August Newsletter

Family Fun
Our New contact info:
August 15, 2011
Volume 10, Issue 2
(Past phone numbers and emails are no longer valid.)
Daryl and Laura Carlson
PO Box 263
Palmer, AK 99645-0263
907-310-9717
[email protected]
Please email us if you wish to receive future
newsletters via email.
Some uncles, aunts,
cousins, and
Grandparents up for
a visit.
Have you been to our website lately?
If so you noticed that there is nothing there.
It is currently being remodeled.
Why?
Privacy!
The word ‘missionary’ has growing negative
connotations in Alaska. Since I am going to be
doing more work with Natives, I want to be
sure that my words are not misunderstood.
This new website will be password protected so
only those on our mailing list will have access.
Someone play
with me…
Praise God for:
-a productive summer.
-partnerships and clear vision.
-opportunities to volunteer in our new church
family.
Ask God for:
Alaska’s version
of a petting
zoo...moose,
caribou, and
bison.
-connections as we start gathering
discipleship materials.
-opportunities for face to face outreach.
-continued health
-wisdom in how to balance opportunities with
family time and Jesus time.
Living Free
Daryl and Laura Carlson serving in Alaska.
A summer of research,
learning, and planning.
A wise man once said that, “life is
like a box of chocolates. You never know
what you are gonna get”.
I spent this summer researching,
learning, and planning how to best use
digital media (internet) to reach people in
Alaska with the good news about Jesus.
Like any good brainstorming time, many
good ideas came to the surface. Some of
those ideas may find expression in the
future. However, at the end of the day you
can’t do everything.
SEND North is partnering with
ChangePoint church to most effectively
reach remote Alaska using digital/web
media.
This is a wonderful partnership and I
want to let ChangePoint tell you all about it.
So please read the letter by Outreach
Pastor, Jim Capaldo.
Thanks for your partnership with
us...God is doing some ground breaking
work in the 49th state.
8/11/2011
works. Daryl’s digital communication skills
are a vital tool for connecting these small and
isolated groups of believers to existing
Alaskan churches who have a collaborative
heart for regional outreach. Surprisingly,
Alaska is in the 95 percentile of states that
provide internet service to their rural
communities which makes Daryl’s digital
communication skills all the more valuable for
Alaskan missionary work.
Let me explain how this is shaping up
and the key role that Daryl is playing in it.
Dear Friend,
My name is Jim Capaldo and I am
the Outreach Pastor at ChangePoint, a
local church in Anchorage, Alaska. I am
writing you because of the partnership that
we mutually share with Daryl Carlson.
Daryl and his family are serving with
SEND International and are strategically
based within the Anchorage metro area. I
trust that this letter will help you celebrate
the unique set of digital communication
skills that Daryl brings to the ongoing
church planting work in Alaska. Quite
honestly, this is cutting edge and exciting!
There are about 100 small and
churchless villages in Alaska. Even though
there are no formal churches, this does not
mean that there are no believers in those
villages. Small groups of believers, in
some Alaskan villages, will occasionally
gather in a home for some degree of Bible
reading and prayer. Usually, there are no
elders, deacons, pastors or equipped
teachers to regularly encourage these
isolated groups towards love and good
As a part of SEND’s partnership with
ChangePoint, Daryl is assisting to build a
prototype for digitally connecting existing
Alaskan churches with isolated groups in
remote Alaskan villages.
This digital
connection allows for an existing church to
digitally upload teaching, discipleship and
worship materials in both written and video
formats. Once these materials are uploaded
then they can be downloaded and
implemented by group leaders in remote
villages through both a website and a smart
phone application. Some groups do not have
any type of teacher and so they could simply
participate by watching a video, engaging in
group discussion questions and responding
with appropriate actions. Other groups have
a teacher who could use videos, teaching
materials and discussions with the actual
teaching pastors of partnering churches to
appropriately contextualize lessons and
equipping for their respective village scenario.
The overarching aim is to economically
facilitate a partnership between existing
churches and remote group leaders that
provides encouragement, guidance and
teaching materials which can then be
contextualized for the host village.
Specifically, Daryl is leading in the
gathering, formatting and digital uploading
of both written and video content which
will then be downloaded and used by
groups in remote villages.
These
teaching,
worship
and
discipleship
materials will be used because of the
meaningful
relationships
developing
between SEND missionaries, partnering
Alaskan church leaders, and the leaders
of remote village groups. Of course, this
will never take the place of a live
relationship between a mentor and a
developing leader but in an Alaskan
context this will circumvent hundreds of
thousands of dollars of bush plane
expenses and make the time between
physical visits very meaningful and
profitable.
Our mutual partnership with Daryl
Carlson is key part of making this
possible. Let me encourage you in our
mutual support of Daryl and his family.
Their skills are necessary and their
Alaskan presence is timely in this ever
developing digital age. Please know that
this is an exciting and paradigm shifting
ministry which will be used by many
Alaskan churches and village believers.
Life in Christ for every Alaskan!
Jim Capaldo
Outreach Pastor
ChangePoint
(907)646-4880
[email protected]