Archbold Evangelical Church

We made it and the team is totally hyped!! We made a quick stop in Seward to do some sightseeing! The weather and the scenery here is absolutely amazing! 

We  had a blast enjoying the beauty of God’s creation!! We took a quick hike to Exit Glacier and it was beautiful! 

We are starting off day 2 with breakfast! Everyone grabbed their breakfast and packed a lunch. Today is going to be busy with lots of fun and ministry!! 

We made it over to Captain Cook State Regional Park today where we were able to walk the beach and collect some pretty awesome rocks!

We were blessed to start our week of ministry by worshiping alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ at Peninsula Grace. The worship service was absolutely incredible, and Pastor Justin’s sermon based on Proverbs 7 was convicting and directed us to the gospel. 

You might not be able to find us in this picture because we all spread out to sit by Peninsula Grace members to give us all a chance to meet someone new! 

On Monday morning, half our crew went to Amundsen Educational Center (yes, also abbreviated as AEC.) AEC is a school that offers a residential construction program that also incorporates discipleship training into their curriculum. Currently, the school receives up to 6 students from rural Alaska each year. We are excited to be able to support AEC this week with some work that will help their campus be able to reach more people with the hope of the Gospel. 

Mike Swanson, Director of AEC, joined us to share more about their ministry. He shared 3 principles that they try to instill in every student in their program: 

1. Worth — “God don’t make no junk”

2. Belonging — “You can’t change the family you come from but you can change the family you create.” 

3. Competence — “Competence leads to confidence and if you are confident, you are more likely to remain alive.”

We are grateful for being able to partner with AEC this week, a ministry committed to serving and equipping rural Alaskans.

Emily was reunited with a friend who was in her crew at last year’s VBS! We were blessed to hang out with him all day while we served at AEC. 

One of the items on our punch list at AEC was to move items from a garage to another area on campus so they can be sorted for what’s being kept or donated. Haylee, Callie, Trisha, and Brenda made sure the garage was swept of every particle of dust!

Yesterday we were back at the food bank and we were greeted by our good friend Cohen. He was so excited to see us as we were to see him!!

Haylee was ready for our 2nd night of Scuba with some props she found in the do ate pile earlier in the day at AEC!

The theme of Night 2 was “God is a friend who loves!” We are so grateful to know his love and be in relationship with him, and also to share his love with the kids at VBS this week! 

Caleb was hard at work, mowing the lawn for the food bank’s upcoming fundraiser!!

As you know, a significant way we have been serving alongside Peninsula Grace this week is by preparing dinner for VBS volunteers and their families. We’ve loved sitting down and sharing this meal together as a way to get to know our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

We went on a short hike after VBS finished on Tuesday and found a moose statue!

During Alaskan winters, trucks lay down gravel instead of salt on the roads for a few reasons: 1. The moose are attracted to the salt, and if they are licking the salt from the roads, more accidents could happen. And 2., gravel helps absorb the snow and ice without melting the snow into slick ice like salt does. 

The more you know! Anyways… we spent Wednesday morning at AEC sweeping gravel from the road so it is smooth and clear for the summer. This gravel will be stored and reused next winter to help with slick road conditions. 

… down the beautiful aqua waters of the Kenai River… in Alaska ….. our God is way too good!!!

Most of our groups counted over 20 bald eagles and we even saw a black bear along the shore. The silver salmon are starting to run, so it was exciting to also see some fishers on the water. How incredible!!

The bear we saw on our river float wasn’t the only bear we saw. We were able to get pretty close to a black bear in our vans as we drove to our next spot for recreation. 

Our last night of VBS was filled with fun celebration of an awesome week and some tough goodbyes. We love the kiddos we’ve gotten to meet this week and will continue to pray for them as we return home. 

After VBS was over, we helped cleanup the church. This seems like it could take a while but there were so many helping hands that things went by very quickly. 

During our final team meeting, we took time to pray for Nathanael and Miriam in this season of transition. We love them so much, and are incredibly blessed by the impact they’ve had on our lives. 

After a long day of hard work at the food bank, the team headed over to Mel’s Cafe for some much needed coffee! This was before the coffee of course!

The sun was shining bright today so Katie and Brynn were just soaking it up! Check out that backdrop! 

Thank you AEC for allowing us to serve Alaska alongside you all! It was an honor and a pleasure.