Seward Boat Trip at Kenai National Park

We took a boat trip on Saturday July 18th from Seward, Alaska in the ocean around the Kenai Peninsula. It was an overcast and rainy day and the ocean got a little rough for me. I spent at least 2 of the 6 hours on the bakc of the ship fighting nausea brought on by motion sickness. But, we saw so many wondeful sights that my discomfort was nothing in comparison.



I spliced together a some of the secenery and marine life we witnessed. We saw sea otters, bald eagles, gulls of many varieties, sea lions, tufted puffins and horned puffins, humpback wahles, orcas, porpoise and a massive 1/2 mile wide still active glacier which originates to the last ice age 10,000 years ago. It is an amazing planet on which we live.

VBS Sunday Sermon(s)

What do you get when you have two preachers preaching together as a team on the same Sunday? You get a very long sermon! Rev. Jim Doepken was kind enough to invite me to join him in preaching, so we tag teamed the sermon in parts with the VBS music in the middle, I have broken the sermon up in parts for your convenience.

Sermon Introduction...

King David was our subject for Camp Iwilligoway. We learned about following David's example as a way to learn how to live God's way.

King David was chosen by God through Samuel the prophet to become the second king of Israel. Hear Pastor Jim Doepken of Girdwood Chapel UMC tell about it. We will live God's way by "Having a Heart for God." Humans look at outward qualities, but God looks inward at the heart or the spirit or a person. God saw that David loved and honored the God of Israel. This quality brought God to tkae David from tending sheep to leading a nation.

Later when David deafted the giant Goliath, we learned to live God's way by "Trusting God to Help Us." Pastor Jim continues the story.

After singing some of the songs we learned at Camp Iwilligoway, Pastor Scott Tyring of Zionsville UMC, shared about David and King Saul. Saul had grown jealsous or David and tried to have him killed. We learned from this story to live God's way by "Asking for Help."

And finally we learned to live God's way by "Believing" that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah and savior of the world. Pastor Scott Ends the sermon with the gospel.

A special Thanks to Mike Voigt for video operation on this service (Sermon and Music). His arm got very tired! God Bless you, Mike!

VBS Sunday!!!

We wrapped up the VBS portion of the week through celebration at Girdwood Chapel UMC. Here you can enjoy the children and the VBS crew singing the songs we learned at Camp Iwilligoway. Here's the Theme song....

And a fun little action song called, Everybody Sing A Song.

God's Love was shared all week and this song sums it up...Amazing Love

The final song we shared was Davey Davey which honored our chief biblical character whom we learned about, King David.

A special thank you to Julie Doepken for putting together flipcharts of the song lyrics!!!!

Camp Iwilligoway Summary Video

Hey folks! I discovered Windows Movie Maker and here's a quick and dirty summary video of the VBS week at Girdwood, Alaska for Camp Iwilligoway...I Will Live God's Way. Enjoy.

Scott's Job Lesson

How would you like to learn how to drywall window frames? Join Pastor Scott in this instructional video. Don't eat the gypsum dust! Thanks to my camera woman, Michele!

The Girdwood Construction Crew

Michele went around and filmed some of the crew at work today on Friday, July 17th. Hard working people. Praises to God for their service.

Camp Iwilligoway Opens

We praise God for the 27 children who gathered for the first night of Camp Iwilligoway Vacation Bible School! Iwilligoway is short for "I will Go God's Way." We had children as young as 2 years old and up to 10 years. Some older kids from the area came to help, too. One child said during closing prayer that she thanked God for VBS and the building in which we were meeting. :)

Enjoy the clips.

Pastor Jim Doepken leads the children in a lesson about the heart of King David and in prayer.

Glacier Bowl

After dinner on Monday, we took the tram up the mountain and then hiked up to Glacier Bowl. John and Susan Willard joined me on this short but challenging hike. There were some increible vistas that no camera can do justice. Hope you enjoy the beauty.

Clean Up and Church Building

The team got busy first thing this morning and began hanging drywall, taping, mudding and other projects about the Girdwood Chapel building. Part of us spent a few hours cleaning the community center to get it ready for VBS tomorrow night.

There is lots of hard work. My body aches from yesterday's hike and today's work. Pray for Tom Robbins who fell off a scaffold. He bruised his heel, but otherwise he is healthy.

Speaking of Robbin's, I caught Brad and Brittany in the crawlspace! They were digging a hole (for reasons unknown to them) and struck water!

Michele caught me in action trimming drywall for framing the windows in the library.

At the end of the day we all gathered at the Rental for dinner. Betsy Doepken and Sandie Briggs whipped up some delicious food including a wonderful chicken casserole from the Doepken recipe vaults. Here you can see church building going on still. Laughter, fellowship and love for Christ's mission in the world.

Jeff Gibson, who makes it his responsibility to keep us doubled over in laughter, shot this little bit to harrass me. I can take it because as you know, I can dish it out, too.

VBS Location - Before

We visitied the Glacier City Community Center where we will hold VBS for the Girdwood community. It is the former fire department's building. A lot of work will be done on Mondy getting the space cleaned and decorated for Camp Iwilligoway VBS.

Views Near Girdwood

The Kenai Peninsula is a series of high mountains and the Cook Inlet near the peninsula is home to the Beluga whale, an small white whale on the endangered list.

Girdwood, Alaska is a ski town near the beginning of the Kenai Peninsula. The whole region is surrounded by mountains. It is a beautful place that God has placed on this earth and we are proud to be here helping the Girdwood Chapel UMC and the community's children.

