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contractor licensing politics [21731]

Thursday :: 28 August 2008 :: 01:24 AM
119 days to Christmas!

We lost the contractor licensing battle -- or rather you and your children lost the battle for less regulated affordable housing. In the weeks to come, we will be updating this site to keep you informed on ways you can work toward the goal of smaller civil government.

You may read the articles section to get an idea of the many ways the cost of construction will increase. However, two important areas that will soon impact the cost of construction are that contractor licensing has now paved the way for: 1) Idaho will eliminate the statute that authorizes counties to opt out of building departments and permits -- because building departments and the permitting process are necessary to track contractor activity; and 2) Idaho will now have sales tax on labor and every contractor will become a tax collector and reporter -- this will close one of the major "loopholes" of the sales tax code and will increase the cost of housing at least 2.5 to 5 percent. This may not seem like a big increase in itself, but big government grows by pennies until it strangles you on the dollar. -- God save our nation.

"Government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem." -- Ronald Reagan

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington

Out of one side of the mouth we claim we are for smaller government -- Out of the other, we claim there is an urgent need to create more bureaucracy -- we suppose the civil government can be our savior.

Please read the articles in this website and join our efforts for true smaller government.

Alaska Mission Trip :: Leger Legend No. 67

©by Tom Leger

November 2007

Story time . . . in short novel format

*name changed

Jack* was a moonshine runner on the Yukon River. This is how this Yup'ik Eskimo earned his money. As a bootlegger, he would run the river by boat in summer and in winter when the river froze; he used the snow machine to bring booze up and down to the nearby villages. The winters in Alaska get extremely cold. Sometimes the temperature gets down to minus 70 degrees. When it was that cold, Jack would curl his toes to keep them from freezing to the bottom of his boots. Though he was often shivering, he would continue to push himself in order to punish himself for all the things that he had done wrong in life. He felt he needed to be punished. He would pass a village and say to himself, "I need to stop here, I am so cold.," but then he would tell himself, "No, go on! You need to be punished!" He told us that over the years he had been in prison for 18 months, then 18 months, then 9, then 18. . .

In the Fall of 2006, Dennis Kluver, an older friend of mine from Spokane, WA, asked if I (Tom) would like to accompany him on a mission trip to Alaska for the purpose of teaching The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus book. I relished the opportunity! As we pursued the venture, it seemed that God kept closing the door. But why? We didn’t know. We would wait on God. We would wait for HIS perfect timing.

Early in 2007, GoodSeed published a new book, By This Name (BTN), written by John Cross. This book was written for an animistic audience—people just like the Eskimos. Dennis and I decided that this would be a better choice of materials to teach to the Yup’ik people. We took the GoodSeed TERM training class on teaching BTN in October 2007. Now with this new GoodSeed resource, we were sure that God had postponed our trip for the purpose of having a better tool to clarify the gospel message to the animistic/ shamanistic Eskimos. Many people helped make this trip a reality with finances and prayers.

On November 3, 2007, Dennis and I met in Spokane Airport, where we boarded Alaska Airlines headed for Anchorage, Alaska. From there we flew to a smaller isolated town named Bethel. Hopefully, we would arrive at Russian Mission and the Kako camp later that same day before dark. Kako Retreat Center is a Christian retreat center located 380 miles west of Anchorage on the Yukon-Kuskokwim River deltas. Its main function is for outreach to the Yup'ik and Athabascan Alaskan natives throughout the central area. Though it was early in the morning, we were excited to see what God had in mind for this trip. We arrived in Bethel with our six bags heavy with books and many visual aids. After we gathered our bags and the airline crowd had departed, we were left with only one drunk sleeping on a bench in the cargo pick up area. Where was our ride? Did he remember we were coming today? We had no way of knowing. Our cell phones would not work in these parts of the world.

The drunk awoke about an hour later as we waited for our ride. "Where am I? What time is it?," he blurted out. He staggered over to me. His breath was strong with alcohol and I tried to hold my breath to keep out the foul smell. Again he asked me, "What time is it?" I really didn't want to have this conversation but I did have a watch and so told him the time. He persisted in his reeling movements and wobbly manner, "Where am I?" I mentioned that he was in Bethel, Alaska. He then told of how he was supposed to be in Anchorage. As he talked and sputtered, he then said he wasn't happy. I then asked him for his name. He said "Fred*." He then blurted out for the whole empty room to hear," I am not happy. I am not happy." I asked Fred* why he was not happy as I sat down beside him. He said in a quieted voice, "My daughter died. My son died." My heart sank. I didn't know what to say. I told him that I would not be happy either if my daughter or son had died. This was our introduction to the Yup'ik people.

