Alaskan Adventures, Vol. 2

It's been a full week now in the great northern state. The weather has been just about all clouds with periodic rain. I've been mostly tied up with helping the construction guys build the little cabin for the cook. But over the weekend I was able to get out and enjoy the Alaskan wilderness.

The house project is coming along pretty quickly. By end of Friday the roof was almost complete, the electrical wiring was in place, and the walls were wrapped with Tyvek. It's ready for plumbing, insulation, and finishing.

On the roof adding 2x4 stripping on top.

Had to take a selfie for my mom.

Most of the framing done.

Wrapped up for the weekend!

It's been a blessing to work with these guys on the project. I've learned a lot, and look forward to going fishing with Walt and Tom. They have been here since the beginning, and were involved with most of the building projects at Kingdom Air Corps. They've also built churches in Russia and other countries around the world. They love to fish in the area, so I'm glad I've made a connection with them.

Friday morning I volunteered to share a devotional with the group here at Kingdom Air Corps. After every weekday breakfast someone shares a testimony or devotional, which I thought was pretty neat. I shared from John 21 about how Jesus reinstated Peter into ministry. Peter had many failures, the ultimate being his denial of Christ three times. But Christ still affirms His choice of Peter for the work of leading the early church. It's amazing to see Peter's transformation once the Holy Spirit comes, and we have the same Holy Spirit within us believers. The apostle Paul talks a few times in his letters to the Corinthian church about God choosing the weak and foolish to shame the strong and wise of this world. It's about His glory, not ours. We are called to be faithful, it's God's work to draw people to Himself. He will use you if you decide to follow Christ in faith. None of us are superhuman, don't think you need to be one to be used by God. That's the basic overview of what my devotional was about.

Yesterday (Saturday), a group of us guys were able to go hiking! We summited Anthracite Ridge, which was a 3-mile hike with 4,000 feet of elevation gain. We started at about 2,000ft elevation and the top was about 6,000ft. Needless to say, it was a pretty steep hike most of the way. The views from the top were jaw-dropping, even though we were mostly in the clouds.

Josiah and Tundra (the dog) enjoying the view midway up the ridge/peak.

Panorama of our first nice overlook on the hike.

Clouds made it feel very much like an Alaskan wilderness should.

View down the very steep side of the ridge peak, clouds prevented most of the view.

Josiah, Dusty, and Zak along the ridge peak.

Ridgeline

Josiah and Tundra at the far edge of the ridge.

Tundra made it all the way with us! She's such a fun, energetic dog.

The hike down was pretty fast and furious. We were rained on most of the way down, and got completely soaked. We were sliding all over the place in the slick mud through the trees; it's a miracle none of us had any ankle turns or major collisions. It was quite the adventurous hike, and a great introduction to the mountains and wilderness of Alaska. I can't wait to get out there more.

I'll leave you with this last photo, because I have to include a plane in every update right!? :)

Might get to go on an extended flight tomorrow (Monday) with a guy who is hiring Kingdom Air Corps to fly him over the mountains for some video/photography. They think he's unsaved, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to get some great shots and maybe witness to him too. Pray this works out, if it's the Lord's will!

Until next time...