Dear Friends:

Here it is March 17th…a gorgeous day, temperature in the low 40s.  It has been around zero this so that is quite a contrast.  We finally saw the northern lights recently for the first time in several years.  What an incredible phenomenon that is!  They are kind of eerie but always awe-inspiring.  People come from all over the world to Alaska to observe them but usually they head up north to Fairbanks where the displays are more spectacular.

It has been two months since my last newsletter and in that edition I mentioned Marveen’s little magpie friend that had lost her tail to a predator somehow and could not fly.  She had fed the little critter and kept it alive for about six weeks or so and its tail feathers had started to grow back almost to the point where she could fly.  However, sad to say, one day Marveen went out to feed “Maggie” and discovered a pile of feathers on the ground near one of the trees where the disabled bird often spent considerable time.  Pretty sad.  She almost made it back into the world of the airborne.  There were some cat tracks nearby so I reckon that is what did the deed.  That little bird taught Maveen lots of interesting lessons about the life and habits of magpies.

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome is almost complete.  The winner is in but there are others still working their way to Nome.  1000 miles is a long way to travel in a car, much less behind a team of 10-15 dogs.  There have been a number of accidents on the trail this year and several of the mushers have had to drop out.  As usual, about the time of the Iditarod, the days start to warm up some, snow begins the long process of thawing out and predictably, my mind begins to think about ............you guessed it.......knitting. Well, maybe it is fishing.  A new Sportsman’s Warehouse opened in Soldotna the other day and I heard that the place was packed with people.

I had a great time down in Ketchikan speaking for their annual men’s conference.  I didn’t actually get a count but  it seemed like there were maybe fifty or so guys there.  I felt like the Lord gave me some good things to share with the men and they were a most receptive group.  The weather was awesome for Ketchikan, alternating between snow, wind and clear as a bell.  I stayed in a hotel right on the water and absolutely loved it.  Oh my, I could live in a place like that!  It was a blessing to spend some more time with my long time friends, Paul and Vicky Slenkamp for whom I had the privilege of performing their wedding a quarter century ago!  Another highlight was a three-hour lunch with two of the pastors in that city…great guys and we had a wonderful time talking about ministry and counseling, etc.   The restaurant in which we ate and talked the afternoon away is located right on historic Creek Street and, if  I’d had my fishing pole I probably could have hooked a steelhead by dropping a line out the window while we dined.

The flight back from Ketchikan to Anchorage was, shall we say, memorable.  I was on what they call the “milk run” flight originating in Seattle, I think.  I got aboard in Ketchikan, then the plane stopped in Wrangell, then Petersburg, then Juneau and finally Anchorage.  Well, on our approach (over the water) to Juneau it got really, and I mean REALLY turbulent with the plane going forward, sideways, up and down…every direction except backwards.  There had been 100mph winds in the region a few days earlier and I believe this was what was left of that.  I think it was Tracy Arm we were flying over and when I looked at the water below, it was awash with really large breaking waves.   I was not alone praying for a safe landing.  Once on the ground and loaded to head on to Anchorage, the FAA would not let the plane depart because the winds over the water in the direction we would usually use for take-off were above maximum…and to go the other way, taking off with a tailwind, they were too high as well.   So, we sat there and waited over two hours until there was a microscopic lull in the wind and we went to the end of the runway to wait for, hopefully, a little more diminishing of the wind.  When it happened, I am serious, I think the pilot must have pushed that throttle clear into the firewall because that fully loaded jet shot down that runway like a rocket.  But, with that tailwind, I kept  thinking...”Come on Mr. Pilot…pull  up, pull up!”  He finally did but not until we had used up about every foot of that runway!  Whew.  One’s prayers do take on a certain degree of intensity in moments like that.  Gratitude was felt from the first class section to the back of coach where I was sitting as applause and cheering was universal.  I was not the only one thanking God.  As I arrived home, Marveen returned from a month in Colorado where she was helping her step mom  once more.

Prior to going to Ketchikan, I had the blessing of being asked to share with the students at Alaska Bible Institute in Homer.   They have a special class for all the students where they ask pastors or other visiting leaders to share their experiences and  “life lessons” with them.  It was really fun to be doing that in the town where I had my very first experience as a pastor back in the early 70’s.  After the teaching session we sat in the cafeteria and several of the students gathered around to ask more questions.  What a treat.  One thing I did experience though was a feeling more than a little ancient.  Sitting there talking with college students the age of my grandchildren was a little sobering.  Hope I get to do that again someday.

Apart from my counseling at my CFM office (which is quite busy), my next CFM assignment will be in mid-April when I will be traveling up northeast of Anchorage to Victory Bible Camp to speak four times at a men’s retreat for the men of Lazy Mountain Bible Church in Palmer.  They are expecting about 90 men to attend and I am really looking forward to the opportunity.  It will also be a blessing to see the pastor, my old friend, Dave Dahms.  What a guy.  He re-defines the expression, “high energy.

Please continue to pray for my old friend and fishing partner, Hilmer Kiser.  These are challenging days for him as the treatment he is undergoing for cancer is very difficult and hard on both body and soul.  Also,  please join with believers all over the world in lifting up the folks in Japan following that horrible earthquake.  I have been watching the news reports come in and can hardly grasp the devastation.  These indeed are “perilous” times as the Bible says.

I know you probably get a voluminous amount of mail from folks soliciting donations for their causes.  We sure do.  However, if the Lord puts it on your heart that CFM is a ministry worthy of your support, then we will be grateful for your help.

God bless you……..and Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Your friends,

Wayne and Marveen