Angels above in Nikiski

Nikiski Alaska is a small town on the northwestern shore of the Kenei Peninsula.  I had been serving as youth pastor at a church in San Diego County for three years when the Lord connected me with the pastor of a church in Nikiski. Mike Curtis had been pastoring there for over a year when he sensed the Lord calling him to bring in a youth pastor to minister to not only the numerous teens in his church, but also to reach out to the many teens in the local high school.  Mike was half Athabascan Indian and half Upic Eskimo, but more importantly, he was one hundred percent a man of God. He would spend many years of his life in the Arctic north powerfully sharing the gospel with both Indian and Eskimo villages. After one conversation on the phone, Mike and I became close friends, praying partners, and brothers in Christ.

After three years ministering in San Diego County, we boarded a plane back to Alaska, making our way south from Anchorage to the Kenei Peninsula and the little community of Nikiski. We moved into a small single wide trailer just behind the church and anxiously looked forward to the opportunity to share Christ with the young people of the Kenei Peninsula.  On our first night in Nikiski, after attending a get together with our new church body, I walked over to the church to sit down with Mike and get to know him, and to learn exactly what my job description was. His response to my inquiry of what he expected of me as youth pastor pretty much told me what I needed to know about Mike.  

Sitting in Mike’s study that night, I asked him “what do you expect of me regarding my time and efforts as youth pastor”.  Mike, with his customary smile that seemed to always grace his face, sat back in his rolling office chair and fingered his chin.  I could see he was seriously considering my question.  After a silent pause that made me think maybe I had asked the wrong question, Mike confidently replied, “spend time in prayer and in the Word of God, the rest will take care of itself”. To say I was overwhelmed by Mike’s response would be an understatement. I would come to learn that this was Mike’s approach to ministry. To pray, study, seek the Lord, and then allow the Holy Spirit to guide in whatever direction He would have you go. In the coming years, I was a continual witness to the transforming power of Mike’s approach to ministry as he shared the love of Christ and the powerful leading of the Holy Spirit with people every day.

Only a block away from the church was the local junior/senior high school campus, a large indoor complex built to accommodate the always cold Alaska winters. It was the spring of the year when we first arrived in Nikiski, so the school year was still in session. First chance I had, I went over to the campus to introduce myself to the principal and other campus leaders.  Because of my experiences dealing with the leadership and faculty of other school campuses, I was prepared for the red tape and restriction that usually came when a minister requested access to their students. 

I was ushered into the office of principal Koivisto, a large man with a friendly and welcoming face.  Pointing to a chair in front of his desk, he warmly welcomed me to the Kenai peninsula and his junior and senior high campus. After the normal first meeting pleasantries, Mr. Koivisto got right down to business by asking me “what can I do for you today Pastor Mehaffey”. On previous campuses I had to tread lightly with a question like this. One principal I had met with in San Diego quickly informed me that I could come on his campus if I always first checked in with him, and then never used the words, church, Jesus or God while visiting with students. (I was never very good at obeying these rules, choosing to obey God rather than man.)   

I was praying for open doors into this campus and at Principal Koivisto’s question I decided to put it all out on the table. Sitting forward in my chair and placing my arms upon his desk, I replied “Mr. Koivisto, I am here to turn your campus upside down for Jesus Christ”. I then sat back awaiting the expected opposition and list of restrictions. Principle Koivisto rocked back in his chair and intertwined his fingers in front of him as if seriously considering my statement. After what seemed an extremely long pause, he leaned forward, elbows on desk, fists clenched, and with such sincerity and intensity that I knew he meant what he said, he said “Do it Larry, Do it”.   

This was the beginning of what proved to be the most open door into any school campus I have ever experienced.  They would regularly call me to substitute for various classes. I became an assistant coach on the junior varsity football team. They granted my request to use the gymnasium one night a week to share the gospel with teens who had come to play basketball, volleyball and other sports.  I could come and go on campus with essentially no restrictions. Teachers and other faculty leadership would often call upon me to fulfill special tasks.

One of those special tasks came that first year at the request of a woman who taught both English and drama. Her name was Mrs. Jones.  She had scheduled a “lip sync” night where teens would act out the words of a song as it was played over the sound system. The school boasted a beautiful new and fully equipped theater that seated around five hundred people. The event was scheduled as an evening of entertainment and many teens responded to the opportunity to “lip sync” some of their favorite songs.

When Mrs. Jones approached me that afternoon, it was clear she was very disturbed. She told me that the response to her invitation to “lip sync” was overwhelming. She would have no problem filling the many slots of the program. The problem she was stressing over was controlling the content of what these teens wanted to perform.  

