SETH GARDNER

August Blog

Glory month, this is how this month started and even though it hasn’t ended yet, this is still how I would describe this month. Even though Revival didn’t come the way people expected it to come I am seeing the life come back to people’s eyes. I am seeing that God is placing vision in the eyes of the people here, and I can’t wait to see what else comes.

    This month started with a promise that God would meet us. And no matter how it looked God would move here in this Valley. I would say that is true. We started the month off with a media fast ( No Facebook, Internet, Video Games, Music, or Texting to a degree ) it was a bit hard at first but I think that a lot of us picked up the meaning of the fast and actually took the time to turn our minds to God and what he had planned. It was really cool because during all of this Pastor Ed got to come and teach us daily for about a week on how to lead people to Jesus. Now I know what you are thinking, “Don’t all Christians know how to lead people to Jesus?” the truth is I am not sure about that. But I know that I had never actually lead anyone to Jesus before and I thought it would be scary. It turned out to be one of the easiest things to do once you get past the thought of “Leading them to Jesus”. Because the truth is it’s your testimony and Jesus that leads people to salvation. Think about it if you love someone then you want to talk about them all the time. It’s the same with God if you love Him you want to talk about Him and how you became saved, and why you believe you are saved now. It was really cool to learn the scripture behind how we are saved and to actually know where it is. The Roman’s Road (Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:13)

    About 2 weeks into the month Rob Radosti came up to Alaska for the ‘Glory Revolution Conference’ and it was good. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but God has a funny way of doing things. The 3 days were full of amazing stories and I felt rested after. We found out later that Rob and his wife would be staying with us for awhile longer till God sends them somewhere else. So I know that God’s still got something up his sleeve.

    The last thing that has happened is the State Fair. One of my favorite things so far for this year, even though I am broke and unable to buy anything it is still fun to walk around and see all the cool things at the fair. The day that we all went I was just walking around and while I was looking around in a shop a old man started to talk to me. It was a conversation I really didn’t want to have but it turned out to be a really good one. He started to talk about his life and how he had been a teacher down in New Mexico. He kept saying how he loved teaching and how if he had the chance he would do it all over again. I thought it was a strange conversation at first, but as it went on I realized he was encouraging me to keep going after the things God has put in my life, and to keep going after my desire to teach. We talked about God and how I had come to Alaska, and he smiled and told me that he was proud that I would choose to go into the ministry. Overall the conversation was strange, but I left feeling encouraged knowing that God was trying to say something. There is only one month left of my second year here in Master’s Commission and I am still trying to figure it all out, but I know that there is a plan even if I don’t know what it is yet.

JOSHUA NIEMUTH

July Blog

What’s up hello it’s me again! Updating my blog for the awesome month of July, which is probably my favorite month of the year so far. So much awesomeness and ministry happened, and I really experienced alot of God’s destiny for me during this month,

First of all, to start out the month, a team of us (me, Leon, Garth, Serena, Laprenza, Megan, Andrew, and Daniel) went up to Camp Nahshii and helped TGM (This Generation Ministries) with the camp week (11 days)- we had kids boating in from Venitie, Beaver, 23 kids from Ft. Yukon, and others flying in from Fairbanks, Minto, etc. There were 53 kids total out there!

About 2 days into the camp, my older brother (the pastor up in Ft. Yukon) got a call from his wife Sharnay that someone had broken into the house while she was there alone with the baby- so he and I went to Fort Yukon for about 5 days, putting in a security system, getting stuff done at the house, picking up gas and supplies for the team, etc. It was way cool.

When I got back to camp, the evening gatherings were so amazing, the kids were all crying, and getting healed and delivered, and I was so glad to be apart of the camp. We had alot of cool events and games during camp, as well.

God is teaching me the power of prayer this month, and how obedience and submission unlocks your destiny and activates God’s plan for your life. Also, I feel like my leadership ability is increasing, as well as learning how to be a armor bearer more and more.
 
We are coming into August, which has been dubbed “glory month,” and I am super excited to see what God will do in these last 2 months of master’s!

LAUREN PATRICK

June Blog

All of a sudden, full blown summer is here and there are so many events on our schedule, it’s hard to keep track. The month of June started with Kingdom Come Alaska the very first weekend. Lou Engle along with an amazing team from Kansas City came to our great state with The Call. This was not like any other conference we have had, this was a call to holiness. This event was heart stirring and motivating to be set apart and a cut above; to take a stand and fast and pray for our state and our nation. As a Master’s Commission, we worked incredibly hard to make sure this event ran smoothly.  It wasn’t as hard as it sounds, we had plenty of help, and everything did run smoothly with excellence. We met new people and made new friends. It was an amazing way to start the month.

