The Boat Saga Continues

We were told last night that the boat that is coming from Anchorage on the airplane is too large to fit on the plane.  The trailer it is on must be "disassembled" and the boat motor removed etc., before they will get it on the plane.  Of course we were never told any of this when the seller dropped it off at the airport.  Now we hope to find someone in Anchorage that can do whatever is required to boat/trailer/motor to meet the airplanes requirements so the boat can actually make it to McGrath before the Kuskokwim River freezes over.  We need to get fish caught to help fill the freezer for winter feed as well as animal feed.  The fish make a good food supplement for the chickens, etc.

Pray for safety as we work on the house, try to get the small boat to McGrath for making visits up and down the river, health as we work long hours, and finances to finish the house project and boat shipping expenses.

The Bible Camp in Meadow Lakes payoff is just under $10,000.00 now.  It must be paid off in full in September for the final balloon payment.

Pray all goes well and the camp can be finally debt free. 

The Deck is Basically Finished

"Village Style".

We need to get paint and sand the rough cut lumber and shim the bottom of the stairs, etc., but it basically finished.

The interior ceiling on the stick half of the cabin is tore down.  What a mess.  Old insulation and dust accumulated over many, many years. I start to cough just thinking about it.

We started to get the new floor joists - ceiling put up today.  Tomorrow we hope to get the half of the floor decked with the 3/4" plywood.  Then we must rip up the flooring on the stick side of the house as it is about three plus different levels at this time. 

I have been looking like a ground hog as I crawl under the house and attempt to level somewhat the whole structure. It will not be perfectly level because the logs on the cabin side go into the ground about 6 feet and there is no structure under the stick side of the house.

As you can well imagine it is a mess.  The house/cabin is basically a small old log cabin with a small old stick frame house butted up against it.  Nothing is level or fits right.  So we make the best of it and compromise on almost everything.

Holly is taking pictures as we go and hope to get some up soon.  We must now get everything out of the house and try to make a bed somewhere as we tear off the ceiling on the cabin side of the house.  That means open to all the mosquitoes and bees and flies and gnats and no-see-um, etc.  

Having fun, wish you were here!

"The Deck" ongoing construction project.

Here are a few shots of the deck as it is being built and going up.

A man up the Takotna River, about one hour away by boat, cut the logs for us, milled them at his homestead and then loaded them into his boat where we unloaded them at the river side to then bring them to our home for the building.

There is no lumber yard, hardware store or much of anything here to buy when it comes to building.  The store in our community has a little bit of everything but no building supplies. 

You will see Joey, our son in the picture as we are about to lift the stairway into place.  It was a tad heavy!

It is amusing to see who will stop by to see what is going on and stand back to give us their expert opinion on how we are doing.  At least it generates interst and intrigue into the Carson's.

Monday we start on the attic to replace the floor joists as the ceiling down here is literally falling down around our ears.

Hope we get it secure up above before we get hit on the head down below!

Chainsaw Carpentry

If you look hard you will see the chainsaw sticking out of the upper wall as we make an opening for the door.  Real Alaska craftsmanship  - "have chainsaw, will remodel"!

House Remodel 101

Today was another great day as work was done to finish the stairs and 8' X 8' deck on the North side of the cabin/house.  After the deck and stairway is totally complete we will begin to remove all the ancient cellulose insulation and then begin to drop the ceiling below.  That will be a monumental mess!  There is huge piles of mouse droppings, hornet nests, bird nests, etc. in the "attic" in which we are trying to convert to living space.  We will not have the money to finish the project but it is better to plant a tree today and have somneone else enjoy it in the future than to live in a barren land devoid of trees.

Pictures to follow once we can get this computer kick started again to recognize the camera and upload the pictures.

Building Day at the Carson's

It is just half past midnight, so time to close out the day.  Still light outside through.

We started building a little deck and stairway up to the deck on the north side of the cabin.  There is just the one floor to the cabin, which is really a log cabin pushed up to a stick house and they are melded togather with a high pitch roof.

