Mission Outreach

We can't believe that it is almost April. There is so much to pray for and to be thankful for. This week, three staff members here at Victory, will be flying out to Galena, AK. They are going to meet with a missionary pastor there and discuss ministry opportunities. We need prayer for safety and guidance in this direction of mission work. We would like prayer for the decisions that will need to be made. We need prayer that the Lord will speak through us, at Victory, with our words and our actions. We need prayer that we, as staff, will always be provided for. We need the prayer support to pursue this calling for Victory Bible Camp. God calls us to be disciples. We are thankful for the many opportunities to present Christ through our gifts of service through Victory Ministries. We need to take advantage of these opportunities, because the time is near. What a wonderful day when Christ shall come...no more suffering, no more tears, no more pain. God has a big plan for Victory. Outreach is what discipleship is all about. Things are changing for the better.

Things that are going on.

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

Trying to get unstuck from the deep snow.

One of the many projects I have... plus good blackmail for Kenten later on in life.

Moose at the end of our drive way. 

The Mountains and sunshine.

All the snow!!

New Family picture

Kenten has a loose tooth and very proud.

sledding down our drive way.

Here is some of the housing at camp. I know some people wanted to see them.

Here is another place to stay right by the lake

I still have to clean it!!

Thanks for all the support and prayers from everyone. We appreciate everything. God is wonderful and we love being able to serve Him. 

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.