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:

Thursday

Thanks for the prayers. Kathleen is not able to make the trip this time because of medical issues. We miss her, but know she is making the right call and look forward to her helping next year. Here is the a video log for today.

Wednesday Morning

Update on video:

Tuesday

Monday was a good day. Our new campers arrived and we had the opportunity to meet and greet a crew of very nice young adults. These “students” are between 17 – 19 years of age. The vast majority of the students are from the bush and a just a handful are from the road system. The weather was very nice yesterday but looks a bit hard today; please pray for good weather at the end of the week as we spend 2 nights and 3 days at “Trail camp”, when the entire camp goes backpacking …. 45 people in tents, WOW. Please pray for strength and wisdom and we all need it desperately. Kathleen as yet to get the OK from her doctor to travel, she wants to be here badly but health issues with her jaw have made it impossible. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER. Thanks.

It is Sunday!

We had a great morning of worship with our friends at Lake Clark Bible Church. The church was packed with campers, staff and community members. Excellent message from James chapter 3. We had a meeting with next weeks staff and are getting geared up for tomorrow when the new group of campers arrive. It looks like Robin, Paul and Deb will be counselors, Joni and Terri will be cooking. Doni, Kayla and Sammi are on work crew / dish crew and Ron is the "fix everything man" ... they LOVE HIM here. Please continue to pray for Kathleen as she meets with her doc to decide if she can make the trip. Please pray for the team, for spiritual, physical and emotional strength. The work is intense and once it starts there is no let up. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Nine of our team members here safly

We are thanking the Lord the we are in Port Alsworth safely. Kathleen Robinson has had an issue with a tooth and is trying to head up tomorrow. Please pray for her. The Junior High camp, that has been going on this past week is finishing up tomorrow, 65 campers WOW! Please pray for a strong finish to this week of camp. It is fun to visit and catch up with campers and staff we know from serving in past years. Hope to have more news tomorrow, we are all very tried. Thanks for praying for us!! See pics from TBC here ... some BHBC folks are on the site. http://www.tanalianbiblecamp.org/

on our way!

Our TBC crew landed in Anchorage yesterday and will be leaving shortly on our flight to the camp.

Team on the GO

The 1st Wave of team members leave early Friday morning July 17th:
Ron, Sammi, Deb, Joni, Terri, Kayla

Wave #2 leave in the afternoon of the 17th:
Robin, Paul, Doni, Kathleen

Wave #3 leave on the 23rd:
Luke and Eliza

Wave#4 leave on July 27th
Kevin, Kylie, Jeff, Kyler

Please Pray as the each team flies over 8,000 on this trip.

Port Alsworth from the top of Tanalian Mountain

Prayer

Please pray for the hearts of the kids we will come in contact with this summer. Pray for our safe travel, but also for the safe travel of the kids that will be flown into TBC (Tanalian Bible Camp) this coming Monday. Pray that we would be focused on the kids and would be a shining light for Christ, whether we're counseling, cleaning, doing dishes, or fixing things.