Friday, December 14, 2007

New CS shirts, Pipe Masters on!, Interact Ministries


The new membership T's are done, go to www.christiansurfers.com to join and choose the option with a t-shirt. I am thankful that God is blessing this campaign and mobilizing surfers all over the US for His kingdom, we now have the highest membership level we have ever had.
Go to www.billabongpro.com to watch the most prestigious surf event on the planet, the Pipe Masters.
In other news, we have been in contact with InterAct Ministries, you can check them out at interactministries.org. Christian Surfers put us in touch with them to liason with them and gain insight and help on the challenges of village ministry. We are thankful for the encouragement and look forward to meeting their missionaries.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Colldddd!!!

  It was 8 degrees last night and our pipes froze.  Fortunately, it was fixable, we have no individual water shut off, the main to the whole street has to be shut off for one house to be serviced.  To avoid that we now have to leave the water running until it warms up a little.  It is nice to get some sun but unfortunately with that comes lower temperatures.  We have some friends from the church adding a little on to the house which means that openings from the addition come through to the house and make it reallllyyy cold in here!  That has kept us busy and we definitely needed the extra room.  We are definitely enjoying being back, however.  Next time I will try to get some pics on here.  

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Long Road Home!

A 6 day trip, 3,800 miles by land, a few hundred by sea, narrowly missed 2 buffalo, a flat tire, a power outage at the Whittier Tunnel and 6 accidents from Palmer to Whittier later we arrived home in Yakutat.
Pictures:
1. The ferry ramp lifting us up to drive onto the dock, finally home! A number of our friends from the church were there to greet us and had a meal waiting for us when we got home, a special bunch of people!
2. Cache Creek, B.C. We got a taste of fall from
Portland to southern B.C. The beautiful colors
and smells were nice after seasonless SoCal.
3. Watson Lake, Yukon, minus 10 F. Yes, an abrupt
entry into winter, plugged in the block heater in
the truck.
4. Allison at night in Beaver Creek, right before
crossing the border. The road from Haines
Junction to Alaska is the worst on the entire
trip, massive frost heaves and cracks in the
road, we talked to a couple on the ferry that
had rolled their car there the month before and
their dog died in the wreck.
5, 6. The drive from Tok to Anchorage, 0 F in
Tok, the locals said it was warm, doesn't get
cold until 15 or 20 below. A beautiful drive
until Palmer and the Glenn Highway with a lot
of wrecks, glare ice conditions with people
driving 75, saw a car pass us and rolled over in
the next couple of miles with the people
trapped inside, glad to get to Anchorage!
7, 8. Auntie Ione and my happy parents with
Baby Quinn. They drove up to Anchorage
Saturday to spend the night with us there
before we got on the ferry.
9. It snowed all that night, an outside shot of
the hotel and my parent's minivan.
10. The Whittier Tunnel, the longest highway
tunnel in N. America. A power outage caused
us to question if we would make it to the ferry
and we ended up waiting in the car for 4 hours
for it to open and another 2 hours before
gettting on the ferry.
11. Sunrise on the Gulf of Alaska.
12. Ryder and Faith playing in the play area on
the ferry, Ryder loves it!
13. Mt. St. Elias and largest coastal mountain
range in the world, almost home!
14. Our little house, the tan and white place
above and to the left of the big white building
in the foreground.
15. The lift on the ferry, getting ready to drive
off!
16. Goodbye ferry! We were on the last ferry
until the end of May.
17. 4 moose quarters, the Holcombs graciously
shared their meat with us so we could stock
our freezer for the winter.
18, 19. The meat grinder and a lot of packets
of ground moose and roast, stayed up until
midnight butchering, grinding and packaging
meat. This time of year the days are short so
everyone stays up late and sleeps in, about 10
p.m. and I was bushed but we are slowly
getting used to the new schedule. Thanks for
reading!






















Sunday, November 4, 2007

A picture is worth a thousand words...



1 more day until our road trip, we will be making some changes...

Thursday, November 1, 2007

North to Alaska!


We were shocked tonight to learn that a ferry spot opened up on the last ferry of the year(had been filled up for quite a while). So we will now be bumping up our travel schedule to get to Yakutat on time. Thanks to Teen, I borrowed this picture from an archive of hers from last February. North to Alaska!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Cold Thoughts































Timmy Turner is an esteemed surf
filmaker that has gone on after almost dying
of a virus sustained in Indonesia. His
doctors told him to stay near cold climates
so his next film is a cold water surfing
film. This is the link to a trailer for his film.
Contains some good footage of Canada.
Warning! Contains a swear word!
http://www.shredordie.com/videos/c058161e68
The above are a couple of pics of Canada.

Monday, October 29, 2007

TFB




Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to the junior high and high school groups at Torrance First Baptist. It was even more fun because Allison and I taught Sunday school there for 4 years and many of our our old 1st through 3rd graders are now in high school, growing up. We are the adopted missionaries of that group and are excited to continue to share with them what is going on in Alaska.
Allison and I continue to be members at TFB and treasure the times we get to spend with old friends. Here are some pics of the church service and junior high/high school group, and another one of Quinn.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Big Day in May


Local shop owner Jack Endicott put this on his site, www.icywaves.com, big day in May!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

It's a boy!

and




Baby Quinn was born 7 pounds even and 19 inches long. Mother had a great birth and is recuperating nicely. Thanks for all your prayers, it is amazing to think of the journey we have taken since those tense moments and months after she went into labor in the Juneau airport. The images are shot out of the hospital room, couldn't get any that did the smoke and ash in the air justice.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Satellite view of the carnage


Here is a satellite view of what literally has never been seen before on this scale in Southern California. It is just shocking, the power and the devastation. Please keep these people in your prayers.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Southern California/Malibu fires


Our prayers go out to the residents of Malibu and elsewhere in SoCal that are losing their homes in these horrific wildfires.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Andy Mckee - Guitar - Drifting - www.candyrat.com

One of the coolest things I have seen in quite a while. Still waiting...

