19 Jun Awe in Alaska
Ephesians 2:8-10?For it is by grace?you have been saved,?through faith?and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God??not by works,?so that no one can boast.?For we are God?s handiwork,?created?in Christ Jesus to do good works,?which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We have just finished up our third day in Alaska and it has already been amazing! The snow topped mountains, long and brisk days, and endless gray ocean has been an eye opening experience of God?s pure awesomeness in creation. But our short time here even surrounded by this beauty has revealed to me again that the most awesome things He has ever made is His people that bear His image. We have been blown away by the kindness, generosity, and hospitality of the members of True North church. We are staying the first week here with host families and eating almost every meal with a family that is part of the church. Getting to know our mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters in Christ here has been the best part so far and we are so excited to spend the next few weeks serving alongside them.
This summer we will be interning with True North church in Anchorage and also its campus in Girdwood. These past few days have been spent getting to know the area and also the staff we will be working with. Sunday was spent helping the church with tear down and set up. The next few days will be spent at Beans Caf? which serves the homeless providing food and opportunities to join in Bible study.
The entire month of July will be spent leading different mission teams from the Lower 48 aka the rest of the U.S. We will be staying in the most gigantic house I have ever seen with these teams and going out on different evangelism projects with them. One of the weeks we will lead two teams as the church hosts a soccer camp where the Gospel will be preached each day! WOOOO! The church has partnered with many different ministries here (Beans Caf?, Laundromat ministry, Donut ministry, door to door) and we will be working to use these opportunities to spread the Gospel and strengthen the relationship between True North and the community.
Things to please pray for!
- Loving attitudes towards incoming teams even when we are exhausted
- Humility as we serve in positions of leadership
- That the thirsty will come!
- That we will take every opportunity to lean into the Holy Spirit
- That the mission teams coming will encounter Jesus
Our team has been focusing on Ephesians 2:1-10 where a few verses are shown above. We want to go into every situation remembering that God saved us when we were nothing and the Gospel is for those who have nothing to bring. His grace extends to all and I pray this summer we will be able to share this grace with every single person we come across.
Jessica Helmus
Summer LINK Anchorage
