Hello Fall - Nov 2017 Sitka YL update

Fall is a busy time with ministry, Alaska All state, and our annual Sitka Young Life Banquet

One of our favorite parts of doing Young Life ministry is that it affects families as well as students.  Here is a quote from a conversation with a parent this past month:

 "I want to thank you for the interest that you took in my Jon.  Jonathan needed something in his life when you took him under your wing. I'm listing the positives that I have seen in Jon since his association with you and your group.  He has become a happier person with himself and with his family.  He is not so critical of  our family and has become open with his brother and sister.  He is more tolerant of people and empathetic toward people who need our help. At first  I wasn't sure about the religious association, but it has seemed to help him. His new found faith of God has given him confidence to go out on his own and try to make the right decisions on his own.  He is now becoming the person he wants to be and the person I want him to be too. He is more complete. Thank you again."

WITH KIDS: This year we have 120 kids regularly participating in club with with 15 leaders in our middle school and high school groups.  We regularly have 20 leaders meeting with 60 kids in small group campaigner Bible studies.  Our leaders work to develop relationships with kids through these weekly events to build connections and share life and the Gospel message with kids.

ALL STATE CONFERENCE: At the end of September we took 17 leaders to the all- Alaska Young Life conference. We got a chance to connect with more than 200 Young Life Staff and volunteers from around Alaska and had an incredible time of worship, training and encouragement. One big area of growth this year was seeing all the people from rural villages that attended the conference. Aaron had a chance to meet and discuss ministry in rural villages with leaders from 7 different rural  communities from around the state.

SITKA BANQUET- October 23rd was a great evening of sharing about Sitka Young Life with our community.  Our speaker Kent Williams started the evening sharing that Young Life elevates Jesus and his love through relationships. We also had a chance to  hear from past and present leaders and kids about how this ministry of Young Life has impacted people in Sitka and around the state for the past 20 years. A big thank you to everyone who made this year's YL Banquet a success!!

Thank you for your prayer and support of ministry in Sitka...

Chris & Aaron

Great JAM

What girls said that they learned from the Jesus And Me weekend-

"...how important God is in my life."

"...that if I keep seeking God, he will find me."

"...that God has a plan for us."

"...I was amazed and my eyes were opened."

"...I continually need to remind myself of how worthy I am."

Thanks for supporting the leaders and kids in this discipleship weekend. 

JAM 2017

2016 JAM

This weekend Sitka Young Life will once again be partnering with local churches to host a high school girls discipleship weekend called J.A.M.  - Jesus And Me.  Girls will be covering topics such as prayer and devotional life, navigating social media, dating and relationships, and how to grow in their relationship with Christ. One of our goals is to put on this event free of charge for the students.  If you would like make a donation to our campership fund- click here  Please remember our girls and leaders in your prayers this weekend.

Who turns away volunteers?

Why do thousands of young people give up a month of their summer to go volunteer long days in a place far from home?   This summer I had a chance to work with kids who did just that. Highschoolers & college students from across the country left their homes, jobs, and friends to serve at Young Life camps.  Click here to find out why Young Life literally has waiting lists of young people wanting to volunteer.

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Young Life camps promise to give campers the best week of their lives and have strategically designed all of their summer camps to be 5 star resorts for teens.  Kids at Young Life camp stay in deluxe accommodations, are served delicious food by wait staff, are catered to through a variety activities, and get a chance to hear about Jesus.  The high standards of excellence at Young Life camp require a large staff to attend to all the details.  In order to keep camp affordable for kids, Young Life depends on an army of volunteers  to keep things running. At Washington Family Ranch Creekside, the camp where the Routons and Vorons served, there were over 100 volunteering for the month.. The volunteers comprised of 44 highschoolers (work crew), 42 college students (summer staff), and 15 people post college age serving on assignment team.

Large numbers of these volunteers came to faith through Young Life or had powerful experiences in Young Life, which helped them to grow in their faith. Coming to Creekside this summer showed how these people desired to growing in their faith more than making money or hanging out with friends and family.  

This summer I served on assignment team, as a work crew boss, overseeing highschoolers.  Work crew is broken into smaller teams and they do things like: wash dishes, clean bathrooms, do laundry, landscape, and serve meals. Summer staffers, or the college age students, prepare the food, serve as life guards, facilitate the high ropes course, lead camp games and activities, and much more. These volunteer leaders come to camp to serve but leave camp changed as they are pushed to the end of their natural strength and then have to depend on God. 

In addition to serving campers, volunteers meet together in small groups for devotions and sharing times, meet one-on-one with mentors, and came together for worship services.  Everyday we all had a chance to read the Bible and journal and have a personal devotional time with God.  

