Sorry for the delay in the blogging...we returned safely from Brevig on July 16.
We spent Sunday, July 15 cleaning Brian's house and the church. There was much toilet scrubbing, mopping, vacuuming and general tidying. We hoped we left things a little better than we found them.
After the cleaning, we had a free afternoon. Some of us hiked up to one of the "mountains" outside of the village. We hiked all the way into the fog, up and up and up until we couldn't see the village...so we decided that was far enough. It's such a treat to walk on the squishy tundra and look out over the hauntingly empty hills around Brevig.
When I got back from the hike, Pr Brian called and asked me to pick him up. He had boated across to Teller to do worship that morning, but the water was too choppy for him to boat all the way to the village site. He planned to boat part way to a spit of land on which the village folks set up summer fish camps. I was to drive the 4-wheeler the 3.5 miles to pick him up.
Um, I've never driven a 4-wheeler...
So I asked Jenny to teach me. She's about 23, recently divorced and has a 4-year-old. As we walked to the 4-wheeler (locals call them ALL Hondas, regardless of make), she chatted with me about her life. Then she taught me how to drive, a 30-second crash course. I drove off to get Brian... relieved when I arrived alive at Fred Olanna's fish camp.
When I returned, Ray helped me load up the Honda and trailer and we hauled a load of luggage back to the boat by Fred Olanna's fish camp. We had to boat all our bodies and stuff across to Teller after worship that night, so as to be picked up early the next morning by Pastor Matt from Nome.
Worship was at 7:30. It was great to see Pr Brian in his white alb, liturgically-appropriate green stole, jeans and muddy shoes. He played hymns on the guitar, with parishioners picking the hymns as we went along.
Then he preached on the Good Samaritan, which we had used as a text during the week. It was so great to hear him preach and I was delighted to see his extemporanous style. I love that! He gave me things to think about: Who is my neighbor?
After worship, Elder Rita Olanna got up and thanked us for coming and asked us to introduce ourselves. It was special to be honored by her.
Before we knew it, it was time to go. Kids hung around us everywhere, asking if we were coming back next year. I'm so pleased that I can say, "Yes, Central will be here!" I'm so proud of this congregation for supporting this ministry.
More Honda rides came next, to get us all down to Fred Olanna's fish camp for the shorter boat ride to Teller. I drove the Honda back and forth about 4 times to help shuttle. A man named Robert Rock drove it back for me after I made the last trip. It felt good to be out in the chilly air, with the hum of the Honda engine, watching the waves slap the beach and waving to the kids at the fish camps as we drove by.
It's always hard for me to leave Brevig.
At the Teller church, we found that Brian had emptied the honeybuckets that morning (praise God)! We had brief devotions where we discussed what we'd take from this trip. Everyone learns something unique but each person was touched in some way. I mentioned that this is why I do this repeatedly: each time, it changes me.
I fell asleep that night in my sleeping bag, next to my sister, on the floor of a dusty church building in Teller, Alaksa, in complete contentment.
Thanks for sharing our journey!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Brevig Mission, Day 5
Saturday, July 14 was our last day of Vacation Bible School. The kids knew it, of course, and were already asking if we were coming back next year.
Day 4 of VBS was the story of the 4 friends, or Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man. Much silliness went into the prep for this skit. Eva recruited us to play our various roles. My personal favorite actor was the toy monkey on a sleeping pad, who brilliantly played the paralyzed man that was lowered through the roof to see Jesus.
The kids got to be in this skit, standing with Eva who was wearing a sign that said "Crowd." They got to help block the friends from getting the "paraylzed friend" through to see Jesus. I think the skit went over well with our audience.
By day 4, we have the routine down: opening coloring, songs, skit, skit review, snack, craft and outdoor games. Today we finally played their favorite outdoor game, "Blue bird." Which basically is a tag game, with the one who is "it" announcing a color and all other children running to the other side of the field (if they're wearing that color) without getting tagged.
The main activity of the day was really the community meal. This also served as our program for the kids to show off their crafts and songs to parents. I was concerned we wouldn't have many adults, but they came.
