The Alaska Children's Services is for troubled children from all over Alaska who come to the center at ages 6-18 for a place to escape many of the not so positive lives in their homes. Some are extremely negative environments that they have had to deal with at such young ages. Four denominations support their spiritual program which is not funded by the government. Many of their resources come from places such as the American Baptist Women (ABW) and White Cross as well as America for Christ and One Great Hour of Sharing! It was good for our youth to learn and actually SEE where some of their financial support goes when they give at Calvary and to see that Calvary supports this place as well. We were told that our group is the largest group they have had come to work with them----ever! After Kelli Williams the Director of Spiritual Life, took us on a tour of their 37 acre facility, which includes a sweat lodge, a chapel where they hold services and drum circles and a Prayer garden we broke into 6 different work groups to set about starting our projects. Some of the youth were chomping at the bit to get started! It would be great if we could get them to behave that way when we wanted them to mow the lawn or do chores at home! Probably not going to happen....but you could try giving them some sob story about how being a parent is a non-profit organization and see if that helps! LOL!
The different teams worked on projects such as breaking down old large flower boxes to rebuild new ones, dismantling a large ice skating rink to make room for a new one, tearing down old playground equipment so they can build a new more sturdy one, building an outdoor worship space, cleaning storm debris from winter storms. I know! It sounds like a lot! Let me just say...."WE ROCKED IT TODAY!" The youth from both churches came together in a strong force wind of work, dedication and determination and far exceeded the expectations of anyone at the center! It was truly impressive! We got a lot of work done and had a ton of fun while we were doing it!
Upon returning to the church at 4:30 it was a mad rush for the showers ---boy did it feel amazing to get cleaned up, rest a little and then head for dinner.
Our biggest injuries for our first day of work were some bug bites, a bumped arm and Chris hurting his back at Olive garden while he was shaking his sugar packet!
We ended our evening with a prayer circle talking about our day, experiences and thoughts about everything from cute boys, the work we did, friends we made and the impact that it made on us.
Our final activity of the day was to take a few moments to remember and share memories and stories about Kelli Michel; Heather, Derek and Natalie Michel's mom who passed away 2 years ago today.
We shared some beautiful and amazing things, laughed, cried and supported each other in our memories. We then wrote words about what keeps up young, childlike and helps us maintain a fun spirit on "Wishing Paper" and sent our thoughts up to the sky.
Below are some comments from the youth about today's work day.....
*"The most unexpected thing that happened today was that my and my friend had a heart-to-heart over yanking hunks of metal out of wood." Natalie Michel
*"I think we really exceeded Kelli's expectations! It was incredible how quickly we got our projects done! I'm excited to be helping the Alaska Children's Services and being the Hands and Feet of Christ!" Maddie Hulst
*"I think we worked well together. We got a lot done and had fun while we did. It was successful." Sandrine Haas
*"I believe we blew Kelli's expectations out of the water! We're probably gonna need more jobs!" Pal Wang
*"What was unexpected was how quickly we took apart the plant holders. With so many people and hard work we were able to take them all apart within the first hour!" Owen Honeycutt
Please continue to keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers for strength, good weather, good health and some really good sleep!
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