From Alaska to Florida….

What do Alaska, Florida, retirement centers and giant Post-It posters have in common?  Echo Ranch Winter Meetings!  Every year, the staff at Echo Ranch choose somewhere in the United States to have a week of intense, strategic team meetings to both plan out the next summer and see where they are as a team and ministry.  We have been blessed to attend the last two, this year’s being in central Florida.  Most of the team resides in Juneau for the winter, but some travel all over the US and recruit volunteers and counselors.  This year, the national CCCA (Christian Camp and Conference Association) Conference was held in Orlando, FL and the entire team, minus the Regiers (we will attend once we are full-time missionaries with Echo Ranch) attended the conference.  Our in-town staff couple lives in a suburb of Orlando in a retirement home, so it was decided that we would hold the meetings in the guest housing of the retirement village.  A local pastor of a church that supports Echo Ranch came each day to lead a devotion and pray with us.  Many times the scriptures discussed would lead our discussion on the topics of the day.  Here is a picture of what our entire week looked like:

It isn’t too exciting, but it shows a huge part of what goes on behind the scenes of Echo Ranch.  The backbone.  The planning.  Setting in motion the things that go on from April to October.  And it requires a huge amount of wisdom from the One for Whose glory it’s all for.  God has it all planned, but we get the privilege of playing it out.  And we need His help.  We spent much time in devotions and prayer, imploring the Lord for wisdom and right hearts to work together in unity and love.  We always, with every discussion from scheduling to housing to lighting options, came back to this: “Is this our ministry focus? What facilitates our goal to reach Southeast Alaska for Christ best?  Does this show God’s love to believers?  To unbelievers?  Does this enable the health of each person and the team?”

We also identified several areas of personnel needs for the summer.  These include:

• ·      Mechanic
• ·      Maintenance and construction workers
• ·      Nurse and assistant
• ·      Kitchen help
• ·      Counselors

If you feel the Lord leading you to serve in any of these areas (and want to spend a summer on the Alaskan coast!), please go to www.echoranch.org to inquire and apply.

Finally, we want to extend a huge thank you to the Church at South Lake in Clermont, FL, and Pastor Brian Hammond and family.  They provided nearly every meal, picked several up and brought it to us, took us all over town, and offered all-around amazing hospitality!  You guys rock!  Check out their website:

http://www.churchatsouthlake.com

Also thanks to the AIM (Africa Inland Missions) retirement center and Bob and Mary Ehmann!  The accommodations were wonderful!

Going Home

Going home is exciting and sad at the same time. Such mixed feelings.  We want to see friends and family, to tell them of our stories of how we saw God working up here. But we want to stay, as we have fallen in love with Alaska, with Echo Ranch, and with the people up here. We loathe getting on the plane, but we are excited to go back. Spending 5 months up here and seeing God work in many ways, having God work in us and through us has been so amazing. Echo Ranch is a part of our lives and it will continue to be a part of our life as we head home. Knowing we will be back up here in April makes it easier to get on the plane.

But we have a question: how do we transition back into “normal” life? How do we go back to a way of living that we haven’t been a part of for over 5 months? From the community living aspect to the unusual and hectic schedules to the walking everywhere to the being surrounded by God’s beautiful artistry in the mountains and the oceans. So I ask myself another question, why is it hard to transition? Why does it have to be hard? I think it is easy for me to look at Alaska as the mission field and coming back to Hillsboro is a daily grind, back to work, type of place.  So why can’t we take what God has taught us in Alaska, our experiences and our stories, and use them to minister to those that will be around us in 4 days?

Someone told me recently that “You can’t rub shoulders with God and not come away unchanged.”  We have rub shoulders with God these past 5 months, we have been changed. I have been changed.  I am a different Christian than when I left.  I am a different husband.  I am a different father. So I am reaching out to you as friends and family, please pray for us as we transition back to our other Mission Field in Kansas.  Help us to have that view of everywhere we are is a mission field.  Help me as a husband and father to lead my family in a way that portrays that in all aspects of my life. Pray that we don’t limit the where and when God uses us as missionaries. Also pray for us as we look to the future.  God has confirmed our call to Alaska and we will be joining Avant Ministries in January and start our support raising efforts.

Thank you for your support through financial gifts and most of all through prayer as we rubbed shoulders with God in Alaska. We couldn’t have gotten this confirmation without your support. We are looking forward to seeing you all in the coming months. In the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the saints in Philippi, “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

The Regiers

50th Celebration

Allen and Catherine McMurchie
Photo courtesy of echoranch.org 
50 Years of God’s Faithfulness

Recently we had our 50th anniversary celebration. The theme for our birthday bash was “Celebrating 50 years of God’s Faithfulness.” People from all over the US came to celebrate with us. We even had the privilege to meet a lady who was a camper the very first year in 1964. One of the highlights from our weeklong celebration was to hear stories from former directors of how God used this camp to spread the Gospel all over Southeast Alaska. As we heard stories from the past, we knew that over the past 50 years God has blessed this piece of property in Alaska, and to think it all started with one man and a vision. Allen McMurchie got a 180 acre parcel of land from the state of Alaska and he started a logging company. As he was logging to rugged land of Alaska in the 1950s, he had a vision of having a full time Christian ministry on his property. Before he acted on that vision, a plywood company offered McMurchie millions of dollars and a free ticket to relocate anywhere in the world for his 180 acres. He politely said no, because he had a vision. They say vision without follow through is day dreaming, Allen McMurchie was no day dreamer. In 1964 he started Echo Ranch
Bible Camp, feeding kids in a dining hall that is smaller than most bedrooms and cooking in a kitchen that would fit in most people’s closet, they had a great year. Cooking all the food and baking pies in a wood fired stove, they fed the kids and they loved the food. If you are wondering, it takes 13 sticks of wood to bake and apple pie. Jake Hoffman was the first director of Echo Ranch in 1964 as his wife Hilda was the first cook. Then in 1966 Don Callison came to be director and was there as director until 1984. During those years camp grew immensely, buildings burned down and new ones
were built. In 1975, about one week before camp was to begin, the dining hall burned down to the ground, all the mattresses for all the cabins, sports equipment, groceries, tables, chairs, everything was gone. Word quickly spread around the Juneau area and businesses donated building materials for making tables and benches to eat on, sports equipment, mattresses, and so much more. A new Ranch House was being built for the McMurchies and they used that as the dining hall for a few years until the current dining hall was constructed in 1979. Uncle Don as he was called shared many stories of how God worked at Echo Ranch, campers being saved and people coming together to serve the Lord.

Dean Diller was the next director from 1984 to 1996. A farmer from Ohio, came to Echo Ranch to be a Mainenance man and was asked to be the director. He told us a lot of stories of campers and how they were changed by God. Over his 13 years of being director, over 2000 campers accepted Christ as their Savior. Every time a counselor would tell him a camper accepted Christ, he would shout out “GLORY!!”.

From 1996 till 2009 3 different directors have been out at Echo Ranch, Gary and Juanita Lidholm from 1996 – 2000, Randy and Valerie Beaverson from 2001-2006, and Rick and Pat Shaner from 2006-2009. The current directors are Randy and Allyson Alderfer.

Over the past 50 years, God has used Echo Ranch for His glory, and thousands of souls have been changed as a result. All because of the vision of one man, Allen McMurchie. He could have made millions of dollars selling his property, but instead he invested in eternal rewards.

We are a part of Echo Ranch’s history and we have the opportunity to bring it into the next 50 years. As you support us, you also are a part of God’s work in Southeast Alaska.

Alaska and Rosehips

Today we didn't do naps, which always has its pros and cons.  Right after lunch a dear friend informed me that between our apartment building and the office (a length of about 100 yards), there were gallons of rosehips to be harvested.  Before that moment, I had heard the word "Rosehips" in relation to health things, but that was about it.  She told me a few bits and pieces of information about them ("They need to be picked now, don't pick them if they have black spots, I usually freeze them, you can boil them down for jelly, etc...") and my brain went "Free Health Food!"  So we weren't going to waste our afternoon sleeping - we were going to gather one of nature's best medicines!  

