The Goodness of God
The summer weeks have flown by! Brooks Range Bible Camp was a fun and very blessed time. Sixty-eight children and teens attended camp this year with more than 30 staff of counselors, pilots, activity directors, speakers, cooks, etc. The first week of camp was for kids ages 8-12 and the second week for teens 13-18. The range of weather was crazy—the first week it was cool enough to wear sweatshirts and jackets. The woodstoves in those eight new cabins were perfect for keeping campers and counselors warm through the chilly nights! But suddenly, summer bloomed, getting warmer and warmer each day so that by the end of the second week, when we flew the teens home to Anaktuvuk Pass, it was 108 degrees! I’m pretty sure it was a historic high temperature for that Arctic village! Bible camp is always a time for spiritual growth and fellowship, but for most of these Arctic village kids, it can be the only time of the year to experience this kind of encouragement to their faith. Some of the villages have no church, pastor, missionary, or spiritual leader. Our camp staff does reach out via Zoom or other online platform to these young people, holding Bible studies throughout the year and keeping in touch. One young man, Harry, accepted the Lord as his Savior through this online Bible study in 2021. Harry’s faith is still strong, and he wanted to make it public, so he asked to be baptized this summer in Crevice Creek. All the teens and camp staff were witnesses of his proclamation of his new birth and new life in Jesus Christ!
Other Kingdom Air Corps news includes these highlights, which for the sake of brevity, I’ll just list:
A volunteer videographer spent two weeks with us, including a couple of days at camp, capturing clips of all we do. From the breakfast crowd listening to our morning devotional speakers to the excitement of watching our aircraft fleet return from camp, landing safety on our grass strip—he got it all! We look forward to seeing the videos he compiles from the footage.
Speaking of videos, FAA cut the raw footage here on our property for a safety video on human physiology and survival after an aircraft accident.
Our two foreign flight students both passed their Private Pilot check rides this summer.
Another dozen of our flight students are feverishly preparing for their check rides over the next couple of weeks.
LeTourneau students (two groups of 10) completed their Aircraft Inspections courses here, working on the airplanes we flew to the Brooks Range and back for camp.
Tomorrow night is one of the evenings treasured by staff and volunteers young and old: it’s our Christmas in August dinner and celebration! The food is always delicious, and the warm feeling of remembering Jesus’s birth pervades our evening as we sing Christmas Carols by candlelight!
This weekend we will celebrate the wedding of two of our flight students, Britt and Amanda, as they vow to spend their lives together serving the Lord.
A song is running through my head as I write. It is titled, “The Goodness of God.” The lyrics express exactly how I feel as I think of all God’s blessings this summer. Here are some of the words:
I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
The Bible speaks often of God’s goodness. Psalm 145:5-7 says: “I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness and shall sing of Your righteousness.”
And Psalm 107:8-9: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
We pray that God’s goodness will permeate your life, as it does ours. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of Kingdom Air Corps. May God bless you richly for your generosity to this ministry.