It seems like a lifetime ago that I was in Alaska. Though it turned out to be an experience of a lifetime. My life is changed because of that project and the other lives of men have been changed as well. Men's projects should be more prevalent. I do not think I would have grown as a man of God in the ways I did if it were a typical project with women. I praise God every day for that opportunity I had.
It has been just over two weeks since I returned. I haven't posted the best story from the trip because I had a desire to share it verbally with people. Now that I have had that chance, I figure I would get it written down in a more coherent, more God-glorifying way. I don't think the way I have told it in person has done that last weekend in Denali justice. Beware. This blog is long. But it is in fact very much worth reading both parts. God's power, beauty, and grace is shown through this story. I am splitting it into two blogs with two separate stories of the backpacking trip. At the same time these are the same stories. The story of your life, my life, our lives all packed into one weekend.
My last blog was posted asking for prayer for my trip to Denali. A 5 day, 27 mile excursion. The weather prediction was rain. Rain. Rain. Bear attacks had happened in that general area recently. It was a dangerous trip. But. We are men. and what do men do? Dangerous things. :)
We drove 3-4 hours north to Denali State park. We parked one vehicle at the end of the trail and the other two at the entrance. God blessed our first day and a half with no rain. We quickly began our trek forward into the wilderness. We were full of excitement. Every step we were able to get another glimpse of God's glory. It was truly amazing. We separated into two groups. I was in the faster group of 6. Which is surprising since I had always been in the slower groups or just slower in general.
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| At the beginning of our hikes it was pretty wooded |
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| Soon we got above the treeline. Every step we could see more and more of Alaska Beauty. |
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| Beauty like this river in the other direction. |
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| The trail soon got rocky. |
The trail eventually became all rocks. Then came boulders. It was hard to see where we needed to go at times but we were able to figure it out due to piles of rocks. Those were literally our only markers and indication of a trail for miles. After about 5 or 6 miles we decided to wait up for the rest of the guys. Around 5:30 pm we told one of our guys to go up and over the ridge we were at to see if there was water for an adequate camping spot. He did not return.
Around 5:45 the rest of the group caught up and we decided to go ahead over the ridge. At this point we realized that Mr. Phrenq (his identity being kept "secret") was not with us and still gone. So we quickly made a plan for two of our guys to set up tents while the rest of us went and searched for him. We had three walkie talkies so we went in three groups. We had a time limit for when to be back since it was dangerous for us to be out there. During our search, one of our guys texted a friend back in anchorage to have her pray. Her father is a retired search and rescue hero. She gave us one hour to find him before she would call search and rescue. We did not get back to her so she called. At this point and time we were upset with Phrenq thinking he got off the trail, came back on and thought we were ahead and went off looking for us.
Around 8 pm the helicopter landed. We all then realized this was serious. Phrenq could have fallen, broken something, or just been killed. I have never known anyone very personally who died. I was worried. But the Bible tell us not to worry in Philippians 4:4-7, but to pray. So me and two other men on the project did just that. We prayed for what you'd expect, safety and peace, but also that Phrenq would hear God in this experience. He had previously said that he has not heard God before and doesn't really understand how we hear God. I figured all was in God's hands, so He might as well speak to Phrenq in this way as well. Phrenq also had a cell phone, so a prayer went up for his phone to receive a text seeing if he was okay.
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| A blurry picture, but proof the helicopter did come. |
Five minutes later, we received a text from Phrenq. It was something like "I'm okay. I'm by a highway and river." Almost immediately after we read the text, the helicopter comes out of nowhere and lands. The rescue guys came over and we told them we had contacted Phrenq. One of the rescue guys suddenly got 3G service and started exclaiming "I have 3G! I have 3G!" Which sounds ridiculous, but when you are in the middle of nowhere Alaska, that is pretty amazing. It was a God thing for both of their phones to have service. The rescue guy soon called Phrenq and got a rough idea where he was. It still wasn't easy finding him, but around 12:45 a.m. Phrenq was flown back to us. Safe and sound. Missing a glove and a bear barrel.
Remember those prayers? Many were answered. He came back safe and sound, his cell phone worked and...well. first I need to say this before I go on. Phrenq is not your average cookie. He really enjoys classical music and dislikes modern music. While he was lost, God put the song "Lay Down my Pride" by Jeremy Camp in his head. If Phrenq doesn't like that music, how would that song be put in his head? It was God of course. That song also pointed out that he has been prideful in his ability to lead the group because of his energy. He knew that came from God. So he heard from God, his pride was pointed out, and he was given an appreciation for modern worship music.
Sometimes God has to take us on a side adventure before we are really led back to Him. He sometimes has to take drastic measures for us to realize what He is trying to say to us. It ultimately points us to Himself and helps us realize how much we really need him. We could have lost Phrenq that night. Praise God that we didn't. God is good and there is a purpose for everything, as shown bluntly here.
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