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!