Here are pictures of what we did:

Our picking spot

A Rosehip

About half of what we gathered today.  Not gallons, but hopefully we'll get lots more in the next few days!

First, cut them in half

De-seed.  Apparently the seeds aren't poisonous, but they don't agree with human intestines.

These small wild rosehips require a small knife to get those boogers out!

After crushing them, I poured boiling water over them.

Let them sit covered for about 15 minutes.

This is what they looked like after that time.

Then we had a tea party!  After straining the pulp, we served rosehip tea with honey.  Some loved it, others hated it :)  But it's super healthy and chock full of Vitamin C!

New Normal

I was thinking the other day about how many things are now normal to us that weren't several months ago.  Braking my golf cart for grazing horses and talking loudly when walking to scare off bears aren't things I normally do at home.  So, without further ado, here is an incomplete list of the things that comprise our "new normal" here in this crazy wilderness:

• No cell phone, texting, or TV.  I haven’t had a phone for about 4 months now because mine broke a few weeks after we got here.  And I haven’t missed it except to take the occasional picture.  Although there is no TV (as in normal broadcasting shows), we can watch movies.  The kids watch the occasional VHS and even more rare, a DVD.  They really don’t even ask much!
• Internet from 1989.  When I was in high school, we got dial-up internet.  It was faster than this. (Actually we just got an upgrade on data in the past few days, so we can now say it is closer to 2005)
• Inability to run to the store or even go anywhere outside of camp when you want. The tides determine when and how anyone leaves camp.  We make our plans accordingly.  And then we check what vehicle is available to use.
• Rain and the gear that comes with it. 
• Drying the kids’ shoes with my hair dryer.  Those puddles are just too tempting…
• Temperatures in the 70’s feeling really hot.
• Eating every meal with lots of people.
• Not cooking or doing dishes for just my family.  Waking up and just heading down to the dining hall for 3 or more main breakfast dishes has been amazing….
• Doing dishes for 50-150 people!
• Eating crab almost every weekend.
• Not driving a vehicle on a regular basis.  Getting around is either by foot, bike, or on a golf cart.
• Although this hasn't happened since April (but will again at the end of retreat season)….having our electricity and water turned off at night to conserve the generator.
• Horses everywhere.  Stopping for them on the road, seeing them in the yard, having them sneak up on me….
• Having a handy-man around to fix literally anything.  I’m used to that with Ryan anyway, but we have a few mechanics around and all the equipment, so if something breaks, help is only a radio call away.  And speaking of radios….
• Using a walkie-talkie to get a hold of anybody at any time.  I think I’m going to get back to Kansas and instinctively reach for my non-existent radio at Kids Connection to call “Pam, do you have a copy?  Pam.”
• Interdependence – this comes with community living.  Few things are “personal property” here and so we share nearly everything.  Which means we literally have everything we need, materially-speaking.  We depend on others to get us in and out of camp and someone is always ready and willing to help anyone out at a moment’s notice.  You can’t make it in this atmosphere without interdependence – it’s how Echo Ranch works and it works incredibly well.  You really know you’re cared for here.
• Sleeping in on Sundays (well, as much as 3 kids will let you) and eating only two meals that day.  They are very intentional about Sundays being restful days, so we do brunch at 10:30 and supper at 4:00.  Then we do church with a pastor from Juneau and then ice cream.
• Not throwing away your food.  No, that doesn't mean we have to eat everything.  In fact, we want you to have leftover food!  But we can’t put food in the trash because we have these large beasts called bears that like to go through trash when they smell food.  It all goes in the slop bucket and feeds our pigs (which in turn feeds us in the fall…..)
• The smell of fire.  Fires are made pretty much daily.  Kids (including ours) learn the art of fire making early in life.
• Itching. Some from mosquitoes, but mostly from the blasted no-see-ums.  Somehow a bug that is about a millimeter long can have teeth that feel an inch long.
• Taking our shoes off before entering any house or apartment.  And along with that, sweeping sand constantly in the hallway.

