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.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
December 2011 Prayer Letter
Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
Merry Christmas!
We hope you are doing well. As Christmas approaches we realize how truly blessed we are. We have recently gained two new supporting churches and several more have expressed a desire to partner with us in reaching the people of Dutch Harbor. We are thankful for your faithful support and looking forward to returning to Alaska this spring. We have been looking for housing in Dutch Harbor and have recently learned that an 8 plex is opening this month. While it is primarily available for teachers and public workers we are hopeful that an apartment will be available in the spring when the ferry starts running out there again. Please continue to make our housing a matter of prayer.
We have enjoyed sharing the need in Alaska with many churches this fall and have several more scheduled throughout the winter. We recently attended the Border States fellowship meeting in Overland Park KS. It was encouraging to talk with several Pastors and their wives who have been praying for us, Several of them asked about Jody’s health. Jody has been feeling much better. Her heart is doing well. It has been nice to have Jody and Jonathan traveling with me again.
Prayer Requests
1. Housing in Dutch Harbor this spring.
2. Added prayer support and financial support.
3. That we will honor God in all we say and do.
Serving Together,
The Warricks
Merry Christmas!
We hope you are doing well. As Christmas approaches we realize how truly blessed we are. We have recently gained two new supporting churches and several more have expressed a desire to partner with us in reaching the people of Dutch Harbor. We are thankful for your faithful support and looking forward to returning to Alaska this spring. We have been looking for housing in Dutch Harbor and have recently learned that an 8 plex is opening this month. While it is primarily available for teachers and public workers we are hopeful that an apartment will be available in the spring when the ferry starts running out there again. Please continue to make our housing a matter of prayer.
We have enjoyed sharing the need in Alaska with many churches this fall and have several more scheduled throughout the winter. We recently attended the Border States fellowship meeting in Overland Park KS. It was encouraging to talk with several Pastors and their wives who have been praying for us, Several of them asked about Jody’s health. Jody has been feeling much better. Her heart is doing well. It has been nice to have Jody and Jonathan traveling with me again.
Prayer Requests
1. Housing in Dutch Harbor this spring.
2. Added prayer support and financial support.
3. That we will honor God in all we say and do.
Serving Together,
The Warricks
Friday, September 16, 2011
Testimonies
John’s Testimony
I accepted the Lord as my Savior at the age of 6. Several years later while in the 6th grade my teachers asked us to answer the question “What are you going to be when you grow up?” I didn’t really know at first. One day a boy in my class said that he thought that God might want him to be a missionary. That was the day the Lord began working on my heart. A few weeks later my Sunday School teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. The Lord kept telling me that day “I want you to be a missionary, so when the teacher asked that’s what I said. After hearing this my teacher told me, ”If that is what God wants you to do that is good, but make sure it is what God wants you to do otherwise your life will be empty.” After finishing High school I enrolled in Baptist Bible College in 1990 and graduated from the missions program in 1995. In 1996, we had a missions conference and Jim Carter missionary to Alaska was there with his family. As he shared the need for the Gospel in Alaska, God burdened our hearts and we surrendered to go. The Lord moved us to Wellington Baptist Temple in Wellington, KS where we did our internship. In 2004 we were approved as BBFI missionaries to Alaska. In 2009, we moved to Alaska and have spent the past year here working with other missionaries.
The Lord first burdened our hearts for the people in Dutch Harbor on our first survey trip to Alaska in 2001. We have prayed about this area and these people for many years. In December 2009, a lady in the church in Wrangell, gave me a free airline ticket to Dutch Harbor. A couple months later another family gave Jody and Jonathan round trip tickets to Dutch Harbor so that they could go with me. After visiting this area, the Lord burdened our hearts even more for the people there who have no Gospel preaching Baptist Church to share the truth of God’s Word with them.
Jody’s Testimony
As a child, my parents took my sisters and I to church at Wichita’s Baptist Tabernacle. I went to the Christian school there also. I was born with a heart defect and had open heart surgeries when I was 4, 11, and 18. The people in the church and school were so sweet to me. I remember one Sunday when I was 7 years old hearing the story of Barney’s Barrel in children’s church. It was then that I realized that even though I tried to be good I was still a sinner. I prayed with my mom and asked Jesus to be my Savior. My parents quit attending church when I was 11 years old but God allowed me to go to a good church with my Grandma as I was growing up. Shortly after I graduated from High School God opened doors for me to go to Baptist Bible College. While at BBC I struggled with the question of if I was really saved. Finally I prayed for reassurance of my salvation. I’m so thankful that once we know Christ nothing can take us from Him.
