Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Lord is doing great things in Nenana! January 28, 2008

The first and most exciting news is that Nenana Community Church is adding a Sunday evening service starting February 1st! We are starting out with the video series “The Truth Project” and will continue with a regular service when that is complete. We wanted to start a Sunday evening service upon arrival, but making changes too soon is not a good idea. However, many people were asking for an evening service, and so after talking it over with the elders and Village Missions, we decided to give it a go.

AWANA is continuing to grow. We now have about 24 kids that are regular attendees. Last year, the average meeting was made up of 8 kiddos! We also have ten adult volunteers. Every week we are giving out awards for the kids learning Bible verses, reciting the books of the Bible, bringing friends, and attending. We are reaching not only the kids, but the families too.

Last Thursday night there was a community meeting. There were nearly 150 people there, that’s about one third of the town! We met some people, ate spaghetti, visited with friends and won door prizes. The town will be making some improvements this summer. They are putting in a water softening plant, resurfacing the streets, repairing the street lights and adding a garbage dump station. The school is looking for a new superintendent, the current one is resigning at the end of the year. The Railbelt Mental Health Center will be having a community health fair in March, and Bill and I volunteered to run a booth.

Our family helped out with the food delivery in January. There is a program for the elderly and low income families to receive boxes of food and the senior center runs the distribution. Nenana Community Church provides people every month to help and it was our month. It takes about two hours and we ride the senior bus and the drivers say, “Take this box over there” or “They get some cheese” and off we go. We have made friends with Dan and Ray, the drivers, and have had an opportunity to meet some other townspeople.

We bought another vehicle. Our poor van was so worn out that the dealership didn’t even want it for a trade in. We chose a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe, a small SUV. It is smoky dark blue and is just wonderful. It has about 35000 miles on it and just seems brand new. And best of all, it has auto start!

We thank the Lord every day for your support, and for the opportunities we have to share our work with others. The Lord is doing great things in Nenana!

We do ask for your prayers:

1. Remember Nenana Community Church as we begin the Sunday evening services.

2. The darkness is difficult to live in, it can cause depression. Please pray for the emotional health of our community.

3. The school is the very center of most small towns, and the search for a superintendent is a major concern for the community.

4. www.nenana.blogspot.comA local pastor has been diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer and is awaiting test results to determine treatment options. Please pray for his peace of mind and strength to continue to shepherd God’s people.