Vacation Time!

Well, we haven't made a post in quite some time...sorry!  It truly has been very busy here in Akutan!  We have now been here over a year and it is time for a break.  We should be leaving for our home state of Virginia very soon.  In our absence will be Gary & Margo Posenjack.  They were the past missionary family here before we came.  They will be serving in our absence here.

Looking back at all that the Lord has done here over the last year, we are so thankful.  We, of course, have had our challenges, but God has been faithful to us the entire time.  Several people from our home church have supported us with financial contributions, as well as resources, that have truly been a blessing and we thank God for you.  Tabernacle Baptist Church, our home church has also sent care packages that have lifted our spirits.

I am continually amazed at the variety of people that we have the opportunity to minister to here.  We see so many people from all over the world on a regular basis.  It's hard to believe that you would see such diversity of cultures in such a remote location in the Alaskan bush!  We have made friends from practically every continent in the world!

This week we will be leaving for Virginia.  I hope to be able to have better internet access to post some more pictures and details of our ministry here in Akutan.  Right now, there are not many people left in the Trident Seafood Plant.  Most everybody has gone home until the next fishing season kicks off.  So this is kind-of the "slow season" for ministry.

Recently we have had a "Science Camp" at the local school where our children participated.  We have also hosted about 5 boys and their teacher here at Safe Harbor Church and Community Center.  Everyone is pretty well worn out!  :-)  But the time spent exploring and learning about the diversity of creation in our area has been wonderful!

As I said before, we hope to add more to this blog while we are on vacation.  Thank you all for your patience with us.  There is much to tell and share that the Lord has been doing.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Warm Regards,

Peter & Kelly Fox (and the rest of the Fox Family)

Update from Akutan

Hello Everyone!

We wanted to take a few minutes to give you all an update on us here in Akutan.  With the approach of the Christmas season, we have been extremely busy.  Besides the decorations and baking, Peter has been preparing the Christmas Eve service message and Kelly has been organizing a group of people into a choir for Christmas!

Peter will be taking a break from his Creation Science Series and focusing on a few messages that emphasize the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  For those who may have been trying to access any of his recent sermons here, we just haven’t had the bandwidth to upload them…sorry.  At some point, they will be up, but it may not be for a while.

We still struggle with the mail issue.  We just never know when we will receive anything.  Conflicting stories circulate as to what has been finalized for mail contracts etc…  We are thankful to the leadership at Trident Seafoods, especially the kitchen staff, in supporting us with food supplies.  Others of you from our home church in Virginia have been gracious in their giving as well for personal needs.

Right now there is a decrease in the amount of staff at Trident due to the season.  It will start picking up again in January.  Meanwhile, we still have a dedicated few individuals who come to services, work permitting.  It appears that many from the village leave the island this time of year also.  As this will be our first Christmas here in Akutan, we are learning how things go.

The children are doing well.  David and James are doing OK in school.  We are a little frustrated with the school district regarding James’ Special Education.  We just had a meeting (by video conference) and realized that we are half-way through the school year and we still have not had two specialists out here to see James yet.  A lot of this has to do with the transportation issues that remain unresolved, but we remain hopeful.  You can certainly be praying for us in this regard.

Rachelle is working basically full time as a teacher’s aide at the school.  Although she wants to start taking college classes, we are still looking into colleges that she can do online (remotely) when her schedule allows.  Any suggestions here would be appreciated!  ;-)

Well, enough for now.  Thank you all for your support!  Pray for a good turnout for our Christmas Eve service.  We are having a choir singing and candlelight service as well as a salvation message.  From what we hear, it is one of the more attended services.

Till His Nets Are Full,

The Fox Family

Weather

You guys can be in prayer for us.  We are into our third straight day of 30-50mph winds.  The high temperature has been in the upper 20's to lower 30's, making the wind chill factor hover in the teens.  There have been times where we feel the whole church building shaking!  It's sort of funny, everyone screams about hurricanes hitting everywhere, but we get that kind of weather all the time!  Just the same, it would be nice to see the sun again  ;-)

Tonight is Friday Movie Night.  I don't know what kind of turnout we will get, since lots of people are leaving, but we hope for the best!  Can you imagine riding in a small boat for six hours in weather like this?  It's no fun, let me tell you!  Yet, folks here do this stuff all the time!  Pray for safety for all traveling.  Pray also that the mail system be worked out.  We still haven't heard anything about getting mail and there are people here who get medication they NEED through the USPS.

Thank you all for the prayers and support!  We truly appreciate it!  We are hanging in here and digging in as winter approaches.

Will try to post again soon!

Peter

Update From Akutan!

Hello Everyone!

I am truly sorry I have not posted and update sooner. Things have been quite hectic around here since our arrival home about a week ago. We have also been without internet service for some time due to the limited bandwidth issue on our account. I will try to give you a run-down on all that has happened.

