Video Christmas Greeting from Pastor Bill and Dori

For Optimal viewing, make sure your sound is turned up.

Winter Edition of "The Journey"

The Winter Edition of "The Journey", the quarterly publication of the Alaska Ministry Network, is now available for download here.  Excellent articles and information about coming events.

Central Region Christmas Party

Pastor Fay did an incredible job hosting the Central Region Christmas Party on Tuesday night.  MCA had the place decked out with a beautiful manger scene that you can see in the background of the pictures, and the room was very classy.  As always, the event was well planned and was a hit.  The food was excellent!

Pastor Shannon Alarid, the new Pastor at Matanuska AG in Palmer, led us skillfully in some Christmas songs.

Pastor Ryan Gluth gave a superb talk that directed our thinking on how we can lead others in adoring the Savior this Christmas season.

Pastor Bill led us in prayer as we prayed for each other and for others who may be facing difficult situations this Christmas season.  It was a moving season of prayer together.

Staff Meeting

We had a great team meeting on Tuesday at Starbucks.  We are blessed with a staff who cares about the Network and do their work with excellence.  We are currently going through the book "The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player" by John Maxwell.  We are already working on Network Conference and getting excited about it.  

Steal of a Deal on a Great Book

If you like to read books in an E-book format, Dr. Wood's newest book, "Road Trip Leadership" is on sale for 99 cents.  You can find out more here.  I have read this book and found it to be excellent and highly recommend it to you.  Dr. Wood gives great insight about leadership, life, and ministry.

Christmas Gifts!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Network Office.  Christmas decorations are up.  Christmas gifts were mailed today to all AMN credentialed ministers.  Be watching for it in the mail.  We hope you are enjoying the Christmas season.

PK/MK Retreat

The 2011 PKMK Retreat last weekend at Little Beaver Camp was a huge success. We had 50 PK/MKs from around the state join us for a fun filled weekend of activities, good food, and spiritual refreshing. The PK/MKs were the first to get to use the new sledding hill and inner tubes and they had lots of fun flying down the hill. We had a rousing broomball tournament as well as plenty of indoor board games for those who wanted to stay warm. The youth pastors, Ben & Kayla Bridgewater, from Homer were able to join us for the weekend and Ben did a great job sharing on Saturday evening about not compromising anything and being above reproach as a leader in all things.

We want to give a big thank you to the Presbytery for partnering with us to be able to make this event free to all of our Pastors and Missionary Kids around the state. Getting to invest in these young leaders during the retreat is one of the highlights for us in Youth Ministries. We look forward to next year’s PK/MK Retreat!

Baptisms in Kodiak

Pastor Tracy and Pam Hodges in Kodiak are very excited to report that they baptized 21 people on Sunday night!  That includes 4 kids, 7 adults, and 10 teens.  God is up to something in Kodiak!

Help Needed for AKSOM

We are very excited about how the AKSOM simulcast system is working.  It is allowing us to be more effective in how we conduct the classes and has also allowed us to expand our base of teachers.  However, one area in which we need help is in producing the classes.  We are looking for people who enjoy working with video and computers.  This is an excellent way for you to contribute to what God is doing through AKSOM in training leaders for Alaska.

The producer is responsible for making sure the simulcast system operates properly and monitoring the chat function to ask questions of the Professor when students ask questions on the internet.  It would involve giving a Saturday (usually from 9 until around 4) once every two or three months.  If you are interested in volunteering for this, please contact Dr. Cogan at the office or by email (coganministries@yahoo.com) 

Dillingham

Wade and Susan Cogan spent Thanksgiving with Pastor Debbie and Dave Milligan, Pastors of Anchor of Hope AG in Dillingham.  Wade also had the opportunity to preach and to teach the Personal Evangelism AKSOM class.

This is Pastor Debbie Milligan.

Pictures of the Anchor of Hope Congregation.

Togiak

Wade Cogan was in Togiak teaching two classes:  Introduction to Pentecostal Doctrine and How to Interpret the Bible.  They had a wonderful time visiting with Pastor Joseph and Lucy Andrews and getting to know the students.  Wade also got to preach at the Sunday services.

This is Pastor Joseph and Lucy Andrews.  They were recently appointed by the Presbytery as Pastors of Togiak Assembly of God.

There were five students attending both classes.

Holy Spirit Conference

We are very excited about the Holy Spirit Conference this year.  We would encourage you to make plans to attend if possible.  If you can't make the trip, it will be live streamed again by Voice to the Village. This event is sponsored by Muldoon Community Assembly, the Central Region, and the Alaska Ministry Network.  I love partnerships!

