Please hold sanctioned camping task force in prayer

My beloved siblings in Christ Jesus,

Many of you have told me you’ve seen me on the evening news a couple times in the last week or two. For over a month, I have been serving on the Anchorage Assembly’s Sanctioned Camping Task Force as our community struggles to find approaches to come alongside our houseless neighbors in compassionate and constructive ways.

At last week’s Assembly Meeting, there was bipartisan support (and approval!) for our task force proposal to create a sanctioned camping area while other folks are working on more long-term permanent housing solutions.

Our task force still has much work to do, and we will continue meeting in the weeks ahead until we deliver our final recommendations to the Assembly in July. In the meantime, please, continue to hold us in prayer as we go about this work. If you have thoughts you would like to share regarding sanctioned camping or homelessness in Anchorage, I would love the chance to visit with you.

For now, it appears we are going forward with one pilot site in which a temporary shelter system (https://palletshelter.com) will be purchased and used.

Many of you might remember my dream of the church constructing tiny homes, much like these fabricated shelters, in the parking lot that could then be picked up and moved to just such a site. This dream may be coming closer to reality in the days ahead. I’ll keep you apprised if the municipality will allow for such structures to be built and used for temporarily housing homeless persons in Anchorage.

Thank you for holding our houseless neighbors in prayer. Thank you for holding our task force in prayer, and thank you for holding the Anchorage Assembly and Mayoral Administration in prayer. May we all continue to work for the good of all, compelled by Christ’s love.

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Andy