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Baby News/CS Conference


We had our prenatal appointment today and the doctor said that she would induce a week early if Allison is still pregnant by then. So we are looking at the most, another week and a half before the baby is born! It is exciting to be this close, it seems like we have been waiting a very long time for this one.
Please pray for the Christian Surfers conference to be held the 17th-2oth of October in Cocoa Beach, Florida. This is a very important conference and a lot of changes have been made in the last year, please keep everyone in prayer.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Toad the Wet Sprocket - Walk on the Ocean

A video from the early 90's I found, some beautiful footage!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

No Baby yet!

We spent last night in the hospital, thought she was going to have the baby and it all stopped at about 3:30 this morning. Maybe next time!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Windy Day!

A very blustery day today in the South Bay. Topaz jetty, getting worked. Nice when it is like this, the air clears enough you can see the mountains. You can also see King Harbor in the background, the waves crashing against the breakwall.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Sunny winter day of surfing

Nothing new to report, Allison goes off the anti-labor drugs on Saturday. Here is another shot from Scott "from Alaska" Dickerson of surfing from the last winter. I don't have any fall shots and since the temp has dipped below freezing already (at night in Alaska) I felt this was justified. Note the ice, you don't want that hitting you in the water!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Answer to Prayer


Do you ever ask God for things? We are so self sufficient that we often turn to God when our own measures fail. I am ashamed to say that is the situation that Allison and I found ourselves in last night. We had exhausted our own will on this particular problem and turned to God in prayer. Today He answered and humbled us in His own gracious way that left no doubt He had done it. This leaves us with 2 conclusions.
First, God is good , Psalm 37:23/ therefore:
Second, He answers His children when they call. James 5:16, 17a:

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way."

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly..."

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Precious Saints


*** Voice Of The Martyrs Prayer Alert 25/9/07 ***


CHINA: Imprisoned Pastor's Health Failing

On 24 September, The Voice of the Martyrs received reports
that Pastor Zhang Rongliang's health is failing.
If he is not released from prison soon, he will likely die.

According to contacts in China, "Pastor Zhang must be
carried from place to place by
two men supporting him. He does not walk well on his own.
He openly questions
whether he can finish this sentence. If he is not released,
there is a good chance
that he will die in prison."

Pastor Zhang still has four years remaining of the
seven-and-a-half year sentence he
received after his arrest in 2004. He had previously
spent 12 years in prison for
his faith during five separate detentions.
He experienced harsh torture, including
electric shock, during his previous prison terms.

VOM USA

Pray for Pastor Zhang's healing and for his release
from prison. Pray the Holy Spirit
will encourage him and that his testimony will
draw non-believers into the knowledge
of Christ.



------------------------------------------------------------------------



Thank you for being a part of VOM Prayer Watch.
This news service is part of the ministry of Voice of the Martyrs, Australia.
Mailing address: PO Box 250 Lawson NSW 2783
Phone: 02 47593700 Fax: 02 47593711
Email: thevoice@persecution.com.au
Website: http://www.persecution.com.au/

James 1 and following:
1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And
let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing.

Psalm 116:15
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His godly ones.

2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

Revelation 6:9-11
9 When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar 8 the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, "How long will it be, holy and true master, 9 before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" 11 Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.
Please remember our brothers and sisters that daily face death as their testimony of gratitude for the Lord that suffered unto death for us.

Monday, September 24, 2007

The Lord's sovereignty


I have been studying the Psalms and it has been a great encouragement to me. Normally over the course of my days, I get the chance to share with people. Lately I had a discussion with someone online that left me discouraged at my inability to communicate to this person and amazed at their arrogance and pride in their sin. Then I read Psalm 11-14 and following.

The wicked strut about on every side...When vileness is exalted among the sons of men. For behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string...To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Who have said, with our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us? The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.


"In the Lord I take refuge... The Lord is in His holy temple...His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of man...May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; The words of the Lord are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined three times. For God is with the righteous generation...But I have trusted in your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 11:3 says that if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? But the next verse clarifies, God is on the throne, the foundations are not destroyed and no matter what men may bring against the Lord, before God no flesh can stand. We only stand before Him through the blood of Christ. Because of this I can thank God for these opportunities. These encounters give me fresh fodder for prayer as well as new understandings and reminders about the hopelessness of those who don't know God. Thank you Lord, Your words are pure words, and you set us in the safety for which we long.

I like the above picture because although there is danger on every side, he is safe in the center of the barrel. The Lord holds the righteous in the palm of His hand...
Shipstern's Bluff, Tasmania


Sunday, September 23, 2007

New Blog Address

This is the second incarnation of the Relief in our family. The first was my grandfather's troller, which he took my dad fishing on when he was very small. This is my father's boat, the second Relief.
This is also the second incarnation of my attempt at blogging. I have decided to start posting under a different address, one not so closely associated to where I live. I will send out emails informing our friends of the change.