Shortly after I made sure of my salvation I became burdened for missions and I told God that I would go anywhere He wanted me but “please make it someplace warm.” In 1996 God called us to Alaska. Later after doing our internship in Wellington Kansas, I knew it was time to actually start deputation. I was not happy. I had grown to love the people in Wellington and once again I tried to tell God what would be best; that maybe we should just stay there where it was nice and sunny! The very next week I started to lose my eyesight. The optometrist told me I had an eye disease called kerataconus and that I would need a cornea transplant in each eye. After the transplants I could not stand to look at any light. We had to put blankets over the blinds in our windows so I would not get a horrible headache. God used this “dark” time in my life to focus my attention on Him and on the fact that I needed to be willing to go anywhere He called us. I realized that the darkest times in our lives can be the times when the light of Christ can shine through us the brightest. God used my friends in Wrangell Alaska to provide a short survey trip for us to Unalaska and my heart broke for the people there who are going through life very much in spiritual darkness. As we flew into Dutch Harbor the song “Lord, You Are More Precious Than Silver” had just played on my I pod. As we landed I thought of the words to this song and God changed my heart. I no longer dreaded the fact that He might call us to Dutch Harbor but hoped that He would.
I accepted the Lord as my Savior at the age of 6. Several years later while in the 6th grade my teachers asked us to answer the question “What are you going to be when you grow up?” I didn’t really know at first. One day a boy in my class said that he thought that God might want him to be a missionary. That was the day the Lord began working on my heart. A few weeks later my Sunday School teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. The Lord kept telling me that day “I want you to be a missionary, so when the teacher asked that’s what I said. After hearing this my teacher told me, ”If that is what God wants you to do that is good, but make sure it is what God wants you to do otherwise your life will be empty.” After finishing High school I enrolled in Baptist Bible College in 1990 and graduated from the missions program in 1995. In 1996, we had a missions conference and Jim Carter missionary to Alaska was there with his family. As he shared the need for the Gospel in Alaska, God burdened our hearts and we surrendered to go. The Lord moved us to Wellington Baptist Temple in Wellington, KS where we did our internship. In 2004 we were approved as BBFI missionaries to Alaska. In 2009, we moved to Alaska and have spent the past year here working with other missionaries.
The Lord first burdened our hearts for the people in Dutch Harbor on our first survey trip to Alaska in 2001. We have prayed about this area and these people for many years. In December 2009, a lady in the church in Wrangell, gave me a free airline ticket to Dutch Harbor. A couple months later another family gave Jody and Jonathan round trip tickets to Dutch Harbor so that they could go with me. After visiting this area, the Lord burdened our hearts even more for the people there who have no Gospel preaching Baptist Church to share the truth of God’s Word with them.
Jody’s Testimony
As a child, my parents took my sisters and I to church at Wichita’s Baptist Tabernacle. I went to the Christian school there also. I was born with a heart defect and had open heart surgeries when I was 4, 11, and 18. The people in the church and school were so sweet to me. I remember one Sunday when I was 7 years old hearing the story of Barney’s Barrel in children’s church. It was then that I realized that even though I tried to be good I was still a sinner. I prayed with my mom and asked Jesus to be my Savior. My parents quit attending church when I was 11 years old but God allowed me to go to a good church with my Grandma as I was growing up. Shortly after I graduated from High School God opened doors for me to go to Baptist Bible College. While at BBC I struggled with the question of if I was really saved. Finally I prayed for reassurance of my salvation. I’m so thankful that once we know Christ nothing can take us from Him.