This summer we had 6 former MEHS or SHS students serve at YL camps.  

Here is a little from their experiences: 

"After working at camp I am free to feel emotions again." - Dolena Fox from Kipnuk, AK.  Growing up in a small village Dolena experienced grief and loss at an early age and admitted that the tragedies left her just feeling numb. God worked in Dolena while she was serving and helped bring a healing to her where she can now feel emotions again. "Even if they are unpleasant emotions, it is still good to be able to feel them again."  This fall Dolena plans to go on to YL staff in Bethel, where she lives now with her family. 

I had a chance to work along side of Isaiah from Savoonga and Shawn from Quihhagak. It was truly awesome to watch and see as Isaiah's whole demeanor and countenance change as God freed him from shame and anger.  After camp Shawn summed up his experience at camp into one sentence.  "It was amazing experiencing God at camp, along with everyone who loved God," He said "it was not only great, but was one of the best experiences I have ever had."

If you ever have a chance to go experience a Young Life camp,- Jump On It!

The best week of your life!

A highlight every year is being able to take kids to camp and this year Sitka Young Life had a chance to travel to Washington Family Ranch for high school camp from June 16-24th. We took 30 students and leaders from Sitka to central Oregon where we were able to experience camp with 110 other kids from around Alaska and another 300 from around the Northwest. It is a challenge to summarize a week at Young Life camp.  It was a week of friendship, adventure, spiritual growth, laughter, and sunscreen. Young Life camp included messy games, lots of singing and clapping, ziplines, new friends, group bonding, and the feeling you get when you finally understand how important you are to God. For more pictures, videos, stories and quotes from kids- click here!

This year we had the privilege of going to Washington Family Ranch Canyon with 8 other groups from Alaska. After a 3 hour flight and 8 hour bus ride (traveling with the groups from Ketchikan and Juneau- we arrived as the very first campers of the season.  Here are some videos that describe our experiences: the week overview, rides and free time, county fair, messy games, pool Olympics, and  cabin games

Throughout the week, kids really bonded with each other and their leaders during the various activities and as they debriefed as a cabin about what the speaker shared.  At the end of our week we had many kids step forward to say that they want to walk closer with God.

As we left camp, the kids didn't want camp to end.  Thankfully for them, on our way to the airport, one of our bus tires blew and it caused us to miss our flight back to Sitka... and so we did have one more night together. It ended up being a wonderful experience where we had a chance to take the train downtown and experience Seattle, ride the ferris wheel, as well as have a late night Denny's run, before we finally returned to the airport to sleep in a side hall on the ticketing floor.

Overall, kids felt loved and grew in their faith.  Leader were rejuvenated in an exhausting sort of way.  The below statements are from the kids themselves. Thanks again for partnering with us. This is what it is all about:

  "Throughout this week I have learned that God is there no matter what and before I came here I barely trusted God.  This week has changed my relationship with God "

"This week really opened up a new way of seeing God for me."

"This week at camp has changed my life. Yes, my relationship with God has gotten stronger. I have confessed to Jesus that he is my God and Savior."

"I loved that I could just be myself and not have to worry about what anyone else thought of me. I got everything off my shoulders this week. I realized that I'm not going to be a lone and that Jesus is with me the whole way. I'm so grateful I got the chance to come to this camp."

"This week brought me close to God more than I've ever been."

"This week I think was a re-connection with God for me. I didn't think that God loved me as much as He does and I find that amazing! This will be a big part of my story and I can't wait to tell others like me when I'm a leader someday."

"This week was important for me because I learned that I need to be open and vulnerable with people and with God. This completely changed my relationship with him."

This week to me was learning and growing in God and in my relationships. I just love the care that the Lord and the leaders gave me. I have learned to forgive and to love and care more. I have always loved God but this week I feel brought a new understanding of God for me."

Young Life Camping

Young Life summer camps are truly the best camps in the world for kids.  We take kids to pristine settings, away from distractions, and provide kids with an opportunity to hear about Jesus in a way that they understand. This summer we will be taking 40 kids to Washington Family Ranch in Oregon for "the best week of their lives." To help contribute to our camper scholarship fund and to see more about summer camp click here.   You can also read about the two amazing camping trips we took this last spring by visiting our blog at http://ylsitka.blogspot.com/

Young Life summer camp is really hard to describe and so we have attached a video that shows each of the camps we will be attending.  At each camp there are hundreds of volunteers who work behind the scenes to make sure that kids have the best week of their lives with their Young Life leaders and friends.   

