Alaska VBS Trip

Aerial view coming into Deering, Alaska.

June 11-18, 2017
Always so much fun to return here.

This has been the heart passion 

of a group of people from 

St. John's Lutheran Church, 

Conover, North Carolina.
They sent teams to 3 villages to do VBS.
There were 32 young people from 6 villages.
There were 6 baptisms and 1 First Communion.

The Crucifixion story is one of the favorites 

of the teen camp attenders.
Pastor Scott leads the story telling.

Resurrection eggs tell the
 REST OF THE STORY.

Dolly is on the left 

and Mikayla is on the right.

Both young ladies 

were baptized two years ago.

Generous donations allowed Mikayla 

to attend this year's Vacation Bible School.

This opportunity allowed the team 

to bring wonderful opportunities 

to share the Gospel with Mikayla

 and many other young people.

Seeds of faith sewn in the heart and mind 

of Mikayla -the work of the Holy Spirit.

Since VBS-Tina- Mikayla's mom has also

returned to church.

If your church is interested 

in an Alaskan VBS project- 

or YOU would like to join them, 

we can connect you to this Mission Trip.

There is never enough volunteers.

Denise Johnson would be delighted

to share what they have learned over the years,

or to help you come along NEXT YEAR!

Mary Durkin- Nepal Mission Trip- Part 2

 Reflections of a Midwestern Girl 

on a Midwestern culture

During my time in Nepal I was blessed to worship 

with the Christian church of Kathmandu, Nepal. 

 We walked from our guest house 
to the small church

 located about a mile away.  

As we traveled down a rocky alley way,

 I spotted the church next to a marshy rice field.  

The building was weathered, worn, and dated. 

 It lacked adequate power supply and plumbing.  

The windows did not close 
and the toilet did not flush. 

 It was unexpected for a house of worship.  

 However, what I was about 
to experience was beautiful.

We entered the small, dark, damp church. 

It was raining outside.  

The windows were open but there was no breeze.  Kathmandu is not a mild climate. 

 It is hot and humid, much more humid 

and warm than this Midwest girl
 had ever experienced.

  The monsoon season came early this year,
 lucky me.   

The church was segregated by gender.   

Everyone sat on the floor 
on faded oriental style rugs.

  The carpet underneath was old and worn.  

There were osculating fans mounted on the ceiling

 that seemed to taunt me by randomly 

turning on and off throughout the worship. 

 So, we sat on the dirty oriental rugs
 at the back of the church, stagnant heat,
 awkward smells, 

and rising emotions.  
Families were arriving.  

Children, teens, fathers and mothers 

all filled up the small room.  

Each family that walked in 
greeted us with shy smiles 

and bowing as they walked past.  

When worship began,

 there were approximately 
50 people in attendance. 

They took their places on the appropriate sides

 of the church and devoted their attention to the front.

  The music began.  It was loud!  

The electric piano and guitar blared 

and the singers sang with a volume and level

 of enthusiasm I had only seen at professional concerts. 

 The congregation joined in!  

All of these Nepali people were on their feet,
 dancing, singing, and praising the God of all Creation. 

 The presence of the Holy Spirit arrived and expanded 

to fill every single heart in that little church 

next to a rice field.  

The room transformed from being uncomfortable 

to a holy place of worship!  

All of the songs were in Nepalese 

but we knew that God was present 

and His children in Nepal were praising Him. 

 After several worship songs,

 the preacher began to preach.  

His sermon text was Isaiah 40. 

 The chapter begins

40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

    says your God.

² “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.

Tell her that her sad days are gone

    and her sins are pardoned.

Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over

    for all her sins.”

 These words are so precious 

to the Nepali Christians 

because the country

 is radically changing.  

There is a new constitution declaring that Nepal 

is a non-religious country. 

 It is a country that does not condone religion.

  Unfortunately the main religion

 being attacked is Christianity. 

Their only comfort at this time is their Lord.   

So, as the pastor continued, 

tears began to fall down the faces 

of the men and women in the church. 

 I could see and feel the hurt and persecution

 they were feeling as tears 

streamed down my cheeks. 

 The struggles they deal with on a daily basis

 to keep their church open 

was beyond my comprehension.  

But, as the pastor pointed out to us 

was God is sovereign, he is powerful, 

and He cares for his people.

^{Isaiah 40:10-11}

¹⁰ Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.

    He will rule with a powerful arm.

    See, he brings his reward 

with him as he comes.

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

    He will carry the lambs in his arms,

holding them close to his heart.

