Alaska Adventures

On June 12, 2011 at 12:15pm I boarded a plane from Chattanooga with eight other people from Grace Baptist Church: my wife Brandi, my brother Josh, church secretary Sara Wexler, recent grads Jon Welsh and his sister Tina, and teenagers Cameron Gorsline, Janna Holcombe, and Lindsey Estes. After a four hour layover in Chicago, we flew into Anchorage, Alaska at 9pm local time, which is 1am eastern. The scenery as we got closer to Alaska was increasingly impressive. We beheld snow-covered mountains and near-continuous daylight (Anchorage only has about 3 hours of night in the summer months).

We were driven to Calvary Church by our friends Tom Kilpatrick, Al King, and Linda King. Our group was fed a meal and given a rundown of how our week would go. Monday morning’s orientation informed us of our objectives for the week: morning service projects and an afternoon Bible school in a trailer park called Penland Park. Joining our group were two college students from Texas, Russell McCarson and Lauren Cartwright.

Our first encounter with Penland Park was less than spectacular. We had an open, fenced-in area with a concrete slab about half the size of a basketball court. There we served lunch to about three dozen children from ages 2-14. Some of our group members walked through the neighborhood inviting children and families to the gathering. Poverty was evident as we watched these children.

After lunch, Lindsey attempted to teach our daily Bible story, which was about Zacchaeus. The discouraging thing was several of the kids weren’t interested in our story. Only about nine children stayed to hear it. It was obvious that most of the children had very little or no Bible knowledge, and we tried to tell them who Jesus was and how he loves them and why we were there.

We concluded the day with some crafts and games that seemed to draw the crowds back. We told the children that we would return the following day, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed about the day as a whole. I wondered if we would have any spiritual impact.

That night we did some hiking up a mountain and were able to slide down some snow covered slopes. However, Josh did not make it on the hike with us because he was throwing up. Jon had been sick the Saturday before the flight, and apparently it spread to him. Little did I know that this sickness would affect our entire week.

On Tuesday morning we were able to help out another church as they served groceries to needy people in the city. Then it was back to Penland Park. My fear was that it would not go much better than Monday, but I could not have been more wrong. The same children who were shy and indifferent about us on Monday now anticipated our coming and looked forward to seeing us and interacting with us. Many of them stayed for our Bible lesson about kindness, and we were able to explain to them the kindness and love that Christ showed for them on the cross.

Tuesday’s experience set the stage for a great rest of the week with the kids. However, the sickness that started with Jon and Josh now was affecting Sara and Brandi. Just when it seemed that our week was finally showing progress, our team members were dealing with a spreading sickness. But they did not allow it to get them down. They fought through it and determined to devote themselves to the tasks.

On Wednesday through Friday, we spent our morning times going to a Christian preschool and worked to prepare classrooms for the upcoming school year. The leaders of this school were extremely impressed with the character and the work ethic of our team members. I took pride in the fact that we were responding admirably in the midst of difficulties.

Wednesday night saw Cameron, Lindsey, and I fight through the sickness. However, God allowed it to pass before Thursday night, and our entire group was finally healthy when we went back to the park for a neighborhood block party at which we were able to spend more time with the kids and their families serving them dinner and playing games. Some leaders from Calvary Church played music and gave a gospel presentation. All of us were able to converse with many people that night about the gospel and to display for them the love of Christ.

Friday was the last day that we were able to spend with the kids at the park. What a long way we had come since Monday! It was difficult to say goodbye to a lot of them. One last time we were able to pray with them, tell them about Christ, and show them His love for them. We may never know how many of those children and their families were (or will be) directed into a relationship with Christ, but I feel like our work with them accomplished what we went to do. Since we only had a week with them, I know we made the most of it.

Saturday was sightseeing day, and we were able to soak in the beauty of what God had made. Jon experienced it more than any of us, as he swam in 40-degree water and climbed onto an iceberg! The best thing about our week was the way we saw God use our group to accomplish a great deal of work in several different places in spite of the obstacles of sickness and a difficult first day at the park. Our prayer now is that others there are building on our work and able to draw those families into a walk with Christ.