Sometimes we put on Mom and Dad's boots and a hat (or in Asher's case, the detachable hood from his winter coat) to go looking for mushrooms in the forest.

And sometimes we watch personal planes land at camp.

Camping Season Comes to an End

Summer camping season will officially come to an end after this week at Echo Ranch. We have 70ish junior highers here for Maverick camp.  The counselors are doing an awesome job, but they are reaching the end of their strength and energy.  It’s always at that place that God loves to shine because we know it’s not us, but His strength that is carrying us through.  I’ve talked with several counselors, trying to encourage and lift them up.  They’re tired.  Pray for them!  They did get to take a nice relaxing day trip to Antler River, which is about 10 miles or so down the Bay from camp by boat. 

The speaker at church Sunday reminded us of the harvest that Jesus speaks of in the book of Mark.  He reminded us that the multitude that walks into camp each week is similar to the multitude of crowds that Jesus saw and had compassion on.  Do we have compassion, that deep gut feeling, for these kids?  Many are dying, without community, and like sheep without a shepherd.  We as Christians have the answer for them: the Gospel.  We can provide community for them and teach them to follow the Shepherd.  Give them direction.  Pray that the compassion Jesus has for each individual child will be in our hearts as well, burning brightly and compelling us to love genuinely.

Since we do much of the cleaning around camp, we don’t get to interact a lot with the campers.  But there are a few times that we get to do things with them and they are definitely a highlight to our summer!  First, for Jr. High and Sr. High we have Girls Night where we get cozy later in the evening and discuss purity.  This year we had a question/answer session where the girls got to write any question they wanted related to growing up, womanhood, purity, etc and put it in a box.  We pulled the questions out and had lots of good discussion, encouraging the girls to seek God with their purity.  One issue that came up twice during senior high groups was that of homosexuality.  We got the exact same question both times: “What are your views on homosexuality?  Not the Bible’s, yours.”  We had much discussion on that subject with several campers having a very secular view.  It was a very respectful conversation and non-hostile.  The nature of that question told me two things: This person knows what God’s Word says.  And they don’t feel that it is valid.  The underlying issue through the entire discussion was where our standards come from.  Where does truth originate?  How do we determine right and wrong?  God created morality, so our standards must come from Him.  The second way we interacted with the campers was through small groups in Sr. High.  Each day after lunch, a group of campers came to our apartment to talk deeper about the message they heard in chapel that day.  The campers revealed struggles and doubts and questions of faith through these small groups.  A third way that I was able to pour into campers was through cabin discussions.  Counselors are allowed to have a staff member give a devotional during one of their cabin discussion times.  I have had the privilege of doing those a few times for Sr. High, Colt (7-9 year olds), and Jr. High camps. 

“I’m so blessed by this Senior High camp at ERBC!  I don’t think I’ve ever grown so much spiritually or seen so much Christian love before.” – camper in a note she sent to us.

Garden Teachings

I have learned many things since beginning my Alaska garden.  Some relate to gardening and some relate to life.  God uses the many hours I've spent there and gardening illustrations to speak truth to me.  One such recent lesson I had was on humility.

Our sugar snap pea plants have gotten huge.  Like, they're as tall as me.  As a result of the largeness of these plants and the fact that they're climbers, it's been difficult keeping them upright.  We've tried a few different types of string to make a "ladder" for them and I've attempted different methods of using the string to make them straight and stay that way.  But they're just too heavy.  They keep falling over.  Now, some have remained straight, but several sections have bent down too far to warrant the effort of bringing them back up.

The other day as we were picking peas, I noticed something.  The nice and straight ones had peas on them, yes, but do you know where the abundance of the crop was?  Under the bent plants.  The ones scraping the ground.  That's where the treasure was.

