Fall is Flying Fast

Fall is whizzing by at breakneck speed and we have many reasons to give thanks. Thank you for being a part of this ministry. We have already had 15 club meetings and over 30 campaigner Bible studies.  We have 4 new adult leaders and met a ton of new kids. There are new people on the  Community Adult Support Team and new members attending our weekly prayer time. Our banquet went well and we are looking forward to finishing the semester strong and preparing for our winter camp called "Winterblast."  Here is a picture that was taken in the bus on one of our high school clubs.  Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Transition

God orchestrates many things in the lives of those who follow him.  As our lives are not our own, it is key that we follow His leading. In Young Life, we recognize that this ministry is not ours, but His.  We, too, need to follow His leading as He directs Sitka Young Life. This fall there will be some staffing transitions for Sitka Young Life.

As I first began working as Young Life ministry coordinator for rural Alaska, my supervisor and I weren’t really sure how the new position would evolve.  We wanted to learn an effective strategy for starting a youth ministry in a native rural village. Over these last six years, I have learned a ton, and I have had the chance to meet and talk with many people from around the state.  There have been opportunities to travel and work with elders and with youth. I have partnered with leaders of organizations who have been ministering to youth in rural AK for generations. I have connected and talked with people in Young Life about effective strategies for new startups. Since I began, we have hired two other people to start ministries in the villages where they live.  These past six years we have learned what Young Life in rural Alaska can look like, and we have learned some strategic priorities that will help ministry flourish. This past year I have been increasingly aware that the next progression for Young Life in Rural Alaska would require more oversight and travel than I am able to commit to. Sitka is a great spot, but far from the rest of the state, and with the arrival of our third baby this summer, traveling will be increasingly difficult.   I still have as much passion and interest in the people from villages, but my position will need to transfer to a team.

Simultaneously, God had been moving in Chris’s heart about the upcoming year.  In early Spring, the Sitka School District asked Chris to consider applying for the position of Director of Special Education.  Through a lot of prayers, both Natalie and Chris felt led that Chris should take the position. Chris’ calling and his passion for the kids of Sitka have not changed, but his hours will shift.  Over the past 5 years, Chris has worked full time for Young Life and part-time for the school district. He will now work full time for the district and part-time for Young Life. He will still work with high school and middle school kids.  Some of the behind the scenes work will now need to be done by someone else.

Over the past 2 years, my work with the local Sitka area ministry has grown to include working with many more adults. I have worked in the background more and have developed a growing interest in how SYL could adapt to become more effective. Through prayer and conversations with my wife, we felt that I should apply for the Sitka Young Life Area director position.

Last month the job position was opened, and I applied.  I went through the interview process and was hired. I feel God has prepared and called me to serve in this place, at this time. I have worked and volunteered in both school districts in Sitka for the past 16 years and have been able to build some great relationships. As our committee chairperson said, “It has been awesome to see God has moved and orchestrated in ways we could not have predicted.”  

We have had an excellent summer with 30 kids experiencing Young Life camp and watching them grow closer to God through the experience. We had 26 go to camp and 4 serve for a month on the camp work crew.  Through the summer months, Young Life leaders have also been preparing for the upcoming school year in planning events to build memories, thinking of ways to connect with kids, and creating opportunities for sharing about Jesus.  The focus for our teams this year will be growing deeper in Christ and experiencing his fullness.

Thank you for all of your faithful prayers and support as we look forward this year to seeing God move in Sitka and around the state.

Sincerely,
Aaron Routon.

Malibu 2018!

"My week at Malibu Young Life club with Sitka Young Life was a life-changing experience. Being here I was able to fully receive God into my heart. He has shown me that I can fall freely into his arms. What was most meaningful to me was that I was able to find myself during this week. I want to thank you for all your support. Your support has not only change my life but has helped hundreds of kids lives as well I pray that you know that you are greatly appreciated. God bless"

Earlier this month we took 30 students and leaders to Malibu Young LIfe Club in BC and the previous quote came from a student who summerd up her experience at camp. Thank you for supporting these kids and Sitka Young Life. To read more quotes from kids about camp this year, CLICK HERE

"This week changed the way I see myself and life."

"This week was one of the best weeks of my life. It really brought me closer to God. What everyone said in Cabin time has really opened a new perspective about everything God is."

"This week meant a lot to me, I started my journey with God."

"The most meaningful thing to me was the 15 minutes alone because that's when I asked God to back into my life."

"I came to a realization that God forgives me no matter how much I screw up and that is amazing"

"I like learning more in-depth about the Bible stories I have learned so many times but not really getting what the stories meant."

"I thought people would be more mean to me. I thought I would be left out. But thankfully it was not like that."

"My week at Malibu Young Life club with Sitka Young Life was the best week I have ever experienced. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to get closer to God on this trip."

"I love being able to express what was going on and learning how to forgive and deal with issues."

"This trip made my relationship to God much stronger, I feel much more secure about my faith then I did a week ago."

"And now I know that I can find happiness, it is through God and nobody else. Before coming I had a journey with God, but after this week, I feel like I actually started my journey with him."

"This week meant so much to me. If I didn't come here, I wouldn't be as close to God as I am now. Learning more about the story of God being so much to me because I thought I already knew the story, but it turned out that I have so much more to learn."

"I truly truly had the best week of my life."

"Being here, God showed me that I have him fully in my heart and that my waters can be calm. He quiets down my storms and my anxieties."

"This week has been amazing. I got out so much that had been bottled up and have had no one to talk to or trust. And I learned that I can lean on God and Jesus in my tough times."