It appeared that many of the students had chosen songs that she considered inappropriate for such a public showing.  As I had already learned over the months that I had been on campus, Mrs. Jones was a Christian.  She was more than concerned that the spirit of the evening would turn to darkness and ugliness. Because she had made no stipulations as to what was and what was not appropriate, she felt her hands were tied in censoring any of the acts. 

As we spoke, she revealed that her purpose in contacting me regarding the lip sync was not to find a way out of it, but to make it more positive. She desperately asked me “pastor Larry, can you organize a Christian act that would be a positive message to counter the many negative songs that would be performed that night”.  Considering how this might be accomplished, I responded with “if I do organize a Christian act for the lip sync, you understand that it will be really Christian, no watering down or compromising of the gospel message”.  As had Mr. Koivisto in our initial conversation, Mrs. Jones smiled at me and said “Do it”.   

Over the next several weeks we first chose and then rehearsed the song that our teens would perform. I was able to enlist around fifteen teen agers to participate in our act. Betsy was experienced in drama and was able to organize the numerous teens into the appropriate roles.  We chose the song “The Champion” by Carman, a song that depicts “the fight of the ages” between the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan. Characters in the skit included Jesus and God the Father, angels and demons, Pharoh, Napoleon, Hitler, and Al Capone, each posing and dressing in ways that would identify them with their character. The song gradually builds in an increasing intensity as Jesus Christ after being knocked to the ground by Satan, then arrises in victory to defeat the prince of darkness. In the closing scene, with music swelling and strobe lights flashing, Jesus stands hand in hand with the heavenly Father in triumphant victory.  It powerfully conveys an open and bold testimony of salvation in Jesus Christ.

The night of the lip sync proved to be a bigger event in the community than any of us had anticipated. When it came time for the entertainment to start, there was standing room only, and there were many standing. The first couple songs went fine. Although the messages of these songs were not particularly inspiring, they were also not particularly offensive.  About four songs into the schedule, it became clear that those who were running the sound and special effect booth were beginning to have problems.  The sound levels began to fluctuate and the lighting became repeatedly mixed up. It was clear they were having technical difficulties. Knowing our skit was nearing its presentation time, I became concerned, even nervous. What a great opportunity to share the gospel with over five hundred people from our small Alaskan community. I did not want things to go wrong for our skit as they had for the previous four or five acts.  Sitting in the audience, I began to pray with increased intensely.   

Betsy and I were sitting in the audience about fifteen rows back from the front.  The lighting in the skit just before ours was particularly erratic. I began to fear that our skit would experience the same chaos.  As that skit came to a conclusion, I was praying frantically with my head bowed. They had closed the curtain in preparation for our teen’s performance of “The Champion”. At this time, I looked up, still full of anxiety over our coming “ministry”. As I looked up at the stage, I found myself looking at an angel. He was in the valance just above the main curtain, poised in a sort of reclining position. A great smile spanned his face as he looked directly into my eyes. With a slight nod of his head, I knew he was saying that he had everything under control, I need not worry!  My astonishment left me speechless. I began tapping Betsy’s hand which was on the partition between our seats. When she turned her head to see what my alarm was, I could only point and hoarsely say “angel”.                

As the teens began to fill the stage and the music grew louder and more intense, it seemed as if the music, the actors, the lighting, all were being orchestrated by a heavenly hand. The skit went off perfectly. As the music swelled to make the final pronouncement of Jesus’ victory, the audience sat spellbound, not making even a peep. When Jesus and the Father joined hands, unitedly lifting their hands in victory just as a referee raises the hand of the winning boxer, the lights strobed back and forth across the stage and the music triumphantly proclaimed “and Jesus is the Champion!” 

What happened next I have rehearsed and rehearsed over and over in my mind for many years now. Beginning with the front row, the audience leapt to its feet, clapping, shouting, and raising hands. That “wave” moved from the front of the theater to the back, as eventually the entire audiance was on their feet clapping and celebrating the victory of Jesus Christ over the works of the Devil. That ovation lasted several minutes.  It was the only act that night to receive such an ovation.   

Over the next few months, we continued to hear positive responses from the community regarding the skit and its message. A local radio station asked us to put together a dramatic presentation for their broadcast. The community leaders in the town of Kenai about fifteen miles away invited our youth program to help out at an evening show that brought in several famous “oldie” performers.  Evidence continued to surface that as Mrs. Jones had desired, the night of the lip sync was not a night of darkness and gloom, but a spiritually edifying night that continued to have an impact on our community.

As the angel had assured me, the Lord was in control. Scripture reminds us we had no reason to be anxious, only to trust in the Lord.  That night was another of the many lessons we have experienced throughout the years teaching us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). Sometimes He sends angels to help us walk in that peace!

For “The Champion”   By Carman click Here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfHfTKdYwvY