I want to thank everyone for the support you’ve given me as I step out this summer, whatever form that support is taking.

I’m currently sitting inside on the first rainy day I’ve experienced since coming to Juneau, which, I hear, is an incredible stretch. I’ve been in the city for a week today, and some great stuff has gone on in that week, but I’m going to back up a little, because the trip here was its own adventure.

I left Michigan a week from last Thursday, on May 22, and spent the next five days driving through Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, BC again and finally Alaska. I left my house alone, but arrived in Skagway, Alaska as part of a group of 21. Along the way I saw scenery and things that I never had before. The highlight was probably the landscape and animal life along the Al-Can in British Columbia, the sole highway that runs north to Alaska. Most of the pictures you see in the slideshow to your right are from that stretch.

I slept on grass, gravel and, one night, a concrete median. One of the group member’s cars failed in Saskatchewan (God sent a mechanic our way with an incredibly low offer to store and repair the car), we camped by a lakeside during our Sunday night in Canada and sang worship to God as the sun set.

I arrived in Skagway, drove on to the ferry that runs to Juneau, and spent the next seven hours lying in a deck chair, watching mountains drift by.

I dislocated my right shoulder my second day here in Juneau. I’ve been wearing a sling, but it hasn’t hampered things too greatly, and it has been exciting to see God begin to move, as I’m confident He’ll be doing through the summer. We were able to spend time this last weekend working at a local camp. I couldn’t participate in any of the heavy lifting, but I sure washed a lot of trucks.

The group also spent time on Saturday sharing the gospel in downtown Juneau. It was interesting, as always, to see different reactions, from disgust to interest to approval. I was able to speak to a group standing outside a local homeless shelter, to tell them about Jesus and to pray, along with a friend, for a man, actually a Michigan native, who has recently lost his wife. I was thankful for the opportunity to take Christ to people in that way, and I was excited to hear from another member of the group how a man he had talked with had received Christ as his Savior.

The last week has given me high expectations for the summer, expectations that I have faith God will not only meet, but better. Thanks again for the interest and the prayers.