Orientation (June 26th-28th)

Once we got to Alaska, we spent a few days in Soldotna to get to know the state directors and to do orientation. Orientation consisted of mostly meetings about the upcoming trips. We received a schedule of where we will be then. Up until that point we only had a vague idea of what we were going to be doing, but now we have a clearer picture. 

We will be going on 4 trips: Wrangell Mt. Bible Conference in Glennallen, Nome, Kalskag, and Shen Bible camp. 

Wrangell is an 8-Day Club that we will teach as childcare for a local christian conference.

Nome will be a five day trip in which we will be both teaching a 3-Day Club and a training for the adults and teens on basic CEF teaching things like the Wordless Book and IPEAR.

After Nome we have a week open. We may plan a trip during that week or do work at the state office and possibly do a 5-Day Club nearby.

July 26th we go to Kalskag. There Christopher and I will be team trainers. We will be leading the teaching team and teaching a 5-Day Club and in the evening we will have a time for teens. 

Our last trip will be to Shen Missionary Camp. We will probably be helping teach seminars on teaching 5-Day Clubs. Since this trip is so far away, we do not have very much information about this tip yet.  

Orientation week was not all meetings and work though, we also spent our free time Kayaking and 4-wheeling. 

On Saturday we headed to Glennallen! (to be continued...) 

CYIA 2018 OREGON (June 16th-27th)

CYIA is always a challenging and rewarding week. CYIA 2018 was no exception, in fact it outdid all the other years. This year, I had three main roles: Councilor, Team Trainer, and Worship Leader. These three roles each presented a unique trial and prize. 

As a Team Trainer, I had the privilege of having five students of varying levels: Blue, one, two, three, and five. Blue is a special level that was created a few years ago for students who are either 12 years old or have a special need that makes them unable to do the usual CYIA tasks. Levels 1-5 are assigned by how many years of CYIA they have attended. My team was perfectly balanced. They worked very well together and were each mature individuals on their own. 

My level Blue was a particular treat. She was a 16 year old with a slight learning disability that meant that I needed to put extra time into her in order for her to feel comfortable teaching. The other delight was that she is my sister! I was so excited when I learned that she would be on my team. She is a very mature woman who just needs someone to encourage her and the leadership at CYIA thought it would be a good idea for me to work with her since I know her very well. She does very well with her teaching; she actually did better than a lot of first year or second year students. For those of you worrying that she might have been a bit embarrassed to have me as her team trainer, I did ask her before CYIA how she would feel about it and after how she felt it went; she told me that she had a good time and might even consider letting me be her team trainer again next year.

Councilors are in charge of a group of teens that sleep in their room. I had six girls in my room. They were quite the wild group. We did not quiet down very well at night and kept getting reprimanded by the deans. At first I thought that, because we were so crazy, we would never be able to have any meaningful conversations. However, these girls opened up in amazing ways and I learned so much from them.

A special challenge this year was working with a few girls who were having a really hard time at camp. One told me about her home situation and the other did not, but I suspect something was up. I cannot say anything more about it, but if you feel led please pray for these two. They are really hurting and I know that only God can heal their hurts.
In short, CYIA was great! There were 142 students and about 70 staff, many children were told the gospel and so many chose to believe on Jesus for Salvation. Please pray for these children, that their love for God would grow and that they would continue in their walk with God.

Fundraising update

This past week we presented our internship to the board of elders at our church here in Spokane. We asked that they would consider supporting us financially and in prayer. We were not hopeful for much, we mostly wanted prayer and were hopeful for a few hundred dollars. God works in amazing ways; this morning we were pulled aside and given $3,000 by the elders! We are so blessed to have an amazing church family that we have been able to serve alongside for these past few years. We will greatly miss them in the coming year in Chicago. 

We are especially grateful for the college group. Over the course of the three years we have attended, we have gone from being attenders to part of the leadership team, Christopher leading all things technical and I co-leading the worship team with a friend. This has been a growing experience. Learning how to deal with conflict, learning how to be a role model, and growing in our love and commitment to God. Our associate pastor/college group leader, Roland, and his wife, LaNea, have taken us under their wings as our mentors for this time. I know that I can speak for Christopher and I both that we will miss their advice and influence greatly. 

We are thankful for this time that we have spent in Spokane and, knowing that we have the blessing and support from our brothers and sisters here, are ready for the next adventure that God is sending us on. 

Fundraising and Newsletter Update

We have more information to share about our internship! 