Thanksgiving Greeting from Pastor Bill and Dori

 

The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth:

To all ye Pilgrims, Inasmuch as the Great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

Ephesians 5:19, 20 encourages Christians everywhere, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ALWAYS giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Dori and I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!  As we enter into the holiday season, we are very thankful for the Alaska Assemblies of God and the wonderful opportunity you have given us to serve you and represent our Network.  We are very mindful of the outpouring of God’s grace over our lives.  We want to express gratitude for each of you and the wonderful blessing we have experienced because of you and the goodness of our Heavenly Father.  This will be our 26^th Thanksgiving in Alaska.  As I reflect on the years past, my heart is full of gratitude.  We are very excited for what the Lord has planned for all our families and friends in the years to come.

My prayer is that your families and ministries will be blessed beyond comprehension.  We love you and are praying you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you will experience the 2011 holiday season in a fresh new way, as Jesus manifests His grace and love.

^“I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart . . . all of you share in God’s grace with me . . . And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:3-11, NIV

You are loved,

 Bill and Dori

North Pole AG

I had a great time in North Pole this weekend with Pastor Billy and Aubrey Welch and North Pole Assembly of God. This is a historically strong church and continues to thrive under the leadership of Pastors Billy and Aubrey. Left to right above is Pastor Aubrey, Pastor Billy, Sheila (bookkeeper) Pastor Todd (Youth Pastor), and Pastor Kory (Children's Pastor). It is exciting to see what God is doing here. They work together very well as a team.

The temperature was around 35 below zero.

One of the Pastoral tasks is to stoke the fire twice a day to keep the church heated.  Fortunately, the pastoral staff helps out.

The Santa Claus at the Santa Claus House of North Pole is a believer and a member of North Pole AG.  He is a very nice guy.  Wow!  THE Santa Claus calls Billy "Pastor". 

Riggs Scholarship for High School Seniors

            A high school senior that plans to attend one of the 17 undergraduate Assemblies of God endorsed colleges or universities (www.colleges.ag.org) may be eligible to apply for a Ralph Riggs Scholarship. This scholarship fund is made available by the Assemblies of God Trust in partnership with The Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education.

            Two Riggs scholarships (The General Superintendent’s Scholarships) of up to $30,000 each will be awarded (over a 4-year period) to one male and one female high school senior. Eight one-time scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded to high school seniors (and distributed over the student’s first two semesters).

            To be considered for a scholarship, an applicant must have a minimum of a 3.7 GPA; an ACT score of 28 or SAT score of 1870; be active in an Assemblies of God church; and plan to attend an endorsed AG university directly following high school. Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on these qualifications: academics, extracurricular involvement, Christian service, Christian life, financial need, personal essay and references.

            The Riggs Scholarship Fund is one of three scholarship programs sponsored by AGTrust in its efforts to train young leaders and empower future generations. The AGTrust is under the leadership of Chairman Dr. George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

            Since 2009, AGTrust has awarded a total of $310,000 to 32 high school graduates chosen as Riggs Scholarship recipients. The 2012 Riggs scholarship winners will be named in April 2012.

            To download the Riggs Scholarship application form, go to www.agtrust.org. The application submission deadline is February 15, 2012.

Bethel

Pastor Jack and I had the chance to visit Pastor Dale and Pattie Jollotta in Bethel this Monday and Tuesday.  We enjoyed our fellowship with them and are excited about what the Lord has in store there.  They were called to Alaska from the New England Area, and have been serving as Pastors at Bethel Community AG since July.   Pastor Jack was planning on conducting a pastoral installation on Sunday, but the weather delayed travel.  Former Pastor Bob and Rachelle White continue to serve and be a blessing in the church as they look to develop a camp in the Bethel area. 

The church facility is very nice and well taken care of.

The Kuskokwim River flows by Bethel, and is frozen now.  Here you can see a barge that isn't going anywhere until Spring.

Kotzebue

I (Brad) was in Kotzebue this past Sunday filling in for Pastor Randy and Sandy Wren, who were attending their son's wedding.  I was excited to be there, as it was my first time in Kotzebue.  Thanks to Pastor Randy and Sandy for flying me up and letting me stay in their apartment while they were out.

Matt is a young man who is from Emmonak and was helping Pastor Austin.  He has moved to Kotzebue and is now helping Pastor Randy.  He did a great job leading worship on Sunday.

Darvin picked me up at the airport.  He has grown up in Kotzebue and has been a leader in the church for decades.  It was fun to hear Darvin and his wife tell fond stories of the ministry of the Mercers and the Westdahls.