The attic or area above the main floor of the cabin has about 12" high ceiling - which is the underside of the roof. We hope to rip out all the existing ceiling of the first floor, put in 2 X 10's for floor joists for the new ceiling - aka upstairs floor - , sheet with 3/4" plywood, insulate the wall area, sheet that with 3/8" plywood and make the beginnings of a second floor to the house.  We then must sheet the main floor ceiling with 3/8" plywood.  We can not afford to get sheet rock out here due to the shipping costs so I will hopefully try to texture the plywood to look half way decent.

We had quite a few visitors today at the cabin.  Some came early.  One man came very early and we did not hear him knock on the door.  Later more came and I was in the shower so they waited outside for me.  More came throughout the day.  Can be busy at the Carson's.

One of the ways we try to earn some money is to raise chickens.  We have sold a few and now many of the village kids come at all hours to ask if they can look at the baby chicks.  The last one came tonight at 9:30 pm - child, not chick.

Another way I thought of to get better known in the villages is to get my Federal Firearms License.  Now we get calls and visits from more people we would never have met or who would never come to our home. 

So between the chickens, the goats - oh yes, did I mention the goats? - guns and anything else we can think of, we are known by many.

Have a great day and we will try to get pictures up on the construction project.  Did I smell wire burning????  Was I suppose to put a nail through that big black wire???

Great Sunny Day In McGrath

We had a great weather day here in McGrath, Alaska.

Had visit from a few folks today. We expect to see some of them tomorrow as well.  A family traveled in from another village. 

I would post pictures but the camera is not being recognized by the old - read antiquated - computer.

We need to get a computer that is not 7 years old.  It operates as slow as I do at times.

We went to a yard sale this morning which is one of the best ways to meet folks in any community, especially in a small one such as ours.  It is amazing how many say they know you and you do not know them.

We are anxious for the boat to come in so we can start visiting up and down the rivers.  Would be really good if it arrived before freeze up!

We are at the mercy of the airplane company as they wait until they get a full load for our village before scheduling the trip out.

The last of the garden got planted today.  June 11 might seem late for most folks but it is about right for here given the weather we have.

Have a great Sunday and don't forget to be in your place at church.

Parson Carson

 

Honey Bees In Alaska

One of the ways we supplement our food as well as income is to raise honey bees.  When I am stressed, I can go work with the honey bees.  I rarely wear any protective gear like gloves or veil.  They might sting but it has very little effect on me.  We hope for a good harvest of honey this year as last year with the horrifically wet summer the bees produced a very poor crop. The darker the bee the better it does in our Northern climate.  The Italian bee which is usually very bright yellow does not handle the cooler temperatures usually found at our latitude. The Caucasian or Carniolan bee does the best for us as they are darker and originate from a more mountainous part of the world.  We must import our starter packages from Oregon, through Seattle, then to Anchorage, and finally onto a small airplane to McGrath.  That is a long time to be cooped up in a box about the size of a shoe box.

The latitude and longitude of McGrath, Alaska is:

62° 57' 23" N / 155° 35' 45" W

Made some good visits today and plan for a couple of those visited to stop by the cabin tomorrow.

Also, had visitors stop by the cabin today from up river on the Takotna River. 

Pray for continued contacts and progress in the ministry.

Parson Carson

Brake Parts Needed

We have in our possession - or it has us - a 1975 Ford F-250 2 wheel drive pickup.  It has a straight 6 300 c.i. motor.

It has zero brakes!

If you have contacts in the auto supply business, we could sure use some brake parts donated and mailed up.

The rear brakes are out totally.  New wheel cylinders and brake shoes are needed. I have not pulled the front wheels off yet but even the backs working would be a vast improvement over no brakes.

Shoot us an email if you have contacts that could be of help in this need.  We must get 10 to 12 cords of firewood each year and it is tough to slow the old truck down with a full load on.  It is a four speed tranny but going in "granny" only helps so much down the hills.

No wiper on the passenger side and the driver side is probably original equipment. I measured 18" long.  Sometimes you can find a wiper blade at a yard sale for $1.00.

