Late September Update

MEDICAL
Things are going fairly well at the clinic. We are getting more patients lately and have been getting some good feedback on having new stable providers. Russ' picture of Jesus helping to guide the doctor has been hung near the patient's rooms. We have gotten copies of the physician's life reference ( a New Testament with scriptural answers to different life questions) to place in the patient areas. Dr Parker showed Russ this at Riverview about a year ago. Russ has had many routine visits, but also had 2 auto accidents involving moose, flown women out in preterm labor, and we even had a grizzly attack. In that case, the patient was flown directly from the scene by a helicopter. Our team of nurses and providers is getting used to working together, and overall it is going well. The tourists have pretty much all gone home, so now we are seeing mostly local people ( local meaning within a 2-3 hour radius).

MINISTRY
We continue to work on reaching out through the medical clinic, as above. Russ has had the opportunity to pray with patients in the ED, some of which were not Christians, but still appreciated the prayers. AWANA is starting at the local church. They have the AWANA circle in the basement with a pole in the circle! It is padded. Hopefully Russ won't have to treat any concussions! Sue will be working with TNT girls, Luke and Bridger with TNT boys, Case with games, and Ansley with Cubbies. Russ will probably help out, but as he is frequently on call for the clinic, is not going to be a full time leader at this point. This weekend Sue is at a women's retreat for the local church at a camp that I think is similar to Camp Bethel. I told her to take a good sleeping bag since it is now in the 20s at night!

LIFE
2 weeks ago, Sue's parents and Jessi, our neice from Tennessee, were able to come for a visit. We had a good time together and were able to take them to Seward as well as Valdez to see the sights and the wildlife. We also went fishing, but only Russ and Case caught the artic grayling we were fishing for. Sue's dad did multiple repairs around the house, and Sue's mom had us all eating too much, as usual! The last night before they left, we had an Alaska game night with salmon that we had caught and a moose roast that had been given to us. We really enjoyed the time with all of them, it was a real blessing for them to be here. Case has decided to try and play for the middle school basketball team and has had 1 practice so far. Right now they play 4 weekends, 3 of them away. Because of the distances, they leave on Friday, stay in the school where they play, and come back on Saturday. The last weekend is in Cordova, which is a 2 hour drive followed by an 8 hour boat trip! We're getting used to this, as we don't know that many people yet and this is all very different for us! We're planning on trying it out for a week and gathering more information before we make a final decision.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We need nurses at the clinic as well as a lab tech! We are already short and may have more leave after the 1st of the year. Please pray that God will send mission minded nurses who would like to work in a rural area in Alaska.

For the clinic in general, for encouragement. The clinic has been through many challenges over the last few years and it has been discouraging and tiring at times. Please pray for encouragement and continued vision for reaching the lost through the medical ministry here.

The AWANA Ministry at Glennallen Community Chapel

God's leading on what ministries/opportunities he would have our family be involved in during our time here.

Sue's knee- it is getting better and she is off crutches. However it is still clicking and bothering her at times.

Thanks for all of the prayers, it means so much to know that many people are praying for us!