Werkema Family: February 2012

A month has gone by since our last update on the blog. The weeks go by so fast when your having fun. There is much to do serving here at Victory.

There has been a lot of different groups that have been here this past month. Everyone from youth groups to the Alaska Bible College group, to Women's retreats. The weather has been warm for the most part. The day time highs are in the 20's and teens at night. We were able to see the Northern lights the other night. It is amazing the beauty in the skies. We are seeing a lot of sunlight these days. Even in a weeks time you can tell the sun is higher and out longer. It's light now from 7:00 to 6:30. We are looking for a deep freezer before it gets too warm outside. We have been using our trailer as a freezer for our meat and other groceries.

Here is some of the hamburger meat that we got.

Here, in our stretch of the highway, we have the opportunity to be on the road kill list. We have signed up to be on call for the next available road kill accident. This involves responding to a call from the Alaskan State troopers to come get the dead animal. This animal may be a bear, elk, sheep or a moose. Most of the time the road kill animal is a moose. This animal is free meat as long as we take care of it. We have already received a call on a moose. Jared and some of the other guys went and picked it up and processed it. It worked out so well. There was not much bad meat on the moose. The moose was small, a yearling, but we were able to salvage 70 pounds or so of meat. So we are very thankful for everyone that helped us out. The meat is similar to whitetail deer, very lean. It tastes a lot wilder. We enjoy it. Alison loves it the most.

The kids have been playing outside with the warm weather. The best way to have Evelynn outside is in a backpack carrier. Then she can see what is going on. It has made it easier on Kacie with Evelynn being happier when she's outside. Kenten is doing well in school. He enjoys playing outside in the afternoon with the other homeschool kids. Kacie is looking at what curriculum to use for next year with the kids for school. Other than schooling and running the house, Kacie still has time for her hobbies. She is working on sewing a dress for Alison, knitting slippers, and is working on some window treatments for our house. Kacie enjoys going to Ladies night out every Wednesday night to get together with the ladies from the community. They will do crafts or play cards and shoot the breeze. We had new family pictures taken. We are doing a parenting class at church to help us get to know the people and build relationships.

Jared has been doing alot in the shop. With not as much snow this month, he has had time to work at some projects that were put off. All of the plow trucks are running and going good. Camp has recently purchased a new town trip vehicle. A 2002 Olds Bravada. It seems to be in great shape with few miles on it. This was a blessing. Jared is starting to work on the Bobcat. The engine needs to be overhauled. The word on the street is that the wrong fuel may have been put in it. I never rebuilt a diesel before. Today, I replaced a set of points on an old Case International Tractor...never did that before either. We have been keeping the runway plowed for future use. There are many possibilities for future plans. They are not set in stone yet. There are possibilities of flying to villages for outreach ministry opportunities. Only the Lord knows the plans. We will listen to his word and go where he sends us.

The Church that we have been attending has sent a group of guys up to Brooks Range bible camp. This is a camp for the native kids near Bettles, AK. There are plans to add on to a building. They are bringing 40,000 lbs of building supplies and fuel for the camp. They have to bring it all there by snowmobiles pulling sleds for 60 miles one way from Bettles. You can only get there by Air plane otherwise. It is only a summer camp and it is north of the Arctic circle. This is all for the village kids in the Brooks Mountain Range. Here is a video from last year http://vimeo.com/27412710. We are excited to hear the stories from the guys when they get back. We are praying for their safety.

Here are some more pictures