V.B.S. Success!

We had our “Thank You Dinner” for all the parents of the children who attended VBS this week.  It was a good turn-out with everyone appreciating being able to see pictures of what their children did this week.  All the parents truly enjoyed hearing their children singing to them as well!  We received nothing but positive feedback and everyone had a great time.  Dinner consisted of a Garden Salad, Spaghetti with Italian Sausage, Green Beans, and Garlic Bread.  For dessert, Rachelle and Kelly made one of the favorite treats the kids ate this week;  Rice Krispy Treats w/Trix Cereal mixed in.

 Rachelle leading the children in their songs.

 

The children were absolutely adorable in their t-shirts that they had made during VBS!

 

Kelly teaching one of the Bible Stories.

 

 David helps out one of the little ones.

 David leading one of the games. (I'm too old for that stuff  ;-)

Immediately following the dinner was our Friday Night Movie.  Once again, a great turn-out (I guess it helps for the plant not to have any fish, so everyone was off tonight).  The movie was the last movie in the Left-Behind series.  There were at least a dozen folks present.

The biggest turn-out was in the gym however!  Rachelle counted over 50 people using the basketball court alone!  I (Peter) promptly stepped in between games and gave a Gospel presentation that was very well received.  The sketch I did was entitled “What’s Your Opinion?”  It talked about Truth vs. Relativism.  Many were challenged in their views on Truth and whether it is absolute or not.  There was great interaction from the crowd and everyone present received Gospel tracts.

Not many got close, but they were all listening!

Days like today, even though we were all TOTALLY exhausted, God shows us why we are here!  There are so many that haven’t heard a clear Gospel presentation, but are willing to listen!  It is also so amazing that we are able to proclaim the Good News to so many different people-groups.  As I look back on the experience this evening, there must have been about a dozen different countries and languages represented as I shared the Good News of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us.  Please pray with us that the Lord uses His Word in a powerful way over the next few days/weeks as people think deeply on the truths proclaimed this evening.

On one final note, please take a look at our “Support” page (just below the picture at the top of the blog).  We could still use some more Bibles here!  Even if you only can send one or two, every little bit helps!  There are other smaller resources that we utilize listed as well.  We thank each one of you for your support both in prayer and finances.  If you ever have any questions for us, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Your Fellow Servants in Christ Jesus,

The Fox Family

Vacation Bible School

The First Few Days

This week we started Vacation Bible School for the children of Akutan.  We have had a great response so far!  We decided to utilize Outrigger Island as our base curriculum.  The whole sanctuary has been transformed into a tropical island paradise (well, kinda).  Kelly, Rachelle, and David have been doing an outstanding job of teaching the children about;

Knowing the Truth,

Speaking the Truth, and

Living the Truth (the theme for this VBS).

Here are a few shots that we have taken so far:

The backdrop sign we made out of a few tarps we found and letters we drew, cut, and colored ourselves.

 Teaching the kids some of the bible songs on Outrigger Island!

Rachelle and David teaching more songs.  "Repent of your sins, QUICKLY! QUICKLY!"
(Those of you who have done this VBS before will get that  ;-)

Rachelle getting into the song!

Of course snacks are an important part of VBS!

 After we fill them full of sugar, we have to run it out of them!

 This is Tasha, one of the precious little ones we have been ministering to.

 

Crafts are done everyday as well.  Yesterday they made t-shirts they will be allowed to take home with them.

So far, so good!  Please keep praying for us as this is a busy week!  Peter is still recovering from an upper respiratory infection and his voice is coming and going.  He is feeling much better today, but he is still up half of the night coughing.

The new sermon series Peter has started, Spirit, Soul, and Body has proven to be challenging and uplifting.  Several people are asking deeper questions and digging into their Bibles.

That's all for now.  More to come!

Prayer Request

While we were doing VBS today our village police officer, Nick, stopped by.  We spoke about a man from the village who was flown out by a Coast Guard helicopter yesterday.  The medical evacuation sight for the heli is right next to the church, so we all witnessed the extraction yesterday.  It turns out the man somehow developed meningitis and is now in a coma.  His name is John.  Please be in prayer for him and his family.  That is all we know at this point.

On a brighter note:  Our first day of VBS went very well!  We are doing Outrigger Island and the children appear to really enjoy it.  Rachelle and David do an excellent job with helping keep the kids focused.  This will be a draining week for sure!  We will keep you all posted!

Changes to the Blog

Well, we have made some changes to our blog.  Above, beneath the picture of the church, you will notice three tabs (HOME, PETER'S SERMONS, SUPPORT).  You may click on each of these tabs to take you to their respective pages.  We hope you like these new additions.  Many of you have asked how you may help support us in addition to praying, so we thought we would include these new areas.

Right now we have begun a Vacation Bible School for the kids on the island here.  Today is the first day and going well.  Peter is trying to recover from a sore throat after preaching three sermons yesterday.

We will endeavor to keep you updated as we move along!

The Fox Family

Long Update

Long Update!

Well, a lot has been happening since we last checked in! I'm not too sure where to start. I guess we can start with Independence Day.

We were invited to participate in the village celebration of Independence Day on July 4th. Our small part was housing most of the food for the big feast. But we also did a Cake-Walk which Kelly and Rachelle had made cakes to give away. The celebration/picnic was wonderful! I don't think any of us had ever been to a 4th of July picnic where they served fresh King Crab! There wasn't anything more exotic to eat this time, just the usual fare of BBQ chicken, beef and pork (and of course, hot dogs).

The entire village came out to play various games and compete in relay races. The Egg-Toss was a big hit with everyone! James did very well with the crowd and playing in the games. We were all totally exhausted by the time the picnic was over. It started at 1pm and went till 5pm.

