Fall 2009
Dear friends and family;
We have winter in Alaska. After having a longer fall with an Indian summer, we now have a small amount of snow. The creek froze before the snow came; and it froze extra smooth, so Redgy and the girls had fun skating.
Things are going well at the station. Joy continues to work in the music library keeping all the songs on the automation center updated. All the holiday libraries for holiday music are complete – except for Valentines. Joy hope to work on that extra hard during the Christmas season, when she will have a break on working on non-holiday music.
Redgy is working on the day to day issues of operating the programming automation and special programming items as we move into the Christmas season. With the extra programs and special broadcast, this can take a large amount of time, as well as keeping the normal maintenance, records and logs up to date. This fall the station is also replacing it's phone system with a new one. The old one has been in service since before we moved to Alaska. It is getting where as parts break they can no longer be repaired. Redgy has been working with a provider in Fairbanks to plan for the replacement of the system with one that will do what we need, then coordinating the time of having it installed and the staff members at the station trained on how to operate it.
The girls are enjoying their homeschooling again this year. Ashley is in 9th grade, and Kimberly is in 5th. They are both learning American history. Ashley is also taking Algebra II, American Literature, Biology, and a writing course over the Internet. Kimberly is studying the human body and other health related topics for science, with general studies for her other subjects. Neither of them are taking music lessons this year, but still practice piano. They are both are in AWANA's again this year. They were also both in the Bible Bee this past fall. They had almost 300 passages of scripture to learn with most of them over 5 verses long. Only eight of them were picked for the students to recite. They also had to be familiar with the books of Genesis, 1 and 2 Samuel, Mathew, Acts, and Romans. There were also general questions that they needed to study to know the answers for. Kimberly was overwhelmed at the work load and even though she enjoys memory work for AWANA's, she had a harder time with the memorizing for the Bible Bee. It was still good experience for her though, and if she wants to do it again, she will know more what to expect. Ashley didn't come close to covering all the material that was provided to study, but she still won 2nd place in her age group.
We are starting to look at schedules for next spring. We are planning to be in Minnesota in the May/June time period. We are going to be contacting different churches shortly to see about when we may be able to visit with you. We are also considering the expenses that traveling to Minnesota will entail.
Another thing happening is that Ashley has been accepted for a short term mission trip with 'Royal Servants'. She is in the process of raising support for this. We are going to coordinate some of the transportation for her trip with our trip back to Minnesota, but her return trip in the fall will need to be worked out yet. She will be traveling to Chicago for starting the mission trip in the early summer, then back to North Pole in the fall. She will write a section on what she is doing and what support that she needs to raise. I am sure that there will be some extra expenses that will come up in preparing for her trip, things she will need to purchase to take with, or have. Two items that we know about so far are medical insurance, and an international phone card.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
May God bless you
Redgy, Joy, Ashley, and Kimberly
Kimberly writes about the Bible Bee:
In the Bible bee I needed to memorize a lot of verses. When it was time for the Bible bee I didn't have very much verses memorized. There were 2 tests. A written test, and a oral test. In the oral test they asked Questions from the bible. You also were asked to recite verses if you knew the verse. There were 2 rounds in the oral test. In the first round I just knew 1 verse. In the second round I didn't know any verses.
Ashley writes about Royal Servants:
I would like to share with you an exciting new opportunity I've been given. I've prayed and thought about it a lot, and I've decided to give my summer to God this next coming year. From June 26 – August 12, 2010, I will be going on a missions trip to Europe with an organization called Royal Servants. Royal Servants gives teens a life changing experience with God. The idea behind it is to expose teens to the world's need for a Savior, to equip them to meet that need, and send them home to be actively involved in their church. Many of the teenagers that go on these missions trips end up in full time missions work. I will have a chance to share the gospel with other people, and to grow in my own personal walk with God.
Royal Servants goes to many different destinations, but I decided to go to Western Europe. For over 6 weeks we will dedicate our lives to serving others. We we will help churches of Europe to reach their communities, but mostly we will be involved in "street ministry". We will use singing, drama, puppets, and dancing to attract a crowd and share the message of Christ. In every campground we stay in and every town we visit we'll be able to share with hundreds of people.
Before I leave to go on this missions trip, there are three things I have to do. First, I must memorize an evangelistic tool (Connecting With God) to help me prepare spiritually and mentally for this amazing experience. Second, I need people who will be my prayer partners during training and the actual trip. These prayer partners will have a direct impact on my ministry. Third, I need to raise financial support. The cost of the trip is $3,595, plus the cost of transportation to and from Chicago. I intend to contribute as much as I can personally earn, however, I can't do it alone. I am seeking financial partners who will enable me to serve God on this trip.
If you would like more information, you can contact us. If you would like to give directly, please make out a check to Reign Ministries. Include my name and account number on the memo line, and also put a note with the check also saying my name and account number.
My name and account number:
P007593 – RS Ashley Swedberg
Mail it to:
Reign Ministries 5401
West Broadway Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55428-3505
You can also give online at http://www.reignministries.org/sponsor-rs
You will need my name and account number for this option also.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. God bless all of you.
