When in Alaska...

We have been so blessed to have lots of friends and family already visit us here in Alaska. Steve's mom has come a couple of times and his dad got to come over the fourth of July. My mom is arriving a week from today. It really means so much to us that loved ones are willing to make the north-bound trek!  Currently we have a family staying with us that came up with a work team from Palm Desert, California. They are staying an extra week and it has been so great to get to know them. All of these guests have given us ample reasons to explore our new home. We have visited Homer, AK, with its cute, artsy shops and majestic glacial mountains. It poured rain but was still a great day. I found my new favorite book store, crammed full of used books.

With the work team from Cornerstone Covenant Church we went to visit a dog lot where a team (plus quite a few others) of sled dogs live. What a different life that would be! There were around 40 dogs and when it was dinner-time things got pretty loud! I am excited to go watch some of the races this winter- they sound pretty amazing to see.

We are getting settled and learning our way around. Grace burned her finger on our fire place so we found the ER (she is fine, just a bad burn on the tip.) They did make fun of us for having our fire place on in June. Taylor (the dog) got sick so we found the vet. Grace's teeth were hurting so we found the dentist. Then we all got the flu this week and found our doctor. Necessity is the mother of introduction! ;) 

Steve has been working very hard on campus getting his courses developed and ready for the students. He has also been taking courses online to get his Masters in Applied Mathematics which will help Alaska Christian College  to meet their accreditation requirements. Every time I think we are done with school, more seems to come our way. Good thing we love it!

Steve and I have been really weighing our options as far as the kids schooling is concerned. We decided to enroll them at the public elementary school that is right across the street from ACC. We will be able to walk back and forth to volunteer and participate in the kids school events. We were nervous because they are getting a new principal and have been going through quite a few changes. We emailed the new principal to see if we could meet with him and he got back to us last week. He explained that his family just moved here this week and they are just getting settled but arranged to meet with us right away. He was incredibly nice, has kids the same age as ours (we already have a play-date scheduled) and seems like he has a great vision for the school. We already have him agreeing to play softball on our church's team :)  His family is from Montana but have been living in the bush in a small village for the past few years. They decided to move into town for their kids, but he has some really good insight on teaching the Native students within their culture. He will be an invaluable resource, and we are so excited and feel so much better about our decision to send the kids to his school.

We are counting down the last few weeks until our students return. The work teams are getting the campus ready, and Steve and the rest of the staff are preparing the academic side of things. Steve will be traveling with another staff member (and friend) Sean Hoffbeck who is the Dean of Students at ACC to the small village of Unalakleet the first week of August to attend a student leadership conference. This will be a great opportunity to get a better feel for village life as well as develop some strategies for raising student-leaders in our college. Steve is nervous about the lack of showers, but last we heard there was running water to at least use for sponge baths...probably....maybe. You can see Unalakleet's location on the map below, it is quite a bit farther North and West than we are located. You can read more about the village here: Unalakleet, Alaska

Although the kids seem to think that it is FREEZING here (I keep telling them, "just wait!") we have been enjoying the nice cool weather. There has been lots of bike-riding, playing outside, animal encounters, etc. and we are loving every minute of it. Steve ran (literally) into a moose on our front porch a few days ago when he was rushing out the door, but fortunately it was already moving away from the house at a pretty fast pace and didn't backtrack to "hoof" Steve. We see moose, caribou (reindeer), and bald eagles most commonly. There have been bears in the area but we have only seen "evidence" of the bears, and fortunately have not run into any actual bears.

We feel so blessed to be working with such a great group of people at Alaska Christian College. We have had lots of opportunities to spend time with everyone and it seems like our team is really going to mesh well. The Hamilton family (President at ACC) hosted a fourth of July BBQ at their house where everyone was able to come and spend time playing fun games and eating great food. We are looking forward to many more opportunities like this one to get to know our co-workers better!

 The "bat" game where you spin around a baseball bat...Alaskan-style (note the axe substation on the left)

We are excited for what the next month holds- especially meeting all of our new students! Thanks so much for all of your support, prayers, and encouraging words. Life here is definitely different, but we really feel like we are home.

We are here!!!

