I just returned from two glorious weeks in Alaska while ministering to the men and women in the moose and bear hunting camps along the glacier-fed Tananah River drainage 150 miles north of Fairbanks. To get to this area, you have to fly to Fairbanks, Alaska, and drive or fly in with a bush pilot 150 miles north into a dirt airstrip at the edge of town at Manley Hot Springs, with a population possibly of 200. When you get out of your bush plane or vehicle at Manley Hot Springs, believe me, you are definitely beginning the "outback experience." This little Alaskan town is right on the Tananah River and has about five buildings, three of which are inhabited. There is the Manley Lodge where you can get a meal, or a room, or a hot shower. The shower is $3 and $1 for towel rental if you don't have a towel. Then you have the Post Office and store combination, a little school, and a church. The sign on the church reads, "Church Services Sunday 11 a.m. (weather permitting), Get together with other Christians for fellowship and an opportunity to fill the spiritual vacuum in your soul."

After four days in the Moose camp of hunting, fishing and eating around the campfire and watching the Northern Lights, we thought we just might need a hot shower since birds were beginning to swoop down and pick off us growing nesting material for their soon to come, winter nests. So we got in out boat and headed for Manley for our $3 wonderful shower and with glorious thoughts of a "Manley Roadhouse Lodge deluxe hamburger with fries and a Diet Coke. My "turn" finally arrived for the shower and I know it was the best shower I can remember. Then came the long awaited Manley Lodge special deluxe burger with fries and my favorite Diet Coke. After all this decadence and opulence our "wilderness treat" was coming to a close. We then went out and watched the daily mail plane land on the dirt air strip with all the local towns people whose daily routine is to watch who's coming in on the plane and who got what mail that day. As we waited for our boat to pick us up, I noticed a man who had an old pickup truck with the sign of the fish on the side which the early Christians used to identify those of the faith. I walked over to him and noticed a worn Bible sitting on the front seat of his truck with several paper clips marking certain passages of Scripture. I introduced myself and told him what I was doing there and he began telling me his story.

He told me his name was L.L. Vincent and that he owned an auto paint and body shop in Fairbanks and that he had been searching for something to fill the spiritual vacuum in his soul. He said that he felt that possibly the "outback experience" and "location" would fill this void he was feeling deep inside his soul. He therefore drove 150 miles north of Fairbanks, got in a boat and floated out to a place called "Moose Heart Mountain" and built a wilderness cabin in a truly idyllic setting along the Tananah River which eventually merges with the mighty Yukon River.

He further shared with me that he discovered that "location" and the "outback experience" still did not fill this void in his soul. So while at his remote cabin he picked up a Bible and began reading. He discovered as he read that what he had been searching for all along was Jesus Christ. He later came into Manley Hot Springs and found the circuit riding pastor, who visits several of the churches out in the "bush" and gave his heart to Jesus. Now he travels to as many of the outback churches and shares his faith testimony.

Many people in our modern society as they deal with their families, homes, jobs and marriages, experience that "spiritual vacuum " in their souls and are trying everything under the sun to fill the void they feel. From my experiences as a minister of the gospel and a former Army Chaplain, I discovered that this "spiritual void" is only filled by God Almighty through His Son Jesus Christ. The pastors and I always stand ready to assist anyone in explaining the spiritual road to filling this void.