Dear Prayer partners,                                August 2010

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. (Psalm 103:8)
Earl experienced the truth of this verse on July 31, 1985, and on his “birthday” this year, he called his uncle to thank him again for being willing to share the Gospel with him.  How many of our friends and family have never experienced the mercy and graciousness of our Saviour?  May our Lord give us opportunity and boldness to tell others!

Thank you for praying for the efforts of Operation Saturation.  As you will remember, we have been helping missionary Ronnie Starr fulfill what God put on his heart about five years ago.  Since then, we have diligently attempted to put one complete Bible and a Gospel DVD into every house, in every village, north of the Arctic Circle.  We have only two villages left and,  by God's grace, this monumental goal will be accomplished.  So far this summer  our Lord has saved souls in Ambler, Noatak, Point Hope, and Kivalina.  Most have trusted Christ as a result of one-on-one soul winning, but some have trusted Christ during one of the three evangelistic services we hold in each village.  

Some of you might remember that during our last furlough, the Lord blessed our ministry with a second twin-engine airplane.  Although the plane was a spectacular machine, it proved to be too delicate and small for work in Alaska.  The man who donated it graciously allowed us to trade it for a plane that would better suit our needs.  PTL!  After a long, arduous search, a suitable trade has been made.  There should be enough of a difference in value between the planes to modify the “new” plane into a near-perfect fit for Alaska.  It may not arrive up here until October, but it will have more capacity and better avionics than anything we have ever had.  Although we can use two twin-engine airplanes, we will probably sell the first twin and buy a single-engine plane.  We believe this will be the best stewardship of the Lord's resources He has entrusted us with.

Attendance in services always fluctuates during the summer.  Folks need to fish while the salmon are running, build, gather berries and wood, etc., during the 100 days between frosts.  Even with all the busyness, we still are averaging fifteen folks coming out for services in Manley Hot Springs.  Independence Day brought out almost forty folks.  If there had not been a conflict with the community parade, who knows how many would have shown up!  We were saddened recently to learn that one of our most faithful (and youngest) families is moving out.

We had fewer helpers come to Alaska this summer, but we are extremely grateful for the help of Larry & Birdie Phillips and Brett Zukowski.  Larry is an all around handy man and a hard worker.  With his help, work keeps going when Earl gets called off to tend to other projects.  Brett has been here in Alaska enough times that Earl knew he could trust him to make some flights which freed Earl up to handle some unexpected matters.

Jeremiah earned his driver's license and has entered tenth grade this year.  He has been a big help to his dad this summer.  The years of training are paying off and his dad enjoys having another man work with him.  We don't know who dreaded school starting again more--Jeremiah or Dad!  Thank you for praying for our son.  God has been so gracious to us.

We celebrated our twenty-fourth wedding anniversary on August 23rd.   If someone had asked us, on our wedding day, what we would be doing twenty-four years later, it's doubtful our response would match what and where we are today!  We do count it an honor to serve our Lord together.   We have both changed physically, and our love for each other has changed too. It has matured.  We still have fun and laugh together.  Jeremiah groans when he sees us joke around with each other.  If he doesn't learn from his parents what a good and happy marriage is, where will he?  

There was no time for a family “vacation” this year to catch a winter’s supply of salmon, so we will have to barter for some from those who managed their time better than we did.  Earl plans on taking Jeremiah out of school for a few days during the end of moose season.  We really need the meat.  Please make this a matter of prayer.

Your prayers for this ministry and our family are appreciated more than we can express.  For those who give and pray, thank you.  You are making a difference.  God was good to our family when He gave you to us as friends.

In Christian love,

Earl, Lynn, & Jeremiah Malpass