Anderson University

After an early morning and long travel day, we finally arrived in Alaska! We had a delicious dinner of salmon and halibut burgers, and then stopped for these great views. The views continued on our drive up to Wasilla and then we settled into our home for the next two weeks. We can't wait to start serving tomorrow!

A few of us got to go on the radio this morning! Our host pastor, Pastor Rick, featured us on his show, Lifted Up. 

Check it out at: https://www.matsucovenant.org/liftedup

14 members of our group got to drive down into Anchorage this morning to connect with New Hope Compassionate Ministries. We got to offload a truck, as well as prep and bag food that will be handed out today to shut-ins and anyone else who needs it.

Down at New Hope, every client that comes through the door receives a bag of food, a cake, and they could pick up a box or two of produce and dairy products from the truck outside on their way out. We've got to admit, some of these cakes were very tempting.

No one said it would be easy... but no one said it would be this hard! We took on the Butte this evening and it was a feat. The hike up was muddy and steep, and the journey down was icy (& mostly on our butts). We laughed, worked as a team, and made some memories that will last a lifetime!

We learned a lot about dog sledding and the Iditarod Race today! Dallas, the owner here, just won his fifth Iditarod Race two weeks ago. We got to meet the dogs and run a trail with the our own dog sled teams to! It was unforgettable!

On our way back from our dog sledding adventure, we made a pit stop at Walmart. Many of us found ourselves in the souvenir section debating which items should take up residency in our luggage going home.

We shared a delicious meal of salmon chowder and moose stew with the young adult group called Aarigaa. Then, we got outside for some icy competition in broomball! 

We served with a non-profit called Alaska Medical Missions in Anchorage. They take medical supplies and ship them all around the world. We went through supplies, sorting out the expired items and repackaged others.

One of the things that made our fellowship with Aarigaa (a young adult group from the church) night so special is we got to experience hanging out with the locals. The leader of the young adult group, Tom, also talked a bit about his life growing up in Alaska and moving around to different native villages. We learned a lot. We also got to share a meal as well as play a game of broomball in the icy parking lot.