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

The Family is All Here!

Thank you all for your prayers!  The family is all here safely in Akutan now!  Here was Rachelle's post to FB:

"We flew this morning on the Grumman Goose (small historic plane) for our final flight to Akutan! Beautiful views! It is so beautiful here and the weather, temperature wise, has need great! Still waiting on our suit cases :/ but got to go fishing! Caught a "Bullhead" fish my first cast!!! Haha it was the only thing I caught :P We ate in the galley for lunch. Feels like I will be catching up on all the cafeteria food I missed growing up as a homeschooler Haha. I have pictures! but I don't think I will be able to post them due to our internet package :(   Oh how I wish y'all could see this yourself! Wow, the way I could carry on maybe I should write a blog...."

Perhaps I will be assigning her to make some posts here!  LOL!  We are getting settled in now, their baggage has not made it here yet so they are sharing clothes with David and I...ha ha!  We will keep you all posted!  Thank you again for your prayers and support!

Peter

Travel Update

OK everybody, here is the latest update:

Kelly, Rachelle, James, and Angel have made it safely to Dutch Harbor, AK. Their baggage, however, did not. Since all flights to Akutan have been cancelled due to fog, they will be spending the night at a/the hotel in Dutch Harbor.

The plan is for them to catch the first flight out tomorrow, if there is one. If they cannot catch a flight, they will try to catch a fishing boat by tomorrow afternoon. The ride shouldn't be too bad this time of year, but... it is still the Bering Sea!

Please continue to pray for all of us. I still have to preach tonight for the church service. I will try to keep you all in-the-loop!

In the mean-time, here is a photo of the "Traveling Fox's".  The got to spend a day in Seattle, WA with Chuck and Diane Bundrant.  Chuck and Diane were gracious enough to show Kelly and the kids around the Seattle area.  The picture is from the needlepoint in downtown Seattle.

They all had a great time getting to know one another better!  I look forward to hearing more from them all when they arrive here!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!  Until next time!

Peter

On Their Way!

Well, Kelly, Rachelle, James, and Angel are on their way to Alaska!  They left yesterday for Seattle, WA from Newport News, VA.  Please be in prayer for their safety and that they make all of their flights.  They should be leaving early Sunday morning for Anchorage, AK and then on to Dutch Harbor, AK.  They then will have to get a flight, hopefully, on to Akutan, AK.  David and I are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves!  Here are a few shots Rachelle took:

James was so excited!  I know he is ready to see David and Daddy!

 The rest of the clan getting ready to board the airplane in Newport News.

Don't forget to be praying for Angel as well!

If all goes well, they should be arriving in Akutan Sunday night.  We will keep you all posted!

Peter

Another Day

Well, David and I had another day to do a little fishing.  This time we BOTH caught many trout!  We only ended up keeping two of them for dinner.  We made Trout Almondine and Jasmine Rice, it was wonderful!  Here are a few of the shots I took:

A good shot of David with the mountains in the background.  He was a little frustrated at first, but I advised some patience...and it paid off.

 

 A very happy man!  We ended up releasing most of them and keeping two for dinner.

The other happy man!

In the end, there can only be two.  These are the ones who made it onto our table!

Upon our return to the church, we found out that people had entered the gym to play basketball and had not taken off their dirty boots.  The entire gym is/was covered in mud and dirt.  This is the reason we provide gym shoes for people to change into (that several of you have graciously provided!).  So, today will be spent cleaning the entire gym...again!  We also have movie night tonight, so please be praying for that as well.

We are so excited to be serving our Lord here in Akutan.  God is doing amazing things here and we are humbled that He would use us for His glory.  Thank you all again for your prayers and support!

Peter & David

A Little Break

Well, I had just finished cleaning all of the bathrooms in the church and community center when I got a call from one of the ladies in the village.  She told me that someone had seen the trout running in the harbor and that David and I should go fishing.  So that is what we did!  Unfortunately David didn't catch anything, but I managed to pull out two beautiful fish!

It wasn't long until I had a fish striking my line.  We were fishing just down from the school where a creek feeds into the harbor.

I must say, David and I are happy to see the trout finally arriving.  We didn't think they would ever come!  Even though David didn't catch anything, I think he is more excited than me!

Here they are about to be dressed for breakfast! (We are having them this morning.)  I cleaned one and David cleaned one.


After a long day of cleaning yesterday, we then had a great turn-out for Bible study (even though we kinda smelled like fish!  Around here nobody seems to notice!  LOL!).  We are now going through the AiG study Demolishing Strongholds.  Everyone is excited about it and loved the first session!

After a great day of getting a lot done...great Bible study...successful fishing adventure...what could be better?  Well...the rest of the family should be here next week!  THAT will be great!

Just thought I would share with you all!  More to come!

Peter

Well, we are almost in June.  And that means…the rest of the family will be coming shortly!  David and I are so excited we can hardly stand it!  Please be in prayer for Kelly, Rachelle, and James as they finish getting all of our household goods stored.  As of right now, they should all be leaving for Akutan the week of June 13th.  An exact date has yet to be confirmed but we are all excited!