The Eskimos in this region are called Yup'ik (yuk 'person' + pik 'real'). In 17 of the 68 Yup'ik villages, the Yup'ik language is their first language; there are 10,000 speakers of this language. The Yup'ik culture has been ravaged by alcoholism and the atrocities that come along with it – physical and sexual abuse, suicide, and a people losing sight of who they are as a culture and as humans created in God’s image.

An hour later, we received word that we were to wait at the one pizza shop in town and that the pilot would arrive when he could fly out. Low clouds and fog had held him down and he was hoping for a break in the weather so he could pick us up. He arrived two hours later than expected. We dragged our six pieces of luggage over the icy runway to the 206 Cessna airplane. The white-haired older man with big white "Mickey Mouse boots" asked in a straight-up way, "Can we leave any of this stuff behind?" We told him that we needed all of it. We loaded the plane; some of the large bulky suitcases stuck over into the area of the empty seat. The pilot had hoped to pick up another passenger but would have to forgo it for now.

When we were all belted in, the pilot turned the ignition switch. He said, "That's not good!" (This is one of those phrases that you don't want to hear from certain kinds of people. One is a doctor after he has just completed your physical exam. The other is a pilot about to fly you to a place that is barren and has no services.) The prop would not turn over.

As we removed the airplane nose cowl with the only short stubby screw driver in the plane, we found that the starter engaged the flywheel with the key, but it did not disengage when turned off. We needed a way to disengage the starter in order to try it again. Maybe a hammer would help? We didn't have a hammer. We needed a hammer.

We then discovered that the reason the starter would not disengage was that the battery was dead. The situation went from bad to worse. Now we needed a battery, a 24 volt battery no less. Where were we going to find one of those out here? We prayed and after talking our way past each obstacle, we were able to get all the needed items to fix the plane--the hammer we borrowed from a local man; a bucket turned upside down served as a stool; the battery was borrowed from a friend of the pilot's with the promise to return it on a future run. The new used battery was bigger in size than the old one, so we tried the "bush pilots' tech tip #49." We would tie it in place with a Mickey Mouse shoelace. We hand screwed the cowl together and got back on board. The pilot radioed and received a late-in-the-day departure. Finally, we were in the air.

Flying at 1100 feet of altitude, we could see that the tundra was flat, with not much to look at except the winding of the Yukon River. Ice chunks formed irregular shaped circles as they floated on the river. Finally in the distance, we could see hills and trees. Here the pilot touched down with only two bunny hops for a landing-- a true "bush pilot." You could tell he had landed here many times before. We had arrived before dark! This was to be home for the next week. This was Kako.

The next morning, we had breakfast with the pilot and his wife, Dave and Vera Penz. As we listened in on several of the phone calls that came in during our breakfast together, we could tell that some of those who had planned to attend were now giving excuses why they couldn't come. One didn't have pampers for the baby. Dave assured them they had extra at Kako for the baby to use. The next excuse was that they didn't have a babysitter to watch their children. With each excuse, the director offered a solution to the problem and encouraged them to come. He wanted them to come and hear the message of salvation. He knew that once they arrived, they would enjoy themselves. As each phone call came in, I prayed that the people would not give excuses and that they would somehow come. There was much to be in prayer for here as the enemy of souls was doing his best to discourage these Eskimos from coming to this teaching.

Dave and his son Jonathan flew Sunday and Monday to bring in 20 Eskimos from the outlying villages. Some were 150 miles away at Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay by the Pacific Ocean. Others were only 40-60 miles away at Mountain Village, Russian Mission, Marshall, Napakiak, Pilot Station and Aniak. Each flight was another chance to trust God for the weather-- openings in the sky to take off, to fly, to land, and to have all the mechanical parts on the airplane keep working without failure.