We served hot dogs (chili dogs, too), crackers, fruit and cookies. It was fun to connect parents to kids and see families together. The kids put on their Joseph coats and sang: Jesus Loves Me, We Love Because God First Loves Us and (of course) At the Cross. During the meal, we served food and milled about chatting with the people of Brevig.
More later about our last night in Brevig...
Day 4 of VBS was the story of the 4 friends, or Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man. Much silliness went into the prep for this skit. Eva recruited us to play our various roles. My personal favorite actor was the toy monkey on a sleeping pad, who brilliantly played the paralyzed man that was lowered through the roof to see Jesus.
The kids got to be in this skit, standing with Eva who was wearing a sign that said "Crowd." They got to help block the friends from getting the "paraylzed friend" through to see Jesus. I think the skit went over well with our audience.
By day 4, we have the routine down: opening coloring, songs, skit, skit review, snack, craft and outdoor games. Today we finally played their favorite outdoor game, "Blue bird." Which basically is a tag game, with the one who is "it" announcing a color and all other children running to the other side of the field (if they're wearing that color) without getting tagged.
The main activity of the day was really the community meal. This also served as our program for the kids to show off their crafts and songs to parents. I was concerned we wouldn't have many adults, but they came.
We served hot dogs (chili dogs, too), crackers, fruit and cookies. It was fun to connect parents to kids and see families together. The kids put on their Joseph coats and sang: Jesus Loves Me, We Love Because God First Loves Us and (of course) At the Cross. During the meal, we served food and milled about chatting with the people of Brevig.
More later about our last night in Brevig...
Fishing in Brevig
A separate entry on fishing in the bush is necessary here.
People in Brevig catch salmon (red, king, humpy and chum) out of the Bering Sea and its bays and tributaries. While they do use rods, many also use set nets.
Pastor Brian was fishing on Friday; he worked all day catching, filleting, washing and hanging fish to dry. Ray and I got to help.
The set net sits perpendicular to the beach, just down from the Brevig church. When it's time, Brian takes a small boat out and pulls himself, hand over hand, down the length of the net, pulling fish out that have been tangled in the web. Then he hauls himself back into shore, hand over hand.
Next, he fillets them on a small table on the beach. Also on the table was a small battery powered radio, a jar of lemonade, a bag of sunflower seeds and some Morton's salt. I never actually saw him use the salt.
Brian was out there all day. He got about 80 fish. After filleting them, he keeps the tail connecting the two fillets and slices the fish (not breaking the skins) into wedges about 1 inch thick. Then the fish goes into a tub of ocean (sea) water. Enter Lisa and Ray.
Wearing rubber gloves, we pulled out the fillets and washed the blood out, sometimes scrubbing the cut flesh with the sea water. Bacteria flourishes out of blood, so we needed to get it all. We gave each fillet a final rinse in the sea, then threw it in another bucket, ready to hang. When that bucket is full, we hung it on drying racks made out of wood. The fish hangs over the wood, once fillet on each side.
It's SO MUCH work. Brian was out there at least 10 hours and came in covered in fish blood and smelling like the same. I was out there washing fish for maybe an hour and a half and even I was tired.
Though I grew up on a farm in Iowa, I forget sometimes, how much work hard work is.
People in Brevig catch salmon (red, king, humpy and chum) out of the Bering Sea and its bays and tributaries. While they do use rods, many also use set nets.
Pastor Brian was fishing on Friday; he worked all day catching, filleting, washing and hanging fish to dry. Ray and I got to help.
The set net sits perpendicular to the beach, just down from the Brevig church. When it's time, Brian takes a small boat out and pulls himself, hand over hand, down the length of the net, pulling fish out that have been tangled in the web. Then he hauls himself back into shore, hand over hand.
Next, he fillets them on a small table on the beach. Also on the table was a small battery powered radio, a jar of lemonade, a bag of sunflower seeds and some Morton's salt. I never actually saw him use the salt.
Brian was out there all day. He got about 80 fish. After filleting them, he keeps the tail connecting the two fillets and slices the fish (not breaking the skins) into wedges about 1 inch thick. Then the fish goes into a tub of ocean (sea) water. Enter Lisa and Ray.
