Fall trip to Grayling

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“In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” (Is. 49: 8/2 Cor. 6:2)

Isn’t it amazing that an eternal God is also intimately aware of and involved in the timing of His temporal creatures’ activities? In other words, God’s timing is always perfect! This flight out to Grayling was on September 16. After several rainy, cloudy days, the perfect weather window opened to make an easy flight out. As you’ll see in the photos below, the next week and a half were filled with moose hunting/processing, church service, James teaching language classes, and visiting with people. (You may need to let your page load for a few minutes before the many pictures show up.)

James was scheduled to preach at the Fairbanks Native Bible Church on September 28, but the weather did not look like it was going to let us make it back to Fairbanks. On Saturday the 27th, there was an unexpected break in the weather, so we closed up the Grayling house, loaded up the plane, and took off at 3:00pm with the three of us and about 200 pounds of frozen, packaged moose meat. About 45 minutes away from Fairbanks, a wall of rainy, snowy, icy weather stood between us and Fairbanks. We had to divert to the village of Galena, the only possibility for fuel within range of where we were. We landed in Galena at about 6:15 p.m., and a flight of two Piper Navajos, which was chartered to take the Galena volleyball team to Fairbanks, landed right after us. We found out that the fuel company is now charging a $450 after-hours call out fee. When the chief pilot of the charter company heard our situation, he (along with the volleyball coach) offered us the three empty seats they just happened to have and their extra weight capacity to carry our moose meat back to Fairbanks at no charge! Why would a charter, returning to Fairbanks with exactly enough space for us, be landing in Galena at 6:30 on a Saturday evening? Answer: God’s timing is perfect! James was able to preach at the Native church on Sunday and return to Galena with a commercial pilot friend on Tuesday to pick up his plane (the only decent weather day in the last week, and also at no charge).

These reminders of God’s perfect timing are a great encouragement in our life. The fruit of ministry is not always evident nor immediate. But God’s timing, even the timing of His salvation, is always perfect. Psalm 69:13: “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.”

Beautiful fall day taking off out of Fairbanks, Sept 16
Flying past Nenana; Living Center where the village teens stay is bottom middle, with green roofs
Our flight is a continual visual feast
Original site of the village of Holikachuk, on the Innoko River. The last remaining upright building will soon fall to the river.
Arrival in Grayling, Yukon River
Timothy was eager to set to work getting firewood laid in
Sunrise beyond the Yukon River, view from our front window. On the left, going up the street, is the Native store, and the second building past that is the tribal hall.
Wednesday, the 17th, James visited the Grayling school and started Holikachuk classes with both the elementary and middle school students. It’s exciting to see the interest that the students have in learning the language, especially the middle schoolers. The next week, James also organized and began a class for adults which has participants from all over the state via Zoom.
Blessed with a big moose 3 hours after setting out. (69 3/4″ spread, for those who might wonder 🙂 )
Thankful for the gift of help: being taken out in the boat, field dressing, and getting the critter back home
Shirley removed the brain matter, which is historically used tanning the moose hide, a tradition she is seeking to revive
Happy processing!
When first beginning work in Holikachuk, we were a little nervous about the given phrase “he’s fat.” When a picture illustrating that phrase came in from a Native local, cultural understanding dawned. This year’s moose definitely fit that quality!
Fresh heart for dinner!
Taking a break with nothglod (fish ice cream), sent over from our friends Marvin and Judy
Another huge blessing on this trip: we were able to fit a washing machine in the plane, and James finished all the current water line repairs. For the first time in 5 years, we have in-house laundering in Grayling!
Shirley’s partner Dave has been doing amazing paintings of each building in Grayling. On the Sunday we were there, the one of the church was given to the current resident missionaries.
An unexpected weather window opened, so on day 12, September 27, Marvin helped us to the airport.
More feasting for the eyes
As we were about halfway between Grayling and Fairbanks, the clouds appeared, and as you can see beyond James, the slope was quite a…decrescendo…?
Approaching a wall
Recent handiwork upon the hills
Having found no way around the clouds, we turned back to Galena for fuel. This is passing Ruby on the Yukon River.
Our new ride home from Galena
Sunset happening behind us
And a few minutes after the last picture, we were swallowed within the wall of clouds
After watching the wings for icing and seeing our first snowfall of the year over them, the lights of Fairbanks were a welcome sight, 8:40pm

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