Conference Vacation and Home Again

The week before we left for conference and vacation, we sponsored a Freecycle at our house. We invited the town over for a grill out and about 70 people came over. We grilled hot dogs, salmon, moose, turkey, brats and burgers. Many people brought stuff like chips, potato salad, veggies, ice tea, cookies, and we had quite a party. The Freecycle part was like a big yard sale, but everything is free. People bring what they don't want and take what they do.

There was a great variety of people, young and old, native and white, from church and not. Free food always gets people to come out!

We left Nenana for the Village Missions Conference on June 15 at 2 p.m., and arrived in Cannon Beach, OR at the facility on June 16 at 3 p.m. It was a great time to catch up on our friends from Candidate School and we met lots of new people. We had chapel times and bible study times and free times on the beach.

After the conference we were the guest speakers for an Alaska Fund raiser Dinner that Village Missions hosted. Both the Hayeks from Galena and we got to speak about our mission fields. That night over $10,000 was donated to help pay our salaries. Praise the Lord!

The next day, we took off to drive to Iowa. We drove from Salem diagonal across Oregon, down to I80. Then across the US to Ottumwa, Iowa. It took two and a half days, and we ran into every construction zone and detour there ever was.


We enjoyed visiting family and friends in Iowa. We took Bill's mom to Des Moines for her birthday. We were going to go to Adventureland Amusement Park, but it was closed due to rain. We ate at Red Lobster, and then went to the Botanical Gardens.


The kids were very excited to ride cousin Jesse's horse.

At the end of our visit to Iowa, we got word that Cindy Ronander was ill and in the hospital in Anchorage. We decided it was best that we go home as soon as we could. So we got back in the car and drove right back to Portland to catch an earlier flight back to Anchorage. We had planned to take a week to drive back and see stuff, but we only had time to stop at Mt. Rushmore.


We drove through the Columbia River Gorge and got to see the dams too.


When we arrived in Anchorage, we went straight to the hospital. Cindy was dying of liver failure. She had been ill with breast cancer, and it had metastasized to her spine and she had been receiving chemo for that all winter. The doctors found tumors in her liver. She died on July 5. Her family greatly appreciated our presence during this very sad time. The kids and grandparents were all in Anchorage and we took the kids for some good times around town during those difficult days. After Cindy died, the family went back to Wisconsin for the remainder of the summer.


While we were in Anchorage, we also got to see the Somers. Scott and Anna have moved into a townhouse provided by the church where Scott is now the youth minister. Praise the Lord for this ministry opportunity! We got to see Silas and wonder at his abilities and cuteness! Please continue to pray for Silas, as he is battling another very serious cold.

We also spent time with my parents and grandma. Family is always such a blessing and I can never tell them Thank You enough for all they do for us when we are in Anchorage.


We then went to Glennallen for a few days to renew friendships there. It was so nice to visit. It was a haven of comfort after a difficult time in Anchorage. Then, on July 12 we finally arrived home. And that was just the best time of all.

William & Rebecca,

I have been enjoying your monthly reports. It has been such a blessing to read of your challenges, blessings and growth.

Each time someone sends in a donation, a receipt and "receipt note" is created and signed by Brian Wechsler.

During the month of April, the following note will be entered on all receipts that are used to confirm and acknowledge the gifts that have been received. Thought you would like to know about this and how much your work and ministry in Nenana, AK is being used and shared. It has been attached to this message.

Mindy and I are praying for you folks. Thank you so much in the work that you are doing and in serving God.

In His Service,

Neil A. Schaffner

Director of Stewardship

You would only see this in a small church . . . The pastor is preaching and asks the congregation to turn to a particular Scripture. In the front row there’s an 11-year-old girl who is looking and looking and looking. She’s only a couple steps away from the pastor and he sees what’s going on. He stops preaching. He wants her to be on the same page everyone else is on. For a minute he excuses himself from behind the small stand that holds his Bible and notes. He helps her find the place in the Bible he mentioned.

Jesus said that he wanted the little children to come to him and Pastor Troxel of Nenana, AK was just following in his master’s footsteps.

That’s what your generous gift means to rural communities . . . a chance for young people to find Jesus. Thank you for helping!

Keeping country churches alive,

Brian Wechsler

Summer is here! The trees are budded, the birds are singing and the grass is getting green. The last snow fall was May 1^st and it was a doozy.

We got about four inches of really wet heavy snow, and all the kids had a great time making snowmen and snowballs.

But recently the temps have gotten up to 70 F and it is just wonderful. I take the dogs walking every morning and we enjoy the sunshine.

Nenana looks great today! Yesterday was Clean-Up Day and all the school kids walked around town cleaning up the litter. Bill and I joined up with different classes and picked up our fair share. Mostly we picked up cans! The Native Council and the City are picking up garbage for free this weekend. I talked to the guy in charge and he said they have already taken 6,000 pounds to the dump!!! We put out an old satellite dish left over from previous tenants and lots of cans from the back of the property. We are raking up many years worth of leaves. Six piles of leaves were an hour's work.

Many people in our church will be traveling for long periods of time this summer, so our attendance will be down for awhile. Our Sunday evening services have been very well received. We started the Truth Project on the first Sunday in February and maintained attendance of about 30, many people attending the evening program that go to other churches in the morning. Now that the Truth Project has been completed we will be studying the Bible, its origins, its inspiration and its versions from the original to the present.

We will also be traveling to Oregon and on to Iowa. We have a Village Missions conference to attend in Canon Beach, OR and then we are going to drive to Iowa to see Bill’s family. We are going to drive pretty quickly from Oregon to Iowa but on the way back we will take our time and have a family vacation. We will be going to some zoos, Mount Rushmore, an amusement park in Des Moines and a botanical center. We will be gone from June 16 to July 12.

