planning for a Mission's Trip for summer 2010. We thought it would be awesome to keep everyone informed and updated on whats going on. We will try to update this blog every day or so while we are here. Please pray for us and for the residents of Alaska.

DAY 1

I awoke this morning in a cabin at Camp Calvary outside of Philadelphia, PA. The cabin was full of about 12 high school boys that didn't smell the greatest. Today was the last day of our 3 day retreat with the Faith Christian Academy Seniors. Don wrapped up this morning with a message from Luke 18. In verses 35-43 there is a story about a blind beggar. When he heard Jesus was passing he called out to him. "Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more (v.39)" "Those who led the way" could very well have been the disciples or others really close to Jesus. Here was a blind man who wanted to see and he had faith that Jesus could heal him both physically and spiritually but the "leaders" told him to be quiet. Many times we tend to follow the crowd and we want to live boldly for Jesus but the crowd tends to shut us up. I love the blind man's response, "but he shouted all the more." This was a challenge for me to live more boldly for Jesus Christ and not to hinder or "tell others to be quiet."

After the morning session and some activities in the woods we said our goodbyes and headed to the Philadelphia airport. We arrived in time to grab a bite to eat before our connecting flight to Phoenix. We faced a tough choice of many fine dining selections in the food court but finally decided on on Chick-Fil-A. It was a 4.5 hour flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix. I enjoy flying because I find myself spending most of the flight reading my Bible, a good book, praying, or just listening to worship music. I also love the window seat and it is awesome to look out at the sky and God's creation.

We had about a 2 hour layover in Phoenix before we boarding our plane to Anchorage. After a 4.5 hour flight we were about to embark on another 4.5 hour flight. Even though I was wiped out I was able to get into a conversation with a guy named Marvin. He sat beside me and I found he worked for US Airways and was traveling to Anchorage for work. We were able to talk about God most of the trip which was pretty cool. He grew up in a Baptist Church and his two brothers are pastors in Ohio. Marvin however seemed to have been turned off to Christ by some of his past experiences. He considers himself spiritual but not a Christian. After we landed Marvin said he really enjoyed talking and he seemed very encourage by our conversation. I just tried to share my love of Christ and what he has done in my life and pray that God may use that to work in Marvin's heart.

We arrived in Anchorage at midnight which is 4am eastern time. We finally made it to our hotel by 12:45am. It was a long day but God is good. We will get a few hours of sleep then Pastor Larry will pick us up in the morning and take us to Anchorage Grace Christian School to speak to the students there.