A Christmas Miracle

     Our first year ministering in Pelican Alaska proved to be an eventful year. We had arrived by ferry in the late summer to restart a ministry that had been boarded up for about ten years. The church building was in serious disrepair with plywood nailed over exterior doors, windows covered only with plastic, holes in the floor big enough to fall through, and mold hanging from the ceiling some places as long as two feet. The building, which was to be both church and parsonage, was also lacking running water, electricity, any form of heat, or a sewage line. 

Our first month in town we encountered two witches, one demon possessed man, and many drunks who would wander their way up the hill from the docks to find refuge in what had been a garbage strewn church. Our first week in the parsonage included a visit from a brown bear to our back porch. The battles seemed to pop up daily, but then so did the blessings. This testimony is about one of those many blessings.   

Weather was always a challenge in Pelican, with one year producing over 150” of rain.  That first Christmas season was one of those intense times of continual rain that seemed like it would never stop.  Groceries, supplies, and mail were brought into Pelican by “Wings of Alaska” in float planes that would land in the inlet and then taxi up to the boat docks to unload. Generally they arrived several times a week with mail and supplies. However, when the weather was bad and the inlets were socked in with low clouds and fog, these deliveries were often postponed.    

That year the bad weather seemed to intensify once the calendar turned to December.  A plane made it in with mail and supplies on the first of the month, but beginning with the second it would rain so intensely that deliveries were continually postponed. As Christmas drew nearer, our little fishing village remained socked in and without its Christmas deliveries.

Our three children had put in their Christmas wishes.  Ben, who was eight, requested a very particular Star Wars Lego set. Emily, who was six, asked for a stylish Barbie she had seen advertised. Four-year-old David wanted a sword and shield to fight off “the bad guys”.  Even Betsy had her wants for Christmas. Living as isolated as we did taught her to become an excellent cook.  She discovered many ways to prepare the Salmon, Halibut, Cod and Venison, all of which were a large part of our diet. She also learned to make many of the other necessities such as bread and pasta from scratch. That year she was wanting baking goods to make the traditional Christmas cookies and deserts. My gift wishes were dominated by the hope that the peanut brittle my mother so famously made each Christmas would make its way to Pelican.  

Since the “smaller than a 7/11” type store in Pelican, which was even more unstocked with the lack of supplies the village was receiving, offered little opportunity to acquire these gifts, and since our finances did not leave much room for such indulgences, both Betsy and I went to work making gifts. While Betsy came up with things she could sew for each of the kids, I worked to make toys out of the extra wood I could find. As the poor weather continued and the float planes were unable to get in for what grew to be twenty-one days, it didn't look like even the presents and packages from grandparents would make it by Christmas.  

We had taught the kids for years that Christmas was about the birth of Christ and not about gifts, and it looked like that teaching was going to be put to the test that first year in Pelican. Still, we prayed, asking the Lord to make a way that the float planes could get in.  

On December twenty third the weather cleared and “Wings of Alaska” was able to fly in with supplies.  Deliveries had piled up for the past three weeks so to deliver all of Pelican’s overdue supplies Wings flew nine planes in that day. The entire town was down at the docks helping to unload all the packages and get then to their rightful owners.  Along with packages from grandparents and other family members, we received three medium sized boxes from a church in Haines Alaska. Haines was at the northern end of the inside passage about sixteen hours away by ferry. We had stayed with the pastor on our voyage into Pelican and became acquainted with a number of the members of that congregation.

We would learn later that both pastor and congregation had felt led to send us a “Christmas care package”. Without any communication with us or knowing what our needs might be, they had assembled a number of items in these boxes and shipped them off to us.  It was the contents of those packages that made that one of the more memorable Christmas’ we can remember.  

The packages from grandparents and family were full of great gifts for the children and Betsy and I, helping to fill up the empty spaces under our Christmas tree. I quickly discerned that one of those packages contained the coveted peanut brittle! We opened the first box from the church in Haines that was labeled “open before Christmas”. Seeing the contents, Betsy was the first to squeal for joy. The entire cardboard box was filled with baking goods. Flour, sugar, chocolate chips, etc., everything Betsy had been lacking and wanting. She was busy the rest of the day, cooking and baking all those treats that helped brighten Christmas for the kids. 

The full impact of those boxes from Haines though was not realized until Christmas morning. We had taken the wrapped presents out of the other two cardboard boxes and placed them under the tree, recognizing gifts for each of the kids. Christmas morning the kids first opened Betsy and my gifts, then those from grandparents. Although we did recognized the generosity of the Haines church, we did not expect more than impersonal token gifts for the kids. Therefore, we saved those for last.    

  Our tradition was to open one gift at a time so everyone could see and appreciate it. David being the youngest opened his Haines gift first. I can still see the excitement on his face when he realized he had received a “spiritual warfare set” that included helmet, breast plate, sword, and shield. Precisely what he had asked us for. Emily followed, opening her package to discover the exact Barbie ensemble that she had requested. When it came time for Ben to open his gift, we were by then in no doubt of what he would discover. As he had asked, it contained the very Star Wars Lego set he had wanted.   

What the loving members of the Haines church had no way of knowing; the Lord had guided them to accomplish. The exactness of the gifts was such a testimony of the Lord’s loving care for each of us.  We had through the years learned to trust the Lord “to supply all our needs”.  That Christmas, we learned that we could also trust Him to provider the “desires of our hearts”.