The sun is here!!

God is so good to us. We can't get over how beautiful the mountains are. We are looking forward to summer for many reasons but we all love the snow so much. One of the reasons we are excited is the fact that when visitors meet the staff you can feel God working here. We want everyone to feel God working in them after being here. Also, we find it convenient to be able to go outside without taking 20 plus minutes to get out the door because we can't find the other mitten. 

There has been a lot of excitement going on since our last post. We have gotten a lot of paper work done. Moving can be a lot like getting married all over again with all the change of information and change of address. Jared has been very busy in the Auto Shop. He has also been busy plowing all the wonderful snow that we have gotten. We had a couple groups in last weekend, and we have more groups coming in on Friday this week. We love that people can come here and grow in Christ. We have been attending the Glacier View Bible Church since we have arrived. It is down the road about 10 miles or so. The kids started Sunday school this week and are making more and more friends. Kenten has a birthday party to go to next week for one of his friends.

It seems to be the time of year where we all get very jealous of where each of our homes are located. Our house is high enough that we get the sun shining in the house from 12:50 to 1:30 in the afternoon on a clear day. The days often seem to be clear. It is wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun on us. So we joke with a few people that they can come over between those times to visit or just soak up the vitamin D.

The first Package from Michigan

On the way home from Church

Things we do for Fun:

Every Monday night Kacie gets a break from the kids and goes to play Volleyball at the local school with some of the community people. Yes, Kacie is very competitive and loves to play her sports. But with the kids, they love the snow. They would be outside all the time if it was not below zero. The kids have recently attended another birthday party from a couple at church. It was a swimming party. They cranked up the heat in their garage and filled up two kids swimming pools with warm water. What a day to spend with a bunch of kids and water. Needless to say everyone took great naps that day. They had a blast. Kenten had a friend over, and they made homemade pizza that they got to decorate themselves. They both had fun eating their own specially made pizza. Jared has had the opportunity to go snowmobiling. Jared went this past weekend and a couple of weekends ago. Both times were beautiful weather and a very fun time with the guys. The snow is very deep right now and you can get stuck fast if you are not paying attention to the trail.

Jared has been helping to clear the camp's runway for plane use this winter. Yes, I'm sure that Dad is all smiles about right now. He surely has a passion to fly. We want to get the runway up and going for future plans. Jared is also currently working on a broke down Ford/Chevy plow truck. It is a Ford body with a Chevy engine and transmission. This vehicle lost reverse and 4x4 low range while plowing. This is the 4th plow truck that needs fixing.

Spying on Jared while he is doing some phone calls and paper work in his Auto Shop office.

Fixing one of the plow trucks.

We are very thankful for all of the people that are thinking of us and praying for us. We appreciate everything you are doing for us and for everything God has done for us. God has certainly opened the doors for us to be here, and He is still showing us his path for us. We are getting closer and closer with our Lord through his wonderful plan for the Werkema family.

There has been a lot of moose on the road. 

Praise be to the Lord, we made it safely!! Jared and Kenten made it to Victory Bible Camp early Wednesday morning on Dec. 15. As you know, I was flying into Alaska with the other kids on that same day. So Jared surprised me and the kids by picking us up from the airport. It was a wonderful surprise. The plane ride went great with the kids and with the help from Brianna (my sister). The rest of Jared's trip went very smooth. No flat tires or break downs. The Lord was watching over them all the way. The sun was shinning everyday. After our arrival, we spent the first night in guest housing until we could unload our stuff into our house. We were able to put our trailer into the heated shop so our stuff could warm up before we move it in to prevent breaking. It was wonderful how everyone helped us move in, and we had meals brought to us for a week while we were unpacking and settling in.  It was a great way to start relationships. The next few days were crazy with information overload. We got a lot of work done with organizing the house and making lists. We are working on getting citizenship established. Drivers licences,internet, phone, mailing address and insurance stuff. Jared will start working as soon as all this is taken care of. Right now there is about 3 feet of snow on the ground. It is so beautiful. We can't thank everyone enough for helping us through prayer and support. The days are the shortest right now, but are not really any different than Michigan. Here are some pictures of our house and some views that we get to wake up to every morning.

Our home Phone: 907-746-7124 

Or call camp and they can transfer you.

Here are some pictures of our house and some veiws that we get to wake up to everyone morning.

Here is Evelynn enjoying her long underwear.

Here is the front of the house.

 Here is the enter way

Here is the Living room

Kenten doing house work. He is such a sweet boy.

The Kitchen

Up stairs Bathroom

Here is Evelynn's room. This is also my sewing room. Can't wait to use it.

I have some sewing to do with window treatments.

Our room is a not in any pictures, because it is a collect all room for right now.