Finally, the time arrived that we could start teaching the Eskimos. Each day we taught for six hours. (Three in the morning, another 1.5 before supper and another 1.5 after supper) We did this for just over three days--about 19 hours in all. We gave a pre-quiz and a final test to see what each had learned. We read the book By This Name (BTN) out loud. Dennis and I alternated reading the main text. I illustrated many critical points by using over 50 visual aids, which enhanced the teaching. We had planned that the people were to help by reading the Bible verses as we came to each of the 1500 Scriptures printed in the text. At first, the camp staff was apprehensive about whether or not the Eskimo students could or would read well enough. How would it go?

At first, only the staff read the Bible verses. After the Eskimos saw how it was done, some tried reading. It was slow at first and spoken softly, but they tried. Soon others joined in. Now it was rolling. Sometimes I would find myself following along with my eyes on each word, because it was so softly spoken. I needed to know when to resume teaching. But they got better and better as we continued throughout the teaching.

There was a desire to hear and learn more of God's Word. They wanted to hear who this "coming Promised Redeemer" was. Soon, we noticed a change as people began reading the scriptures with more emotion in their voices. There were times when even Dennis and I were quite choked up. It was hard to read with the thought of these truths. We wanted to hold an objective stand even though these were exciting truths to us. We would choke back lumps in our throats and wipe our eyes of tears, trying to continue along as if nothing was affecting us. One lady cried as she read John 3:16. Why did she cry? I did not know. Others completed the verse where she had left off.

One of our visual aids involves using several capes to illustrate the relationship between Adam and God in the Garden. Dennis read the story. I was exchanging the capes and halfway through, Dennis really choked up. He couldn't read for 20-30 seconds. He regained his composure and continued. The message of what God had accomplished for him was affecting him as well. As he read about God placing on Adam a cape of righteousness because of what Jesus had done on the cross, we could see the answer to man’s age old problem of not only having a sin debt to be paid but also needing a righteousness equal to God's righteousness.

We continued the story to the conclusion, hoping that it would all make sense for these students. But did it? Did they realize what Christ had accomplished for them on the Cross? Did they place their faith in what Christ had done for each one of them? I gave a 10 question quiz to each student a second time. This time it was to see if they had gained new insight.

Remember Jack*the bootlegger? Well, let me tell you about how he was doing with all this new Biblical information. Before we had started the teaching, I had given each student a pre-lesson Bible quiz to check each student's understanding of what we were about to teach . Question five asked, "If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity?" The answers to choose from were Heaven/ Hell/ or I am not sure. Jack* left that question blank because he said only God knows this. As we taught, Jack* read with more and more enthusiasm. It seemed like he wanted to know this information. If no one else read, Jack* jumped in and read. He read loud for everyone to hear. He would read with a flare and enthusiasm. What did he understand?

Since the afternoons were warmer and the sunlight beckoned the students to get out, we would take a break and go out and do a few projects. It also would give us a break from sitting on the hard, cold folding metal chairs that seemed to dull our senses and numb our legs. Class was dismissed for those few hours.

We often spent the afternoons cutting down standing timber that had died and was dry. This wood was the main source of heat for many of the buildings. We bucked up timber with chain saws into four foot long pieces and dragged it home on a big black plastic sled pulled behind the ATV 4-wheeler. The trail we followed was the matted down area where someone had traveled in the past days between the trees of the forest on the ATVs. We made many new trails to get to areas where we thought there would be good standing timber. Going down to the creek and then back up the other side was always a challenge. Yes, I struggled once trying to get onto the frozen ice on the other side. Though it was shallow, I kept sliding back into the water as the weight of the ATV had a very slow but decisively downward pull to the creek. My boots just wouldn't stick on the wet ice. With my patience tried over and over again, I eventually eked it out of the creek bottom and back on the ice and snow. Whew!

On the last day of teaching, I handed out another test to see what each student had learned. This time Jack* clicked off both Heaven and I am not sure. In response to that answer he wrote, "because I'm not quite a perfect believer." But then he continued and wrote, "On the other hand, I'm supposed to go to heaven because at this point Jesus died for my sins. Heaven it is."

With that I wondered, "Had Jack* just come to a realization of what Christ had done for him? Is he a new creation in Christ?"

That afternoon, Jack went out to cut trees again. I met him out in the woods. He had cut down a few chunks of firewood. I asked him how the teaching had gone for him. He said "Yesterday I was going to hell, but today I am going to heaven." I asked him a few other probing questions. Then I asked, "Have you ever talked with God and told Him "Thank you" for what Jesus did for you on the Cross?"