"At the beginning of the week I didn't know how to comprehend God but by the end of the week, I started to understand it."

"Thank you for supporting Sitka Young Life and helping me experience the best week of my life."

3. 2. 1. Out of School and Off to Camp!

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The end of the school year is a big transition.  For those of us who work with students from Mt. Edgecumbe, summer tends to make us feel like parents who watch their kids leave and we hope we have prepared them. This year we graduated a great core group of seniors who are involved and solid in their faith.  We look forward to seeing how God leads and uses each of them.  

Yesterday a group of 29 left for Malibu Young Life camp in British Columbia.  Young Life camp is an awesome place with outstanding people and they do a fabulous job presenting the Gospel.  Please keep our group in your prayers this week and pray that kids would really open up and respond to God's amazing love story.

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Click here to see more of Malibu Young LIfe Camp.

Spring is here!

Spring is a busy time of ministry for Sitka Young Life.  Here is a brief snapshot of this past month: 

• Club: 8 club meetings with 100 people at weekly.
• Campaigners: 20 times of getting together with high school students to study the Bible and 40 people participating- two times with middle school students and 25 people.
• Camping: Winter blast and a guys discipleship camping trip where 9 guys participated.
• Prayer team: 5 weekly prayer meetings with 7 people participating. ,
• People doing ministry around the state who are supported by Sitka Young Life: Tuntituliak- 40 kids around a campfire heard about Jesus calling his disciples, Bethel - six kids at Bethel Youth Facility who met with a Young Life leader to study the Bible.

Thanks for being a part of this work!

We would like to take 30 kids to camp and looking for people partner financially in giving to the camp scholarships fund.  Our goal is to raise $10k. If you would like to partner- click here.

Winterblast 2018

Last weekend we hosted our in-town winter camp "Winter Blast." Twenty-five middle school students came to the overnight lock-in Thursday night and 75 high school kids came Friday night through Saturday afternoon. We prayed for 100 kids to come and exactly 100 kids came.  Our out of state camp speaker, musician, and games people, did a phenomenal job sharing God's love and supporting leaders and kids as they dove into some of life's deeper questions.  For more stories and photos, click here.

Winter Blast is one of the highlights of our year in Sitka Young Life.  It is a huge opportunity to provide an extended Young Life event.  We host two lock-in events.  The first for middle school students and the second for high schoolers.  We fly in a speaker, musician, and program (people to lead games).  This allows our team to focus on being with the kids instead of running camp. The team this year did a great job creating positive energy and sharing about Jesus in a way kids could relate to. The camps included several special events that kids loved: a trip to the gymnastics/ America Ninja Warrior gym, Alaska style laser tag, wallyball, basketball, slackline indoor "snowball" fights, and endless games. Kids enjoyed eating 20 dozen cookies, Philipino food, spaghetti, and a gourmet breakfast, which included a donut wall.  We made lots of great memories and were able to share about a God who is fully and totally in love with each of them. 

This year we spent more time informing and updating our prayer team before, during, and after the event, and the effects of their prayers were felt.  Leaders reported that students were open and honest during cabin times and that they were able to process many deeper questions.  The great news about having a camp in town is that leaders have been able to follow up with the kids in their group.  

There was a large team of adults who volunteered with the event.  We had 13 adult leaders and 5 student leaders engaging with the kids and leading cabin times during the events.  Ringleader Yvonne Christner organized the kitchen crew, 12 people who prepared two late night snacks, two gourmet breakfasts, and two wonderful lunches - also leaving the place spotless.  We also had additional volunteers help run laser tag, help with greeting and registration, and help with setup and clean-up. With this level of volunteer support, we were able to offer the camp free of charge so that every kid who wanted to go was able to attend. Thanks again to everyone who gave and volunteered in order to make this annual event a huge success!

Awesome Leaders

Bill on his Boat taking guys camping

In Young Life, we are all about forming positive relationships with young people. Young life leaders become relationship building professionals.Since there are many different types of kids, we need many different types of leaders. Read about an amazing couple whose lives have been changed when they said yes to God. Click here to read more about Bill and Carin Adickes.

Bill's wife Carin first introduced him to Young Life after she got involved with the Young Life prayer team. Carin was on the prayer team when her own 2 boys graduated and left for college, Carin then started volunteering with the girls Bible study campaigner group. She enjoyed being with the girls and sharing about what God has done in her life.  Carin then recruited her husband to join the boys campaigner group and Bill connected instantly with boys because of his similar past. Guys breakfast soon became one of BIll's favorite times of the week.

Later in the spring Bill joined the guys for a camping trip with 7 guys to Middle Island. There the guys did some brush clearing around the cabin and Bill cooked. Every morning and night people shared stories from their lives and stories from the Bible. After that trip, the boys started going over to the Adickes house and it wasn't long before Bill had recruited a couple of guys to be his deck hand for the summer when he started commercial fishing.  This past summer 3 guys lived with the Adickes and 4 guys worked with him on his boat.

The Friday night Bible study crew

Bill and Carin work with the guys and help them develop life skills like: fishing, driving, finding jobs, time management, and swimming. This last fall when school started, Bill started a Bible study every Friday night for his guys and their friends. Every Friday night high school boys go to the Adickes to play games, eat snacks and join with other men from the church and look into God's word.   Bill and Carin continue to walk through life with these guys.  They have been there for baptisms, suspensions, falling classes, graduations, first jobs, drivers tests, swim lessons, paper routes, weekends away from the dorm, camping trips, and when the guys just need someone to talk to. God's faithfulness shines in the life of Bill and we are grateful to have the Adickes as part of our Sitka YL team.