April09

Mountain Home Fellowship April 1-10, 2009

Mountain Home Fellowship is the ministry of Wick & Candy Sunderland in Palmer, Alaska. Palmer is 40 miles outside of Anchorage which is a hub of traffic for workers in Alaska. Wick & Candy have been a huge encouragement to LightShine Ministries in the past and have housed our teams for many years. Wick is a great story teller and can tell you a lot about his experiences in Alaska. Wick works on the North Slope on a drilling rig but he will be there to work with you when the team comes through. Candy's goal is to network ministries with churches throughout Alaska. She has introduced us to many people who have helped us establish new projects in different parts of the state.

We want to encourage them by helping them complete a large room that will be used for better housing teams in the future. The Sunderlands are some good friends and committed servants of Jesus Christ. Prepare to enjoy good times and some laid back Alaskan hospitality!

Your team leaders for this trip will be Dennis Schlossman and Bill Endslow.

Bill (pictured to the left and the middle photo below) has worked with LightShine Ministries for many years and is gifted in many different forms of construction. He loves Alaska and he loves people. His desire is to use his skills to further the work of building up ministries throughout Alaska. Bill is an avid hunter and can tell you about his moose that he bagged in Alaska! He will be heading the building project of this team

Dennis (better known as "SARGE") is an ex-Marine who loves Jesus Christ and desires to encourage you in your walk with God. Dennis (pictured to the right) was part of our last missions team to Kenny Lake Community Chapel and Strelna Lake Bible Camp. CLICK HERE to see more photos of what that team accomplished. Dennis will be bringing the daily Bible studies and seeking to keep you informed and encouraged before and during the trip.

The team flies to Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday, April 1st where you will be picked up and driven to Mountain Home Fellowship. After working for a couple days at the ranch, the team will go to church on Sunday in the Palmer/Wasilla area. Monday through Wednesday the team will finish the work project. On Thursday, the 9th the team will go to Anchorage and spend some time seeing some sights and eating a good meal before your flight leaves around midnight. You will arrive back home in Pennsylvania sometime on Friday the 10th depending on your flight schedule.

The cost of this trip is $1650. This is includes everything you will need. All meals and lodging will be provided. We encourage you to raise short term missionary support through your local church and we will help you by sending you a .pdf file so you can make copies and give it to your family and friends. Some previous team members have chosen to pay for their trip themselves. Either way is fine. All funds donated to LightShine Ministries are tax deductible.

You will be sleeping in your sleeping bag on a foam mattress or military cot. Showers will be available but water is definitely a precious commodity in Alaska. You will not be needing daily showers because the weather is still cool in April. In fact you might still see some snow. Think "camping" and expect less so you can be surprised at some good food and comfortable place to lay your bag.

Download our registration form, fill it out and return it with our $40 processing fee. In addition to our administrative costs, you will be receiving a team shirt from this fee.

Once your registration form is processed, we will send you a .pdf file so you can make copies and begin handing them out to family and friends. HERE is an example of a support letter from a previous team member. Your goal is to raise short term missionary support and make it clear to people that you will be working for a week in Alaska at an important ministry center. This is not a vacation. You will receive occasional financial updates from our bookkeeper so you can see the progress of support that comes in to your account. It is very important that you begin this process as soon as possible.

In order for us to purchase airline tickets for this team, we are setting a deadline for raising the first half of your trip cost ($825) which is January 31, 2009. Once this money is received, we will purchase your airline ticket. This solidifies you as a team member and you will be accountable to raise the other half by the final deadline which is February 28, 2009. If you do not raise the entire amount by February 28th, we will have to reschedule you for a future team and fees will apply. We ask that you review our policies if you have any questions. You can also contact us by email lightshinealaska@comcast.net. You will be told when all monies are received. Any monies raised over the amount needed will be used for other team members. Please help us get past this step as quickly as possible. Once all your financial support is in, the burden will be lifted and we can begin focusing on the work that God has for us. It will be an awesome experience!

We ask that you pray about whether or not you want to be a part of this team and then mark the dates on your calendar. Send is your completed registration form and start raising your financial support as soon as possible. If you start now, you will not feel the stress of raising support over the holidays.