April 2012 Prayer Letter

The Warrick Family
Missionaries serving in Alaska





Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,

Thank you for your faithful support and your prayers. God has blessed us with an increase in support the past couple of months.
We’ve been in missions conferences in Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina. The churches that we visited with were very encouraging. At least two of them expressed a desire to financially partner with us.
We are thankful for your prayers for our safety as we travel. I’m sure many of you will remember that the weather in that part of the country has not been the greatest this past couple months. We are so thankful for God’s protection in keeping us out of the path of all the tornados in the area.
At the last missions conference that we were a part of the pastor asked the people to commit to praying specifically for housing to open up for us in Alaska. He challenged the church to pray for the next 30 days that the Lord will open up a place for us to serve in Alaska. I would like to ask you to partner with us and this group of believers to pray for this matter as the Lord lays it on your heart for the next 30 days. This spring we are wanting to get back to the people the Lord has called us to and are praying for housing to become available. We are on 3 waiting lists for apartments in Dutch Harbor. A lady from Dutch Harbor that Jody met through her blog has given us several names of people and places to contact. She and Jody have been communicating back and forth for 2 years now.

We have recently been encouraged by a family in Stewart, BC. Stewart is a community in Canada that is very close to Hyder, Alaska. We had heard about this community’s need for a missionary pastor a couple of years ago. We have thought of this area occasionally since hearing of them and recently came across contact information for the baby church there. When we contacted them we found a family who has an amazing heart for their people and for helping missionaries establish churches in remote areas. They just don’t have a missionary to help! They listen to cd’s of preaching on Sunday mornings and minister to children in the area on Sunday afternoon. Their love for the Lord and their dedication is great to see. Please pray for them. We also have been praying for the community of Hydaburg on Prince of Wales Island. When we visited there years ago we were very heartbroken by the need that they had for Christ. Please pray that God will open doors and guide our steps in the days ahead. We want to be where He wants us.

Birthdays

Kristi and Mayleigh came for the weekend, along with my mother in law and father in law. Tonight we went up to the River Park in Argonia Kansas and celebrated Jonathan's 13th birthday and Mayleighs 2nd birthday. It was such a special time and I'm very thankful for my sweet family. Jonathan was excited to get to start the fire in the firepit so we could roast hot dogs and make s'mores. Mayleigh enjoyed throwing sticks in the fire. She got so excited about it. There was definitely no shortage of good food with Grandpa John and Grandma Donna here. I am still stuffed 5 hours later :) Tomorrow the diet is definitely back on.

Our company leaves in the morning and then we will be traveling to North Carolina for a missions conference. Please pray for us this week as we travel and as we share the need in Alaska. Also continue to pray about the housing situation out in Dutch Harbor and for God's guidance in our lives. I Thessalonians 5:24 says "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it." I am super thankful that we are never on our own, that the God who calls us is also the God who delivers, sustains, carries, strengthens, loves, and comforts us.

Good night my friends and thanks in advance for your prayers.

He is my ROCK!

I'm awake at 3:00 AM, my heart heavy for the people of Alaska that we believe God has called us to. Please pray earnestly that God will provide housing for us in Dutch Harbor/Unalaska this spring or point us to another area in Alaska where we can serve, at least until housing is available. We are on 3 waiting lists for apartments and have made calls to 2 other people who rent out houses/apartments in that area. From what I've been told, as people in that area lose their jobs they also lose their company housing so other housing becomes scarce. The struggle to get back to Alaska has been crazy and we get discouraged. The wait has also served to grow us and remind us that on our own we can do nothing but that with God ALL things are possible. Please pray for us that our eyes will remain fixed on God and His will for us, and that we will be open completely to His leading. God is our Rock (our stability) and He is able to accomplish His plans in us. We have seen Him answer one prayer after another. He truly is the God who provides all of our NEEDS.
We have 2 more missions conferences between now and May. We also are ministering in a church in Conway Springs Kansas and in our sending church in Wellington Kansas when we are in the area. Jonathan is part of the puppet ministry and the praise team, and John has been learning to play the guitar a little bit.
Thanks again for your faithful prayers.

