Vayahiy! (And It Came to Pass… November 18, 2005)
The Cardwell family newsletter updating our mission to Scammon Bay Covenant Church in Scammon Bay, Alaska.
“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He pondereth all his goings” (Proverbs 5:21).
our trip…
There have been some brothers and sisters that I’ve run into that just don’t understand my enthusiasm when God unveils His amazing and astounding details in Scripture. I’m occasionally met with, “Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?” My reply: “Everything!”
The way prophecy fits together, the interconnection of passage to passage, and most importantly, everything pointing to Jesus Christ… it’s all so beautiful and excites me to no end! Okay, so what? I am so encouraged that the omnipotent Creator of the universe was not only interested in preserving every detail of His inspired Word, but He is just as interested in every detail of each one of our lives as well! Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
God had His hand upon every cubit of our trip. There’s actually too much to tell, definitely far too much to relate in this newsletter. With the gas prices soaring because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it seemed to us that God guided me to every gas station with the lowest price in the area. There was one exception, however, and I believe that because every other stop on the 3,624 miles from Riverside to Anchorage did get us the best price for fuel, the Lord must have guided us to pull in there in order to avoid something that would delay our journey.
Even when we hit snow 20 miles east of Tok and we jack-knifed down the hill as we pulled that 24’ trailer behind us, God kept us from dropping 60 feet down the southern embankment, and with the front end only a foot or so from the eastbound guardrail (we were headed westbound), I know that only God’s divine intervention got us out of that situation because my driving skills aren’t that polished… and you should have heard Lisa praying…
What an awesome God we serve!
A special thanks to the Tizon’s, the Tovar’s, the Sawyer’s, and the Battle’s for accommodating us along the way.
the retreat…
As hinted above, we were on God’s time schedule. Initially, we had planned to arrive in Anchorage on the evening of October 4th, driving approximately 450 to 480 miles per day. Joel Caldwell of Arctic Barnabas Ministries contacted us the day before our departure because God had placed it in his heart that Lisa, Rachel, and I really needed to be at the 2005 Ministry Family Retreat (see the Mission Spotlight section of our website: www.vayahiy.com/Missions.dsp). We affirmed with Joel that God had been placing that upon our hearts as well, so our 450 miles per day turned into 600 to 700 miles per day. We made it to Eagle River, Alaska on Sunday, October 2nd and we were flying out to Tanalian Bible Camp in Port Alsworth on Monday, October 3rd.
At the Ministry Family Retreat, we were so blessed in so many countless ways. Again, to try to relate every one of the miracles of God happening in the lives of those we spoke with, it would fill volumes.
On one hand we were so encouraged because we could see God’s hand upon all those areas that God had touched our hearts with when we went to visit Scammon Bay in May. When we flew over the tundra in May and saw these tiny villages with just a few families in them, I wept one night thinking about it because I wondered how seldom they might receive the gospel. At the Retreat, however, Lisa and I met Adam and Lyndy White (check out their website: www.TheWhitePagesOnline.com). Now I get to weep tears of joy because God is working through them to bring the gospel to those who would not get the gospel unless the Whites brought it to them. And there are so many of you that have graced us with how God is working through you… I wish that I could tell everyone about all of you!
On the other hand, I had been dealing with feelings of inadequacy for several months before coming up. I stutter. I’m dyslexic. I have very little formal education. And I’m going to an extremely cold climate (Lisa hates the cold) where the culture and language are so different from anything I’ve ever experienced or studied. Though I never said it aloud before going to the Retreat, I was certain that I was the most illogical and unequipped choice to go to these people, whom I was certain God loved more than I could express. At the Retreat I saw all these servants of God, being used so incredibly by Him and for His glory, I felt even more insignificant. I cried out again to God while there, “Lord, you’ve got the wrong guy!” And this time He spoke very gently to me, “I know; but I’m going to send you anyway.”
the arrival…
We arrived in Scammon Bay on the evening of October 10th. Most of the boxes we had mailed from California were already in the parsonage. Unfortunately, all our pots, pans, dishes, etc. were still in Eagle River and Anchorage because we were unable to mail them out since we went to the retreat. The parsonage had been empty since Wass and Jean Mute left for Koyuk a few months earlier, so it took a couple of days to get the heating system working to bring the temperature up from about 40 degrees to something a little warmer. There was no food in the parsonage and we had spent the last of our money paying for overweight baggage in Bethel. Lisa, Rachel, and I praised the Lord and thanked Him for His awesome provision. We had finally arrived.