Wearing rubber gloves, we pulled out the fillets and washed the blood out, sometimes scrubbing the cut flesh with the sea water. Bacteria flourishes out of blood, so we needed to get it all. We gave each fillet a final rinse in the sea, then threw it in another bucket, ready to hang. When that bucket is full, we hung it on drying racks made out of wood. The fish hangs over the wood, once fillet on each side.
It's SO MUCH work. Brian was out there at least 10 hours and came in covered in fish blood and smelling like the same. I was out there washing fish for maybe an hour and a half and even I was tired.
Though I grew up on a farm in Iowa, I forget sometimes, how much work hard work is.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Brevig Mission, Day 4
Day 3 of VBS, and our 4th day in Brevig Mission. Can't believe we have only one day left of VBS.
I started the day with a walk to the dump, which is somewhat of a destination, since the gravel road to get there is nicely maintained. I walked partway with Lorraine and Jenny, locals girls (16 and 22) who chatted with me but then turned around 'cause I was walking too fast.
I confess I was a bit low-energy today. Just tired from staying up so late (this CRAZY sun) and getting up early. Of course we've got nothing on the sleep habits of the locals. When we left on our walk at 9 AM, Lorraine and Jenny hadn't been to bed yet. When do they sleep? I can't say.
Our theme today was "Love your neighbor as yourself," and we did Good Samaritan for the skit. Merri Lynn was the skit organizer and narrator...she did a great job! She also recruited our talented actors. Karen was a great Jewish woman who got robbed by Lorna, Dianne and Eva. The kids just laughed at this robbing scene, as our actors were so hilarious. Ethan and Ray got laughs as Priest and Temple Assistant (respectively) who passed by, and then Heather rocked as the Good Samaritan.
For crafts today, we made masks out of paper plates and kids decorated them with pompoms, yarn, crayons. They loved it! Dianne did a nice Job of talking to the kids about making these as "helper" puppets, pretending the puppets were the good Samaritans.
Attendance was a bit lower today (Pastor Brian was out fishing on the beach and tons of kids were swimming...more on this later) and, again, my energy was a bit low. Still, the kids did a great job singing, making crafts and playing games. It's so great to have 10 adults to pitch in.
Today was Doreen's birthday; she turned 8. At least 10 kids came up to me to tell me it was Doreen's birthday and ask me what we were going to do and when we would sing to her. When it was time for the singing and I asked what song they wanted to start with, they all screamed, "Happy Birthday." Interesting...their biggest concern was that Doreen get the attention she deserved on her special day. Of course we did sing and gave her a special birthday cookie.
We played some outdoor tag games, briefly interrupted when a man came walking up from the beach with a fishing rod. "Reuben!" they screamed. Turns out this young man had just returned from Iraq and the kids were thrilled to see him again. I was touched to see this display.
All in all, another great day! Tomorrow is our last day of VBS..and we're doing a community meal of chili dogs to follow. We'll have kids sing for their parents and put on their coats of many colors. I'm excited! :)
I started the day with a walk to the dump, which is somewhat of a destination, since the gravel road to get there is nicely maintained. I walked partway with Lorraine and Jenny, locals girls (16 and 22) who chatted with me but then turned around 'cause I was walking too fast.
I confess I was a bit low-energy today. Just tired from staying up so late (this CRAZY sun) and getting up early. Of course we've got nothing on the sleep habits of the locals. When we left on our walk at 9 AM, Lorraine and Jenny hadn't been to bed yet. When do they sleep? I can't say.
Our theme today was "Love your neighbor as yourself," and we did Good Samaritan for the skit. Merri Lynn was the skit organizer and narrator...she did a great job! She also recruited our talented actors. Karen was a great Jewish woman who got robbed by Lorna, Dianne and Eva. The kids just laughed at this robbing scene, as our actors were so hilarious. Ethan and Ray got laughs as Priest and Temple Assistant (respectively) who passed by, and then Heather rocked as the Good Samaritan.
For crafts today, we made masks out of paper plates and kids decorated them with pompoms, yarn, crayons. They loved it! Dianne did a nice Job of talking to the kids about making these as "helper" puppets, pretending the puppets were the good Samaritans.