We actually do not have that much to share except that we have an official way of donating to us through CEF now. Just go to the Alaska CEF donation page and scroll down to the section Kenai Peninsula Funds, then under Intern Fund put the amount and our names. This is very important so that it goes into our account. 

If you use a credit or debit card, there is a fee taken off the top of the donation. However, there is an option to do it from your bank account or you can send a check. Those go directly into our account. 

We are also preparing a newsletter to send out. Please let us know if you want to receive one. Just send us your address (or email address) by either emailing us (ChristopherMariahMarx@gmail.com) or messaging through my Facebook page. 

Chicago!

We have officially decided what we are going to be doing for school next year; Christopher will be finishing his last year of his bachelor's degree at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I am graduating in May so I will be working while he is in school. What made us finally settle on this decision was the fact that I got a job at Moody Radio as a Marketing Assistant. I went through a process of interviews via phone and Skype over the last few weeks, but had not heard anything back yet. Monday the 16th was the last day to tell the married student housing whether we were coming or not. My plan was to call Moody Radio and ask about the job, however when I went to call them, they called me! If I am being honest, I started crying when they told me that they would like to extend the offer. I did not think that I was going to get the job and had mentally started preparing myself to stay in Spokane. I was genuinely sad that I got the job. But now, as we start the preparations for moving, I am becoming more and more excited. 

We are planning on driving across the country in mid August just after our internship. My job starts August 20th. I will be doing a much more specialized job than the job that I am currently working. Working as a server in a retirement home has been a (mostly) great experience, but almost anyone who can speak and smile could do my job. This job at Moody Radio should be a little bit more specialized. I am not sure exactly what I will be doing, but they seemed very interested in my Photography and Social Media skills (never thought my knowledge of Facebook would help me get a job). They also asked me to send them a sample of my writing. With all these clues, I am hoping that I will be promoting Moody Radio at events, helping with Social Media, taking some pictures, and possibly writing for the website. However, this is all just speculation. I am eager to learn more about my job and get started. I put in my three weeks notice to my current job and I don't think I have been that happy for quite a while. It definitely makes the hard days of work more bearable knowing that this is the last few days I have to deal with it. 

A few things that we would really like prayer for:

-Money: this year will be very tight and we need wisdom on how to best handle it.

-Emotional comfort: We are moving away from the church and the friend group that we have built here in Spokane. We are going to need a lot of comfort that only God can provide.

-New Friendships: Along with emotional comfort, we are praying that God will help us meet new friends who will impact us and that we will be able to impact.

-Safety in Travel: Oregon to Chicago is going to be quite a drive, please pray that our car holds up and that we arrive in Chicago safely. 

Thank you for your support and prayers! 

Alaska Internship

This summer, Christopher and I will be completing our internship (required for our degrees) in Alaska. At the moment we do not have very many details figured out, but here is what we do know:

-We will be spending a week in Soldotna for training at the beginning

-The dates are June 25th-August 13th

-We will be attending CYIA in Oregon June 16th-22nd

-We will be traveling around a lot, flying to many towns

-We will probably be either teaching seminars for teens and adults or...

-Chaperoning/mentoring teens as they teach 5-Day Clubs

-It will cost about $7,000 for the whole trip ($2400 - travel to/from Alaska and $4200 - ministry/travel/food in Alaska)

We would greatly appreciate your participation in this adventure. We are very excited for this opportunity and ask that you would pray for us and, if you feel lead, consider supporting us financially. We have started a fundraiser through PayPal; we are also accepting personal checks or cash. 

We would also love to have a few people who would commit to regularly praying for us during this time. We know that this summer is going to be exciting and challenging at the same time. Pray that God would strengthen our marriage through this experience and that both of us would grow closer together and closer to God. 

Evangelical Missiological Society

Last weekend was a very exciting one that has made me think more about what I want to do to further my education. 

Friday I debuted the song that I wrote, Alone, at our school's Hebrew House Show (talent show). It was terrifying. The performance itself was not terrifying, but opening up to the whole school about my past. I put myself out there to be criticized. However, I have only received positive feedback and I am very happy that I could share this song to inspire people.

Saturday I presented a paper at the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS) Northwest meeting in Portland. My paper was on Ethnodoxogy in East and Central Africa. If you feel like reading a 4,500 word paper (about 9 single spaced pages), then you can do so here. 

The presentation was approximately an hour long. It was a very great experience. Even though it was one of the most tiring and stressful things I have done, it was so worth it. I learned so much from the process and from hearing everyone else's papers.

My goal is to start writing regularly again. This summer, Christopher and I are going to Alaska for an internship. There are still a lot of details that we are working out, so more information next week.