May 2011
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Spring 2011
 
 
Greetings my friends,
 

I have much to share with you, and almost all of it is good.  The Lord has been working up here in some wonderful ways, and I'm excited to tell you what's happening. 

First, however, I have a confession to make.  I took Heidi on a trip to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Our anniversary was last August, but Heidi wanted to wait until this past winter to travel.  I hesitate to tell you where we went, because I can envision letters from our churches dropping our support, but I hasten to remind you that even missionaries need a vacation every few years, and I don't count our furloughs.  (Driving almost 15,000 miles and visiting twelve churches in ten weeks is pleasant, but exhausting.)  Anyway, here it is:  I took Heidi to Hawaii for a relaxing week in the rain. 

 I learned a few things while we were down there.  First, at one of the restrooms I visited, I learned that I am a "Kane" and not a "Wahini," but I don't want to talk about that.  I learned a few other Hawaiian words as well, like "aloha," which means either "hello" or "goodbye" depending upon the circumstances.  I hate to be critical, but that can cause some problems, and it demonstrates an obvious lack of imagination on the part of whatever Hawaiian made up their language.  Another word that I learned was "mahalo."   I first noticed the word at a McDonald's carved into the lids of their trash receptacles.  I quickly deduced that the word meant "trash."  After making that discovery, I was appalled to realize that the folks down in Hawaii are much like those in France . . . they will insult you to your face while smiling at you.  For example, one evening Heidi and I decided that instead of McDonald's we would go someplace special-- you know, someplace with a little more atmosphere-- so we headed to Wendy's.  After a pleasant dinner, as we were leaving, one of the ladies working behind the counter smiled at me and said, "Come again, mahalo."  I was dumbfounded.  Let me translate that into plain English for you, "Come again, trash."  Rarely have I been so insulted.  Then I began to notice a pattern . . . an attitude.  I began to notice signs like, "Please stay off of the grass, mahalo."  Even the place we stayed had a sign that read, "Please turn off the air conditioning when you leave, mahalo."  I guess I don't have to tell you that it really took the pleasant edge off of my visit.  I also learned that they have wild chickens in Hawaii.  For some reason, they call them Red Jungle Fowl, but I'm telling you they're chickens.  I know a chicken when I see one.  I learned that Heidi reacts to almost stepping on an eel exactly the same way that she reacts to almost stepping on a snake.  That may have been the highlight of the trip . . . for me.  I learned that it's impossible to drive to Pearl Harbor without making a wrong turn, and finally, I learned that the sun never shines in Hawaii.  Perhaps that's the reason everyone down there has such a bad attitude.

 Well, I suppose I should get to the real news.  We had an especially great week three weeks ago.  One adult man was saved and three middle school girls.  Some of the folks up here are sensitive about having their names in a prayer letter, so I'm not including them, but please pray for these folks as they begin to grow.  We're planning a baptismal service down at the river this summer.  It should be a great day.  We also had a great day on Easter Sunday.  We had our 5th annual "sunrise" service.  "Sunrise" is in quotation marks because sunrise here is around 4:40 A.M. this time of year, and our service wasn't until 7:30.  Anyway, twenty six folks attended, the food was great, and the fellowship was even better.  Another big piece of news:  Heidi's home church, Berean Baptist Church in Bunker Hill, IL, purchased a "portable" sawmill for us-- only twenty-six feet long and two tons.  (Not much chance of someone walking out of the store with one of those in their sock.)  We had planned to try to transport the logs for the new fellowship hall from the island to the work site this past winter, but river conditions made that a little too scary for me to try.  Now, we're planning on taking the mill to the island, and milling the logs there.  That will make them much easier (and safer) to handle.  Berean also purchased just about everything else that we need to complete our new building:  materials, tools, roofing, etc.  We're really excited.  We have work crews scheduled to be here most of the summer, and it looks like we'll be able to complete the project if we don't run into any serious snags (no pun intended).  We have groups scheduled to come to help with VBS and also to work with the teens, and Mike Paramore and his wife will be with us the first weekend in June.  If you don't know about Mike, you should look him up.  He is a classical guitarist, and he's coming up to perform a sacred concert for us.  It's shaping up to be a very busy summer.  It also looks to be very productive.

 

Prayer Requests
 
Please pray for safety for our work crews this summer, and that they will have opportunities to be a good witness to the Fort Yukon folks.
 
Please pray that the river will break up in time for the barge to get the sawmill to us so that our work crews can actually use it!  That's one of those potential "serious snags" that I was thinking of earlier.
 
Please pray for the kids as they finish school and travel home.
 
Please pray for those newly saved.  Pray that they will grow, and will mature the way the Lord intends.
 
Please pray that the Lord would give us boldness and a clear witness in the village.
 
Please pray for the spiritual condition of the believers here.  I realize that it's the same everywhere to some degree, but it seems especially true here, that many folks just don't see their need to be truly committed to Christ.  A lukewarm attitude is very prevalent.
 
As always, thank you all for your faithful support, for your prayers, and for your encouragement.  It truly amazes me how many people are interested in the work up here, and how many are willing to sacrifice to help meet our needs.  You're all wonderful, you're beautiful, you're terrific, you're astounding, you're . . . punctual.  By the way, I've posted photographs of a bunch of the kids in my music classes, and a few other folks in town on Facebook.  Even if you don't know their names, perhaps you could pray for a few faces.  I'll be posting pictures of the work crews and the work as it progresses throughout the summer.
 
One last note:  Central Missionary Clearinghouse has had a new address for some time now, but I failed to get the message to everyone.  Their new address is:  CMC, PO Box 219228, Houston, TX 77218-9228.  The post office is no longer forwarding mail from their old address, and your checks will be returned to you if you use it.  Thanks bunches. 
 
We love you all.
 
Yours in the Lord,
David and Heidi Craig
PO Box 51
Fort Yukon AK 99740
(907) 662-5145 (David's cell)
(907) 662-5155 (Heidi's cell)