There has been much going on here in Akutan.  Recently David and I attended what is called the “Elder’s Dinner” in the village.  It was a wonderful time of meeting more people from the village and enjoying a great meal.  Of course sea-lion stew was on the menu again and smoked salmon was a new addition for us.  There are many more kids in the village now.  Most all of them attend school elsewhere in Alaska and then come home for the summer.  So, David has made a few new friends here.  It is a very different way of life out here in the bush.

The weather continues to be fickle.  It pretty much rains everyday with temperatures staying in the upper 30’s.  Thankfully the snow has begun to melt and the grass is starting to poke through!  David and I had an opportunity to take a hike without snowshoes last week.  It was beautiful!  Once over the ridge behind the church the whole world becomes silent with only the cries of the eagles filling the air.  We took a break and just read through a few Psalms and took in the view.  Magnificent, is the best word I can come up with to describe the experience.  It has appeared that not too many people get out into the mountains to enjoy creation.  Each time we have gone out, we haven’t seen a soul…quite different from Virginia!

The ministry is doing well.  We have had quite a decrease lately in attendance of all activities.  I am told that this is due primarily to the strange fishing season we have had.  There are still crab boats coming in with their catches and most workers have gone home to see their families.  There should be a gradual influx of people over the next month or so, but we will see.  The largest part of our ministry lately has been one-to-one contacts with folks.  At times it is frustrating due to language barriers (Arabic, Russian, Somali, you name it, it’s here!).  But the Lord continues to open doors for us and has given David and I great opportunities to grow spiritually.

Please continue in prayer for us as we serve here.  I won’t sugar-coat it…at times, it is very difficult being away from our family.  Clearly the Lord has sustained us over the last few months (as He has Kelly, Rachelle, and James also).  Pray specifically for James and his transition as well.  We are still exploring curriculum for his schooling.  In fact, anyone who may have any recommendations for a “Home-based” DVD schooling curriculum for children with Autism, we would be very happy to hear it!  Please drop us an e-mail or give us a call.

Until next time…we remain, Faithfully Serving,

The Fox Family

Spring is Coming......hopefully!

Well, it has been a little while since I have posted here.  David and I have been quite busy with the everyday ministry (and of course, he has school).  So, hopefully this will help catch you guys up on what's going on!

Our Friday Movie Nights continue to be a huge hit!  Although a majority of the workers here have gone home to be with family, there remains a brave few who are helping with the remaining crab season here.  Everyone admits that this is just the strangest weather they have ever seen.  Even the State of Alaska has extended the crab season by one month because of all the ice here!  But, the movies are a welcome break for the workers.  They work long hard hours and have little to do with their rare "down-time."

We are in our last session of The Way of the Master evangelism Bible study this Wednesday.  It has been very well received by the few who have been able to attend.  Many have been challenged and are beginning to share their faith more boldly.  I have also been preaching through the book of Galatians on Sundays, and as the Lord would have it, it has blended perfectly with The Way of the Master series!

We have been going through the Gospel tracts that many of you have graciously provided money for, and we thank you.  This place truly is a mission field!  We have found that the tracts find their way into the hands of many who have no intention of setting foot in the church.  We are also purchasing Bibles and various Gospel books in other languages which people are picking up and reading.  It is truly wonderful to see what the Lord is doing!

Please be in prayer for Kelly, Rachelle, and James.  We hope to have them join us around June 16th (our anniversary!).  They have a lot to do before setting out for the bush.  Please pray that the Lord will work out all of the details of the move and storage of our household items.  Of course pray for safe and timely travel for all of them as well.  Travel up here is not like anywhere else on earth.  You could be stranded for days, or even weeks, on some remote island because of weather or aircraft difficulties.

Well, having said all of that, this post wouldn't be complete without a few pictures!  So...

About a week ago, we noticed large patches of "pink" in the ocean, in front of the church.  So David and I went to check out what in the world was going on.  These patches of "pink" were all up and down the shore!

Upon closer inspection  we saw that they were Krill!  Apparently they start coming into the harbor here at the start of Spring.  We have been told by the villagers that the Salmon and Trout should be soon to follow!  I will say this;  when left on the shore at low-tide...they begin to give off quite the aroma!  So David and I have been encouraging the seagulls to eat as many as they can!  ;-)

If you take a really close look at them, they look like tiny shrimp.  The seagulls here  have been having a ball feasting on all of them!

Some people have watch-dogs.  We have a watch-eagle!  Ezekiel has been our constant companion here in the absence of Angel (our family dog).  I took a few shots yesterday of Ezekiel on our porch with our flag in the background.

