A Place for hope to Shine

Conversations will not be cancelled.

Relationships will not be cancelled.

God’s Word will not be cancelled.

Self-care will not be cancelled.

Hope will not be cancelled.

Love will not be cancelled.

Dear Friends and Supporters of Sitka Young Life:

We wanted to address concerns raised by coronavirus (COVID-19) in our region. At this time, we feel the need to implement some area and region-wide measures regarding Young Life activities. This will include:

• Canceling all Young Life Clubs and Campaigner gatherings in our area

We are obviously following the lead of health organizations (Like WHO, CDC, and local authorities) on this and while most of our kids and leaders are not at much risk for the virus, we do not want the virus to spread further in our community.

At this point, it is hard to say how long these measures will last. We are doing this out of an abundance of caution to do what we can to help minimize the spread of the virus. We will keep you updated regarding any further restrictions as we monitor this situation and will send you another email when we're able to resume Young Life Clubs and Campaigner gatherings. We will continue to reach out to kids with Christ's love, that these times of uncertainty can point young people and their families to the Lord. This event in recent history can highlight the hope we have in Christ and how we are called live life differently because of what God has done in our hearts.

We hope and pray that we can fight this and trust our God who is our rest and our refuge. Kids are asking questions and have some fear, may we be people that shine the light of Christ while the world screams of chaos and fear. Our mission, as it always will be - is to create a safe, healthy space for kids to explore who Jesus is and what that means to them. We will be exploring ways with our Leaders to creatively connect with kids in safe, innovative ways. We have a unique opportunity to give kids peace, hope, and love amidst everything going on in our world.

A CALL TO ACTION: Would you join us every day for the next 91 days at 9:00AM in praying Psalm 91? Young Life around the world is uniting and declaring this passage to be true. We've set an alarm on our phones so we remember every day. When the Ebola outbreak happened in Africa, YL Africa prayed this Psalm for 91 days and on the 91st day the Ebola crisis was miraculously over. Let’s trust God and ask for miraculous healing in the world. 

Again, all of the actions, like the rest of the country, are precautionary and intended to help slow the spread and give space for doctors, nurses, and everyone in the health care industry time and space to help those that need the most help. We are praying for all of those people in our community and around the globe doing all they can to help. Should there be any way we can serve you or your family during this time, please let us know. 

Wisdom from Philippians 4:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

With much uncertainty and fear around us – let’s be helpers in bringing peace, hope, and love to our community.