Ben. A pillar of faith. A face freckled by age spots. Glasses amplifying eyes that brim with love and sincerity. A voice that is difficult to understand, but one that offers a message of hope and truth. He's ninety-seven, and mastered by a passion for Christ. He leads out in a hymn and points to a line with his bandaged pinkie, "and such a worm was I." He looks at me then and says, "this was me, until Christ saved me. He didn't have to do it. But He did. And I was never the same." And my heart shivered with the passion by which he spoke this.
Ben is one of the Gulkana elders. Pray for the Gulkana, where not unlike many other villages, there is an age gap, with elders zealous for prayer, an absent generation that succumbed too soon too often to alcohol's death grip, and a younger generation in need of guidance and liberation. Pray that younger generations would rise above the temptation to chase down fear, anxiety and despair with a drink. Pray for lies to be uprooted and for seeds of truth to penetrate the permafrost of the heart.
I received the following list from Millie, one of the veteran nurses here at Cross Road (taken from Ron Hutchcraft Ministries). This list is one of ten sentences that often define young natives... to each lie, there is a Biblical response. Working through this list was educational for me, so I thought I'd share it!
There is no future.
2 Cor. 4:16-18
I think I can't.
Phil. 4:13
There are no boundaries.
Matthew 7:13-14
If you fail, give up.
Phil. 3:13-14
I want the pain to stop.
Is. 61:1 (not exactly sure how this one fits)
I feel powerless.
Rom. 8:37
Anything to belong.
1 Pet. 2:9-10
I've got to look out for me.
Luke 9:24
It's hard to trust.
2 Tim. 1:7
Make no commitments.
Matt. 5:37
Pray for the youth. I have seen many young parents in the clinic already with drug and alcohol related concerns. Please continue to pray for some door to open for me to help out with the youngsters in the community. I helped out in Chistochina (about an hour away) during the sunday school class this past week, and as the young sisters sprawled out on the floor and sat beneath the table throughout the lesson, I began to understand what people meant when they said that young native children can be a challenge. There will be a new pastor to this small church and his wife is planning on helping with the children, but she may still need some help on occasion. I am praying for wisdom now as to where I should commit myself outside of work...there are a lot of children in the community (300 students at the Glennallen school, in a town of just 500), and I would love to be involved somehow...
Ben is one of the Gulkana elders. Pray for the Gulkana, where not unlike many other villages, there is an age gap, with elders zealous for prayer, an absent generation that succumbed too soon too often to alcohol's death grip, and a younger generation in need of guidance and liberation. Pray that younger generations would rise above the temptation to chase down fear, anxiety and despair with a drink. Pray for lies to be uprooted and for seeds of truth to penetrate the permafrost of the heart.
I received the following list from Millie, one of the veteran nurses here at Cross Road (taken from Ron Hutchcraft Ministries). This list is one of ten sentences that often define young natives... to each lie, there is a Biblical response. Working through this list was educational for me, so I thought I'd share it!
There is no future.
2 Cor. 4:16-18
I think I can't.
Phil. 4:13
There are no boundaries.
Matthew 7:13-14
If you fail, give up.
Phil. 3:13-14
I want the pain to stop.
Is. 61:1 (not exactly sure how this one fits)
I feel powerless.
Rom. 8:37
Anything to belong.
1 Pet. 2:9-10
I've got to look out for me.
Luke 9:24
It's hard to trust.
2 Tim. 1:7
Make no commitments.
Matt. 5:37
Pray for the youth. I have seen many young parents in the clinic already with drug and alcohol related concerns. Please continue to pray for some door to open for me to help out with the youngsters in the community. I helped out in Chistochina (about an hour away) during the sunday school class this past week, and as the young sisters sprawled out on the floor and sat beneath the table throughout the lesson, I began to understand what people meant when they said that young native children can be a challenge. There will be a new pastor to this small church and his wife is planning on helping with the children, but she may still need some help on occasion. I am praying for wisdom now as to where I should commit myself outside of work...there are a lot of children in the community (300 students at the Glennallen school, in a town of just 500), and I would love to be involved somehow...
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