Special
Here are a few items that are simply special. Difficult to categorize, so they merited their own category. I hope you enjoy these touching and wonderfully special items on this page.
Special People Video
There are 54 slides in this movie, all of people whom we met over the years and consider very special to us.
Alaska Native Artifacts
Q: What is an artifact?
A: Any object made by human work; especially a simple or primitive tool, weapon, vessel, etc. The word derives from "art" (a thing made) and "fact" (a deed, an act, a thing that has actually happened).
I myself am not Alaska Native, however, when I was a youngster, my father spent many summers in the Bristol Bay area in the villages of Naknek, Egegik and Ugashik fishing with Aleuts of that region. In 1956 he recovered some 100 relics from what he described as an "old Indian dumping ground." He brought them home to Tacoma, WA where they were entered into a Western Washington State Fair exhibit, winning a blue ribbon.
Before entering them in the state fair, he had written the Smithsonian Institute asking them about the artifacts. They wrote a letter back saying that, according to the photographs my dad sent, they were about 500 years old at that time. Adding to that age the years that have passed since the letter was written, the artifacts would now be calculated to be about 552 years old, dating them back to 1456 AD.
The artifacts were then stored somewhere in our home for many, many years. Just this spring, my younger sister opened a box and found them, with the original letter from the Smithsonian to my father. They were about to search for a place in Alaska to where they could be returned, when another sister suggested having me contact the Native Village of Eyak's (NVE) Ilanka Cultural Center in Cordova, AK. You, see, my wife is a first cousin of LaRue Barnes, the director of the center.
I also worked for NVE when my wife and I returned to Alaska for a one-year sabbatical in 2001-2002. When we were in Valdez this summer for my mother-in-law's funeral, we hand-delivered the artifacts to Ms. Barnes and donated them all to the museum. The 100-piece collection is certainly an invaluable asset to the Native community. Ms. Barnes and her staff, are working on identifying, cataloging, photographing and preserving the collection.
I have created the following slideshow of my father digging the relics in 1956 and me donating them to the Ilanka Cultural Center in July, 2008.
Background music for the slideshow is credited to the 2006 Chugach Alaska Corporation and Tatitlek Corporation co-produced CD album, Sinew Back Bow: Revival of Traditional Alutiiq Songs. The song is Quyannanana, translated on the CD jacket as "Thank you, please ancestry, taking care of us, being with us, letting us eat, this bidarki, take it, put it on the beach. Make plenty of our food, let our children eat, let their own children eat, again."
Points on how to become a successful missionary
Excerpt from a letter dated August, 1989, from Bro. Nardo P. Santos, an Asian Hope Bible School student at the time. I went from Japan to the Philippines a few months before to attend and minister in meetings and conferences sponsored by Christ To The Philippines with Evangelists Dick & Donna McNeely of Jesus Is Alive Fellowship in Seattle WA.
Dear Bro. Nils,
I write you because I want you to advise me on how to become a successful missionary. Until now I don’t know the will of God in the ministry. But in my own (feeling) I like (the idea of becoming a) missionary. All my relatives are against my course (of going to Bible school and into the ministry).
Dear Bro. Nardo,
In your letter you said you do not know the will of God about your ministry, however, knowing the will of God is the most important part!
If you are still searching, ask your pastor for guidance. Looking back on my personal experience, one way I knew God wanted me to be a missionary is that
-- I had a burning desire to share Jesus Christ with others. This is one way to begin knowing God’s will. You cannot just decide, “I am going to be a missionary.” You must have a call from God.
-- Another way to know the will of God is that if you have compassion on others. My heart still burns with love for the Japanese people. I so want to see these people set free from idol worship and deceit.
-- Another way to measure and know the will of God is your prayer life. For whom do you pray most? Yourself or others? The Bible gives us only one instance where Jesus prayed for Himself, but even then He surrendered His will to God, His Father. Matthew 26:39. One who has a calling to be a missionary will find himself praying almost constantly for the salvation of others.
After you know the will of God is for you to become a missionary, then you must prove yourself in your local church. You must receive practical training from your pastors and leaders. When, and if, they ask you to lead a song service, pray, teach a class or preach, be quick to respond and obey, because it is God opening the door to give you practical experience. Love your home church, its leaders and elders! They love you and pray for you to become a mature Christian.
As for your unbelieving family members who oppose your going to Bible school and your desire to go into the ministry, pray for them to be saved. Read Acts 16:31 to see why you have been saved first. It is so that other members of your family can be saved!
I hope that these suggestions have been helpful to you. I would also suggest that you sit down and share your heart with your pastor(s)/elder(s). You may even want to share this letter with them. You see, I am not your pastor. I don’t know who you are, but he does. Listen to his guidance and please ask him to pray with you and for you.
Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey them that have the rule over you (or another version says, ‘obey them that guide you’)...and submit yourself: for they watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.”
May the Lord’s blessings be yours as you wait on Him for direction. Greetings also to your pastor.