Around midnight we all went back to the village to see the fireworks. WOW! We cannot recall having a better time going to 4th of July fireworks in our lives! There was NO traffic, no crowds to fight, and every seat was front row! It was awesome! The village must have spent a small fortune on fireworks. They lasted at least 20-30 minutes. You will never have any other experience like seeing fireworks in Akutan, Alaska! To have a backdrop of Akutan Harbor, snow-peaked mountains, and a full moon... it just doesn't get any better!

The following Friday, David and Peter were invited to go out fishing with one of our friends from Trident on his personal boat. Of course, they could not refuse such an offer! The trip did not go exactly the way we had intended though... We broke down in the middle of Akutan Harbor and drifted for quite some time before Joseph (our friend) could get the motor running again. Needless to say, we did not get much fishing done, but the views and the experience were priceless.

Today we had a completely unexpected pleasure. We had a tour boat pull into the harbor and anchor at the city dock for several hours. We had the opportunity to meet people from all over Europe! There were approximately 100 people who came and toured the village of Akutan and our church! We spoke with people from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and many other places I simply cannot remember now! Each one received one of our ministry cards with all of our contact information and a simple Gospel message on the back. They were all very friendly and asked lot's of great questions (if you are one of those folks we talked to and you are reading this, send us an e-mail!).

We will attempt to put up some pictures of all the happenings here soon. We don't want to crash our ISP with all the uploads in one night! LOL!

This past Sunday we also started offering three church services (8:30am, 10:30am, and 7:30pm). All of them had great attendance except the 8:30am one. We will continue to offer it for the rest of the month, but if no one attends, then we will simply cancel it. I (Peter) have said before though... if even one person shows up...I preach! So we will see what happens.

Our Sunday school for children is at 3:00pm. Kelly and Rachelle have taken that over and are doing a fantastic job! We had 6 children in attendance this last Sunday along with three of the parents (all from the village). The feedback we have heard from the parents is that the kids are truly enjoying themselves and learning a lot about the Bible and Jesus!

I'm sure I may have missed something along the way here, but we are VERY tired! We also received new gym equipment yesterday to replace old broken-down equipment. So Peter spent most of the day assembling all of that! Several of the folks who saw the new equipment were very excited. I'm sure, as the word spreads, we will get more people coming to the gym for work-outs. Now, if we could only discipline ourselves to consistently use the gym.... LOL!

We look forward to sharing more soon (with pics). Thank you again for your prayers and support!

The Fox Family

Had Some Visitors

Yesterday we had visitors here from Trident Seafood. Peter and David finally got to meet the Bundrants (and they had great weather flying in!). We also had a very special guest at our evening service, her name was Rufina Shaishnikoff. Rufina is a wonderful sister in the Lord who shared her personal testimony, being a three-time cancer survivor, and played/sang beautiful music. Rufina lives in Unalaska, AK and came with the Bundrants yesterday. It was such a beautiful service! Peter finished-up chapter five of the book of Galatians for the sermon.

Here is a picture that Peter took of everybody who came last night:

Afterward there was great fellowship with all our guests! Among our new friends where a few members of the church board who David and Peter previously met in Seattle, WA. The others were mostly friends of the Bundrants. We also had several people from the local village attend.

Today we saw off all of our guests. The fog lifted long enough for the Goose to make two trips. Everyone is safely on their respective journey's elsewhere in Alaska. Looking back on the last two days we have come to realize what an important role we have in ministering the Gospel here in the bush. The Lord continues to provide the right people, with the right word, at the right time. We were all very encouraged.

Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for the village Fourth of July Celebration. There will be plenty of opportunities for sharing the Gospel and getting to know more of the people of Akutan.

As you do pray for us, enjoy a few photos we took from a recent family hike in the mountains. Hope you enjoy these!

At the Cross,

The Fox Family

Had to take these with a remote on my camera.

I guess the alignment may not be the best...oh well.

All the kids!

Another shot of the kids on the mountain.

One of my favorites with James and Mom taking a break, looking down on the plant.

The church can be seen in the distance (upper left).

Update

Update!

Well, I guess there is a lot to catch you guys up on! Of course, the family is all here! Thank you all for the prayers. Everyone seems to be adapting very well, even James. The first few days were tough on him, but he has his Wii now and the world is good.

It has been very hectic getting everything here organized (and we are still doing it). Going from a residence of two...to five is quite a change. I guess David and I had gotten used to all the room here LOL! Over the last week we have put together furniture and unpacked numerous items from the family's travels. Everything is almost all put away. In addition to all this, my laptop has crashed twice, hence my lack of posting to the blog. Of course, Windoze has refused to recover, so I am now running Linux Mint on the laptop.

By popular request, we have now begun doing two services on Sunday. One at 10:30am and one at 7:30pm. We had so many people asking for a morning service...how could we say no? The first service this morning went very well. We celebrated the Lord's Supper with several folks from Trident. Pray that more will take advantage of this opportunity for worship. We are expecting guests for the evening service, hopefully they will make their flights! The Bundrant's will hopefully be attending and I will finally get a chance to meet them in person.

This upcoming week will be adventurous. With our Nation's Birthday coming up, we will be participating in a celebration in the village. We have been invited to do a cake-walk and enjoy the festivities with them. What a unique way to celebrate the birth of our nation! It will be an honor to celebrate our country's birth with the native peoples of the Aleutian Chain. We will have to report back to you how that goes later.

We do have a need that I will be sharing more about here shortly. Our church/ministry is in need of Bibles! I will be providing more details on how you may be able to assist us with this very soon. Many of the existing Bibles here have been VERY well used and are falling apart. I guess that is a good sign! Anyway, stay tuned, and we will share how you may be able to team with us to meet this need.

That's all for now. Please keep praying for us as we minister here in Akutan!

The Fox Family