Well, winter arrived and we have about a foot or more of fresh snow on the ground.  It sure is beautiful and a great reminder of our Creator God’s handiwork.  In Genesis, we are told that God looked at all He created and said it was good.  After He created mankind in His own image, He said it was very good!  That’s what we think of you when we think of how God has brought you all into our lives.  It is very good!  Thank you for standing with us as we serve such an Amazing and Awesome God here in Alaska.

            Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” and Psalms 37:23 (KJV)   “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord”.  We made plans to visit some of the villages where our missionaries serve and God had other plans.  We did get down to Kodiak to visit our missionaries down there the end of October, but even that was not as we had planned.  It turned out that the Kodiak Bible Chapel had a mini missions conference in which they featured InterAct Ministries because they help support our 5 missionaries that are on the Island.  When they invited George to come down and speak there, we agreed since all of our 5 missionaries would be in Kodiak (the city) for the conference.  We had a good weekend with all of them, but ended up not going to the village of Old Harbor.  While there George connected with one of the “girls” that had been in the children’s home where George’s folks had served.  They hadn’t seen each other for about 37 years.  It was a good visit and precious to see her living for the Lord.

            Our next trip was planned for Nov 2-5, to go to Grayling and then on to Huslia and end up in Ruby for the weekend.  As it ended up we found out there were two deaths and funerals that weekend, one in Huslia and one in Ruby, so we planned to go just to Grayling, but the weather was bad.  For the next week we tried many times to go but one storm was followed by another one making it impossible to fly.  We even flew one day and got half way there when we had to turn back.  Flying in Alaska in winter is tricky and since we only have a single engine plane with no de-icing, it limits when we can fly.  Saturday was our last chance to try again and there was ice in the clouds making it too dangerous.  But God had another plan.  God had led me (Judy) to talk with a native gal who worked at our local grocery store just the week before while waiting to fly.  That Saturday that we couldn’t fly, I went down to try to make contact with this gal again, hoping to get an opportunity to get to know her.  When I saw her and asked how she was, with tears in her eyes she replied, “I’m having a bad day!”.  When I told her I felt God directing me to see her, she said she knew why and that she had asked God to send someone to talk to her.  And there I was!  I agreed to meet her after work and follow her home.  It was snowing a blizzard that evening as I followed her home, but I knew God had led me to her.  When we get home in December, I will begin a Bible Study with her.  And our trip to the Yukon River?  We will try again in December.  Praise God for His Plans are perfect!

            Tomorrow evening, Wednesday, we will fly out to Portland to spend time with Enoch and Janel.  Our kids and their families will be joining us for Thanksgiving as well as my (Judy’s) brother and family from Redding, CA.  Joel, Pam and kids will be driving out from Wyoming, Caleb and family will be flying down from Fairbanks, and Josh and Rosie will drive down from Seattle.  We are looking for a great time as a family as we celebrate Thanksgiving and give thanks to God for all He has blessed us with as a family. And while we are there, we will celebrate our 40^th anniversary!   We will return home Dec. 6.

            Thank you for your prayers and to many of your, your support.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.   

            Serving our Wonderful Savior and Lord,

            George and Judy Richardson