Chena Hot Springs Hike. . .

Hi everyone! I've been having a fantabulous time here in AK. On Saturday, I started my adventure at about 4:30 am. Left the station at 6:00 am (it's about an hour drive from Nenana to Fairbanks). I couldn't believe the sun was rising that early, and I also couldn't believe the fresh 6 inches of snow on the attractive red pickup truck. I managed to dig out a scraper and thankfully most of the highway going up to Fairbanks was clear. There are pretty good drops off the edge and moose like the road too. I arrive at Pippins house about 7:30 am. We got packed. Our plan was to leave about 7:30, but I don't think we got out until much later. We also planned on an 8 miles loop hike. yeah. We got about 2 miles in when the trail forked.

The Angels Rocks trail was very well packed down and the sky was clear and quite warm. I was down to a t-shirt.

Someone told me 5 weeks would be enough. "Enough, for what?," I asked. "For you to be hooked." Well I don't think it's going to take five weeks. We had a good map and knew where we needed to go, but the trail must have blown over with snow.

We decided to try to make it through this open ridge and see if we could find it on top by the rocks. The snow just kept getting deeper and deeper. I decided to put on snowpants at about waste deep. Then we tried crawling. That worked a lot better. I'm glad I was hiking with a mountain woman.

We made the wise choice and turned around at the top of the ridge when we determined that there was no trail.

After hiking back down, we had to hitch-hike back to our car. I figured if we put on our packs and looked kind of miserable, someone would take pity and it worked!! The hot springs felt pretty good after that! Smelled like sulfur. . Super cool to swim outside with snow on the ground in warm water!

Sat night we stopped at every place trying to find cheap pizza. No such luck. We settled for Pizza Hut and Alaska Troopers movie. Alaska Troopers is a super good reality show. You should check it out on Youtube.

That was just one day. . I have much more to say. . but should be responsible and get some sleep.

Wyoming :)

So about a month ago Lauren, Flynn, and I took a trip to Wyoming! It was a blast! I tried to steal their pictures off of their website, but I'm not sure if it's this computer that won't let me do it or the internet access here in Nenana, AK.. . :) Anyway, I had a blast!! You guys are super fun to hang out with! Getting lost and. . yeah everything else too. . and I still have that song stuck in my head. . the little things that you have done, the sacrifices made, I thank God for you, I thank God for you. Anyway, here's the link for the picts. http://bhartley.blogspot.com/ We will definitly have to do a road trip like that again!!!!

First Week

Wow! I can't believe I've been here for almost one week and still haven't even gotten around to communicating with the outside world and letting them know what's up. . . :) Things have been crazy busy to say the least. I arrived here very late on Saturday night because of the computer crashes the Alaska Airlines was experiencing. I was slightly dissapointed that I would not be able to fly into AK in the daylight, but I believe if all goes as planned I will be leaving in the daytime. Upon arrival in Fairbanks at 1 to 2 am, I saw people walking around in boxers, shorts, and flip flops. I believe that this is some of the first warm weather they have experienced all year and it's around zero degrees. I spent the first night at some board members of the station in Fairbanks. They are super nice even giving me a guitar to borrow while I'm here! Yay!! I spent Sunday in Fairbanks going to church, shopping, and at the ice park. The ice park is a worldwide event where people display their pieces of art that they have carved out from the ice. Food up here is priced through the roof. Bananas were "on sale" for 89 cence a pound. It's priced twice as high as back home and in Nenana is probably about 4X. It snowed pretty heavy on Sun night taking us a little longer to get to Nenana than originally planned. The couple who I'm working with at the station have two super cute children (1 and 3 years). The one was singing "Joanna Baer, Joanna Baer" over and over again. I got here about midnight and crashed. The apartment I'm staying in is at the station. It's super nice and cute. I started off right on Monday jumping into things. There is a lot to do! I've been doing weather announcements, psas, helping update the music library, and a live program called Mukluks (people call us with messages for their friends/families in the bush). Monday was great though because I got to drive a snow machine for the first time into the wilderness. Super fun.. . even got it stuck. Tuesday, we went out to Dee's (the founder of the minstry) house. We had moose meat. It was nice to see some Alaska scenery on the drive. I'm particularly looking forward to the drive up to Fairbanks this weekend in this amazing Red Ford F150 I'm borrowing for a couple of weeks. Church on Wednesday night had the pastor and his wife, a couple of kids, and one lady. It felt different. This town is really small. They say the population is around 350 people. Everyone knows everyone and the unemployment rate is really low and the alcohol is quite high. It makes for some interesting situations. It is really neat to be part of a ministry that reaches these people. The impact you can have on someone's life through Christian radio is amplified here. Well. . I digress . .I love you all and miss you! :'( Will try to post more later. These extremely long days are making me stay up way too late. . . :)

You've Got the Power?