The next event to happen was the 24 hour Alaska Burn. This event was cool because you get to let your inner hippie come out. Basically there is a big circus tent set up in a field and people come and play worship music and pray for 24 hours. It makes you want to be natural and barefoot, hanging out with Jesus, praying for the state of Alaska.

After the burn, everyone here at MC:WA prepared to go their separate ways for summer camps and internships. I am not going to any of these camps, so for me, it’s a bittersweet thing watching everyone else come and go. The plus side I guess is that I will get to pray for everyone while they are gone and have a big quiet building to myself. There are worse things in life.

June was a great start to our new summer ministry. I am excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the summer. There is excitement in the air as we enter a new season of the unknown. It’s a beautiful thing to put your trust in God and believe that He won’t take you through anything you can’t handle.

LEON OSBORNE

May Blog

This month was incredible.

We did our southeast mission trip from the 2nd to the 21st. It really was such a fun time and God did so many cool things.

We went to Haines, Juneau, then we got to our first main ministry site, which was Angoon. We were there for about 5 days. We did some yard work there, did some cool activities with the community and met a lot of great kids. We held several services and they all went very well, We encouraged the christians who were there and got to be a good role model for the young people there.

Then our next ministry site where we did a lot of ministry was Petersburg. As soon as we got there we hit the ground running because we held an all nighter there with the youth. There was a lot of worship, games, movies, speaking, and at an alter call there were 21 young people who were saved or rededicated their lives to God. That alone made everything we had done, every bit of planning and prayer for this mission trip completely worth it. The pastor there was very encouraged and loved our being there. We did a few more services and got to spend a lot of fun time seeing the town.

Then a few of us from Team A and Team B went to Sitka, I was a part of that third team. Sitka is a beautiful place with a rich history, and we had a great time there and did a youth service there. Pastor Tim, the youth pastor was really cool and we were able to hang out with some of the core kids quite a bit. That was the last part of our trip and we headed home after that.

Overall it was an amazing trip and I know that I will remember many of those events and cherish them for the rest of my life.

After coming back home we had a couple of days off, with which I got to go four wheeling with my family, that was a blast. Then as masters we stayed at the dream center and hung out with those guys for a couple of days. I had a good time really getting to know some of those guys and getting to know what their casual day is like.

This month was one of risk and reward, of experiencing God’s heart for people and having a ton of fun with the masters while traveling.

This has been one of my favorite months.

