Roseville Covenant Church
Alaska Mission 2004
Our
Mission:
While there are many needs in Alaska missions, RCC has chosen
one project for the 2004 trip:
- Build a home for Chip Swanson and his family in Unalakleet.
Chip has committed his life to Christ and missions in the Norton
Sound area . Unalakleet is a native village on the shore of Norton
Sound. Chip arranged to have the foundation for the house poured.
We framed in the house, put up sheathing, insulation, siding and
roof. We worked two one week shifts from July 31 through August
15.
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| Walking in to the house site. | Saturday afternoon. Preparing the site for a big day on Monday. | |
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| Sunday at Unalakleet Covenant Church | Dedication of the Naturalist Cabin to Rubin Johnson | |
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| First wall tilted up into place. | Fellowship time. | |
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| The Architect with Unalakleet in the background. | Daniel preaching words of wisdom. Our guardian angel. | |
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| These ladies kept us well fed. | Time for rest and fellowship. | |
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| Keep it tidey. | The big wall. | |
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| No words necessary. | Getting close to the peak. | |
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| The house on Friday. | Chip and family. | |
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| Second crew installs siding and insulation. | ||
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| First crew heads back. | The house is soon to be a home, Birch Crest. | |
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| The Whole Motely Crew | Second crew heads back and says their goodbyes. |
Alaska 2004, by Jim Werner
1. Where else can you have 300+ miles of bush without roads.
2. Where else can you run into people from your work place (NW
students working the Summer at the North River camp, 3,000 miles
from home).
3. Where else can you meet educated people that know how to survive
and enjoy the remote life.
4. Where else can you meet people that have run the Iditarod sled
dog race.
5. Where else, where your wife tells you that you are going for
two weeks and be sure to go Halibut fishing.
6. Where else can 15 people of diverse backgrounds do this much
work in two weeks.
7. Where else can a group of this size have leaders that arise
to meet the problems.
8. Where else can rough living conditions be a asset to the amount
of work completed.
9. Where else will simple things mean so much.
10. Where else will people commit themselves to a costly project
and thank God for the privilege.
2004 Alaskan Mission Trip, by
Larry Persuitti
__What an honor it is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ with such
a dedicate team of believers. This being my second trip to this
area of Alaska the experience was not only awesome but also humbling.
Every step of the way I felt the hand of God in everything we
did. There was the hours spend designing the building and identifying
the materials list. Then there was the effort it took to get the
material and the power tools shipped to Unalakleet At times, it
almost felt that the tasks were insurmountable. But time and time
again God placed people in our paths that helped carry the burden.
Amazing!
__Once we got the team to the job site the next amazing event
was witnessing the commitment all the team members had to get
settled in. Even though it wasn't what we expected once the shock
wore off we went right to work. The immediate concern was a place
to sleep and insuring other standard amenities were available
to all. Simple things like a roof over our heads and a usable
outhouse for both men and women. It felt so good to be pulling
together. When this was done we moved next to the job site and
began developing a building plan for the remaining portion of
the day. From RCC God put together an incredible mission team.
Our key project leaders were already hard at work getting solid
building plans together. It became very obvious to everyone that
we were faced with a very daunting task. From here we never looked
back.
__The key for me on this trip was actually seeing and experiencing
the hand of God in everything that we said and did. We grew very
close as a team. There were plenty of times that Satan could have
worked his way into our activities but I firmly believe that our
team was covered with such prayer for home that he did not get
a chance. The camaraderie was so heart warming. We were from all
walks of life yet nothing stood in the way of developing deep
relationships. We all knew that we had that common base in Jesus
Christ. That was the draw! And our focus was to provide a home
for one of God's servants. How blessed we were!
__As I walked away for the job site on that last day I look back
on this new home and felt incredibly filled with God's presences.
I still can't believe we did it! To God be the glory!
Alaska 2004 Mission Poem, Roger
Anderson
Covenant High, We came to teach / thirty years and an invite to
return.
A house to build / old friends to visit / new friends to make.
Joanne, AnaLee and a"Chip" off the old block. A retirement
retreat.
Two weeks of work and worship in that wilderness sanctuary / Unalakleet.
Tempted to cut and run / We cut and built and raised / Walls,
prayer and praise.
Ate like kings (silvers) / worked like slaves / snored like logs
/ cried like babes.
To God be the glory, great things he still does. Psalms 127:1.
Alaska Mission 2004, by Kevin
Nelson
__I had been to Alaska two years
earlier on RCC's 2002 mission trip with most of the same group
of people. When we arrived in Anchorage I was excited to see some
of the sites in the Kenai Peninsula. We were just tourists: Larry,
Clark and Arnie, and I. We went to: Hope, a gold mining town even
today; Seward, a beautiful area in the midst of the Kenai Fjords;
the Russian River, a great fishing river where the fishermen carried
pistols the size of rifles in case of bears. I love the mountains
and I had a great time wondering at all the sites.
__From there the trip became very different. I was extremely emotional
about the whole trip once I got onto the plane from Soldotna to
Unalakleet. What was I doing there? I had left my family behind
and it didn't seem fair to them. I looked out over the mountains
and glaciers and huge rivers and saw what a beautiful earth God
had made. It didn't seem fair that I was doing this. My stories
about the trip couldn't even come close to the peace and wonder
I was experiencing. I had left all my work worries behind and
saw how insignificant that all was. I started to remember what
a spiritual uplifting the last trip was. I couldn't help myself;
I just stuck my head into the seat and sobbed.
__Within a few hours we were all in Unalakleet glad to have arrived
and eager to work. I had an idea what a huge task was before us.
We were supposed to build a two story house on a steep hillside
in 5 days. No matter, I knew this group of men and knew that we
would get the job done. We arrived at the house site and saw a
sea of building lumber. I was walking in toward the site right
next to Cliff, when he looked up turned 180 degrees and said without
hesitation, "What are we doing here?" I felt a big chill.
From that moment on I don't think anyone of our crew had ever
worked that hard in their lives. Wayne woke us at 6:30 every morning
and we worked until 8 or 10 in the evening. We were blessed by
the presence of the ladies Joanne and Joan who kept us fed and
encouraged. Daniel Soxie and Chip Swanson and Paul Peterson kept
our spirits alive word of God. The trolls who worked off the steep
ground, Allen, Paul, Arnie and Wayne. The guys on the roof, Jim,
Jim, Roger, and Larry. The "glue man" and "pizza
man" Clark. Cliff and Mark planned and supervised with unbelievable
patience and energy. There was no energy left our crew by the
end of the week. But, I would not exchange this experience for
anything. These are truly People of God that surround me.
[House Plans]
[a view from the House site, Unalakleet in the distance on the
bay]
[Unalakleet Covenant Church] [Sunday morning parking lot] [Daniel,Chip,
Smitty]
Links -
Alaska Christian College: ACC
Covenant Bible CampUnalakleet: CovBibleCampUnk
Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska ECCAK
Unalakleet Covenant Church: UnalakleetCov
Roseville Covenant Church RoseCov