Society today seems obsessed with power. It's in the movies, cartoons, advertisements. . . People want power to make themselves feel good about themselves. . . They want to feel macho, egotistical, strong, capable all in and of themselves.
Some Christians try to get power on their own. Some misuse the power they have.
But do we really have power? Is it like a tool that we use whenever we feel like it?
I believe that God is only limited by how much we let Him work. Do we have that power? The power to limit God because of our own lack of faith?
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we had faith like Abraham. . . "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was a able also to perform."
I believe there are two different kind of powers. Well, probably only one. Stay with me on this. There's our own power. If you're like me, you've tried to do something on your own and watched it miserably fail. Our own power really isn't power at all, but fleshly strength that always lets you down.
Psalm 20:7
Some [trust] in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Then. . . There's God's power that comes from having faith in Him. . . His power never fails. You can be a channel for his strength and power. I've seen it happen again and again. It's like you're just sitting back and watching God work through you.
Isaiah 10:19
And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace [be] unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Psalm 138:3
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, [and] strengthenedst me [with] strength in my soul.
That's real power!!!
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Prayer Requests for My Trip

One of my lovely co-workers suggested that I post a list of different things you all could pray about in regards to my trip to Alaska. Here it is. .
God's Blessing and Involvement: Pray that God would be in and through this entire trip, He'd put people in my path that need Him, and that my work with this ministry would be fruitful. Pray for people to be open to the Gospel and that even now God would be working.
Safety
Holes that I've left here to be successfully filled: Pray that God would provide the necessary people to fill in at the Deaf ministry at my church. Also, that everything would run smoothly at KALS.
Good Health: So far I've been able to dodge most of the sicknesses around here. Pray I don't get anything on my trip.
Final Preparations: This last week is a little bit crazy. Pray I'd be able to focus and get everything done that I need to.

That pretty much sums it up. I appreciate everyone's support and prayers for me during this trip.
I can't believe I'm leaving in less than a week! These last few months have flown by. I'm not exactly sure where they've went, but it's been good!
I'm ecstatic about this trip but I will miss all of you terribly. :'( You'll be in my prayers and thoughts.
I'm going to try to update periodically to let you all know how things are going.

Alaska Bound

Well as most of you have probably already heard, I am going to Alaska. . . this spring!! I cannot wait. I've had a special obsession with Alaska for quite a while. When I was about 12, my fascination with Alaska began. . I love the cold. . and the sled dogs. . and the pure wild. . .and I love radio. . so the opportunity to work in the bush at a Christian radio station just makes me ecstatic.

I had originally planned to go to Alaska for 2 months. That was before a lot of things came up: my church started a Deaf ministry(I am one of two interpreters there), and I started working a lot at KALS. With much prayer and consideration I decided to shorten my time to five weeks. I have been challenged concerning my decision to go; but I have complete, 100% peace that God wants me to go on this trip.
The village I'm going to--Nenana, AK--has a population of 450 people, 1/2 of which is Athabascan.
The people of Alaska are desperate for the hope of the Gospel, especially natives. A lot of young Alaskans leave their native villages for larger cities where there are more opportunities. This leaves villages in a kind of hopeless state. The suicide rate in Alaska in 2x the national average. I'm really looking forward to how God is going to use this trip!!!
I will be working at KIAM radio with Voice for Christ Ministries. Here's a link to their website.
http://www.vfcm.org/
This ministry is rock solid. A testament to their heart for missions is the fact that at the top of their About Us page is Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I really appreciate your prayers for my upcoming trip. Pray specifically for safety, God's blessing, and wisdom.
Just for the record. . . I won't be living in an igloo.

2011 Polar Plunge

It was 11 degrees outside. . . I thought about backing out, but man it was super fun!