Basketball Camp is completed

Basketball Camp at Newhalen / Iliamna has been completed. Fifty – six different kids attended camp this week. We had a great time and the campers had a blast. The last day the campers where severed pizza and ice cream, a family from Iliamna Baptist Chapel supplied the ice cream, quite a treat when ice cream costs $25 a gallon. Needless to say, the campers left blessed and challenged. Kevin shared the gospel Friday all three sessions, he did a masterful job, so clear, so passionate, it was a blessing to hear it all three times. We leave this evening for Anchorage, plan to attend Diamond Boulevard Baptist Church tomorrow and fly out Monday morning at 6 AM and be in GR at 10:30 pm. God has been moving in and through this team since last February. Please pray that we will have a safe trip home and be ready to share the Good News of Jesus with those we meet along the way. Thanks to all of you that have prayed and sacrificed, we love you all.

Friday moring

Getting ready to head out for the last day of camp. Please pray for Kevin as he gives the gospel by using the bridge illustration. Today we have pizza with the kids and community volleyball at the gym. Last night we printed off 54 camper awards here are a couple examples.

Thursday, camp day 4:

The camp is going great, lots of encouragement from the community here as well as from school officials and staff. Attendance is great, we have had 51 different campers. Lord is so good to us and we are thankful for the chance to serve here. It has also been encouraging to also hear back from some campers that we worked with at TBC. The battle rages for the hearts and lives of students here in Alaska and everywhere. Well, if a picture says 1000 words, here is a small novel. It is easy to see why we fall in love with the children of south west Alaska. If you have a minute, leave a comment on the blog, we love to hear from friends and prayer warriors.

Tuesday Camp Day 2

We had a great day at camp yesterday! 50 campers attended yesterday, 14 more than last year. We have heard from those that live here that nearly 100% of all students in the village are at camp. The campers are playing hard and are very attentive during the speaking / bible stories. This is a wonderful bridge building event for the church here in Iliamna. Today Kylie is talking about Esther, tomorrow Jeff is speaking on Gideon and Friday Kevin sharing the gospel with the bridge illustration. Please pray that the hearts of the campers will be open to the gospel and the Lord will use the camp to build the church here in Iliamna.

Camp!!!

Yesterday was the first day of basketball camp! We were very excited about the large turnout...such an answer to prayer. We had about 42 campers which is more than we had last year. Luke spoke about Peter yesterday and today Paul is going to speak about the ten lepers. Please pray that the campers’ hearts would be soft and that we would be joyful in everything we do. Pray that we would show God’s love with our words and actions and that God would speak through us.

Sunday Aug 2 First Wave Home Safe.

We are grateful the first wave of Alaska mission team members are back home safe (Ron, Sammi, Terri, Kalya, Joni and Deb). They got in late last night. They did an outstanding job using their various gifts to do the Lords work at TBC. We will miss them as we start basketball camp tomorrow. Today we need to pick up a couple adjustable hoops around the village, set them up in the gym and work out some other details. It should all work out, key word for Alaska is BE FLEXIBLE :-) and this team is that. Today we will clean the church and get ready for service night. The only service here is at 7:30 pm each Sunday night. Please pray for wisdom for us as we set up tomorrow and safety for the campers as they play.

Thursday July 31

Last night after everyone made it to Iliamna we have a great dinner together and then spent some time in prayer and sharing about how the time at TBC went for each person on the team. It was very meaningful to hear the stories of how God moved in and through the members of the team. It was very clear to me the people in the group had a deep desire to serve, and show the love of God to others. I was honored to be on a team with them. Today we rested and tried to do some fishing but with very little luck, it was also VERY cold and rainy. This evening we loaded up into a van (yet another amazing part of God’s provision for us) and headed over the school in Newhalen to see the community and then have a time of prayer outside of the gym to ask for God’s blessing and for the hearts of the campers attending camp this coming week. We then returned back to the parsonage for some worship time. Tomorrow 6 of our team members: Ron, Sammi, Joni, Kayla, Terri and Deb head home, they plan to leave Iliamna noonish (heavy on the ish) and then leave ANC 6:00 AM on Saturday. Please pray for them as they travel. Thanks to a number of you that offered to buy books for the camper looking for answers to deep questions, it is done, thanks to those many of you ready and willing to help out.

Tuesday Morning - Teen Pursuit 2009 has come to a close

Teen Pursuit 2009 has come to a close. We have seen the hand of God move in a POWERFUL way in the hearts of campers in the past few days. Trail Camp was outstanding as campers and staff spent two nights in tents at beautiful Kontrashibuna Lake. The worship was amazing and teaching was powerful. Sunday night a girl in Robin’s cabin accepted the Lord as savior and gave a heartfelt testimony, PRAISE THE LORD!!. Many campers (16 – 19 years old) stood up testified, tears flowed as campers shared the hurts of alcoholism, abuse and suicide. They long for freedom and know that Jesus is the way of escape, but the darkness in the village is so strong and many campers are very isolated. The hurt runs deep. I wish you all could spend one evening with these kids, we laugh, we cry, we have fun but the reality of the hard and sometimes horrible home they return to looms in the back of everyone’s heart and mind. I have to always remind myself that the “Greater is He that is in us, than he who is in the world.” The hand and Spirit of the Lord is here in a clear and unmistakable way.

This morning Kevin and Kylie Shunsen and Jeff and Kyler Dunn arrived in Port Alsworth safely. They had a good flight and are spending time today with the whole team and getting introduced to TBC. (check out the video)

Campers Head Out on Trail Camp

Today campers, counselors, and a few work crew members left for trail camp. They will hike about five miles up to Lake Kontrashabuna and camp there a couple nights. This should be a great time for counselors and campers to spend quality time together and enjoy God's beautiful creation. Please pray for safety and that there would be many opportunities to for campers and counselors to connect.

Friday bonus Post

I got up early this morning so I was able to add another post. Last night was an excellent night with the campers at chapel. The kids LOVE camp and are already starting to talk about how much they hate for camp to end this Monday. Many good talks and deep things are being dealt with. Please pray for Luke and Eliza as they fly to Alaska today. Many campers know Luke and are excited to see him and meet Eliza. We have a camper here who is questioning his faith in a big way. Both Joni and I have had a chance to talk to him, I would love to have "Mere Christianity" and "A case for Christ" waiting for him when he gets home. I wonder if anyone would be willing to help with that, please email me at paul.powens@gmail.com Here is a video of Robin Deb and Paul cabins, we would love for them to be prayed for. Thanks for your support and prayers .... Random pics and the cabin Video and some "just fun" video.

Some Pics

Some Pics: