Alaska

It has become a tradition for me to go on a mission trip during spring break with college students for the last couple of years. This year was no exception as I got the chance to go to Alaska. A fellow RD of mine Sarah, grew up in Eagle River, which is right outside of Anchorage. She started the trip last year and decided to continue the trip again. Sarah and I got to lead 9 students for a week and half to help serve troubled youth and homeless people in Anchorage. Here is a picture of the group...

(It was cold...and yes the sun glasses were necessary because the sun glared off the snow..)

We made the long trek last Saturday on March 14. We arrived in Alaska around 7:30pm local time. On Sunday a lifelong dream came true for me as I got to witness the start of the Iditarod (the 1000 mile plus dog sledding race that has been exagerated and fantasized through movies and books such as "Iron Will", "Balto", and a a short story I read in elementary school, about a kid who won the Iditarod to help save his house after his mother died...I can't remember the name of it, but it was a sweet story). Here is a picture...

Drag the corners of the transparent box below to crop this photo into your profile picture.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

The first half of the week we worked at The Covenant House. An organization that is set up in big cities across the US to help serve troubled youth. Most of the full time staff (4 or 5 of them) are professional counselors and social workers, who barely have enough time to keep up with the youth that come in and out of the facilities. That gave us a great opportunity to help do things that the staff never has time to do...i.e. wash windows, base boards, and walls, steam clean sofas and carpets, and organize a game closet.

The second half of th week our group got to help renovate a shower house ministry for the Downtown Soup Kitchen. The DSK is a Christian based ministry that helps feed homeless and the underpriveleged as well as give away clothes in Anchorage 365 days a year. They have 2 or 3 part time staff members and many volunteer workers. Because they only have a couple of workers, a function of their ministry the shower house has been slightly neglected. It is used once a week to give homeless people an opportunity to take a shower, wash their clothes and have a place to call "home" for at least an hour or so. Our group got the priviledge of remodeling the house to make it more welcoming and functional. At first I was overwhelmed with the project. I didn't think we would have enough time to finish the job, but by the grace of God and the hard work by all of our team members we exceeded expectations (We repainted the kitchen, living room and 2 bathrooms, put up new curtains and blinds, rearranged a living room counter and retiled a table, amongst lots of other stuff) Here are two before and after pictures. This is just one of the rooms we painted and redecorated...


(Before)


(After)

All in all it was a great week.
-Sarah's family the Dompier's were awesome hosts. Home cooked meals every night and lots of laughter, fun and fellowship. I got to experience first hand, a family that truly loved each other, that lived very simply and tried to glorify God in all that they did.
-Our group of students were awesome as well. I never heard one complaint about anything. They never whined, and trusted Sarah and I to make decisions on behalf of the group. They worked their tales off and God really used us.
-I got to go to Alaska for the second time in my life. This time it was without my parents and it was to serve. I don't know why it's such a big deal to me, but to go places that I have been before with my parents by myself makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Like I have achieved another step of independence (Granted my first and biggest step of independence was 9 years ago when I decided to move 3000 miles away from home to attend Gordon). In a sense I feel like it makes them proud too, because they have raised me and put me into a position to where I can go to places like Madrid, Spain and Anchorage, Alaska.

Things that I learned on this trip:
-God is awesome and created beautiful places like this...


-I totally could have been one of the troubled youth that lived at Covenant House or a homeless person in Alaska, but for some reason God had different plans for me. Because of this, I am CALLED to use the advantages of a loving and supportive family to serve others.

-Family is important.

-I want a dog.


-On the inside we are all torn apart, and ugly. We all have issues and struggles, some more then others. On the outside we can look fine, and sometimes beautiful. No matter how we are both inside and out, God uses us for his purpose.

So, if you can go to Alaska go. If you can do a mission trip do it.