Also, it is running on maybe 5 of the 6 cylinders.

We need a full set of plugs, wires, cap, rotor, condenser, etc. for me to give it a tune up.  Right now I see that is has a couple coil wires being used for plug wires.  Hmmmm.  Normal use what you have situation.

The bed of the truck needs to be taken off and a flat bed made.  The bed only jumps about 12 inches when you hit a bump as it is rusted almost all the way through on the bolt on points.  A good load of wood helps to hold it down!!!!!!!!!!

If you or someone you know can be of help, please let me know.

Have a great day!

Parson Carson

Holly Going Out To Make Visits

Here is a picture that many of you always request.  A rare picture of Holly, on her bike going to make a visit. Along with her is Katherine.  Always eager to go for a ride!

Ladies:  Just a wardrobe note.

Holly has to wear "leggins" as she calls them because the mosquitoes are voracious! 

Few if any of the women or girls in our village wear dresses due to the bugs.  The knats, no-see-ums, mosquitoes, flys, and other unknown bugs can drive even the Moose to go stir crazy!  That is no joke!

I have seen Moose run straight into a tree in an attempt to run away from the bugs.  They will also try to run into a lake to try and get away from them.

June Prayer Letter

              The Carson’s in Western Interior Alaska.

Hello from the “Land of The Midnight Sun”.  We have 24 hours of measurable light at this time of the year.  On June 21 we will have much light.  Some can't sleep with so much light but the simple answer we have for them is to not go to bed!  You do not get so tired when the days are so long.  Now if we could just get winter darkness balanced out. 

We have been posting on the village web messenger board and through that we have been invited to start preaching in another village.  Only one problem; no airplane or boat to get there.  The river is often too low for boat travel.  We have found a boat on Craig's List in Anchorage and committed to buy it sight unseen.  This is a cost of  $3500.00 of which we have no budget for.  Any help in paying for this boat would be a huge blessing.  It is scheduled to be flown out on an airplane sometime in the next couple of weeks.  We pray it floats!  The motor is untested so a couple of paddles are in order.  Fuel in the village is currently just over $7.30 and expected to go up to $8.50 to $9.00 per gallon as soon as the barge arrives with the years worth of fuel.  It can cost $100.00 in fuel for one day of visits up and down the river in the boat.

Many villagers are going to their fish camps and to outlying areas for the fish.  We hope to get the boat in time to start making visits up and down the Kuskokwim and Takotna rivers.  If the boat and motor prove to be sea worthy, we will endeavour to make a trip to the Stoney River villages.  We get calls for various villages all the time.  We try to be available and helpful no matter the need. 

The ground is thawed out to almost 3 1/2’.  We will pour concrete as soon as we can dig 5’ for the base of the radio station tower.  We have the call sign for the station: KOGR—Kingdom Of God Radio.  All preaching recordings, in any format, would be most appreciated.  Please mail to the McGrath address.

I head for the Meadow Lakes Bible Camp in a few weeks to continue the work there. I had bid on a piece of property down river from McGrath with the idea of building a Remote Bible Camp but someone outbid me. So we will continue to look and pray towards this end.  Most all the land is Native Corporation land and it is a rare find to be able to bid on a piece of privately held land.

Payoff for the Meadow Lakes Bible Camp is now $9,600.00.  We are required to pay it off by the first of September or lose it.  That is not an option!  Please pray about this financial matter and let us know if you can be a part of this very important project.

We preach and pray and continue as the Lord leads.

Thank you very much for the prayers, care packages, financial support, and encouragement.  You are a blessing to this preacher.

Please continue to pray for the ministry here in McGrath, outlying villages, Bible Camps, Radio Station, and other ministries as they unfold.        