ANDREW SAYERS

April Blog

Hello everyone! Well, this month has been a real adventurous one; breaking new grounds in all ares of my life and for our MC program. Let’s start at the beginning….Spring break. I was at first planning on returning home for the break of spring but God had different plans. It all started when my good old friend, none other than Daniel Weber, invited me to go to his home town of North Pole for the break. I prayed about it and came to the conclusion that not only did I desire to go, but I also felt that it was the divine wish of God that I go as well. Considering that my life at the time was quite stressful and full of internal struggle, I knew that it was not a good time to go home or anywhere familiar at that time in my life; I needed a refresher. Also, before the break, I was given a task that would forever change my life. One day, the one and only Pastor Scott Phillips invited me into his faithful office for a little chat. He suddenly informed me, to my shock, that I was to go to a village in southeast Alaska called Angoon. He said that I would be there, acting as the senior pastor, for three weeks, being the forerunner for the MC program, who would later be arriving at the small village of Angoon. I was honored and excited, yet terrified. The occasion was that the pastor, Brandon Ramos and his wife, Nancy, where with child and where expecting very soon. I was to take care of the pastoral duties while the pastor and his wife where out of town. Backtracking to spring break, one of the reasons that I needed a refresher was for that trip, and to prepare for it, without stressful distractions around me. So, the adventure we embarked on started in Wasilla as we loaded into my 1986 Subaru GL; Daniel, Joshua, and I, we where off, to a land of relaxation, but, little did we know, our adventure was just beginning. I had knowledge of my vehicle’s transmission fluid lead but had no idea to what extent the damage was. The thing is, it only leaked on long trips, but it never leaked as bad as it was about to, on this lovely trip of ours. So, we loaded up on snacks and energy drinks and where off, to North Pole, the land of perpetual Christmas. We also stocked up heavily on ATF, (automatic transmission fluid) just in case; in fact, we bought a whole case, twelve courts worth! So, about three hours into our light hearted road trip, my RPM meter starts to act funny and we come to a complete stop on a hill. I knew what this meant, so, I popped the hood, and filled her up with good old ATF.. My friends, with a sincere look of worry on their faces, thankfully, welcome me back into the vehicle. I figured we had about another three hours left before we would have to stop again, but, a half hour later, the car comes to a screeching halt, on a hill. The trip, to let you know, was supposed to be a six hour trip, so, we where getting really worried, especially my trusty passengers, if they could have only seen their faces, such worry and frustration. So, every half hour, my car required a new dose of ATF, so eventually, our case of twelve court of ATF ran out. Needless to say, we spent over one hundred dollars on ATF that day, and the supposed six hour trip turned into a nine and a half hour trip. On the last stretch, we where on our last bit of ATF, the rpm needle started freaking out, and there where lots, and lots….and lots, and lots, of hills. My car was moving at turtle speeds and apparently loved to die on hills. I said to the guys, “start speaking in tounges because I don’t think were going to make it up this next hill” so, we started praying, and hill after hill, somehow, we made it to town. It died soon after when we finally arrived at the gas station, it was a sheer miracle. The car, it turned out, was a hopeless piece of crap, so We ended up getting a new car while we where down there; a 1992 Ford Escort Wagon. Needless to say, the trip was very refreshing, and an adventure to say the least. The trip back was a five hour drive and we arrived back in Wasilla, with a different car. So; I am now in Angoon Alaska, the fill in senior pastor, and I’ve ran two services so far, and they have gone excellent. During both morning services, the worship leader was sick, so I got to lead worship Sunday morning, twice so far. I also lead worship for House Of Prayer, Sunday nights with Jennifer. The sermon’s that I preached went very well, two thirty minute sermons; and one was Easter morning service. My biggest fear used to be public speaking; I’ve finally conquered it! And my first time playing guitar and singing in front of people, besides for my closest of friends, was when I was leading worship. God is doing incredible things in my life. I still have 20 or so more days left in southeast Alaska and I know that God is going to breakthrough like never before! Also, just a side note, read the book of James, it has really stood out to me lately.

DANIEL WEBER

March Blog

Well this month was really quite an awesome adventure for me and the team I believe. We took our first step into the Alaskan territory for the year outside of the local community. And went to the Kenai Peninsula. The week before the trip was primarily spent perfecting our drama arsenal with the new team that has been assembled for this year of masters. I personally enjoyed this time a lot because I think the dramas we did and do are a great way to portray an impactful message that sticks with people. We did two main dramas one is about trusting in God through hard times and the other one is about standing firm in your faith even to the death. After the first week of preparation we all packed up and took off heading for Kasilof. Once we arrived at New Life Christian Fellowship we set up our home base for the Peninsula and from there we went to several other churches and around the community. The teams split up into two groups at one point so that we could minister to even more places. Some of the events we did were an all-nighter for the youth at Peninsula Christian Center in Soldotna. I think this went very well, one of the things we did was to set up 3 different workshops. One was teaching about servanthood, one was teaching about evangelism and the third one was teaching about prophecy. I was helping with the class on what prophecy is and how to engage in it. Basically hearing from God and speaking out what He has said. It was a very exciting class because the youth were walking in the prophetic. God was opening their hearts and almost all of them had visions and words from God to say when we did some practical application of what was just taught and we spoke over each other. The rest of the night went just as you might think an all-nighter would go with plenty of energy drinks games and having fun. One other event that we did was a whole seminar about prophecy at our base of operations; New Life Christian Fellowship. This was a really memorable event for me because God reveled to me some words of knowledge for the first time for me and I was encouraged by encouraging. God is so awesome. I am looking forward to what is coming next.

Until next time thanks for reading.