Within minutes of praying, God sent His messengers to welcome us. Darlene and Byron Ulak and John and Carolyn Uttereyuk brought food. John chopped wood so we could get the wood stove working. Over the next few days many welcomed us and brought food and other provisions. And God still provides for us through so many others, keeping us in fish, moose, and even a microwave oven. Oh, how our heavenly Father blesses us.
I got so sick a few weeks ago that I couldn’t even speak for two days (a blessing for my family, more than likely). My voice was so horse for the Sunday evening service of October 30th, I had to have Lisa and others in the congregation do much of the Scripture reading for me. The congregation was blessed with the shortest Bible study I ever taught: about 12 minutes. But even in my sickness, which I’m still battling a little (I have strep throat now), I found out that the Lord had blessed some others because of it.
Our great God had been training Lisa and I for years to bathe everything in prayer, to attempt to maintain unbroken fellowship with Him, and go forth in the power of His might. In the few weeks that we have been here we have become one with the reality of this truth: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). In our infirmities, inadequacies, and brokenness, we become more useable to God because we don’t trust in our innate abilities; we trust Him and trust in Him. Sure, God can use me through the gifts and talents He has blessed me with… but how much more glorious is it when He is glorified because of my meek submission to Him, rather than my natural or supernatural ambition for Him.
Please continue to pray for us. We really do covet your prayers.
vayahiy.com
The Vayahiy website has finally been updated since we got our Internet hooked up earlier this month. We pray that it becomes a source of edification and encouragement to the body of Christ. We also hope that our website becomes an informative resource to the saints in Scammon Bay as well as our mission partners. If you have any input as to what we can do to make our site better, please let us know. You can email me at: jon@vayahiy.com.
Just a few updates of note:
· Articles: We don’t have our new articles up this month as we’ve still been settling in, ministering in the village, and trying to get this newsletter out. One article that should be available soon is “Are You Ready for Winter? If you haven’t had the chance to read some of our other articles, or articles from other sources, check out www.vayahiy.com/Articles.dsp
o “Soldiers Baptized in Historic Iraqi Monastery” is a news article from the Evangelical Covenant Church. You can link to it from the Vayahiy “Articles” page or go to http://www.covchurch.org/cov/news/item4497.html
o I also hope to convince Lisa to write an article for next month (please keep that in prayer…)
· Missions: We’ve updated our Missions Page as well [go to www.vayahiy.com/Missions.dsp]
o Mission Spotlight: Arctic Barnabas Ministries is featured this month [go to www.vayahiy.com/Missions.dsp]
o Keep an eye open for our next Missionary Spotlight as we hope to bring you a “double feature”: a spotlight on a cross-cultural missionary and also one on an indigenous, in-country missionary.
· Resources: Online booklets and other publications have been made available in the PDF format as well as the MS Word format [go to www.vayahiy.com/Resources.dsp]
o New booklet in PDF and MS Word: “The Gospel” is a harmonious survey of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John [go to www.vayahiy.com/Resources.dsp for the PDF version and www.vayahiy.com/Publications001.dsp for the MS Word version]
o Resource Spotlight: “Alaska Mission House” is the featured resource [go to www.vayahiy.com/Resources.dsp]
· Links: We have added 2 more categories and huge number of resource links bringing our total to 30 categories with links to nearly 400 websites [go to www.vayahiy.com/Links.dsp]
o While you’re there, check out the “Scripture Text” Link in the Bible Study category (also found on our Resources Page). This is the ULTIMATE on-line parallel Bible and unparalleled to any we’ve seen. [or go to http://scripturetext.com]
· Prayer: With what God has provided, we’ve updated our prayer request page. To know how to specifically pray for us, please go to www.vayahiy.com/SBCCMission04.dsp
Until next time, we are still awestruck by God’s amazing love,
jon cardwell & family
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