Attendance was a bit lower today (Pastor Brian was out fishing on the beach and tons of kids were swimming...more on this later) and, again, my energy was a bit low. Still, the kids did a great job singing, making crafts and playing games. It's so great to have 10 adults to pitch in.
Today was Doreen's birthday; she turned 8. At least 10 kids came up to me to tell me it was Doreen's birthday and ask me what we were going to do and when we would sing to her. When it was time for the singing and I asked what song they wanted to start with, they all screamed, "Happy Birthday." Interesting...their biggest concern was that Doreen get the attention she deserved on her special day. Of course we did sing and gave her a special birthday cookie.
We played some outdoor tag games, briefly interrupted when a man came walking up from the beach with a fishing rod. "Reuben!" they screamed. Turns out this young man had just returned from Iraq and the kids were thrilled to see him again. I was touched to see this display.
All in all, another great day! Tomorrow is our last day of VBS..and we're doing a community meal of chili dogs to follow. We'll have kids sing for their parents and put on their coats of many colors. I'm excited! :)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Brevig Mission, Day 3
It's Thursday, July 12 about 11:30 PM and the sun is still brillant, the mosquitos swarming. Most of our team is still awake, debating the finer points of theology with Pastor Brian. We've enjoyed getting to know him this week: he sings and plays guitar with the kids during VBS, eats some meals with us and talks theology/political science/sociology/philosophy with us. We laugh and share stories about the differences in our lives.
VBS was easier today, in many ways. The kids were more comfortable with us and we with them. Prep for the skit today took AGES. We did the Joseph story -- the whole thing -- as a campy melodrama that I'd found online. There are so many characters and most of the characters were playing 2 or 3 roles. There were costume changes and props and it was so confusing during practice, we didn't know if we were coming or going. But with enough practice, we got it down!
I went outside about 10 minutes 'til 2 pm (our start time) and the kids were already bunched around the door waiting to get in. We did nametags and coloring, then Brian was on for opening songs. They love "Father Abraham...had many kids.."" because they get to run and jump around.
The skit went great! Ethan added some appropriate piano music (doom-like music when Joseph gets thrown into jail, etc) and the kids were captivated. Although I think a few were scared...they thought the brothers were actually going to kill Joseph. Hmmm, maybe in a culture where abuse is common, we may want to re-think some of our acting techniques/themes.
Craft time today was making dream coats...out of white trash bags with taped multi-color streamers on them. They were a big hit! Prepping for this activity was very time consuming...and again we laughed at the irony of putting children in trash bag coats...hello suffocation risk?!! Well, they looked great in their coats and everything went fine.
Game time included a balloon relay. Getting them into equal teams proves challenging, but they seemed to like the balloons. We had them walk/run with balloon in between their knees... so funny. Even Ethan and Ray played along! A few of the balloons got loose in the dog kennel area, the dogs were rather confused...
A note (pun intended) about music: toward the end of the day, we did a few more songs, including the local favorite "At the Cross." They don't really know the verses, but they sure sing with gusto on the chorus. "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away..." I sang the verses and they BOOMED the refrain. Each time it was louder and louder. It was a beautiful sound.
Later this evening (after dinner) some of the highschoolers wanted to come to church for Eskimo drumming and dancing. The man (Robert) who used to organize dancing has moved to Nome, so it was hard to get enough to dance. There was only one drummer and a couple of dancers. The kids sat around the church, just hanging out with us, listening to Ethan play piano and waiting to see if more dancers would come.
Ray observed that even though we were all waiting, just listening to Ethan play, some chatting, some playing with kids, that the music united us all. "It was a joyful calm," Ray observed. Yeah, that's Brevig Mission. A joyful calm.
VBS was easier today, in many ways. The kids were more comfortable with us and we with them. Prep for the skit today took AGES. We did the Joseph story -- the whole thing -- as a campy melodrama that I'd found online. There are so many characters and most of the characters were playing 2 or 3 roles. There were costume changes and props and it was so confusing during practice, we didn't know if we were coming or going. But with enough practice, we got it down!
I went outside about 10 minutes 'til 2 pm (our start time) and the kids were already bunched around the door waiting to get in. We did nametags and coloring, then Brian was on for opening songs. They love "Father Abraham...had many kids.."" because they get to run and jump around.
