Please Continue to Keep us in Your Prayers

This past weekend we took some time off as a family and went to a small town south of Soldotna named Homer.  Homer is a beautiful little fishing town that is just about as far south as you can drive on the Alaska road system.  From there if you want to explore further south (down toward the Aleutian Islands) you have to use the ferry system or aviation.  We had a great time exploring the beaches, looking for bald eagles (which are everywhere here) and eating halibut.

On Sunday we visited a church that we attended during our November 2010 visit - College Heights Baptist Church.  We feel very at home at College Heights and can see our family becoming involved in that church when we relocate here to serve at M.A.R.C.  There are kids at College Heights that match up to the ages of our kids and they all seemed to be comfortable in their classes.  Jen and I visited an adult class where we studied the balance between Truth and Grace.  The discussion was very encouraging.

After church we visited the beach.  It's not like the East Coast beaches.  The beaches are very rocky and they are still ice covered.  We took some great pictures of some of the kids on the beach (Jen, Ashleigh, Hanah and Caleb decided to view God's beauty from the warm car):



Some of the Bodo kids standing on a chunk of ice








Grace the Explorer (or a Princess on Ice)



Joshua the Explorer



Some of the Bodo kids standing in front of a sheet of ice that came in with the tide



Jacob the Conqueror



We have one week left for our time here at M.A.R.C. for candidacy.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to seek God's face in this experience.  This Friday our Candidacy Committee will meet again to decide if they would like to invite us to join the organization.  We will meet with them at 8:30 local time on Friday (12:30 east coast).  We will be returning to Greenville on April 7th and will be back at Taylors on April 10th.  We look forward to seeing all of you and sharing our experiences and testimonies.

In Christ 

James & Jen (&Ashleigh, James, Sarah, Jacob, Joshua, Grace, Hanah and Caleb) 

How we Got Here

Snowy beach in Alaska

All is going very well here in Alaska for the Bodolosky family.  There are moments of homesickness for the kids but it seems to be getting better as the days pass.  Of course there is nowhere like Taylors First Baptist and our kids desperately missed DNOW!  Praise God for the work He did through that weekend.  What a powerful testimony for those that live Christ!

This was a week of evaluation for us.  Jennifer and I met with our Candidacy Committee on Monday morning.   The Committee knows our Testimony and how God has led us to this point.  There were some tough questions however about how we think it is possible to bring a family of 10 to one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S.  We can only give some of our ideas but our "final answer" was if God wants us here He will provide.  We can only continue to be faithful, walk through open doors and pray.  This week I was evaluated in 2 airplanes - a King Air A90 and a Cessna 172.  In addition I did an evaluation in the simulator flying through mountain passes in Alaska in bad weather.  I think this all went well.  I can thank the military for good training and God for preparing this path and allowing me to have the training.  Every night we have dinner with a different familly from the staff.  This has been fun but something like work for the kids.  Most homes are not used to hosting a family of 10 and our kids have to be on their best behavior.  WE HAVE BEEN SO PROUD OF THEM!!!  I have never seen them work together as well as they have here.  I cannot say that it has been perfect and without tense moments but I can say that God has been very gracious to us.

We were reflecting on the past 4 months and the amazing work God did to get our family to Candidacy at M.A.R.C. 

We made our budget needs known to get to get us here and it was not a small budget - approximately $11,000.  God met our needs with the money contributed, raised and saved.  The entire budget was completely met!  Many people made direct contributions - we do not know who you are or how much you contributed since it was done anonomously through the church.  We very much appreciate your hearts and desire to join us in ministering to the people in the villages of Alaska. 

There were fund raisers coordinated by Shannon Keating - Colonial America Days - and this raised a significant part of our budget.

There were many people that helped make this day a reality.  Thanks to all of you!

Another praise from the last 4 months was the listing of our home on the market.  We will be able to use the salel of our home to pay off our remaining bills as we move into support raising for the mission field.  In the last 4 months our home went from a 1970's NOT READY FOR the MARKET to an updated 2011 READY TO SELL house.  So many people contributed to this effort.  THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

Many pictures are missing here because in the absence of sleep I mostly forgot to take pictures.  Here are a few ...

Here are some pics from the finished product

We are humbled to see the  mountains God has moved to bring us to this point.  If you had told us last March that we would be in Alaska Candidating with a flying ministry in March 2011 we would have never believed it.  This was not our desire or our goal.  As God continues to lead we will continue to follow.  There are mighty mountains in the future and we will continue to pray and trust in the Lord.

Thank you for your prayers.  We Love you all dearly!!

In Christ

The Bodos

Update from Soldotna

We arrived in Soldotna on Thursday evening around 7:00.  We were having dinner that night with one of the

staff families from M.A.R.C. so we did not have time to even unload our 19 bags from the van - we just headed straight to their house when we arrived.  We did however, have to stop and snap some pictures of the moose in downtown eating the trees.  James Jr thought at first they were statues because they are soooo big.  It was a cool way to start our time in Soldotna.

After dinner on Thursday we headed over to the home where we are living during our stay.  We are being hosted by a gentleman that lives in Kenai and has 3 bedrooms in his downstairs.  We did not know what to expect but when we arrived we were super blessed by what a great host he is.  He has welcomed us into his home with such enthusiasm and love it is amazing!  The kids have had fun playing in his yard where the snow is still up to their knees.

Today is Monday, March 21st, and Jennifer and I had our first meeting with our Candidacy Committee.  They asked a lot of very good questions to confirm that this is a calling God has placed on our lives.  The meeting lasted about an hour and really encouraged Jennifer and I.  This afternoon I was allowed to fly along on a flight on one of the King Air A-90's. 

 It was good to get to see the primary airplane that I will be flying when we move here.

During the next 2 weeks Jennifer and I will continue to take the kids to a different house each night to get to know staff members and for them to get to know us.  After each evening the person whose house we ate at gives feedback to the Candidacy Committee.  I will also be receiving a flight evaluation this week. On April 4th we will meet again with the Candidacy Committee and at that time they will inform us if we are going to be invited to join them here are M.A.R.C. 

Please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us in the direction God would have us to go.  We believe this is where God has called us but we are willing to accept a closed door if that is the conclusion of the Candidacy Committee.  Please pray for the children.  Mostly they are very happy to be here and enjoying the new experiences.  There is some anxiety and we pray it will be alleviated before we leave.

Glory to God !!!! We are on our Way

Wow!  It's hard to believe but we are on our way to Soldotna for Candidacy.

The last 4 months have been an amazing time of learning more about our faith in Jesus Christ and learning to rely on Him for our strength.

Nothing has happened as we have planned but all has been perfect!  As we drove away from our house and Greenville we cannot help but reflect on the prayers, love and support you all have given us as we have travelled on this journey to this point.

Please continue to pray for us continuously.  We are currently in Minneapolis waiting for our connection to Anchorage.  The kids have been awesome and so far this has been a really good experience.  I know this can only happen with the continuous hedge of prayers lifted up by you all.

In Christ

The Bodos