We had a wonderful time at the ministry retreat in Port Alsworth, AK sponsored by Arctic Barnabas Ministries. Although the weather was not very good, we had a great time of fellowship with fellow missionaries from the bush here in Alaska. We then spent a few days with Vince and Marylil Spady (Kelly’s Aunt and Uncle) in Soldotna, AK. It was here that Kelly had her surgery to remove a lump from her abdominal area. Upon further contact with Kelly’s surgeon, we received a good report that there was no sign of cancer or anything else negative! Praise the Lord! Kelly is subsequently doing very well and has been recovering well here at home now.

We did have to spend an extra week in Dutch Harbor on our return trip. This proved to be an excellent time of getting to see friends from Akutan who are now in Dutch Harbor and I (Peter) got to spend some wonderful time with Pastor John Honan of Unalaska Christian Fellowship Church. We eventually caught the Goose back to Akutan. Unbeknownst to us, we ended up catching one of the last few flights the Goose will ever take! Shortly after our arrival we received word that the Goose/PenAir would no longer be flying into Akutan! Praise the Lord for His wonderful timing!

As of October 25, we saw this article:

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/last-plane-akutan-new-airport-sits-mostly-idle-goose-makes-last-landing

Needless to say, we were not real excited to not be able to receive any mail. In fact, there has been a growing concern on the part of many here about receiving mail since the school could not receive their supplies and several people could not receive needed medication. Well, something happened yesterday and a shipment of mail arrived by the new hovercraft! Everyone was in shock! Not even the folks in the post office were expecting that! When we asked our postal people what had happened and if the mail delivery had been sorted out…no one knows! Anyway, we still do not have any reliable mail service yet, but perhaps the Lord has a reason for all this. Please keep praying for us in this regard.

On a more positive note:

Margo Posenjak and Kitty Sorenson have done an outstanding job once again with the Quilting Camp/Club. I don’t have the final numbers in front of me, but we had many ladies, and a few gentleman as well, that attended and learned how to make a quilt. The time spent in ministry was wonderful. Many opportunities to grow relationships and share the Gospel were had. As I write this, Kitty and Margo are on a boat back to Dutch Harbor and on their way home to family.

The other day we received a new sound system for the church! Praise the Lord! We had an opportunity to use it last night for the first time during our “Movie night”. This new system is just what we needed! We no longer have to compete with sounds from the gym while holding other services in the sanctuary! It will also be a great help with Sunday worship in our times of singing. Thank you to one and all!

As we continue to settle back in and gear-up for the next season here in Akutan, please be in prayer for all the folks leaving and the new ones coming. We will greatly miss several of our regular attenders as the Lord moves them on to other things. I am continually amazed at the people the Lord brings here. It is reassuring to us in ministry here that the Lord brings such great brothers and sisters to us to help in the ministry. We will miss those leaving, but look forward with great expectation to whom else God will be bringing next!

Our children are doing well. David has made several friends here and seems to be fitting in rather well. This year is the first time in many years that he has attended public school. The new teachers here are wonderful people. Please be in prayer for them as well, as they face many challenges in teaching here. I guess you can also pray for Kelly and I as well. We are continually reevaluating how our children are doing and whether or not to homeschool. Please pray for wisdom for us and that God would make it clear to us what the right thing for us to do will be. James is doing well. He has been evaluated by several special needs folks, one being an autism specialist. The challenge remains getting supplies and resources here in a timely manner.

Over all, things are going well. Services are generally well attended. I have started a sermon series on Creation that has proven to be very well received. In fact, several people are upset that they have to leave and won’t be able to hear the whole series! I was even asked by several folks to preach longer! Now THAT is something I don’t hear very often! LOL!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. As we enter into another season here in Akutan pray that we glorify God in everything that we do and that He grows this ministry here in Akutan! God bless each of you!

Till His Nets Are Full, 

Peter

An Overdue Update

Hello Everyone!

I’m sorry you haven’t heard from us in a while.  Things have been quite hectic here lately.  We have also had computer/e-mail troubles.  We almost lost all of our e-mail, but I have recently salvaged them!

Since I last posted we assisted in the closing ceremonies of the village Culture Camp.  That was quite a lot of fun!  We utilized the church/gym for hosting most everyone from the village.  All of the youth did a great job and we all learned a lot!  I will try to post up some more pics when I get a chance.

We have had A LOT of people utilizing the gym recently.  This has opened up the opportunity for sharing the Gospel with many.  Recently we had over 40 people in attendance for our Friday “Movie Night”!  Of course I gave a gospel message at the end of the movie that was very well received and everyone received a Gospel track on their way out.

One other incident that happened over the last couple of weeks:  I had a gentleman come in and ask for prayer for healing.  He had been having fevers of an unknown origin along with a rash that medical treatment was not alleviating.  Despite the best efforts of medical personnel here, they were at a loss as to what to do for him.  He could not work at the plant and they were going to send him mainland for treatment and then home.  He expressed to me how important this job was for him and his family in the Sudan.  He said he did not know what to do, so he asked for prayer.  So we went to the Lord in prayer and asked God to heal him.  Less than a week later, the man’s name was Peter also, he came back into the church and was all excited!  He said, “The Lord healed me!”  We were both very excited and had a great time praising God for His wonderful grace!  Indeed the Lord had healed him within a couple of days after we prayed.  He is back to work and doing well!  The Lord even changed his schedule so Peter might be able to attend more church services now!  God is good!

