The 74-year-old Herman and 22 other Alaskans were honored with a ceremony at Fort Richardson on October 18 - Alaska Day - when Major General Craig Campbell handed out discharge certificates that added five years of military service to Herman's record.

While serving from 1942-47 during World War II, Herman and others patrolled more than 5,200 miles of coastline for the Alaska Territorial Guard. Known as the "Eskimo Scouts," they received no pay for their efforts, according to the Alaska National Guard. And since Alaska was not yet a state, Herman's service inexplicably didn't count towards military benefits after the Alaska Territorial Guard was disbanded.

Eventually, Herman and others got their service recognized through the Alaska Department of Military and Veteran Affairs and were approved at both the state and federal levels. A special projects coordinator with the Alaska National Guard, Bob Goodman researched the information that helped Herman and others receive the recognition they had been denied for so long. Sadly, there are only 300 survivors from that special group that were recognized with added military service tenure.

Herman served 17 years with the Alaska National Guard and his added five years give him more than the 20 years needed to earn added financial benefits.

Another parishioner, Leo Thompson, was a World War II veteran, performing admirably in the world-renown Battle of the Bulge. The Alaska Daily News recently wrote about Thompson and other surviving Alaskans who participated in that battle.

Following are additional news items gleaned from the more than 250 postal and email newsletters from Covenant congregations throughout North America that are received each month by Covenant Communications. Information is organized by conference and region.

CENTRAL

• Crest Hill, Illinois: Two parishioners at Church of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Covenant Church were honored recently. Bob Sterling was presented the Community Service Award by the area's Christian Youth Center at its annual dinner and teacher Rich Koefoed was listed in the 8th Edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. Koefoed is a teacher at Rosa L. Parks School. He was nominated by a former student as someone who had shaped that student's achievements.
• Elgin, Illinois: A Pumpkin Patch fundraiser at Country Covenant Church this fall raised about $1,000 for the HELP ministry of the Central Conference, said pastor David Trosper. An additional $11,000 was raised to reduce the loan on the land that the church purchased last year. Lynn and Betty Landmeier were primary catalysts for this venture, although Trosper said that many volunteers made this event possible.
• Mt. Prospect, Illinois: Jo Anne Lightfoot of Northwest Covenant Church Won first prize in the Chicago Tribune cookie baking contest with a recipe she received from a relative she visited in Sweden this summer. The cookie is called Sirapskakor and was published in the Chicago Tribune on December 1 in the Food Section under Sweet Expressions.
• Bettendorf, Iowa: Riversong Evangelical Covenant Church recently had more than 102 worshipers at an October 31 grand opening service, said church planting pastor Darin Youngs, who added that outreach to non-Christians has been an exciting part of the process. The congregation meets at a local middle school in the Quad Cities, which has a population of more than 400,000 – bordering on two states – located three hours west of Chicago on the Mississippi River. Two Moline, Illinois, Covenant congregations have helped support the Iowa church as part of the Central Conference's western Illinois district. More about the new congregation can be found at www.riversongchurch.org.

ECCAK

• Nome, Alaska: KICY radio personality and former Covenant pastor Fred Savok has written Jesus and the Eskimo, a definitive work in the coming of Christianity to Northwest Alaska that is being published by HLC Publishing in Fairbanks. "This wonderful book is not only a living demonstration of a family seeking the light of God, it is also a powerful example of how a story shared with others can have such dynamic and lasting influence," says Rev. Harry Fiskeaux, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Nome, Alaska. "The Savok family not only received Jesus Christ as the light of the world, they have become the ones through the light so beautifully and faithfully shines upon others who are still walking in darkness..." For a preview of the book, visit www.greatalaskastuff.com and select the Alaska books link.

MIDWEST

• El Dorado, Kansas: Hope Covenant Church, under pastor Brian Johnson, has had weekly worship services since September with a worship attendance currently at about 90. A recent service attracted 108 people, the pastor added. El Dorado is a town of 14,000 located 25 miles north of Wichita in southeast Kansas. The new congregation had started preview services last summer after Brian and his wife, Cheryl, had moved into the region in October 2003. Covenant churches from McPherson, Lindsborg, Clay Center, Leonardville, Clyde and Wichita have been helpful in assisting Hope Covenant. Two others, Brookwood Covenant in Topeka and Stotler Evangelical Covenant in Osage City, have also aided the church plant. Johnson - who had planted a church in Rockford, Minnesota - has been pleasantly surprised by the diversity of its attendees, including many who have recently moved into the area. More about the congregation can be found by emailing Johnson at bcjohn@usfamily.net.

NORTH PACIFIC

• Gresham, Oregon: Powell Valley Covenant Church has been ministering to Ukrainians at a local congregation and hopes to travel to Ukraine for a summer mission trip in June. The two churches have been working together to build a lasting English as a Second Language (ESL) outreach to the local community in Oregon as Powell Valley Covenant would supply the teachers and the Ukrainian congregation would supply the students. The two churches have already coordinated outreach events and relationship-building events together. Said Monte Edwards, mission commission chair at Powell Valley Covenant, the experience has opened him to different worship styles and music and challenged him. "Truly, the world has come to us, our next-door neighbors, right down the street and around the corner," he said. "The opportunity for magnificent inter-cultural ministry within our own community is all around us."
• Portland, Oregon: Vibrant Covenant Church held its first weekly Sunday worship service on December 5. The "sending" church is First Covenant Church of Portland. The congregation has benefited from area C-groups, which meet at local homes throughout the neighborhood near where the church worships, said C.V. Hartline, who serves as church planter and has the title of designer/narrator of the congregation.