We have been in Kenai for a week now, and are finally starting to get settled in. The kids are absolutely loving the location of our new home. The above picture was taken right behind our house. Every day I am astounded by the beauty here in Alaska. Grace loves that the beach is nearby (even though it is frozen for quite a bit of the year!) Noah loves that we live at the end of a quiet street, so he can ride his bike and scooter to his hearts content without worrying about cars. We feel so lucky to be able to live here!

The actual move went about as smoothly as a move to Alaska can possibly go. Loaded up with 8 suitcases, a dog, two kids,  my mother in law Marsha and I boarded the first of three planes that would get us to Kenai. 18 hours later we finally arrived in our new home town.

The kids favorite part of the trip was the last leg on the puddle jumper from Anchorage to Kenai. It is only a 15 minute flight (that saves you a 3 1/2 hour drive), but Noah and Grace loved every minute of it! (The plane in the picture turned out to NOT be our plane. Ours was much smaller) :)

The drive to Anchorage to pick up Steve's truck and the pallets that we shipped was absolutely breathtaking! Around every corner was a more beautiful view waiting.

We have heard more than once this week that we must have brought the Arizona heat with us. We have had record breaking temperatures here. There was a heat advisory last Friday morning when temperatures were said to have hit 80 degrees. We are trying to take advantage of the good weather in between unpacking boxes and getting settled in to life at ACC.

 One of the things that has been hardest to adjust to is the ever-present daylight. This picture was of a late night shopping trip with Marsha at Walmart taken at about 11:30pm. Last night Steve and I were putting in a late night painting when he called me over to the window. He told me he thought the sun was finally setting (this was at 1:30 am). We watched the sun go down...and then come right back up again about 20 minutes later. :)

Steve started work at ACC June first, and is getting settled in to his new office. Our students are at home in their villages for the summer, but there is still much to be done. This coming week begins the visits from church work teams that will spend the summer updating and maintaining the campus. Steve and I will have the opportunity to host several of these teams. We will be able to work alongside those teams, bring them to dinner in our home, and show them around our beautiful city. This is such a wonderful time to build and strengthen relationships with those people who have been faithfully supporting and praying for our ministry. I would invite any of you who are interested in finding out more about ACC to look into putting a team together for next summer!

Before I close this post, I wanted to make you aware of a special prayer request. One of the villages that is represented in our student body is that of Galena, Alaska. This month as the Yukon river broke up and began to flow through the village, an ice dam was formed and the village flooded. One of our students, Kaylin Kopp put together this video sharing her experience.

Galena Video

Please keep the people of Galena in your prayers. After the flood there were only 3 homes left standing. All of the missionary organizations here in Alaska are working together to try to help these people clean up and rebuild their village before the cold and potentially deadly winter hits again.  If you would like more information you can visit http://www.akmissionconnection.org/galena-relief/ or https://www.facebook.com/GalenaRebuilders. 

Thank you all for your prayers during this time of transition for our family! 

I'm leaving on a jet plane

...and Steve is driving 3800 miles! :)  We are so excited that we found very inexpensive (aka $100!) plane tickets for the kids and I on Alaska Airlines so the three of us will not have to do the long drive. Steve will be doing the drive starting May 24th with his good friend (and one of our supporters) Bryan Powers. The boys are planning on doing the drive as quickly (and safely!) as possible. I have heard talk about them sleeping in the back of my truck, etc. I guess I should be happy they are saving money on hotels, but I don't know if I will ever get my truck smelling normal again!

We just got back from a weekend at the Grand Canyon with Steve's parents. Steve and I have been quite a few times since meeting, but we realized that we have never taken the kids. So last weekend the 6 of us drove up to Williams and then took the Grand Canyon Railway up to the canyon for a night. Poor Noah developed the stomach flu on the trip up and spent much of the trip resting in the hotel room, but he was such a trooper and even smiled for a few pictures. Grace had an amazing time- she is just at the perfect age for this kind of a trip! Both kids earned their junior ranger badges by attending a ranger talk and filling out a work book. They are both so excited to visit the national parks in Alaska and earn their badges there.

In front of our Train- check out the socks!

Getting their Jr Ranger Badges

It got a little chilly the second day- but nothing close to Alaska cold :) That's Noah's Jr. Ranger badge on his hat.