We are almost halfway to our goal of Bibles needed here!  Thank you to everyone who has contributed by buying Bibles and sending them to us.  It makes such a big difference when we are all reading from the same Bible during the preaching time.  This is especially true with the younger believers here….hey! it’s hard enough for those of us who have been believers for a while!  LOL!  If any of you wish to help us out with this, or any other resource, just go to our SUPPORT page.  We truly do appreciate you standing with us for the Gospel!

In the near future, the Fox family will be attending the Arctic Barnabas Ministry Family Retreat in Port Alsworth, AK.  Thanks go out to the church board for providing this time of refreshing for each of us.  I would also humbly ask for your prayerful consideration of any financial donations you, or anyone you might know, who would like to help us meet the financial cost of the retreat.  We can make it happen, but we would be most appreciative of any help that could be provided.  If you are interested in helping with this, please contact us directly.

Again, thank you to each of you standing in prayer with us while we serve our Lord here in Akutan!  We appreciate your support more than you know.  I look forward to sharing more of what our Lord is doing as the days go on!

Till His Nets Are Full,

Peter

Akutan Qigiigun Camp

The Akutan Qigiigun Camp we have been participating in since Monday before last has finally come to a close.  It has been a very tiring week, but very cool.  Last night we concluded with a banquet for all the parents/villagers and it went very well.  The instructors all did a fantastic job in pulling the whole thing together.  I will only post two pics of last night, for now.  It is David and Rachelle in their Regalia that they each made themselves!  They did an awesome job!

More to come, but here they are:

David and his friend Anthony.

They were the only two young men in the group.  They did great!

 Rachelle in her Regalia.

Perhaps, when we have recovered, we will post some more.  ;-)  It may take a little while for our bodies to catch up though!

Culture Camp - Day 1

Today was our first day participating in what the local village calls "Culture Camp".  It is a time they set aside every year to "re-learn" the old ways.  It exists to keep the Aleut culture alive and well in the minds of the people, but especially the children.  Many of them have very little idea about their native historical past and how their ancestors lived.  We were privileged to be invited to participate this year with them.

Today was only Day 1.  We began several projects that will be worked on throughout the next week-and-a-half.  Today we started making traditional coats/shirts, hats, drums, and went on our first Aleut Salmon fishing adventure.  I could talk all night about everything that went on today, but pictures will have to suffice  ;-)

David working on his his traditional Aleut coat/shirt (they call it Regalia).

Traditionally the garb is made of Sea Lion, Seal, and Sea Otter

(you can see a true one hanging on the chair to the left).

David and Rachelle will be making their own out of leather instead.

We also started our traditional Aleut hats.  Here Rachelle is working on her's.

Historically made of any kind of driftwood they could find,

we are making ours out of Cottonwood.

Thankfully they had enough material to allow me to make one as well!

I (Peter) have made the most progress,

primarily because I forewent the Aleut dance lessons and chose to work on my hat.

Shhhhhhhh!  Don't tell Kelly!

Next, we all headed out to probably the largest stream on the island in search of Salmon!  Well, we found plenty!  They are all Pink Salmon, affectionately called "Humpies" by the locals.  We started by simply "dip-netting".  We all took turns strategically driving the Salmon in one given direction while the children all took turns netting them.  It was so much fun to watch!

 Here's a shot of the "dip-netting" shenanigans.

There were soooooo many Salmon it was hard to miss them!

Kind of like shooting fish in a ba.....ahhh...nevermind.

 James got into it!  Here he is carrying one of our prize catches!

 Girls will be Girls!  Sometimes flowers are more fun than fishing!  ;-)

 Next, we all splashed our way downstream while the men of the village awaited with their nets.

Then, the REAL fun began!

 Here is a great shot of a professional fisherman!

We all heaved on the nets to bring the fish to shore,

and then had to grab them by hand, dispatch them and place them in awaiting baskets.

 Even Rachelle got into it!  (Nice face Rachelle!)  :-)~

We caught 'em, now we have to clean 'em.

We learned the proper way of efficiently fileting the Salmon.

We also learned the proper way to clean and prep them for drying/smoking

(which we are doing with most of the fish).

Everyone took their turn in cleaning the 122 freshly caught "Humpies".

All in all, it was a great first day!  We are all totally exhausted!  But, we came home and had an absolutely incredible dinner of pizza......  ha ha ha, not really!  We had the Salmon  ;-)  I tried out a new dry rub recipe and threw them on the BBQ.  There is nothing like FRESH ALASKAN SALMON!  Let me tell you...should you ever have the opportunity to come fishing up here...do it!  Better yet, GO NATIVE!  It was a lot of hard work (and I think you have to have an official Aleut fisherman with you), but it is all good!

We look forward to sharing the next adventure!

Get a cup of coffee, sit down, and re-live the adventure with us!

The Fox Family

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