This year we have around 80% of our students that need some type of scholarship support in order to go to camp. To help make camp happen for our middle school and high school kids from Sitka and around the state of Alaska - click the link below!  When directed: please select gift designation to a Young Life Ministry, click "Area Number" and type AK23 (no spaces), and finally & select "camp scholarship." Donate here - Sending Kids to Camp! 

The middle school camp we are going to from June 30-July 5th is called "Creekside" and is designed as a waterpark!

 The high school camp is called "Canyon" and has a high ropes course, basketball courts, rock climbing, mountain biking, go carts, a pool, and much more. We'll heading to this camp with our high school group from June 16th to June 23rd. 

2017 Spring Camping Trips 

   

This past month we had a chance to take 2 camping trips, (a guys trip and a girls trip) to a beautiful cabin 5 miles north of town.  Each weekend had beautiful weather and students had the opportunity study the Bible with their peers, to see northern lights, go swimming, go kayaking, make meals, and take have personal devotion times.  We also had the rare chance to eat herring eggs off kelp and for kids to go swimming in phosphorescence at night.   The guys went to a beach on another island, had a bonfire, and helped the owner remove lots of brush around the cabin.  The girls went on a hike, cooked, and enjoyed being  together and away from campus. There were 6 guys and 2 leaders for the boys trip and 4 leaders and 11 girls on the girls trip. These camping trips are always a highlight for all who are able to go. 



A Big Thank You

As part of the Sitka Young Life family - I just wanted to pass the following thank you.  This past Friday was graduation for MEHS and families from around the state came to town. One parent who I had never met, gave me a huge hug, looked me in the eyes and stated, "you don't know how much it means to me that you were here for my kids, thank you so much!" This family who was following Jesus was so relieved to know that people were investing in their two kids while they were 1,200 miles away from home.  So on behalf of these families, thank you for volunteering, donating time, contributing resources, and investing in the lives of so many around the state.  Click here to read more.

That same day I received a text from one of our senior girls who wanted to know if we would like to come and have dinner with their family.  Emily and I gladly accepted and when we got to the address they gave us we found 18 people from 4 generations, 6 of whom were cousins attending MEHS.  We were the only non-Native representation, and they were so grateful to have us in attendance. During the evening they served a huge meal, had wonderful food, sang 2 gospel songs and then asked if I would like to close their time together in prayer.

The Johnsons shared their song at Baccalaureate Service

Graduation week I also received a thoughtful text from a graduating senior that thanked me for conversation about faith that we had had the previous week- he said that our conversation really helped him feel like he was moving closer back to God. He was very thankful.

These encouraging interactions reveal just a part of God's work in our partnership in the ministry of Sitka Young Life.  

Emily with girls who have been involved in YL for all 4 years

So, thank you prayer team for meeting together weekly to pray, providing a strong foundation.  Thank you committee members for investing your time and energy helping plan events and turning them into a reality. Donors, thank you for being the means of the various resources that allow students to access Christ.  And thank you leaders and volunteer leaders for the hours of time you spend investing in relationships that might ultimately lead kids to a relationship with our Father.  To all involved, thank you for choosing to be a part of this team.  Love, Your Sitka Young Life Family 

Weekly Campaigners

Our weekly Bible study breakfasts, called campaigners, has been a highlight of the year.  We have 4 groups: a co-ed middles school group that meets twice a month, a co-ed Sitka High group that meets Friday mornings at the Voron's, a MEHS guys group that meets Tuesday mornings at Grace Harbor Church, and a MEHS girls group that meets in different people's homes.  We have been able have good food and been able to go deeper with the kids during these times.   Click HERE to read more and to see more pictures.

The above picture is of Danielle leading our girls group.  Danielle graduate last year and now attends Alaska Christian College and she came to visit us in Sitka during her spring break.  Below is a picture of our MEHS guys group and the last photo is another one of the girls group.  In the next three weeks both MEHS girls and guys groups will be taking separate camping trips where we will have fun together and study his word to word.

Winter Blast Report

Our February winter camp was a lot of fun and a huge success!  We had two evening lock-ins back to back: middle school with 35 kids, and high school with 55 kids. Each camp had 4  club meetings (with games, songs, and message), 3 cabin time reflections, 2 meals and a snack, 1 crazy gym time, and lots and lots of chances to build relationships and talk about Jesus.  To see pictures, videos and hear more, click HERE.

The weekend started of at 7pm Thursday night with the middle school camp.  Our wacky program team did goofy skits to start off a great club and followed by great cabin time reflection.  Next we headed off to Sitka's very own Ninja Warrior Gym combined Sitka gymnastics gym.  This was the perfect place for kids to bounce off walls as well as climb them. Our middle school kids were challenged to look at it means to let go of control of their lives and give control to God. It was a great time of fun, crazy games, and great conversations with kids and leaders. 