Shortly after I made sure of my salvation I became burdened for missions and I told God that I would go anywhere He wanted me but “please make it someplace warm.” In 1996 God called us to Alaska. Later after doing our internship in Wellington Kansas, I knew it was time to actually start deputation. I was not happy. I had grown to love the people in Wellington and once again I tried to tell God what would be best; that maybe we should just stay there where it was nice and sunny! The very next week I started to lose my eyesight. The optometrist told me I had an eye disease called kerataconus and that I would need a cornea transplant in each eye. After the transplants I could not stand to look at any light. We had to put blankets over the blinds in our windows so I would not get a horrible headache. God used this “dark” time in my life to focus my attention on Him and on the fact that I needed to be willing to go anywhere He called us. I realized that the darkest times in our lives can be the times when the light of Christ can shine through us the brightest. God used my friends in Wrangell Alaska to provide a short survey trip for us to Unalaska and my heart broke for the people there who are going through life very much in spiritual darkness. As we flew into Dutch Harbor the song “Lord, You Are More Precious Than Silver” had just played on my I pod. As we landed I thought of the words to this song and God changed my heart. I no longer dreaded the fact that He might call us to Dutch Harbor but hoped that He would.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Nolan Loges
In our last prayer letter we asked you to pray for our churches missionaries to Alaska... Nolan and Lovella Loges as Nolan battled cancer. Nolan went home to be with the Lord today! We also had a dear friend and long time member of our sending church go home to heaven yesterday! Please keep Nolan's family and Ree's family in your prayers through this difficult time.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
August 2011 Prayer Letter
Dear Pastor and Praying Friends, August 6, 2011
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We have been very discouraged by the fact that we are not in Alaska, but recently God has shown us that He had a reason for having us here in Kansas for a time. At the end of June the Pastor of our sending church went to the doctor for a colonoscopy. A week later he started bleeding so he went to the hospital. He ended up losing 8 pints of blood, and had to have his colon and part of his small intestine removed. We have been filling in for him the past couple of months as he is recovering from this surgery. God gave us the honor of serving Him, not only in the services at Wellington Baptist Temple, but we also had the privilege of taking the kids from Wellington Baptist Temple to Beth Eden Bible camp, to both Junior camp, and Senior camp. We enjoyed doing Vacation Bible School at our sending church this year, and have spent quite a bit of time visiting people in the hospital as well. Please keep Pastor Clayton and his wife, Sandra in your prayers.
It has been an honor to serve here but our hearts are in Alaska! Please pray that a place will be found for us to live very soon. We don’t quite have the amount of support we need but we have a peace in our hearts that it’s time to go and that God will supply our needs. Jody has a friend she made on the internet, who lives out in Unalaska. She is looking for a house for us out there. She has given us the names of a couple people to call in Unalaska who rent houses or apartments out. One of those people put us on a waiting list for an apartment. We are also frequently checking the Unalaska Advertiser for houses available and will be posting an ad on there soon. Please pray for money to come in for us to make this move! So often, we are tempted to look at our limitations and get discouraged but we know that this is the place that God has called us and we believe that He will get us there. Also pray for another missionary couple sent out from our church. Nolan and Lovella Loges are missionaries in Kake Alaska. They have recently had to go to Anchorage so that Nolan can have chemo, They have been heavy on our hearts and we would appreciate your praying for them.
On a more personal note, our daughter Kristi will be getting married September 3rd. Please pray for Justin and Kristi as they start their new life together.
Serving Together,
John, Jody, Jonathan
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We have been very discouraged by the fact that we are not in Alaska, but recently God has shown us that He had a reason for having us here in Kansas for a time. At the end of June the Pastor of our sending church went to the doctor for a colonoscopy. A week later he started bleeding so he went to the hospital. He ended up losing 8 pints of blood, and had to have his colon and part of his small intestine removed. We have been filling in for him the past couple of months as he is recovering from this surgery. God gave us the honor of serving Him, not only in the services at Wellington Baptist Temple, but we also had the privilege of taking the kids from Wellington Baptist Temple to Beth Eden Bible camp, to both Junior camp, and Senior camp. We enjoyed doing Vacation Bible School at our sending church this year, and have spent quite a bit of time visiting people in the hospital as well. Please keep Pastor Clayton and his wife, Sandra in your prayers.
It has been an honor to serve here but our hearts are in Alaska! Please pray that a place will be found for us to live very soon. We don’t quite have the amount of support we need but we have a peace in our hearts that it’s time to go and that God will supply our needs. Jody has a friend she made on the internet, who lives out in Unalaska. She is looking for a house for us out there. She has given us the names of a couple people to call in Unalaska who rent houses or apartments out. One of those people put us on a waiting list for an apartment. We are also frequently checking the Unalaska Advertiser for houses available and will be posting an ad on there soon. Please pray for money to come in for us to make this move! So often, we are tempted to look at our limitations and get discouraged but we know that this is the place that God has called us and we believe that He will get us there. Also pray for another missionary couple sent out from our church. Nolan and Lovella Loges are missionaries in Kake Alaska. They have recently had to go to Anchorage so that Nolan can have chemo, They have been heavy on our hearts and we would appreciate your praying for them.
On a more personal note, our daughter Kristi will be getting married September 3rd. Please pray for Justin and Kristi as they start their new life together.
Serving Together,
John, Jody, Jonathan
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