With about 2 weeks left before Steve gets on the road we are working hard to finish up all of our loose ends here in Arizona. I graduate Friday morning with my Masters in Information Resources and Library Science. The kids finish school the 23rd of May. We found a good deal on a used 20' trailer that my Expedition will be able to tow up to Alaska. Other then some last minute packing, we have been working on finishing up our support raising. God has been so faithful to provide so many people with a heart for Alaska. We need to be at 80% of our total monthly goal in order to be able to head up North in a couple of weeks. As of today we are at 75%, so if you have been considering giving but haven't made a commitment yet, now is the time! An extra $200/month would get us to that 80%!

We have been sending out monthly newsletters by email and snail mail for those that prefer that method. If you are not currently receiving our newsletters and would like to, please email me at lindsayhallam@gmail.com and I would be happy to add you to our list.

Our "new" trailer

The next newsletter I send out will be from Alaska! We are so very excited to see what God has planned for our family, thanks for being part of the adventure!

Random Alaska Fact O' the Month: If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only 16 people would be living in Manhattan

What's the Plural of 'Moose'?

Did you know that a moose can dive up to 5 km for food at the bottom of a lake bed? We also found out they can jump a 4 ft fence, so we will be installing a 5 ft fence in our yard! :)

We can't believe that our departure for Alaska is only 5 weeks away!  Lindsay and I just got back from our last trip to Alaska before the move.  It was a good time for us to get things set-up for the big adventure of packing the kids in the car and driving across the country.  Alaska itself was beautiful, with the snow beginning to melt, and the days being significantly longer than when we were there to interview back in November.  The sun set around 10:30 pm every night, and rose right around 6:30 am in the morning.  The extra daylight was good, as the days were packed full of planning, errands, and the logistics of moving.

Also, we got to celebrate Lindsay's birthday while we were up there.  Lindsay resisted my tempting offer of bowling at the local bowling alley, or a movie at the Orca theater, and we ended up celebrating with a cinnamon roll at the local bakery (aptly named 'The Moose is Loose'), and a walk on the frozen beach.

This trip also gave us a chance to get to know some of the staff really well, which was a huge blessing.

Please continue to pray for us as we raise support.  We are right around 60% of our goal, and God has continued to raise up missions-minded folks who are willing to support us.  Support-raising is a very humbling process, and we are so grateful for the people that God has brought into our lives, as well as looking forward to the many other people who we know we will meet in the future with the same passions for reaching the world with the Gospel.

Please also pray for the students as they finish out the semester. Amazing things are continuing to happen on campus. If you want more details about specific prayers and praises please let us know and we will send you our newsletter.

Haven't signed up to be a financial partner yet? Please visit www.alaskacc.edu/giving and click on Give Now! Create an account and put Steve's name in the staff line to give to his faculty position at ACC.

1/2 way there and 2 months to go!

Things are really moving now that we are entering the final stretch of our time here in AZ! I (Lindsay) finished working at Grand Canyon University a week ago so that I can focus fully on support raising/preparing for the move. We are very close to the half way mark, with $2200/month to go. We are completely out of our AZ home, and are currently staying with Steve's parents who have graciously made room for us.

We have been looking at homes in Alaska, which has been interesting to say the least. I don't think we saw one home that did not feature a bear skin on at least one wall! After looking at many homes we finally found one that we feel will be a good fit for our family. It is located in Kenai (about ten minutes from Alaska Christian College.) The most exciting part is that there is a guest room so that we can have friends and family stay with us whenever they can make it up. We would love to have anyone come visit- it's truly a place you have to see to fully appreciate. 

Steve and I have been so humbled and awed by the way that God is moving hearts for the students in AK. We have had many people join our support team and we are very grateful for each and every gift. We ask for your continued prayers for the support raising process. Steve will be speaking at several churches over the next two months trying to gain the rest of the funds we need in order to make the move to AK.

