Like all of us, the Christmas story has a background and it begins with our Creator. Join us as Jason French starts at the beginning and helps us understand the significance of this day that was first celebrated by angels in the night sky near Bethlehem and now is celebrated by people from tribes and nations all around the world.

Sophronia’s life from early childhood was marked by anger at being shipped off to boarding school. Then alcohol took over after her mother died. When she ‘found Jesus’, she told everyone how SHE had won over the battle over alcohol, but until she gave Jesus full credit, she discovered that she really wasn’t free.

Paul is a full-blooded Aleut, born in Egegik in 1935. In part 2 of his story, he shares about one of his life’s most difficult moments. He lost his precious daughter Jewell to cancer while she was a college student. We understand though that words cannot describe the pain of losing a child that you have loved and cared for. How does one cope with such a loss? Paul was able to because of the hope and peace he had found before she passed away.

Paul is a full-blooded Aleut, born in Egegik in 1935. Growing up, he lived in the village of Kanatik during the winter. But in the Springtime his family would walk over the mountain and cross the lake called Becharof to go back to Egegik in order to make ends meet. Like this journey, his early life was filled with difficult challenges… but he was an ambitious young man.

Janet continues her story… sharing about how she was strong-willed but came to realize that she couldn’t do everything on her own. She took some formal training and got a job but didn’t like the work. So, she ended up joining the Marines. Years later she found herself in a relationship and pregnant. Against her boyfriends’ wishes she decided to keep her baby. That choice would ultimately change her life forever.

Janet grew up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. In her youth, she was an ambitious and self-reliant young girl who was not afraid to make tough choices. That may be because of growing up in a home with alcohol where she came face to face with fear, neglect, and abuse.

It was a News Years Eve Thomas would never forget. He tried to get drunk but he couldn’t. He tried to get high but he couldn’t. He became a spectator though to those who had. And he was ashamed about what happened in the clubhouse that night. It was there that he decided to turn to God.