High School camp started at 7pm on Friday.  Most of the students were from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, and they all felt very comfortable.  Again we had 4 clubs times meeting together where our speaker shared about how giving control of our lives to God makes all the difference. In small groups kids really opened up and shared about fears and what they face back home.  The weekend was filled with impromptu Native singing and dancing, Native Youth Olympics, wiffle Ball and 5 star food. It was an 18 hour whirlwind- but it's absolutely amazing what can happen in such a short period.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend....

Winter Blast- Here we Come!

We have been looking forward to this weekend all year- Winter Blast! Sitka Young Life will host a middle school and a high school lock-in starting on Thursday, February 23^rd and then follow that with a lock-in for high school students Friday, February 24^th. These events are an amazing chance for kids to share experiences, make memories, build friendships and hear about Jesus. Camp is aimed at kids who would not come to church.  Please pray that God would speak through all of camp and especially during the club talks and our cabin times. We want to make camp available to all and we have found that many high school kids have a hard time paying.  To make winter camp accessible to all students we are not charging for kids to attend this event. Camp costs $50 per student, so if you would like join us in making camp available to all kids by making a donation please click HERE. For more details click HERE

Last year we had 45 middle school kids and 55 high school kids come to Winter Blast.  We flew up two people to come do program- which means- design and facilitate games and humor that breaks down walls, creates shared memories, and helps people bond.  This year we have the an all star crew of Young Life staff coming in from Anchorage and Fairbanks.  Our speaker this year is a former Young Life area director in Texas and now travels around speaking in public schools.  Each lock-in will have 4 times where we gather as a large group to gather for games and a message.  Following each message, students will have a chance to break into small cabin groups and talk about how the message applies to their own lives.  Camp is a great time where God really works.  Please pray for safety and that God really moves in the hearts of these kids.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

Mt. Edgecumbe Highs School in Sitka has kids from 120 different communities all over Alaska. Our connection with kids at MEHS can impact communities state wide.  Part of my (Aaron)  job is to help rural communities start youth ministries.  Last week I visited Jason Bavilla (first Alaska Native on YL staff), in Tuntituliak (population 600) and then went to meet with 25 people in Bethel (population 6500) who are interested in helping to start Young Life.  The frozen land is pretty, the passionate people are encouraging, and the dream to reach every kid is God sized.  To see and read more click here

In Tuntutuliak I had a chance to visit an MEHS Graduate (class of 2007) and his wife and 2 kids.  Jason is the first Alaska Native on Young Life staff.  The pace of life is in the village is different and no roads or running water effect how people spend their time. Jason coaches middle school basketball  and knows every kid in the village. He plans on using his home to host Bible studies, and sleep overs. And wants to give kids the opportunity to go to camp. Highlights for me were spending time with the Bavillas, seeing him coach basketball, and eating moose, riding on his 4-wheeler, and going to hunt for fox. Jason's big dream is to help kids in his village understand that God really loves them personally and wants to have a relationship with them individually.  He wants to show them how to learn from the Bible and how to continue their faith when life gets hard. The picture above and below are from Tunt.

I met my friend Dale in Bethel as we met with a group of people who are interested in starting Young Life.  Bethel is the largest "hub" community in Alaska.  6,500 people live there and it services another 19,000 living in 50 surrounding villages. In 5 days we meet with many people who had a deep passion to bring the hope they have found in Christ to the youth in Bethel.  Many of these people are already involved in ministries but hope that Young Life can bring structure and organization to help coordinate outreach and discipleship. efforts, also bring training and support.




High lights of the trip for me were:  being able to meet such great people, the group interest meeting (the group from the photo), home-made pizza party interest meeting at the Byrnes's, a 15 mile snow machine ride down river to a Bible camp called Camp Hope, and participating in nightly traditional native steam baths with the men of the Fox family.  Dolena Fox graduated MEHS in 2014 and has been involved with Young Life since she first came to Mt. Edgecumbe.  It was during her time in Young Life that she started her relationship with God and since then she has always dreamed that Young Life would come to Bethel and plans on returning to help with youth ministry.  She wants all the kids from her home to experience the love and hope she has found through her relationship with God.

Ice road on the Kuskokwim River

Tundra by Camp Hope

Prayer Requests:

• Wisdom and timing for Bethel Young Life, pray also for more people to be interested in being involved in the support committee and a couple people in Bethel interested in coming on YL staff.
• For Sitka Young Life in recruiting more leaders, prayer team, committee, and donors.