And God showed me something.  I can stand straight and tall and look really good and maybe have a little fruit.  Or I can bow.  Be humble.  Bend down.  And have an abundance of fruit.  

Spiritual fruit doesn't come from looking good, seeming spiritual, or even doing "all the right things".  It comes from a heart that humbles itself under the mighty hand of God, receives His grace and allows Him to work in it as He sees fit.  

I can seek to always look super spiritual and do it all myself or I can choose to accept and admit that I'm going to fall and need God's grace every step of the way.  Those plants kept falling.  I'm going to continue to mess up and fail.  It's up to me how I respond.  In a way that covers it up and acts like I'm still perfect?  Or, like the pea plants, will I humbly live in God's grace, bent down, and allow Him to produce an abundance of fruit in my life?

Garden Progress

It's been a while since I've posted an update on the garden and much work and much produce has happened since then!  The potatoes plants are huge and as I hoe between the rows, I see several smaller potatoes pop up from the dirt.  I dug two plants up to see how big they actually were.  The russets were about smallish-medium size and the fingerlings were still small.  I need to hill them again to get them to produce more.

The onions have been used a few times in the kitchen (I love hearing on the radio: "Angie, could you pull up some green onions from the garden for this soup we're making?") and the bulbs are getting bigger.

I just planted all the rest of the radish seeds because I was getting a little tired of doing them over and over in sections and not getting enough to make much for the salad bar.  A bowl of radishes doesn't go very far when you've got 150 people to feed!

The sugar snap peas are pumping out those peas like crazy!  Everyday I go back out and see more pods ready to be picked.  They have been used on the salad bar and are definitely a favorite.  Even Liesl picks with me and eats them as she goes!

The romaine lettuce also continues producing like crazy and we've picked the outer leaves several times for salads.  Last picking gave us half of a huge trash bag full.  The other lettuce has finally begun to look like iceberg heads, so I will leave those alone for a while to get some full heads.

The few carrots that survived the weeds are still growing.  We pulled a big one up and it had a nice carrot underneath.  It was super good!

The beans continue to grow, but I don't expect much.  They still look terrible and yellowish.

Beets may or may not come through for us.

That's all for now!  I'm super excited to dig up potatoes in the fall!!  Ephraim helped dig the two test plants and keeps asking me when we get to do the rest.  I think he enjoyed using that shovel!

I have tried posting pictures three times to this post, but our internet is so slow that they won't load.  Pictures to come later!

Salads from our garden!

Here is our first lettuce cutting. Not bad for just cutting the largest leaves from half the row!  And here are some radishes from the first harvest on my salad!  Yummy!

P.S.  I realize the picture quality is terrible, but these are phone camera shots.  Even so, as a photographer, this makes me cringe!

Mid-Summer and July 4th

We have hit the halfway mark for camp!  This week begins our second Maverick Camp, which is Jr. High age.  The four age groups for camp are: Colt (7-9 year olds), Bronco (10-11 year olds), Maverick (Jr. High), and Sr. High.  We have had one of each so far, plus a second Sr. High camp.  Please continue praying for these campers and the counselors (and the work staff!).  Many are hearing the gospel for the first time and many more are thinking hard about spiritual questions, issues, and what they believe.  I continue to be thoroughly impressed with these counselors as they pour themselves into the campers, spending a great deal of focused time with them and talking with them about life and God.  Pray for these counselors because several have gone weeks with no break from counseling and are on the verge of burn-out.  Pray for renewed strength and the rest that Jesus promises to the weary.  It is good to be able to talk with and encourage these hard-working saints.

Ryan is ready for work

Angie washes pots and pans with counselor Emily

This past weekend was a short but nice respite for us as we all went into town for the 4^th of July and the annual parade through Juneau.  Echo Ranch has a float and we all walk the parade (a total of 3 miles) and hand out candy.  It always amazes me how many people come to the parade.  I realize that two or three cruise ships were docked at that time, but that still leaves a great number of people who live here that come out.  It is so packed at certain spots, particularly when we hit the downtown area.  We saw many campers and their families throughout the parade. 

