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.

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.