The skit went great! Ethan added some appropriate piano music (doom-like music when Joseph gets thrown into jail, etc) and the kids were captivated. Although I think a few were scared...they thought the brothers were actually going to kill Joseph. Hmmm, maybe in a culture where abuse is common, we may want to re-think some of our acting techniques/themes.
Craft time today was making dream coats...out of white trash bags with taped multi-color streamers on them. They were a big hit! Prepping for this activity was very time consuming...and again we laughed at the irony of putting children in trash bag coats...hello suffocation risk?!! Well, they looked great in their coats and everything went fine.
Game time included a balloon relay. Getting them into equal teams proves challenging, but they seemed to like the balloons. We had them walk/run with balloon in between their knees... so funny. Even Ethan and Ray played along! A few of the balloons got loose in the dog kennel area, the dogs were rather confused...
A note (pun intended) about music: toward the end of the day, we did a few more songs, including the local favorite "At the Cross." They don't really know the verses, but they sure sing with gusto on the chorus. "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away..." I sang the verses and they BOOMED the refrain. Each time it was louder and louder. It was a beautiful sound.
Later this evening (after dinner) some of the highschoolers wanted to come to church for Eskimo drumming and dancing. The man (Robert) who used to organize dancing has moved to Nome, so it was hard to get enough to dance. There was only one drummer and a couple of dancers. The kids sat around the church, just hanging out with us, listening to Ethan play piano and waiting to see if more dancers would come.
Ray observed that even though we were all waiting, just listening to Ethan play, some chatting, some playing with kids, that the music united us all. "It was a joyful calm," Ray observed. Yeah, that's Brevig Mission. A joyful calm.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Hiking, Brevig-style
More from Brevig! One more excerpt from today. After our shared meal (spaghetti and salad, yum!) a few of us took a hike in the hills. The group was Eva, Ray, Heather, Merri Lynn and myself. We headed for the hills. No obstructed view here: the treeless tundra gives plenty of room to see what's ahead.
The path is non-descript; we just headed up through the tundra. The ground is uneven (as a result of freezing/thawing permafrost) and grass, shrubs and flowers lie over the bumpy earth. There's one "mountain" that's a favorite destination, but as we only had a couple of hours, we decided to go for a lesser "peak."
The sky was perfect deep blue, the Bering Sea an even deeper, more majestic color. We could see mountains in the distance with the slightest streaks of snow. Toward the top of the rise, the grassy tundra gave way to layered shale, a wash of skree to scramble up toward the ridge.
We stayed at the top for awhile to admire the view.
When we finished, we gathered at 10 PM for group meeting and devotionals. Dianne led us in a reading of Psalm 24...the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof...and she spoke of the fullness and beauty and abundance of this place. God's fullness is here in sky, sea, rolling hills, game and salmon.
Interesting: in a place with only one store, no bars, few places for employment, no theaters and the only entertainment is Bingo....we still intuit and see that this place is full. There is everything that is truly needed here: families living and working together, natural beauty, abundance of game and plants to eat. I always think differently about what is "enough" when I return from Brevig Mission.
The path is non-descript; we just headed up through the tundra. The ground is uneven (as a result of freezing/thawing permafrost) and grass, shrubs and flowers lie over the bumpy earth. There's one "mountain" that's a favorite destination, but as we only had a couple of hours, we decided to go for a lesser "peak."
The sky was perfect deep blue, the Bering Sea an even deeper, more majestic color. We could see mountains in the distance with the slightest streaks of snow. Toward the top of the rise, the grassy tundra gave way to layered shale, a wash of skree to scramble up toward the ridge.
We stayed at the top for awhile to admire the view.
When we finished, we gathered at 10 PM for group meeting and devotionals. Dianne led us in a reading of Psalm 24...the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof...and she spoke of the fullness and beauty and abundance of this place. God's fullness is here in sky, sea, rolling hills, game and salmon.
Interesting: in a place with only one store, no bars, few places for employment, no theaters and the only entertainment is Bingo....we still intuit and see that this place is full. There is everything that is truly needed here: families living and working together, natural beauty, abundance of game and plants to eat. I always think differently about what is "enough" when I return from Brevig Mission.