It has been a joy to work with the work staff this summer as well.  They are very hardworking folks and it has been a growing process for us to figure out how to mentor them as we also oversee their work cleaning. 

Brian and Charlene Hardee came to camp for two weeks as Brian was the chapel speaker

Prayers

• For a young camper and his family.  The Lord knows the details.

• For counselors – many are battling illness and fatigue.

• For us to do the next half of camping season with as much enthusiasm as the first.

Thanksgivings

• For people working together to do God’s work and the Holy Spirit moving hearts – we heard an encouraging story of a mother sending some teenagers to camp because she was concerned they were headed in a very wrong direction and would find themselves in very real trouble if they didn’t change.  Not only did those kids receive Christ, they received Bibles and read them on the ferry ride back home.

• For large puddles to jump in and the creativity of children to find fun in any and all weather, especially rain! 

• For all of you!!  Your prayers are felt all the time!

Camping Fun!

Echo Ranch is running in full force now that camping season has begun!  Last week was our first week of Senior High camp with the theme “Down on the Farm”.  It was jam-packed with zip-lining, horseback riding, laser tag, Mission Impossible, Storm the Castle, a paint war, and hikes.  Those things are super cool in and of themselves, but when used as a tool to share the Gospel, they become all that much better.  During counselor orientation, we had taken a prayer walk around camp to both familiarize the counselors with various areas and their uses and pray over them.  As Randy explained what goes on in these places, he mentioned that there are lots of kids who would never choose to go to Bible camp for the Bible part, but they’ll come to play laser tag.  Or ride horses.  Or learn to survive in the wilderness.  And while they’re having fun doing those things, we get to love on them, build relationships with them, and share God with them.  The week also includes intense chapel messages and times for the kids to share their hearts with fellow campers and counselors.  Tears are shed, burdens are lifted, issues are wrestled with, doubts are voiced, questions are raised, encouragement is given, prayers are spoken.  I am continually amazed at the dedication and love these counselors have to the campers in their cabins.  Several kids this week just weren’t entirely sure about this Christian thing and were contemplating other religions.  Others didn’t feel worthy of God’s love.  One girl shared early in the week that she spent most of her childhood crying over her parents’ fighting.  She said she doesn’t have a lot of faith in marriage or what God tells people to do.  Her counselor spent a lot of time with her, even missing events, to just talk things out.  She wrestled with the Gospel and spent time alone in the chapel.  By the end of the week, she had tears streaming down her smiling face. 

Ryan and I got to head up the other section of counselors who didn’t have cabins this week – the work staff!  These guys get down and dirty with pots and pans, leftover food, nasty toilets, mop buckets, and even pigs.  It’s the behind-the-scenes work and it’s actually very fun!  We turn up the iPod volume and get jiggy wit’ it while we scrub, sweep, mop, and put away dishes.  It was quite the learning curve at the beginning of the week and we had a bit of a frustrating first day, but we reminded ourselves that it was indeed The First Day and we were new at this, so there was a lot of learning to do.  And learn we did!  Ryan’s a fabulous organizer, so he made fancy schedules and lists and all those other organize-ish things that I wish I was good at.  And then we revised, re-communicated things, and re-scheduled as we learned.  Humility is one of those funny things that seemed to creep up often as well, constantly tapping on our shoulder until we acknowledged it and graciously accepted it.  Just another lesson from God that I might not want, but desperately need.

Prayers

• For campers – we get daily prayer requests from each cabin and these campers are dealing with everything from different religions to unhealthy families to relationship issues.    

• For safety – our nurse is busy!

• For the moms here – it’s sometimes hard to balance doing ministry and caring for our kids.

Thanksgivings

• For generosity – we had a Juneau bus driver call in and donate a free week of camp for each kid on her bus route.  That seriously added up to between $10,000 and $15,000.   

• For people around us that bestow grace. 

• For friends.

• For God working in the hearts of everyone here, campers and staff alike.