Bill and I continue on with our community activities. Bill went with the third/fourth grade on their field trip to Fairbanks to go swimming, to the Large Animal Research Station, and to a gold dredge. I am going with the first/second grade on their field trip next week. Today is a community picnic and we are going to that, and then tomorrow we will be the workers for food delivery to those who need it. I have started attending the meetings of Wellness in Nenana, a group whose goal is to promote healthy living in our community. We have been talking about gardening and composting this spring. I adopted some composting worms, and they are making beautiful dirt!

School will be out next week and the kids are looking forward to riding bikes all day long. Ethan took his training wheels off about a week ago and off he went, only falling down twice.

There are a lot of kids here in town to play with and we have a big yard, and a swing set across the street. Both Aerin and Ethan did great in their classes and Aerin has Perfect Attendance this year in school and AWANA. The kiddos have been going to Tae Kwondo classes this school year and they attended a tournament and both won medals and trophies!

Speaking of AWANA, we ended the meetings on May 5^th. We handed out many awards and had a great selection of cookies! We had great attendance this year, most weeks we had more than 20 kids and 8 adults. We participated in the AWANA Games in Fairbanks with Denali Bible Chapel and everyone had a lot of fun running around.

We are getting better known in the community and many people stop to talk with us. Bill was asked at the last community meeting to open in prayer, he was introduced as the pastor of “our community church”. He has also been asked to open the River Blessing Ceremony tomorrow with prayer. This has been a catholic event in the past but this year they opened the service to everyone.

We are so happy here in Nenana. This little town is a perfect match for us. I pray our lives are saying more to the people here than our mouths ever could. We strive each day to bring glory to God in everything we do. Please continue to pray for us and our community. Pray that we will reach more people and tell them about God. Pray that alcohol loses its grip on the native population. Pray for traveling safety for all of us this summer.

In Christ,

Bill and Rebecca

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 1^st! 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. A 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.

We bought a new to us car on Dec. 21. It is a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe, a small SUV. We are so very happy with it and feel so secure when we are in it. I didn't realize how intrepidatious the van made me feel.

On the third Saturday of each month volunteers from Nenana Community Church help deliver food to the Elders and low income families. January was our month. The delivery takes about two hours, and involves taking the boxes from the van to the door. In the senior center, they have a couple carts so we don't have to carry all the boxes.


Every three months the Native Council, Railbelt Mental Health Center and the City of Nenana sponsor a community meeting. We attended the meeting last night and there was a great turn out. There were about 150 people there, native and white. We got to meet the chief, Mitch Demitrioff, and had a great time talking with everyone. There were reports about the native clinic, the school, the city water plant, a new day care, a few new streetlights, and resurfacing the existing streets.

A New Website

Greetings Friends & Family!

As you know, this blogger site serves as a means to keep our updates online for all of our supporters. We are thankful for you and your partnership as we serve our Lord in Nenana. We enjoy praying for each of you. Please send us a note or give us a call if we can pray for a specific need.

Rebecca has a blogger site as well. There is a link in the side bar to her quilting blog. While you might consider me biased, she is extremely talented and I enjoy her enjoyment of quilting.

Now I am pleased to introduce a new ministry website. The site will be my regular means of communicating our daily and weekly ministry. The site has a blog on it that i will contribute to regularly. There is a page with slideshows of pictures of our family, our town, our church, etc. My sermon calendar is on one page along with descriptions of Nenana Community Church's various ministries. There is also a page of online resources that I use for sermon preparation and personal Bible study. I hope you find those links as useful as I have.

The site is still under construction, so more pages will be added and a few things might be moved around. Within the next few weeks, I hope to have the site in a standard format for your use.

I will add a link to the site on the side bar but let me also include it here:

http://troxel.uber.com

I hope the New year is finding you well. If we can be of any service, or pray for you in any way, please let us know.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We are so thankful this holiday season to be serving the Lord in Nenana. We continually talk about how much we enjoy it here, and how we feel that we have been placed here for a reason. We thank you so much for praying and supporting us so that we can do the Lord’s work.

We were very pleased this last week to be asked by a local organization to help fill the food boxes for the needy family in our community. Bill spent one whole afternoon carrying turkeys, canned food, milk, eggs, bread, etc. from the trucks to the tables, to the boxes, to the people. He was able to meet a bunch of new people, both in the white and native community.

We have had a great time listening to the school Christmas concerts, participating in the class parties, and attending movie night fund raisers. Rebecca helped the first and second graders make reindeer antlers for their play, The Littlest Reindeer. And her picture was in the paper because she helped make a quilt that was auctioned off as a fund raiser for the senior center.

We would ask for your prayers for the Blair family, who recently lost a young son due to heart trouble. Please lift up in prayer a man who is coming to Bill for spiritual help. Also please continue to pray for our elders as they guide our church through the necessary paperwork required by the State of Alaska.

We have also had answers to our prayers. A friend, Wanda, was having a lot of foot trouble and after a visit to a specialist is now pain free. Baby Silas is home from the NICU and doing well. We are breaking attendance records at AWANA nearly every week. The Lord is doing great things!

In Him,

Bill and Rebecca

westroxel@gmail.com, rebecca0669@yahoo.com

Prayer Request

A young man from our community was just life-flighted to Seattle. Please pray for his healing, peace and comfort for the entire family, and for wisdom from the doctors.

Update:
The young man went home to be with his Lord on Thursday the 13th. The service is Thursday, Dec 20th.

Remain in prayer for his family. They know they will see him again someday, but their loss and grief must be hard to bear. Pray for their continued peace and healing.