MEGAN ELMS

February Blog

From the 22nd-24th Master’s Commission was at Little Beaver for an encounter retreat. And let me just say, God definitely met us there. We got free! Massive healing took place and I’m so blessed to have been a part of the retreat. God really opened my eyes to some things. One thing being His love for me. During our teaching on the power of the cross and why Jesus did what He did for us, I experienced something like I’ve never experienced before. I kept fighting tears back, but in the end I couldn’t hold them in any longer and I just wept. And I mean wept, I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. My heart hurt so bad when I thought of what Jesus went through and the pain He had to bare. The torture He allowed to happen so that we could be made right with God and be free. It really opened my eyes to how much He loves me which I had been praying for. I had been praying that He would show me just how much He loved me. I knew He loved me, but I didn’t truly know deep in my heart, but after that lesson it hit me hard. Right in between my eyes basically, I couldn’t deny it. He loved me so much that He was willing to lay down His life for me! That’s powerful. My love for Him increased so much more that day. Another thing, I came to the realization that my life is not my own. My life doesn’t belong to me, never has and never will. Everything I have and everything I am belongs to my Father in heaven. After all, He’s the reason I am even alive. Therefore, I don’t have to worry about what is going to happen in the future or even what’s going to happen tomorrow because it’s all in the hands of my Creator. He knows what is best for me, what my heart desires, and what my needs are. When that light bulb went off I felt a lot more free. Worries seemed to drift away and no longer matter to me. God has been stretching me so much and I’ve been growing like crazy. He has been showing me things, teaching me, talking to me, and talking through me. It’s so amazing! Coming here to Master’s Commission was probably one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. Another amazing thing, on Sunday the 27th I was baptized for the first time ever!

GAYLA KALNINS

January Blog

Here I am again, new year, same book, different ending.

The month of January has been like nothing I could ever imagine it would be.
First week of Masters was pretty chill. Just get to know everyone and settle in. Took me forever just to remember everyone’s name, but that’s a whole nother story.

The group of students we have this year are like none we have ever had before. I love every single one of them and I would give my life for them. God has placed each and every one of them in my life for a reason. I can learn something from each of them. They are all my brothers and sisters and I thank God every day for them. The 3rd years, the 2nd years and the 1st years.  I also thank God for Reuben and April as my leaders, I am glad they are here with me.  And who could forget the most awesome director on the face of the earth.. Pastor Scott Phillips.. He is a leader who leads by example and has given everything for the glory of God. Thank you God for placing each individual person here, in my life..

To start off the year we had a few amazing men and woman of God speak to us and launch us. Debbie Zuspan spoke about expecting the unexpected and giving God the control and trusting him. Something she said that stuck with me is “Don’t you think that if He can drive out 10,000 demons out of a man than He can take you to your breakthrough?” It was encouraging and i’m glad she came.

Next we had Pastor Mark Zweiful. Alaska’s DYD. He spoke to us about Embracing your Leah.. out of Genesis 29. He encouraged us in the area of dreams.. what is our dream? And how even though, sometimes, what were experience is lookin nothin like our dreams, don’t forget your dream and don’t quit shootin toward it.. he used Joseph as an example.

Elizabeth Williams has also been coming and teaching us music theory.. which is one of my favorite times of the week! cause I love music and theory and Elizabeth…

This month was a launching point for us..

Some events we had this month was, the Warrior Bride Conference.. which was epic.. we also had the Super Bowl Sunday.. which was epic.. we also had the Holy Spirit Conference.. which was epic.. And maybe a few other events, but I can’t remember them at the moment cause it’s like 5:30 in the morning.

God touched me a lot this month stronger than I even expected. He has truely moved past my expectations. I have been streatched, loved on, encouraged, challanged and strengthened.

I found out a lot about myself too.. For example.. I AM FRAGILE! and if any of you know me, that’s not exactly something I would share with confidence of pride. I am also, Everything He Has Ever Wanted.

In the bible.. David had that heart.. He knew who he was in God.. No matter how many times he screwed up, He still knew who he was and who God sawl him as. I am striving for a heart like David had.. not only was he a warrior and a man after God’s own heart, but he was a musician too, and that alone is cool.

God also set me free from unforgiveness and bitterness.. what a great way to start off the year, for real.. I have authority to forgive.. it’s a privelage.

Well, for my first blog of the year, i’m not gonna make it very long, just a little nut shell of what things have been going on and how I am doin as a first year again.. it’s hard, and it’s humbling, but it’s exactly where I need to be at this time in my life, so it’s where I am.

Since you are reading my blog you are probably genuinly interested in Masters Commission and it’s students.. If you would like, I have encluded a list below of ways you could pray for me that would be most helpful and appreciated.. Thanks for reading my blog, hope you enjoyed it..

Have a good one!!

                                    The one and only..

                                                        Gayla Velta Kalnins

                                                                                                                              … “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for..”

Prayer Requests: that God would provid me with the rest of my tuition $$ , That I would learn to fall more in love with him, That I would cultivate a heart like David had, that I would know what true intimacy is, that my family in Florida would be rocked by God and healed, That I would learn to fall more in love with my King, That I would continue to know who I am in Him,

and that He would grow even more in me, a heart of worship.