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Hope as defined by the Merriam-Webster's dictionary as

1: to desire with expectation of obtainment

2: to expect with confidence

After discovering what the dictionary said about hope i decided to go to Bible Gateway and look up versus on hope and of course hundreds of versus showed up (174 versus with the word hope to be more exact)  I was reading through a few and i stopped on a reference in Psalm 147: 11 "but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love."  I wanted more, so i read the chapters before and after Psalm 147.  After reading all three chapters, there was no answer for this question that has now plagued my heart.

Lets rewind.

Saturday Scott Kirby came down stairs to tell me a story, one that broke my heart, one that showed me pain in the world, one that showed me the need for this thing called hope.

Now lets put it all together, all my thoughts and ideas.

Based on the Alaska Health & Social Services, The state of Alaska has twice the national average of suicides then the rest of the nation. 2...

I knew this fact coming into serving here in Alaska this Summer but it really didn't hit home until Scott came down stairs to share me an email from a friend in Alaska.  He walked downstairs and i put up my computer for a second to listen to what he was about to read me.  He started off by telling me about this individual and how he was serving in serving in Alaska.  He then started reading this email.  The email stated that there had been another suicide within this small bush village of only 350 individuals.  THREE Suicides within the past few months.  The email went into detail about the scene, not to be overly graphic but to bring the realness of the fact into grasp.  That fact was that suicide is a very real thing in these villages.  That it is affecting the community in which these things happen in.  3...

And as i was doing some research online about suicide rates in Alaska, i found that in the bush villages it is actually double the rate of suicides in the state of Alaska, making bush villages having a rate of four times the national average in suicides. 4

I read these verses in Psalm, and to be honest... i don't know how they could bring these kids and individuals in the villages hope.  When i read them i smiled because i knew that my hope came from the Lord, but in looking at it from an outsiders perspective, it seems that God only wants to bless those who fear and love him.  It seems that God is blessing and bringing peace and joy all over the world except to small communities.  It seems that God is taking care of a people who constantly turn from him yet leaving to rot people who desperately need him.  

I love God, he is becoming more and more my everything.  But these villages and teenagers of Alaska have no hope for the future, they see themselves quite literally having no future and having nothing to live for.  As Scott left my room i just laid there in silence thinking of how to bring hope to these individuals.  How could i build a caring community.  What could i do and how could i make these people see there is something to live for.

My heart aches for these individuals who wake up and think to themselves that there is nothing to live for.  They seem to miss the fact that God longs for them and cares about them, but... how can i share that?  Pray for Alaska, and those that are in these villages.  Pray that community is built and that hope is found.

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