There we were, standing among the pine trees. As I looked out, I could see that the sky was blue with white clouds floating by. With a red gas can on the ground on one side of Jack* and the chainsaw on the other side, Jack* shot up his hands wide open into the air and looked up into the sky above and talked out loud to God. "Thank You God for Jesus dying on the Cross for me." He continued on with several other thoughts of thanks. He was speaking to God as a friend would speak with another. He had come to realize that Christ had paid the price for his sins. He was a new believer in Christ indeed!

That evening, everyone wanted to sing songs. As we sang, one of the songs included the word "atonement." Jack* piped up and said; "Now I know the meaning of the word 'atonement' in that song." Jack's sins had been atoned for by the blood of Christ.

We read in Isaiah 61:10:

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult In my God for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.

How do you start a fire on Ice?

As a side note, we experienced many answers to your prayers for us. I was in awe of God’s grace that provided for us to travel and teach at Kako. The finances, safety in travel and teaching time all went well in spite of many trials. When it was our time to fly out at the end of our stay, the weather forecast called for a snowstorm and fog that could last for several days. Though we missed our flight time, we left later that same day when the clouds lifted off the runway enough for us to slide out safely. The rest of the people remained there for five more days because they were socked in by the fog. Many didn't leave until the middle of the following week.

We hope we have started a fire on Ice at Kako. We are praying that these Yup’ik Eskimos will continue to grow and spread the message of Christ's salvation to all those that they meet in their villages. Several of the students are carrying on some sort of teaching back in their villages. Pray for them. It is not easy. There are many things that throw cold water on their message. Since our return home from Kako, we have heard several responses to our weeklong teaching of By This Name.

***One lady is rereading the By This Name book to understand the message better. She comes from a religion of works. She asked for more books so she could start teaching four to five ladies from her church about the Gospel message. Her husband is reading the book and enjoying it also.

***One of the camp staff has started teaching two more 20-year-old men using BTN. Pray for their understanding and salvation.

***Another staff member is reaching out to do an AWANA with a local village. He needs our prayers because the local priest in that village is resistant to him teaching in his territory.

***Another lady student and husband desire to teach The LAMB to children in a nearby village. Pray for the salvation of these children.

*** A Yup'ik couple has an itinerant ministry to the nearby villages to Kako. Pray as they travel by snow machine to encourage believers in their faith. They plan to teach from BTN.

Can you feel the heat of that fire starting on ice?

Well, coming back home, Dennis has started another prison teaching in Spokane, WA using BTN. He had 27 inmates show up the first week. He challenged the inmate that if they thought this information was important to hear, then they should bring a friend the next week. They surprised Dennis the following week when 48 inmates walked into the classroom. Pray for Dennis as he teaches By This Name.

For your information, the word "Kako" is Yup'ik for "clay." The camp is located on good Kako clay. Each summer the campers form and fire clay pieces into a variety of shapes. God’s will is to shape each one of us into the likeness of His Son and for His glory. Does God desire to remold and use you? Does HE want you to start a fire on ice somewhere? How about helping out at the Kako summer camp in 2008?

Kako is a non-profit Bible-based organization dependent upon financial gifts for flights, maintenance, outreach, retreats and camp seminars. Perhaps you can help with the financial needs. A scholarship donation of $100 will help send one child to camp at Kako in 2008. Last year 27 kids were turned away and several cried as the plane came and left their village.

There is also a need for volunteers. How can you help? There is a much-needed building project to enlarge the kitchen/dining room. The present building can accommodate about 70 people squeezed together though it is better designed for a group of 35. They would like to service +90 kids/week at summer camp. The plan is to add an extension of 30' on the small kitchen. Perhaps you can help with a hammer. Maybe you can bring a crew and build it for them. The estimated cost for this project is about $40,000.

Summer camp will also need counselors, pilots, kitchen help, maintenance, housekeeping, painting, etc. How can you help them reach out to the Yup'ik children this summer?

Dave & Vera Penz Director
Kako Retreat Center
Box 29
Russian Mission, AK 99657
phone: 907-584-5695
email Dave

I am thanking God for each of you that prayed for us and helped us financially.

Dennis and I want to send each one of you a Warm greeting of fellowship in Christ.

Tom Leger
208-651-6627
email Tom

PS: Some of the exotic things we ate were Seal, Swan Soup, Moose Meat Loaf, Moose Roast, King Salmon, Moose Biscuits & Gravy. . . yumm!

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