Brevig Mission Day 2
We woke in Brevig this morning to a beautiful dark blue Bering Sea view and a cloudless sky. It's hard to know when it's day or night here, in this the extreme land of midnight sun.
Our team met at 10 AM to prep for Day 1 of VBS (Vacation Bible School). Today's theme was LOVE and the Bible story was the Prodigal Son. We write our own curriculum, by the way, to make it our own and because most VBS lesson plans are WAY too complicated for bush VBS :)
We divvied up tasks: made signs to hang around the village announcing VBS, set up crafs, practiced skit, prepared games and planned songs. Ethan was playing piano like mad just before 2 PM and the kids came like flies to honey.
It went pretty well, all things considered. Our theme is "God's family" this year, so we made name tags shaped like people and kids decorated them. They put stickers on attendance sheets and did some coloring. Next we sang songs (thanks Ethan). The kids are so funny: no praise songs here, folks. It's all about the old school hymns..."At the cross at the cross, where I first saw the light..." Of course we did Jesus loves me, too.
Next it was skit time, talking about the skit (main point: Jesus loves you, rock on) and then snack time. Then more coloring: we made murals on paper on the wall of our families.
Then Pastor Brian came and played songs on his guitar. The kids are fascinated with him. He's obviously earned respect here, very cool. He sang Jesus Loves me, Blind Man, We Love Because God First Loved Us and At the Cross (again!)
Then we played games outside: What time is it Mr. Fox and Elbow Tag. AND we played this relay with water. Basically, teams take a cup, race to a common water bucket, carry water to their team's containter and race back to tag the next runner. This was hilarious, because the kids LOVED this. My sister Lorna was a team captain and one of the little girls on her team got confused and was taking water OUT of the bucket and running back. HIlarious!
At 4:30, we collapsed. This is SO MUCH fun :)
Our team met at 10 AM to prep for Day 1 of VBS (Vacation Bible School). Today's theme was LOVE and the Bible story was the Prodigal Son. We write our own curriculum, by the way, to make it our own and because most VBS lesson plans are WAY too complicated for bush VBS :)
We divvied up tasks: made signs to hang around the village announcing VBS, set up crafs, practiced skit, prepared games and planned songs. Ethan was playing piano like mad just before 2 PM and the kids came like flies to honey.
It went pretty well, all things considered. Our theme is "God's family" this year, so we made name tags shaped like people and kids decorated them. They put stickers on attendance sheets and did some coloring. Next we sang songs (thanks Ethan). The kids are so funny: no praise songs here, folks. It's all about the old school hymns..."At the cross at the cross, where I first saw the light..." Of course we did Jesus loves me, too.
Next it was skit time, talking about the skit (main point: Jesus loves you, rock on) and then snack time. Then more coloring: we made murals on paper on the wall of our families.
Then Pastor Brian came and played songs on his guitar. The kids are fascinated with him. He's obviously earned respect here, very cool. He sang Jesus Loves me, Blind Man, We Love Because God First Loved Us and At the Cross (again!)
Then we played games outside: What time is it Mr. Fox and Elbow Tag. AND we played this relay with water. Basically, teams take a cup, race to a common water bucket, carry water to their team's containter and race back to tag the next runner. This was hilarious, because the kids LOVED this. My sister Lorna was a team captain and one of the little girls on her team got confused and was taking water OUT of the bucket and running back. HIlarious!
At 4:30, we collapsed. This is SO MUCH fun :)
Headline hooray!
Yes! I'm so pumped! I couldn't figure out how to put titles on this blog and my friend Ray and I totally just figured it out. Sweet!
So how do you get to Brevig Mission? About 300 people live here, in this town off the road system where most people live by subsistence living (hunting and gathering most of their food).
Here's how we arrived:
Tuesday, July 10: Alaska Air flight Anchorage to Nome. Arrived in Nome 10:47 AM. Left for Teller via one old green van and one old extended cab Chevy trucks. Our drivers were Pastor Matt Littau (Our Saviors Lutheran in Nome) and Pastor Brian Crockett (Brevig Memorial Lutheran in Brevig Mission). Beautiful drive through open hills (too far north for trees), clear creeks where locals fished for salmon and even a few musk ox in the distance.
