Did you Know that Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita than any other state in the United States?

I was kind of surprised to hear that...who would want to eat ice cream when it's 20 below! Well, that's a fact and I'm also contributing a lot to their ice cream consumption, just this summer.

On Monday, Mrs. Nancy and I drove to LaVerne Griffin Camp in Wasilla to help register all of the youth coming in for Native Youth Camp. We spent 8 hours there, collecting money and handing out t-shirts and bags. It is amazing to me that these kids are traveling so far to come to camp. The focus for the camp is on purity and their verse is Romans 12:1-2. We registered 55 students and 22 counselors. The majority of those attending had to make 2 different flights, just to get to Anchorage!! They played the game, "Have you ever..." with the kids as they arrived and it was very interesting to see what all they had done. One was, "Have you ever shot a moose?" and more than half of the students had!! Another was, "Have you ever been shot at?" and again, a good portion of the kids had been! Village life is SO different from anything most Americans are accustomed to. This was some of the kids first time to drive on a paved road and fly in a plane! It is wonderful to see Native people stepping up to lead other Natives in their walk with the Lord. This is SO important because they can relate well and they know the best ways to reach them. That night was the first night of their camp and many students came forward to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!! It was amazing to see the Native people broken before the Lord. Please pray that the rest of their week goes well and that the youth are able to take what they've learned back to their villages.

On Tuesday I stayed at the Baldwins and worked on articles and such. That night I helped outside with the deck and used an electric sander for the first time...pretty neat!!!

Yesterday I worked in the office for most of the day and then we went to one of the parks in the downtown Mountain View area where Grandview Baptist Church is doing ministry. They have a ministry called GraceWorks that I interviewed them about. It was refreshing to see so much church involvement in the inner city area. Last night we had my mom's salmon for dinner and I made two batches of strawberry cookies :)

The ladies at the office seemed to really enjoy them today. I have a lot of writing to do still and not much time left here, so I've got to get busy. Tonight we are going to a Native funeral and tomorrow the office is closed, so I'll probably be working/relaxing around the house.

I'll be home in 9 days!