    He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

God will rule with his powerful arm!  

He cares for His faithful people.  

He will carry them.  

He will carry me!  God is powerful.  

At that moment, His love and power 

was revealed to me.  

God truly is everywhere.  

He is alive and well in Midwest

 of the United States and He lives

 in a little church down an alley in Kathmandu

 and in our Northern Virginia metropolitan area.  

My worship experienced 

changed me that day.  

God is ever present.  

He carries us all close to His heart. 

 As worship continued 

and we were on our feet,

 raising our hands praising God,

 I knew that He loves us, He loves us all.  

 Contributing writer - Mary Durkin

Mary Durkin is a member at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

 in Springfield, Virginia.

 Born and raised in Illinois, she is a Midwestern girl at heart. 

She is a wife to John Durkin, DCE and mother of 2. 

Mary has been teaching for 17 years, 16 years serving Lutheran schools. 

She currently teaches for Fairfax County Public Schools.

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Mary Durkin- Nepal Mission Trip- Part 1

Reflections of a Midwestern Girl

 on a Mideastern Culture

This summer, Mary embarked on a courageous journey to Far West Nepal. The goal of the trip was to provide a teacher training workshop for approximately 200 teachers. The teachers in rural Nepal receive little to no training on classroom instruction or management. ServLife, a not-for-profit organization, based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, 

focuses their ministry and mission on Nepal and India.  ServLife sponsors an annual trip to Far West Nepal to provide training to the teachers that are eager to learn and grow in their teaching abilities. 

For more information or to donate or sponsor a child visit www.servlife.org  

Mary on the far right with her group

Q:  Where did you go during your travel?

Our team of 12 arrived at Kathmandu, Nepal.  We spent 2 days in Kathmandu adjusting to the culture and recovering from the 18 hours of flight time.  During that time, we also collaborated on our conference presentations and purchased supplies for our workshops.  

Then, we hopped another plane to Nepalgunj (which means Nepal City).  From Nepalgunj, we traveled by bus for 2 hours to Chisapani, which is in the jungle region of Nepal.  We held a three day workshop during our time there.  

Q: Who came along? 

Our entire team was assembled by Tim Kurth, assistant director of ServLife.  We were a group of 12 teachers variying from preschool to high school.  Our teachers live all over the United States.  Tim Kurth asked some of us personally to attend and some of us contacted ServLife with the desire to go.  Although we came from all over the United States, we had one thing in common, our love and passion for the Lord.  

Mary in the back with the blue headband.

 Left to her (in photo) is Jessi Fisher- A Lutheran school teacher 

at Cross Lutheran school in the Chicago Suburbs. 

She ws also a college friend from Concordia- Chicago

Q:  What was the purpose of the trip?

I believe the main purpose was to share our love and passion for education with the teachers of Nepal.  God’s purpose however was revealed to us in two parts.  The first revelation was that “to love your neighbor” means so much more than just the people on your street or in your congregation. 

It is all about relationships.

The second was that we can share the Gospel by first building relationships.  Currently, in Nepal it is illegal to proselytize, especially when it comes to Christianity. The country is predominately Hindu.   As a team, our goal was to lead a teacher’s conference.  As a team of teachers who love Jesus, our heart was to share that Gospel with the Nepali people.  Our prayer was that they could see Jesus in what we did and said without breaking the law.  Our focus was to build relationships in order to share Jesus.  

Mary holding the youngest orphan

 from the girl's home in Kathmandu. 

Her mother was killed in the earthquake last year.

Q:  What was one thing that was a total surprise to you?

So many things surprised me!  I think the biggest surprise was the incredible joy the teachers had for learning.  The Nepali teachers were so engaged in the training.  They are full of laughter and song.  They asked questions, lots of questions!  The part that was surprising is that these teachers are over worked, underpaid and have little to no resources. 

A Nepali classroom

 Their classrooms were concrete rooms with dirt floors.  Many teachers had over 50 students to one teacher.  The government does not regulate these things.  But the teachers were full of joy and wanted to know more.  They struggle with cultural oppression, poverty, monsoons, and unbearable heat but they have joy.  My prayer is that their joy will be in the Lord someday.  

Mary Durkin is a member at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 

in Springfield, Virginia.  Born and raised in Illinois, 

she is a Midwestern girl at heart. 

 She is a wife to John Durkin, DCE and mother of 2. 

 Mary has been teaching for 17 years,

 16 years serving Lutheran schools.  

She currently teaches for Fairfax County Public Schools.