Arrived at Teller at around 5:30 PM. Next, a 15-20 mintue boat ride in a small aluminum Lund with an outboard motor. Pastor Brian took half of us (and half the luggage) but couldn't return to get the next half because he had a council meeting at 7. (Pastor Brian is also the mayor of Brevig)
So five of us went to Brevig and five stayed in Teller.
Now, let me say that while Brevig is on sewer and water, Teller is not. It's all about the honey buckets (go in bucket, dump when full). Unfortunately, the honeybuckets in Teller church were quite full. We walked around Teller, a place so quiet I half expected tumbleweeds to cross our path.
Instead, we found the local store where we bought water and the laundromat, with the only running water -- showers! toilets! sinks! -- in town. My sister Lorna's on this trip with me and on coming out of the rest room, exclaimed: "I've never been so grateful for running water in my whole life!"
We returned to the Teller church/parsonage to wait for Brian to return. We watched a DVD (so odd in a place with no running water)... (not sure why, but seems like why DVD if no toilet)...and ate the only food we had: brownies, carrots, peanut butter and mini chocolate bars. Dinner!
Brian returned around 10 PM and we took our boat ride across. We unloaded onshore and Brian brought his 4-wheeler (they call 'em Hondas here) to haul our luggage up to the church/parsonage where we're staying.
Whew! A long day. Time to turn in...but it's still sunny here at midnight!
Enough for Day 1, will write next about today (July 11)...
Here's how we arrived:
Tuesday, July 10: Alaska Air flight Anchorage to Nome. Arrived in Nome 10:47 AM. Left for Teller via one old green van and one old extended cab Chevy trucks. Our drivers were Pastor Matt Littau (Our Saviors Lutheran in Nome) and Pastor Brian Crockett (Brevig Memorial Lutheran in Brevig Mission). Beautiful drive through open hills (too far north for trees), clear creeks where locals fished for salmon and even a few musk ox in the distance.
Arrived at Teller at around 5:30 PM. Next, a 15-20 mintue boat ride in a small aluminum Lund with an outboard motor. Pastor Brian took half of us (and half the luggage) but couldn't return to get the next half because he had a council meeting at 7. (Pastor Brian is also the mayor of Brevig)
So five of us went to Brevig and five stayed in Teller.
Now, let me say that while Brevig is on sewer and water, Teller is not. It's all about the honey buckets (go in bucket, dump when full). Unfortunately, the honeybuckets in Teller church were quite full. We walked around Teller, a place so quiet I half expected tumbleweeds to cross our path.
Instead, we found the local store where we bought water and the laundromat, with the only running water -- showers! toilets! sinks! -- in town. My sister Lorna's on this trip with me and on coming out of the rest room, exclaimed: "I've never been so grateful for running water in my whole life!"
We returned to the Teller church/parsonage to wait for Brian to return. We watched a DVD (so odd in a place with no running water)... (not sure why, but seems like why DVD if no toilet)...and ate the only food we had: brownies, carrots, peanut butter and mini chocolate bars. Dinner!
Brian returned around 10 PM and we took our boat ride across. We unloaded onshore and Brian brought his 4-wheeler (they call 'em Hondas here) to haul our luggage up to the church/parsonage where we're staying.
Whew! A long day. Time to turn in...but it's still sunny here at midnight!
Enough for Day 1, will write next about today (July 11)...
I've missed you all in blogworld! Actually, I'm a blog slacker.
But I'm back...with a great story to share. I'm sitting in Brevig Mission, an Alaska Native village about 75 miles outside of Nome. I'm here for 1 week with 10 people to lead about 60 kids in 4 days of Vacation Bible School.
Life in "bush" Alaska is totally different than life in Anchorage (my home sweet home). So stay tuned and I'll give you the play by play 'bout life in the bush.
But I'm back...with a great story to share. I'm sitting in Brevig Mission, an Alaska Native village about 75 miles outside of Nome. I'm here for 1 week with 10 people to lead about 60 kids in 4 days of Vacation Bible School.
Life in "bush" Alaska is totally different than life in Anchorage (my home sweet home). So stay tuned and I'll give you the play by play 'bout life in the bush.
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