Blessed

We are traveling together again, planing to return to Alaska in the spring. On Monday we went to the Border States Fellowship meeting in Overland Park Kansas. The pastors and other missionaries there were so encouraging. Tonight we are in a hotel in Lawrence KS, waiting until tomorrow to share the needs in Alaska with the Lawrence Baptist Temple. In between Overland Park and Lawrence we made a quick trip to Des Moines to visit family and take care of some things. It was great to see my girls and Justin too. I am thankful to have a son in law who loves the Lord, and loves my daughter and grandaughter. Mayleigh calls me Annah and says it very well now. She also says I loooooove you. She is such a little cutie and so happy :)

After visiting the church here in the morning we will make our way back to Wellington, visit a church tomorrow evening on the way back, and then get some stuff done before it's time to leave again on Saturday for a church in Bonner Springs KS.

Please continue to pray for us.... We need more churches to have us come in and present the field, also more churches to partner with us in reaching the people of Alaska's Aleutians. Please pray about the housing situation in Unalaska.

It was great at the fellowship meeting to have pastors come up and let me know that they and their churches had been praying for me. Tonight I feel very blessed.

Waiting

It's my birthday and so I was thinking about the things I've learned this year. I guess one of the biggest lessons I've learned is to wait on Him. Psalm 27 has so many lessons for us but one of my favorite is in Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart, Wait, I say, on the Lord." We are in a "holding pattern" right now. Waiting for a tax return to pay some money we owe, and to pay for the move to Alaska. We are waiting for a house or apartment to open up in Unalaska. I'm reminded of Noah when he was building the ark. He just kept building, while people questioned and laughed. He obeyed God, not knowing for sure when the rain would start. I think of Sarah, encouraging her husband to have a baby with her maid, not believing that God would keep his promises to her husband by giving him a son with her. There have been times this past year that I've stepped in and tried to run ahead of the plan that God had laid out for us, convincing myself that it was what God wanted. After reading Psalm 27:14 this morning I am realizing that it takes more courage to wait on God, to take one day at a time, faithfully doing the things He leads us to do that day. If you are in a time of waiting ... take courage... rest in your heavenly Father and let Him strengthen your heart. Watch and be ready to move ahead as soon as the Lord opens those doors and in the meantime focus on HIM and prepare for the battle ahead!!

John was laughing as he was looking at facebook tonight so I asked him what was so funny. It was this picture! So cute but so funny too.

I'm not sure what Mayleigh was thinking but since (as Kristi says) we are 2 peas in a pod, I could probably guess. She probably was just worn out and needing a nap. Really though how often do we as adults feel like folding our arms across our chest and saying "no more, I've had enough"? That's how I've been feeling the last several weeks. I want to be back in Alaska. I want to feel good. What does God want? I fully believe He wants us in Alaska and that He will get us there very soon. He gave us a new supporting church last week and several churches have scheduled us this winter to present the field. He knows better than we do the amount of support we need and when the time is right for us to move to Dutch Harbor. God knew the healing that needed to take place in our family after the last several difficult years and He is Jehovah Rophe, the God who heals. So, this week, I plan to look to Him one day at a time, and to do everything I can to prepare to leave as soon as He opens a door. I look forward to teaching kids in our sending church tomorrow, going to the pumpkin patch on Friday, trying to sell some of my bread and butter pickles and salsa at the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, and traveling with my sweetheart to a church in Pittsburg Kansas Saturday afternoon. Jonathan is actually going to stay with Grandma Bev Saturday and Sunday night while we travel. He doesn't like to be away from us but he's been "practicing" spending the night with Grandma! I found his Aleut Lullaby CD that we bought out in Dutch Harbor and he does fine at Grandmas as long as he takes it along and listens to it as he goes to sleep.
Hope you all have a super week and that you "keep on keepin on".

Good news/ Not so good news

Not so good news first: About 2 weeks ago I mentioned that I was feeling bad. My doctor thinks I may have diverticulitis acting up. So after a couple of days on a liquid diet and 10 days on antibiotics I am feeling better but still having some pain. Talked with him today and he said to do another few days of liquids only and 10 more days of antibiotics. Then they will probably do a colonoscopy just to make sure everything is ok! Prayers appreciated. I am anxious to get back to Alaska and am learning much about patience these days.

I did get some GOOD NEWS today though. I had my yearly visit to my cardiologist. Went just a little early so that when doors open for us to go back to Alaska I will have that visit over with. Anyway, he said my heart sounded really good. I was still uncertain about a cardiologist in Alaska. He said he will take care of finding one in Anchorage who knows about Adult Congenital Heart defects.
That is a blessing to me!

God is using the events of the past several weeks to teach me to rest in Him. I woke up this morning thinking about one of the little boys I met at a VBS we helped with in Craig Alaska when we were there. He loved the wordless book bracelets we made, and said he would never take it off. So thankful that God chooses to use us and praying that we can get to the people of Alaska Very Soon!