"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, continue ye in my love."
John 15:9

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AMEN CONTENTS

 
• Mission
• Newletter
• Greenland
• Villiage Travels
• New Jersey Visits
• My Heart's Desire
• Computer

The goals and purposes of AMEN MINISTRIES are:

1. To support the local Native work in village Alaska
2. To help build. strengthen and encourage each work in village Alaska.
3. To help raise up Native leaders from these local bodies for the future indigenous work.
4. To raise up Native pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc, called by God to"go into all the world and preach the gospel."
5. To reach every village on a regular basis.

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Newlsletter

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Greenland

On July 10 the Guided Lights, an all Native gospel band boarded a charterto attend the lnuit Circumpolar Conference in Nuuk, Greenland. They were among several groups that went from Alaska and were representing the NANA region. Band members were Robert Sheldon, Lee Stalker, Sonny Russell, Norman and Donna Westdahl. Spouses that attended were Loagie Sheldon, Patsy Stalker and Mary Russell. We were in Nuuk for ten days.

We performed on live television simulcast over radio over Nuuk and surrounding villages. To our knowledge this was the first time gospel music had been aired over the airways. We also attended two church services ministering with our music. We also played at a senior citizens home. In each place where we ministered there was appreciation expressed that we came and peoplewere encouraged in the Lord.

Greenland is largely rock foundation. It is difficult to build homes there. Drilliog into the rock is necessary to begin buildings. There are many apartment buildings and few individual homes. Alcoholism is high. Music is a major industry there. There are many music groups and they sing in the Greenlandic Eskimo's first language. We could see why God opened the door for us to go there during this time.

Aqqalu (Jan) end Elise Barthelsen and family and friends with Guided Lights group

The day after school got out Donna and I began our summer ministry travels. We vent to minister in Galena at the Galena Bible Chapel.

We stayed at the home of Roger and Carol Huntington. It was a pleasure to begin to get to know them.

Michael Curtis also ministered with us. We combined as a music ministry team. Michael and I alternated each night in preaching as we often do during these village travels.

Galena is a unique town. It has had military presence in the past. An alterative school is now housed in the former military buildings. It has a Catholic church in the community as well.

The Galena Bible Chapel is a church that is on the ball. It had no pastor at the time we were ministering but had excellent leadership amongst its members. It pours much of its sources into their youth. It is missions minded and reaches out in ministry world-wide and amongst Native villages across Alaska.

Following our trip there the church was preparing to run a youth Bible camp further up the river for several weeks.

Galena is a good example of how you can pray that the rest of our villages can be. Thanks for your support in these areas.

Our Guided Lights band had been invited to Wainwright for the Presbyterian Churches 75th Anniversary. They had arranged for three days of revival meetings culminating with a Sunday evening service that was aired over KBRW radio in Barrow, Alaska. This was a singspiration time as well as preaching for the service.

Our band consists of all ministers. We were asked to preach during each of the services. Robert Sheldon preached Thursday evening, Norman Westdahl Friday evening, Sonny Russell - Saturday and Lee Stalker - Sunday evening. During the Friday evening service it was decided to honor the pastors of the North Slope of each denomination in attendance. There was acknowledgement and recognition as well as foot washing during the service. It was a moving time. There was also a sense of renewed dedication of service to the Lord.

Monday was a day of celebrating with a Naluqutaq or whaling feast. There was passing out of various parts of whale meat and muktuk followed by blanket toss.

Alaska is so vast one ministry cannot cover it all. I am thankful for the various denominations and ministry groups that labor for the Lord and are bringing people to Jesus and enlarging His Kingdom! l am also thankful that we are privileged to be a part of this work that God is doing! I am praying that God send more into His harvest field.

Unalakaleet

The weekend after Labor Day I had been asked by Chip Swanson to speak at Fall Call. Chip is the pastor at the Covenant Church in Elim and Koyuk. Fall Call is family camp held at North River out of Unalakleet.

I felt led to speak on family issues and emphasis on the word of God. It was good to meet new people and establish new friendships. I was asked to speak also at the Covenant church Sunday morning. Several people indicated by raising hands that they felt God was calling them into the ministry.