NORTHWEST

• Excelsior, Minnesota: Casey Haarstad of Excelsior Covenant Church was invited to have dinner at the governor's mansion in October by first lady Mary Pawlenty – it is an annual event in Minnesota to honor notable women in the state. Haarstad was identified because of her film making skills and recently collaborated with four others on a poster that was displayed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a fall exhibit.
• Hastings, Minnesota: Emmaus Road Church, a church plant helped by CrossRoads Church (a Covenant congregation in Cottage Grove), hosted its second worship gathering on November 19 and had 83 in attendance. The congregation, under pastor David Hugare, hosted a Christmas Eve service at Guardian Angels Community and Arts Center and began weekly worship services on January 2. More about the church can be found by calling Hugare at 651-216-9989.
• Red Wing, Minnesota: First Covenant Church recently took a mission trip to Covenant Mountain Mission near Jonesville, Virginia, helping the camp with refurbishing efforts.
• Brandon, South Dakota: Living Springs Covenant Church recently held a 40 Days of Community Food Drive with a number of people of all ages getting involved in helping Minnehaha County. Said Diane Drefs in a newsletter article, "Our goal was to feed the hungry in Minnehaha County for one week – that's 6,164 pounds of food – and to date we've raised 5,451 pounds. We believe we'll be over our goal when all of the food comes in.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST

• Brentwood, California: Along with serving as church planting pastor at River's Edge Covenant Church, Peter Foster and his wife Betsy coaches the Liberty High School boys cross country team. Coach Foster's team earned a second-place finish at the North Coast Section championships in the Division I race and later placed 21st at the California State Cross Country Championships in Fresno.
• Fremont, California: Aleese Moore-Orbih and eight other members of South Bay Community Church traveled to the central African village of Chikwina Mpamba recently, donating dental supplies, toys and baby scales for the village. The effort is a continuation of a partnership that has been in existence for more than a decade, according to a recent conference newsletter report. Moore-Orbih (who also serves with Women Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church) and senior pastor Stanley Long have made connections with World Vision and has aided the village as it battles the AIDS epidemic. "We wanted to do something that focused on poverty in Africa, on children and on battling the AIDS epidemic that is causing so many children to be orphaned in that part of the world," stated Moore-Orbih on how the partnership began. "I found that World Vision was heavily involved in battling the AIDS epidemic in the township of Chikwina Mpaba located in the country of Malawi." Through World Vision, South Bay Community Church financially "adopted" 100 children as individuals (usually church members) committed to making continuous payments of $30 a month for each child. The church also was able to send a significant cash gift to the village as well – those monies allowed the village to purchase bricks and cement to build washing tubs to wash tubes that are used to process cassava into flour for food. It is more efficient and prevents illnesses related to untreated water.
• Redwood City, California: Peninsula Covenant Church's Covenant Psychological Services has ministered to its community and to other pastors for more than two decades and has been asked by the Covenant's Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) grant representatives to help lead revisioning retreats in the western half of the United States. The retreats would help pastors build lifestyles of renewal spiritually while assisting them in marriage enrichment and boundary setting as it pertains to their counseling work. Staff members currently working for Covenant Psychological Services include Dr. Royce Garvin, Darrah Garvin and Susan Fabbro.
• Turlock, California: Paul Springer, former pastor at the Community Covenant Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, was recently called as Chaplain at the Emmanuel Medical Center, a Covenant-sponsored facility in central California.

ELSEWHERE

• Asia: Regional coordinator David Dolan recently reported that a group of volunteers have helped run a valuable English/Computer Training Center, benefiting the lives of many in a northwest city of China. There are six American teachers in that area.
• Mexico City, Mexico: Dave and Wendy Mark, who are the Covenant's Department of World Mission coordinators for the Latin America region, wrote an email update about their ministries recently. "Wendy and I had a great time in Quito and La Merced (the town near Quito where CBC/Ecuador has its beautiful new campus). We always enjoy getting 'caught up' with the mission staff. They are a hard-working, committed bunch but also great fun to be with," David wrote. In Quito and Guayaquil, David taught an intensive course to train tutors in the use of some Bible courses that will be administered by the Covenant Seminary of Ecuador in the future. Classes met for four hours a day over the course of a week. Tutors were trained in the use of two courses, one on the Psalms and another on the book of Acts. David later headed to Brazil to begin the process of exploring a future Covenant mission site there. Wainer Guimares, the pastor of the Bridge Covenant Church in Riverbank, California, is from Brazil and has considered being a Project Missionary to Brazil, along with his wife, Magui. "There are wonderful possibilities for joining with Brazilian Christians to move forward with a creative ministry that combines both social service and evangelism in the 'favelas' (barrios of Brazil's urban poor)," David continued. "I really fell in love with the Brazilian people. I found them to be exuberant, warm and gracious and unabashedly free with their emotions." David and Wendy Mark can be reached by postal mail at El Rosal 14 Casa 12 Chimalcoyotl, Tlalpan, 14630 MEXICO D.F., MEXICO
• La Coruna, Spain: Covenant missionary Roberto Reed writes about his congregation that "our church is experiencing growth. The children´s ministry is literally bulging at the seams. That is good news, as well as a challenge. In all areas we need to look at either larger space or a second service. A strong Alpha class has brought some to the church and has given Jesus Christ to a woman named Nieves, who has been the cook for Alpha this fall. Alpha classes ended December 8 with an international festival. The classes have already had an impact as 112 participated in worship during a November service, the church's largest attendance yet."