Finally. Time for updateing.

So, we recently returned to Homer from a 10 day outreach to Ouzinke, AK. Ouzinke is located on Spruce Island which is just northeast of Kodiak. It is mainly an Alutiiq village of about 200 people. We went to help the Kodiak Baptist Mission with some remodeling they are doing on a mission house there. The house is over 50 years old and had little insulation. It is in need of some updateing.
We left Homer and took a 12 hour ferry ride on the Tustemena to Kodiak. From there 17 of us hopped on a 32 foot boat called the Diakanos--only following our survival suit training, of course. After all, this is winter in Alaska.
We had a surprisingly good reception in Ouzinke. We had been praying for God to open some doors to us, and He definately did. It was the second time that a YWAM group had gone to work on the Smith house there, but the first time did not open many opportunities to get to know the locals. They mainly ended up just working on the house. We however were met on the docks by a man named Nick whose family had been around that area for over two hundred years. He than helped us haul our gear to the house. The previous trip there, he only watched them as they went by. So, it was something special from the start. We found many opportunities to meet people the next day walking around the town, and earned ourselves an invite to their open gym.
We found basketball to be our way in, for the most part. We got to know many of the young people in the village and a couple of the more active adults. Through this we got to know more about the needs of the village and heard about things that they would like to see happen with the Smith house. There was alot of excitement when they thought about someone coming back into the house full time. They are hungry for fellowship, and for God.
We also were blessed a lot on the trip. A man by the name of Herman, who we met while playing basketball, invited us all for dinner and for the Superbowl. So, we all ended up getting to watch the game. He fed us like kings. Not only did he provide pizzas, pop, chips for the game, but he also prepared fresh seafood pasta for dinner. It was an incredible act of generosity.
The biggest thing from our week, though, is the reception. The leadership with us said it is not very often that we get a reception like that. So many people were sad to see us going so soon and wanted to know when we would be back. There were also requests from some to get the same team back. It was good, and we hopefully opened alot of doors for the groups to come. Who knows, maybe we will even be part of one of those future groups.

if you are curious about where we just visited, check out the town's website! go to www.ouzinkie.org