Winner's Creek Trail

After worship on Sunday July 12th, we went on different excursions. Some went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Portage Glacier. Others went to Anchorage to shop for supplies for the church building project. Brad Robbins and I joined Girdwood Chapel UMC's Jim Johnson for a trek on the Winner's Creek Trail.

We saw a blue colored river. According to Jim Johnson our host, glacier silt is what gives the river it's blue tint.

Another sight was a waterfall where the river carved through the rock of the mountain a narrow sluice.

Finally we crossed a small canyon using a handtram! It was fun, unique and exhausting.

Justice!

While visiting Denali National Park, we noticed a picket line by IBEW bus mechanics, radio operators, and warehouse workers for Aramark, and subcontracted to the National Park. In an attempt to live out our new mission statement, we stopped and visited with them, listened to their cry for justice and prayed with them. No joke.

God did seem to touch them and us. Larry Bell, the IBEW business manager, is a Christian leader in Wasilla, Alaska. We told them about Indiana cnference's Rev. Darren Cushman-Wood who passion for worker/labor justice lead him to write "Blue Collar Jesus."

Purple Mountains Majesty?

More silliness from the bus trip in Denali on Friday, July 10th!

At the end of the 90 miles into the park we stopped and had lunch at the Kantishna Roadhouse. Michele Tyring and Jan Rockwood panned for gold, Barbara Rockwood attended a dog sledding exhibition. I listened to my iPod. :)

And we all enjoyed the beauty...

A New Mission Statement?

I couldn't resist shooting this video to share what I believe is quite often what we in the church believe to be the mission of Jesus Christ and His church. Please interpret the sarcasm with the humor intended. At very least I hope Dr. John Wantz will find it amusing.

Where to Eat on the Glenn Highway

On our trip from Denali to Girdwood on Saturday we stopped for lunch at Sully's Sourdough Inn in Houston, Alaska. In the video I name the place Palmer, Alaska, but I was mistaken. The map on my placemat mislead me. ;)~

Sully's was all you would expect from a greasy roadside diner...cigarette smoke hanging in the air, country music on the jukebox and delicious burgers, fries and onion rings. A cardiologist's nighmare, but a joy for the tastebuds! It was great until we got thrown out for requesting to hear Michael Jackson songs.

Mission Preparations

You will see people you know and love in these inspiring videos of the mission team preparing for the big week in Girdwood.

Weirdness on the Way

On Saturday we drove the long hours from Denali to Girdwood. Here are some fun bits wer recorded just for your entertainment.

I have to credit the establishment in Houston, Alaska that made these possible: Gorilla Fireworks!

And this one was just there, empty and for sale. Igloo anyone?

Seeing Mt. McKinley

Orginally named "Denali" (The High One) by native Alaskans, Mt. McKinley is the highest peak in all of North Amercia at 20,320 feet. We were told that only about 30% of the people who visit the park get to see the mountain since it is often obscured by clouds. We counted ourselves very lucky as you will gather from the footage. Check Wikipedia for more information on this treasure.

We saw yet another view of the mighty mountain from Wonder Lake. By this time in the afternoon the clouds were rising and the moutain tops looked like sky mountains.

Ptarmigan and other Critters

On our bus tour of the Denali National Forest, we sighted several animals. Ptarmigan are a pheasant like bird. The males help care for the chicks. This group was very curious about our presence.

Theese two young foxes were out sunning themsleves on the mountin road. The video is so short because the bus driver decided to move the bus for a better view and they skidaddled.

We saw a moose grazing in a pond and a grizzly bear cooling herself on a snow pile. The quality of the video is poor because I had to zoom WAY in on the subject. I only share the grizzly video. We also saw beaver, Dall Sheep and golden eagles.

First Glimpse of Denali Range in the National Park

It's Friday, July 10th, and we are on a 12 hour bus tour of the park. This is our first good view of the mountains in the park. I was really taken by the wide and shallow rivers all throughout the park. There are massive valleys in the park whcih ancient glaciers miles deep carved out the landscape. As a result there n little archeological evidence because the glacier activity pulverized it.

Here's a silly commentary at the same spot for your entertainment.

Grand Denali Lodge View

On my facebook page I posted a video of Michele and I awaiting to board the plane in Houston, Texas to take us to Anchorage. One of my friends teased that I should never use that camera angle again as it was unflattering and exposed my nostrils (See below). So I shot this video in response to his taunt on the terrace overlooking the Denali valley. Enjoy the silliness.

Close Encounter of the MOOSE Kind

Thursday afternoon as we entered Denali, we took a wrong turn searching for our hotel. What we soon realized was that we were enroute to the National Park for the road turned to gravel. We lucked out though. Check out this moose! She had all the traffic stopped. She and her cub were just browsing about the stopped vehicles like they were browsing the produce section at Kroger's. By the time I go the camera up and running the calf was spooked and ran into the woods, but mom decided to saunter on by the window of our SUV. Note that she's been tagged by the wildlife conservationists witha radio collar.

A Unique Post Office in Cantwell, AK

On the way to Denali National Park, on Thursday morning July 9th, we saw this post office whihc you just have to see.

Barb and Jan Rockwood

In this video Pastor Scott harrasses Barbara and Jan Rockwood with Candid Camera interview!

First Tourist Stop

It's Thursday morning and Michele, Barbara Rockwood and her daughter Jan and me are driving up to Denali for a few days of sightseeing before the Mission team gathers in Girdwood on Saturday night. Here's a first sigthing of Mt. Mckinley. If I sound cynical, it's just my skewed sense of humor. Please take no offence. :)

Hello

This is a video blog and a little text to explain videos so that you can keep up on the Alaska Mission this summer!