We are still praying about the best way to actually do the move. To rent a U-haul will be very expensive, so we are thinking that we will probably purchase a 17 ft enclosed trailer that we can haul with my truck. That way we could sell the trailer in AK and not lose all of the money on a rental. This would mean that the four of us (plus the dog) would be making the 3800 mile drive together. What an adventure! The only issue with this is that we will have to get rid of about 1/2 of our remaining things to fit them all in that trailer. There is a family that is moving out of AK around the time that we are moving up, so we may be able to purchase some of their furniture. We feel this is the best option and the most responsible use of our resources. We are definitely learning to "hold loosely to the things of this world." :)

I found a great used Expedition to trade my 2-wheel drive in for. It has about 110,000 miles and is completely Alaska-ready (although I have heard Steve and his friends talking about maybe making a special "moose-proof" bumper out of steel pipe. I told him maybe he can try that on his car first, I like my bumper as-is! ;) Noah is especially excited about the "way-far-back" seat in the car.

Steve and I will be traveling to AK the weekend of April 13th to do the home inspection and tour potential schools for the kids, as well as check in with the students at the college. We will post more pictures of the students/school after that trip. Please pray for safe travel.

The president of ACC, Keith Hamilton, will be visiting AZ the following weekend, April 20th. We will have an open house for anyone that would like to drop by and meet him, or hear more about the work going on in Alaska. Please feel free to stop by! I will post more info about time/location as that date gets a bit closer.

1/4 of the way there! Support update and news from the Hallams

We are officially 1/4 of the way to our monthly goal!  I am so excited to see God move, but we still have a ways to go before we are Alaska bound!

Thanks to everyone that has joined our support team! Things are moving quickly here in the Hallam house. We spent this past weekend moving out of our Arizona home. Every time we move I forget just how much work it is! This time was especially difficult because Noah was sick while we were trying to move out, and then I (Lindsay) got strep Sunday night, so Steve had to finish the moving by himself. I am so blessed to have such a hard-working husband!

We are now living with Steve's parents until it is time to head up to Alaska. Currently there are 7 of us staying here until Granny heads back to Missouri next weekend. It is tight, but everyone has been so helpful and supportive! Marsha and Curt have been so kind to let us fill every extra space in their home with all of our daily necessities! We are supposed to be in Alaska by June first, but we cannot make any permanent moving plans until we know that we will be fully funded by June. Which brings me to this next section:

We have had several people  ask us about the giving time-line. We created this flyer to help answer the two most common questions about giving: 

• When should I start giving? 
• What type of giving do you need?

Take a moment to read this through and let us know if you have any questions!

After we finish with all of the moving we will be focusing on support raising again. If we mailed you a support packet with information about what we will be doing in Alaska we will be giving you a call in the next week or two to answer any questions you might have. 

We have set a date for our fundraising lunch, Saturday March 30th at 1pm at the McCormick Ranch Golf Club. They have graciously offered the use of their facilities and staff free of charge! I am working on setting up a way to purchase tickets to the lunch online, so watch for that information soon. Tickets will be $15 to cover the cost of food (which we are getting at-cost from the golf club). We will be sharing more about what we will be doing in Alaska, and presenting the opportunity to join our team if you have not already done so. There will also be donated entertainment and some fun auction activities. 

Steve and I will be heading back up to Alaska mid-April  for a fast weekend of house hunting. It will be great to check in with the students and talk to them about how their semesters are going!  

I think that is all that is going on for now. Please keep praying for the students and staff at ACC,  our family, and the support raising process!

A great giving option you might not be aware of!

We just received a very generous gift from a couple in our church. They gave utilizing an option that some of you may not be aware of. The company where they work offers "Employer Matching" for charitable gifts. Alaska Christian College participates in these Employer Match programs. Many larger companies offer this option, including Shell, Bank of America, Exon, IBM and Intel. The amount of donation the company is willing to match varies, but many are very generous. Intel, for example, will match up to $10,000 per organization per year.

If you are considering joining our support team, it is worthwhile to check to see if your employer participates in this type of program, your giving could be doubled! If you can't set up monthly giving with this type of matching, consider doing a re-occuring annual gift. As long as you let us know that you intend to give some amount (doesn't necessarily have to be the same amount) each year then we are able to count your gift towards our monthly support!

We are so excited to see how God is moving hearts for these Alaskan students. We are extremely grateful for every gift we receive. Thank you for your involvement in these student's lives!