This is a need in our villages of Alaska and we need to give people opportunity to respond. Romans tell us "For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” NKJV I believe in issuing the call into ministry. If we don’t issue the call, how can they respond? Please pray for our villages that individuals will raise up called of God to PREACH THE GOSPEL

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A Visit From New Jersey

 “ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me"
Revelations 3:20

This was the scripture used by my fiend Norman Westdahl in an illustration during a service in Kivalina, Alaska. Norman and myself were invited due to an “open door” to minister and conduct church services by Caleb and Ladle Wesley. Kivalina is a village in Alaska which is located approximately 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the coast of the Chuckchi Sea part of the Arctic Ocean. Kivalina has a population of approximately 360 people and has a economy dominated of subsistence hunting although some residents work in the Red Dog Mine which mines zinc ore.

This is the only village in the region where villagers hunt the bowhead whale. My visit to Alaska was truly a blessed and unique experience. Last month I requested to Norman that an opportunity to visit would be available and he eagerly invited me to oome up and visit. The main differences were extremely apparent from the cold snowy wind to temperatures dipping down to near zero in contrast to Rockway New Jersey temperatures recently reaching up to sixty. Additional differences were seeing no trees and seeing the sun rising close to noon then hovering near the horizon and then going down near four in the afternoon. The mode of transportation was mainly snow machine or small 4 wheeler vehicles which I have never seen any of these kind in all of New Jersey and small prop planes to travel between regional villages. Yet despite geographical, ethnic and cultural differences God was in the midst of showing me wonderful aspects of his mercy and love.

Norman Westdahl is a Yupik  (Eskimo) Evangelist whom I started corresponding to in January 1996 after reading an article describing the “Forgotten People" in “Native Penteoostal News” a publication distributed by The Assembly of God for ministry to Native Americans. Norman lives in Kotzebue Alaska with his wife Donna who is also a native Alaskan Inupiat (Eskimo) and is a second grade school teacher. The ministry which Norman was led to begin is AMEN ministries, Alaskan Ministries of Evangelism for Natives). Norman and Donna visit villages in Northern Alaska and minister to the people in preaching, teaching, worship and prayer. AMEN has goals is to reach the people of over 200 villages of Alaska which do not have pastors. This can be difficult due to the high cost and inconveniences of traveling in the Arctic area.

While visiting Norman, I attend revivial services in the Kotzebue Church of God which had the privilege of having the superintendent of the Alaskan Church of God preach the message. I met the pastor of the Kotzebue Assembly of God at that service among with many people who had a true desire to worship and be in God’s presence. The following day Norman and I visited Wolf and Hildegard Seiler whom are Bible translators for the Inupiatun language in the local region. They are from Germany and have been with the Wycliffe Bible Translators and have lived in the region for over 22 years.Wolf also teaches in the local Friends Bible Training Center, I was blessed to be part of this pioneering work during our visit to Kivalina which has few cars, running water or flush toilets. The arctic region has a subsistence living of hunting seals, fish, whale, caribou and living off the animals of the tundra. These foods do have an adjustment period in relationship to my “normal” suburban New Jersey diet yet the Inupiat people have a, aspect for what is harvested and thank God for the bounty provided for their living.

The most meaningful experience of my visit to Norman was not the cold climate, lack of daylight, unique local foods, visitation to a small village, ethnically and cultural differences but the opportunity to fellowship with Norman and Donna and the people who impacted their lives. It is a privilege to experience first hand the door Jesus talks about in Revelations 3:20 and to eat with the Inupiat people both native foods and spiritual food from God.. I pray and encourage Norman and Donna in their labor of love and endurance.

Paul was saying this about his people, the Jewish people. This can be said by anyone about their own people. And Paul certainly tried to reach out to them. He tried to touch all peoples and in fact in order to reach them he said he would become like them. “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means, save some.” I Corinthians 9:22 (RSV).

Like Paul, I love my people also. I desire to see them come into God’s kingdom and discover the things God has in store for them. So to win them I become like them. I do what they do, I eat what they eat, I hunt what they hunt. I laugh when they laugh, weep when they weep, rejoice when they rejoice, and celebrate when they celebrate. But, like Paul, I do it  unto the Lord. “I agree with them as much as I can, except of course that I must always do what is right as a Christian, And so, by agreeing, I can win their confidence and help them too.” I Corinthians 9:21(LB).

And so, like Paul, my prayer for them is this: that “God the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,... give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that He has done for you. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future He has called you to share, I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are God’s have been given to him!

I pray you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe him. (I pray) that out of his glorious and unlimited resources He will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit, And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high His love really is; and to experience this Love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself." Ephesians 1:18,19; 3:16-19 (LB).

My computer went completely out. This newsletter is issued on a delayed timeframe for this reason. l wish to thank Lowell Sage for letting me use his computer to get this newsletter done. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry

May God bless you
as you allow him to
use you in the service
He’s given you.

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