Alicia Mayer » PWOC International Blog

His Light in the Darkness

Dec 302010

Greetings from the Alaska Region,

Tomorrow marks four years that my family and I have lived in Alaska and we all are really enjoying our time here. One of the things I find absolutely amazing here is the dramatic difference between summer and winter. This time of year is the darkest – the least amount of daylight in the northern hemisphere, and here in the Anchorage area that equates to about four hours of daylight. To some this actually causes a physical issue and I can see why. When you can’t see where you are going it is hard to go anywhere, it is easy to focus on how dark it is. The reverse side of this is we are actually gaining sunlight daily now, as much as 5-10 minutes a day. Living in this environment has forced me to have a tangible meaning to what God being the Light of the world really looks like. Psalm 119:105 states “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (NIV).”

We just celebrated Advent; a time of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. A time of preparation for Christ. We spend many hours getting ready for Christmas, telling the story to children, watching the plays, really immersing in what this time of year means, and then it is over. The time after Christmas can be such a let down after the amazing build up it is. The tree is still up and the smells are still in the air but the day has come and gone. Is this actually a dark time for you?

God’s word is the light and the more time we spend in it the more Light we have in our lives. If I turn towards the Son I will not look so much at the darkness. As this season draws to a close we can continue to be immersed in His Light if we choose to be and let the true Light of Christmas continue to shine all year long.

Submitted by Alicia Mayer, Alaska Region President

What's going on in the Alaska Region?

regional review

Dec 022010

Submitted by Alicia Mayer, Alaska Region, President

There are so many great things happening in and around the Alaska Region it will be hard to maintain ‘blog length’ so I will pick one to share!

The most exciting thing happening here in Alaska is growth in Jesus! Our sisters from Ft Greely are becoming active in this ministry and were able, with a lot of support from the Chapel community, to attend the PWOC International Conference for the first time ever! Why is this such a big deal? Aside from having the opportunity to lift up our sisters and for them to be a part of the PWOC ministry, let me tell you a little about Ft Greely, AK. Ft Greely is located in the interior of Alaska, in the winter time they have close to 24 hours of time that the sun barely comes above the horizon. The closest town to them is Delta Junction with a population of about 1000 people…total! To put that in perspective, the 6 ladies that attended the International Conference got to worship our Lord with more ladies than the population of the town they shop in! Can you imagine? They were able to fill their cup to overflowing before returning to Alaska so much so that I received this note from them when they returned,

“Praise God Alicia! After all He did in, through and to us this weekend we were given the most awesome gift of leading a young soldier that was on our last flight to Christ right there in Fairbanks International at the midnight hour!” EXCITING!

We ask for continued prayer for these ladies and their chaplain as they continue to seek God’s guidance to spread the Gospel to a community in our region that could really benefit from the work and heart of PWOC.

Intentionally for Jesus

regional review, Testimonies

Sep 092010

Submitted by Alicia Mayer; AK Region president

Intentional seems to be a word that comes up again and again lately. It sounds good and important but what does it really mean? According to Webster’s dictionary; intentional means “done by intention or design.” Done by design, hmm, design. I love that He, my Lord and Savior, has designed me. That He was intentional about everything about me, including every hair on my head. I want to be intentional for Him as well.

I want to be intentional in my relationship with Him. I want to be intentional in growing the relationships I form with the other ladies called to the board. This means I don’t just hope I run into them, I make a point to contact them. I don’t just want to bump into Jesus at a prayer before dinner; I want to intentionally spend time with Him and get to know Him.

I want to be intentional in this job that He has called me to. That means I can’t just do things by accident. It means I have to have a design, a design He has already laid out. Some might call this a vision. In our region God gave a piece of the vision to all called to the board and when we came together, intentionally for vision, we were able to put it to paper. I want to intentionally walk that vision out for Him. Unless we are intentionally walking it through, that vision does nothing but sit on the paper.

PWOCI has given us a great amount of resources to be intentional. We have a Mission Statement, a Readiness Position Statement and Aims all at our disposal to guide us, but they only work if we are intentional about using them. This year we are to Shine in the Light of His Glory taken from Matt 3:14a “You are the light of the world” A friend pointed out that we are not to be like the light, Jesus says “you ARE the light” (emphasis added), this is intentional.

I am looking forward to a whole year of intentionally being the light Jesus asks me to be, are you?