Here is Boy's room They are down stairs

Alison Downstairs

The snow out of Alison's window

The open basement to play

Here is the kid's bathroom

Here are some views

So we are so blessed and excited for what God has in planned for us. Thanks for all the prayers during the move and for the continual prayers.

on the Road!!

So Jared and Kenten left one Tuesday the 7th. The picked up Johnathan from camp at the airport at 2:45 in the afternoon. Than they made it to Kenosha, WI. Johnathan was tied and Jared did not have good luck with Chicago. Than the next day they made it to St. Cloud, MN. That hotel had a pool and Kenten was able to go swimming and burn off some stored energy form the ride. Kenten had so much fun. Than they traveled up through North Dakota to Canada. The boarder crossing was fast maybe 5 minutes. All the hotels were full because of the oil workers. So they head west and ended up at  Elkhorn Alberta and stayed there. It was the last room available they were very lucky. The next night they made it to Edmonton. They still didn't run into any snow. They went on to  traveled to Drawson Creek. Tonight they are in Fort Nelson they ran into some snow and had to use the chains once. But everything went good and they are in the hotel. I talked to them on Skype for along time and it was great to see him. In that time will Jared has been gone I have moved form Jared's mom and dad's house to my mom and dad's house. So Jared's sister and brother in law can moving in to the his parent's house while they are in the process of  building their house. I have found that I needed to buy another piece of luggage because I have way to much stuff to fit into one bag. I fly out on Wednesday morning with the kids and my younger sister Brianna. I can believe how things are working out. I love to watch God work.

Green light to go!

We have reached our goal and have set dates to leave. Jared will leave Tues. morning, Dec. 6 with the truck and trailer. Kenten will ride along with Jared. The two boys will cruise on down to Chicago to pick up a passenger from camp to ride along the rest of the way so they wont be alone. Kacie will leave Wednesday, Dec. 14 with the other three kids and her sister Brianna to help out. They will be taking the Alaskan Air lines. If all goes as planned. Jared will arrive just before Kacie...assuming that the weather cooperates. We are very excited and busy. We are trying to contact everyone to get things squared away before we leave. We want to say our goodbyes and we don't want to forget anyone. We love all of you and thank you all for your prayers and support. We will be in touch and we will surely be back to visit from time to time. We would like you all to pray for safe travels.
Serving at Victory Bible Camp,
Jared, Kacie, Kenten, Alison, Nicholas and Evelynn Werkema

The dinner recap!

The dinner went great. There were a lot of people that came out to support us and chat with us. We can't thank everyone enough who helped out with all the labors. It was very very busy but it went smooth and we did not run out of food. I was so excited to see my bed. I think I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow that night.... We are still at 96% but we know that things are working out. God knows when He wants us to leave. So here are some pics of the trailer we got. It is a 2006 24ft Interstate. The Guy that sold us the trailer did some frame work to give the floor extra support. Jared just has to check the wheel bearings and repack them. We already have Jared's tool box in it and all the tools and boxes that were in the garage. So the packing has started.

Here is Evelynn trying to work on her crawling!! She can go backwards.

Here are some Halloween pics of the kids. Kenten was a ghost, Alison was a Princess, Nicholas was a lumber jack and Evelynn was a Skunk.

We thank you all for the prayers and support. We would love to know of anything that we can pray for you.

What is going on...

So the dinner is coming to a near and I am hoping to get a lot done on Monday with running around. Because I am not close to having it together yet. We got great news today that we are getting close to our monthly goal we are at 96%. So that is something to be thankful for on top of the wonderful weather. We are working on the trailer and organizing everything. We hope to see everyone at the dinner on Wednesday night. If you need more information let me know I can email you times and location. If you can't make it let us know and we could maybe fit in coffee before we leave. So are so thankful for how things are working out you can see that God's hand has been on all of this. I can't say thanks enough for all the prayers. See you on Wednesday.

Dinner Date Planned

We have planned our dinner date to be on Wednesday November 16 in the evening. We are $200 committed monthly support  away from leaving the state. The Lord has been putting things together quite fast lately. Things seem to be really falling into place. The Lord must be telling us that the time is near. We know that it is getting late in the year, but we can still make the trip safely. It may take longer, but that will be an adventure for the whole family. We are very excited for the trip. Kenten is asking us on a daily basis when we are going to leave to go sledding down the big hills. The kids are very excited and just can't wait. We want to thank all of our supporters for their partnership with us in this ministry. Together we will serve the Lord at Victory Bible Camp. We will keep everyone updated on the latest and greatest news with this ministry and what is happening at camp. We will send regular updates either by mail or email which ever you prefer. Let us know. We would really like family and friends to be a part of this ministry by visiting us at camp with work teams, or at least to just visit and see what Victory is all about. I guarantee you that once you visit you will be hooked for life. We understand that it may be costly, but it is the opportunity of a life time. We are asking for your prayers for a safe trip, and that we may find the last bit of financial support needed. Thanks again!