God is so amazing!  As I was outside talking to Ezekiel, yes I talk to the animals now, he cocked his head to one side and was watching something in the sky.  I looked up and could not see anything.  He looked back at me and then back up to the sky.  It was like he was saying, "Look!  Right there!  Don't you see it?"  Sure enough, waaaaayyyy up in the sky was a tiny black speck barely visible to me.  I used my camera's telephoto lens and sure enough...there was another eagle circling above us!  Ezekiel has become quite protective of our home.  He chases away foxes that come to snoop in our trash, and sometimes people he doesn't like.  When David or I walk outside, he will fly onto the porch and stay there with us.  If someone else comes by and we are not there, he generally will fly off to a safe distance and begin yelling at the person.  It's rather funny.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support.  We look forward to being able to share more with you as time goes by!

Till His Nets Are Full,

Peter

Movie Night!

Well, we had a very successful Movie Night last night!  There were about 20 people who showed up to see National Treasure.  Every Friday we show a movie here at the Church/Community Center.  Yesterday was the first day most everybody was off work, so we had about 20 people show up!  It was great to see the three Muslim guys I had talked to earlier in the day.  As everyone left they all received tracts (Thank You David!).  We only had two rejections of the Gospel tracts.

Thanks to the Church Board members, the church now has a projector that we can show movies on.  People are very excited way out here to have such a luxury!  Pray that the Lord will continue to use this medium for His Glory and that many will be reached with the Gospel.

The Lord heard some of your prayers yesterday!  We had a beautiful day and the Grumman Goose was able to make 3 trips for mail!  Woooohooooo!  I don't think I have ever seen so many people so excited over a plane!  LOL!  I think everyone who lives in the village was out at the landing sight!  David even ran out and took some cookies to the pilot.  Hopefully the bribe will help him return again soon!  ;-)

Please continue to pray for us, that we will faithfully share the love of Jesus with all we come into contact with.  Kelly has mailed out our Open-Air sketch-board supplies, so hopefully that will be arriving soon.  Pray also for the carpenters working on our sketch-board here.  I just found out that one of the important guys working on the project has left for vacation.

A special thank you to all of you who have made donations to our ministry!  Kelly and I are attempting to figure out a way to track all this stuff, but we haven't yet.  We are still trying to work out some type of an account arrangement.  We will keep you all posted.  Thank you all again for teaming with us!

Peter

Latest Updates

It appears our friend Ezekiel brought his wife (we think).  At least he has been telling his friends this is a cool place to hang out (pun intended).  We are just surrounded by incredible wildlife for such a desolate island.  The foxes were howling the other night and the eagles are always screaming at the ravens!

The other day a man had a heart attack at the plant.  This pic is of the medevac chopper from the Coast Guard.  You will see the only police officer assigned to the island walking in the background.  His name is Nick.  We have had several really good conversations.  It really is a "small town."

This is a pic of what I have been using the dry-erase board for now.  I got this idea from somebody on Facebook.  I basically post a question of a spiritual nature on the board and then allow people to post their opinions in a "voting" format.  This has stirred NUMEROUS conversations leading to the Gospel.  As you can see, there are MANY different religious beliefs represented here on Akutan.  Ironically, no one wanted to admit that they voted for reincarnation LOL!  But I had some great one-to-one conversations with many people.

Just today I had a long conversation with three Muslim guys.  Two of them admitted that they weren't "practicing" Muslims, but they sure tried to defend their faith.  It was very difficult to witness to them, but they heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I pray that the Lord will use the opportunity to convict them of their sin and that they might be saved.

Please continue to pray for David and I.  We are both missing the rest of the family.  We haven't had mail/a plane for over two weeks now.  Nothing but snow, snow, and more snow.  Even the villagers I talk to say they have never seen it this bad here.  Pray that the weather breaks and we get some nice days!

Thank you all very much for your prayers and support!  It means so much to us all!

Peter

Sharing the Gospel

 When we were about to close the gym, we had about 20 people who wanted a ride back to the plant.  I asked each of them to stick around and listen to a brief presentation.  The all heard the Gospel that night in the form of a sketch-board presentation.  Most were very open to hearing me talk.  A few mocked the Gospel, but they can't say on Judgement Day that they didn't hear it!

 Here I am doing the Open-Air Sketch-board presentation.  I will note here, for those who have done this before;  DO NOT do this, as I did... with dry-erase markers!  Painting is the only way to go!  We miss our paint kit!  If anyone wants to help in this area, please get with Kelly, or better yet, drop me an e-mail and let me know you are willing to help.  I will point you in the right direction for what we need.  This is a VERY promising form of sharing the Gospel here!

The end product.

Before everyone left, they all received a Gospel tract, and most all of them thanked me.  We appreciate your prayers.  PLEASE keep praying for witnessing opportunities for us.  I just spoke with our plant P.A. (who attends our services).  He had been asking for prayer regarding him having an opportunity to witness to a Shiite Muslim friend of his here.  He pulled me aside and told me that he had an opportunity to witness to him because of a tract that he had given to him the day before!  His friend had many questions for Bill (the P.A.).  Please be in prayer for this man, and Bill, as well.

Kelly and I are trying to organize a ministry account for others to partner with us by giving financially.  We haven't worked that out yet, but I know many of you have asked.  I will try to let you know through this blog when we have something set up.

Thank you all again for your support and friendship!

Till His Nets Are Full,

Peter