Blog
Golf For Our Kids
It was a big effort but a successful day of raising support for our children. The Fall Classic held at Clear Lakes Golf and Country Club was well attended and lots of fun. There was a putting and chipping contest with the winner receiving a pellet smoker and BBQ as the prize. The winning team for the low score shot a 56 for the four person scramble on the par 72 layout–that is excellent play. There was an auction and raffle following the tournament with lots of items from smoked salmon to free rounds of golf. But the real winners were...
read moreIFC Family Gathering
You are invited to come to the IFC Family Gathering on Friday, April 5, 2024 at The Lighthouse Church in Fairbanks, Alaska at 6:30 p.m. We want to thank all of our partners and give an update on the efforts in Indonesia. We have invited Hendra Ponotomudis to be our guest speaker for the event. He is the founder and principle of the Hohidiai School. Hendra is a remarkable man who has seen miracles in establishing the top ranked K-12 school in the North Maluku region. We welcome him and want to hear his vision and update on the Hohidiai...
read moreSeasons of Change
Someone humorously said, “Alaska has two seasons, winter and the Fourth of July.” In my 35 years living in Alaska, I have experienced some of the harshness of winter and the wonders of summer. Summer in the land of the “midnight sun” was always anticipated but never long enough. Valdez Alaska is no place for the weak. It is so beautiful surrounded by mountain peaks and the waters of Prince William Sound. The “snow tsunami” comes without invitation and recently dumped 65 inches of snow on Thomson Pass, just outside the Valdez city limits, in a...
read moreHohidiai School Celebrates 12 Years
Dear Hohidiai School Family, I am writing with exciting updates on some special events that recently took place at our school. We just celebrated our 12th anniversary last month, and it was a joyous occasion for our entire school community. To mark this milestone, we held two days of festivities. On the first day, students and staff came together outside to form a large human configuration. It was wonderful to see everyone work together to create these special numbers. That morning was filled with various sporting events and competitions...
read moreBack to Alaska
It has been three years since we have been able to have the IFC Family Gathering. This year the IFC Board of Directors decided to try to have our partners gathering in Fairbanks. The date of February 18 in the midst of the Alaska winter was set. The honored guests were Peter and Esther Scarborough, Hohidiai Directors, who traveled from Indonesia. February 18 was a cold day in the minus side of the Fahrenheit scale. There was a snow storm beginning in the morning and the venue was on hill with a steep road just to get to the parking lot. The...
read moreSuddeness
As I remember it, it was my eighth-grade year at Centralia Junior High School. Some of you guys might remember the hopes of making the starting football team on offense or defense. Every guy wanted to catch the eye of the coaches. I was no different. The practices were hot and hard. I wondered if I could finish each practice with drills and lots of running, but the driving hope to make the starting team was what kept me going. I was five feet nothing tall and weighed a whopping 115 pounds. Can you see the skinny kid in pads and a...
read more8,000 Miles
There is a song that has a line–I can see for miles and miles–well we drove for miles and miles and miles. It was nice to be home. It was a valuable trip with new partners and even two new groups opened to us. I have been invited to return to share at the new groups as well. It will have to be next year when my memory of those long driving days are forgotten. Cathy and I drove nearly 8,000 miles. We were in 20 of the U.S. States and drove long stretches and saw the beauty and variety of this nation. We saw the vast plains, high...
read moreCoronavirus Update
Dear Partners— It did not take long for our world to change. We are using language we have never used before, like “social distancing” and we are all doing what we can, as a nation, to limit exposure to the coronavirus. Church services are canceled, restaurants and other non-essential services have closed their doors. These are new days of challenge. Our work in Indonesia has been affected as we have canceled all foreign team visits. Until this world crisis is contained, we are working to protect our children, short-term team members, medical...
read moreConstructing the Leach Field
Leach Field It took eight ‘quick’ days to build the leach field thanks to our construction manager, Opo; the Alaska team and an excellent excavator...
read moreFall Golf Classic
Golf Tournament – Buhl, Idaho The Fall Golf Classic in Buhl, Idaho was a total success. Jim Ridgway coordinated a wonderful event. Records were set with 116 golfers participating and 29 teams. This was a scramble style tournament with closest to the pin, long drive, and a putting and chipping contest with an auction to follow. A team from Alaska came to represent the Far North and did not take last place. The winning team shot a blistering 13 under par for a score of 59. The real winners were the children at the Hohidiai...
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