Your Missionaries in Alaska   -   Joe & Holly Carson

                                  Acts 16:9-10  “..immediately we endeavoured to go... to preach the gospel unto them.”                                                                                                                                                                                                         

We are going to try this “Blog” thing.  I have started a free online blog and will attempt to write a short piece every couple days or so.  If this is a blessing to you or if you have ideas or question, this will be a way to be more responsive and timely to all interested in our ministry.  There will be much more daily “stuff” that you would otherwise not hear about.  (You could read the one about our “crib” - aka septic  tank- collapsing! Yahoo!!!).

http://parsonjoecarson.blogspot.com/

Three Village Girls Digging Out The Cabin

A balmy 51 degrees this morning.  Normal day for the village.

We have three young entrepreneurial girls (2  nine years old and one 10 year old) digging out around the cabin today in hopes of earning a few dollars.  The cabin leaks in the lower level - log basement - village style.  We must dig out the dirt about three feet away from the lower log wall to about 6" deep and replace any rot in the logs and then tar and paper and insulate before refilling the trench.  The work would not be so bad but for the bazillion mosquitoes!

We expect rain for the next week or so; perfect mosquito breeding weather. All work must be done before winter gets too close. The ground is still froze at the three foot level.  We hope to have enough thawed ground to do our work  before it starts to freeze again.

Our "crib" is also caving in.  In villages the septic is called a "crib".  It is basically a log cabin built in the ground with the sewer pipe running into it.  The crib is usually 8' X 8' X 6' deep.  You dig a really big hole with a shovel, pre-assemble your log cabin on the top of the ground, number all the logs, disassemble, jump into the hole and reassemble said cabin.  You then must put old tin or similar material around the walls so sand does not infiltrate the logs and fill the "crib".  You then build a roof or top out of logs, cover with tin, then polystyrene or other insulating board in hopes of keeping it from freezing. If it freezes you must revert to a "honey bucket" for the timne between freeze up and thaw.  Of course you must first go to the woods and find about 80 good green Tamarack or Spruce logs large enough for the "crib".


Have a great day.  Pray for SUN!!!!!!!!!!!

Visitors from Kalskag today.

We had visitors from the down river village of Kalskag today.  We had received their goods in preparation for them to canoe the Kuskokwim River.  I had first met one of them when I was pastor at Victory Baptist Church in Anchorage.  Their float will take between two and three weeks.  In the summer, many try to take advantage of the long sunny days before the reality of Alaska winter comes upon them.

I checked to be sure they had their 12 guage shotgun ready with slugs - bear country - BIG GRIZZLIES!

They had their GPS but no SPOT or SAT. Radio. 

Had many other visits today from village of McGrath.

One must make friendships and gain trust before they will commit to anything, or listen to you concerning eternity.


On a side note:  We are in need of a Marine VHS Base station radio for the cabin.  We have two hand-held units but we need the base to really reach out to the other villagers up and down the Kuskokwim.

If you know anything about Marine VHF radios or know someone with one that they would like to donate, please let us know.

TONS OF MOSQUITOES!!!!!!!!!!!

Parson Carson

Preaching in Villages

We have had a request to start preaching in a new village.  The only problem is that we can not get there other than flying as the river gets too low for boat travel most of the year.

Please pray with us about another airplane.  The one we had is now in service with a missionary in another part of Alaska.


A good airplane for our ministry needs to hold 4 passengers and their gear. 

A Piper Lance or Cessna 180 or similar would be great.

Fuel is going to be going up soon when the barge delivers to McGrath.  We expect gas will be about $8.50+ and home heating fuel about the same.  AVGAS will be much higher than that.



Parson Joe Carson

Sunday Night in Alaska

It is almost midnight here in McGrath and it is still very light out.  You could play a game of baseball outside without any trouble seeing the ball.

Soon we will have virtually 24 hours of sunlight. 

We are in the process of putting the tower up for the anticipated arrival of Radio Station Electronics.

We are also trying to get a garden put in.  We put many plants in the hot-house and had a very hard freeze the very next night and lost all the plants.

Such is the life in Alaska.

Now we are looking forward to getting a new/old boat flown in on the airplane for us to use in going up and down the Kuskokwim and Takotna Rivers and eventually on up the Stoney River to more villages.

Let us know if this blog is of value to you and if you have any questions we might answer in future posts.


Parson Joe Carson