The answer is yes! There are so many places we can see God's hands at work in our lives and in the lives of others. You wouldn't think that you could see God working in a trickling, cold shower in the early hours of the morning when you have only had 3 or 4 hours of sleep on a creaky cot, after a long day of work. Now, it may be sleep deprivation, sore muscles or my sense of equilibrium being off from stumbling through the dark gym to get to the shower room at the top of a really long stairway that is causing a hallucination but I really don't think so. Just the simple fact that I am here in Anchorage, Alaska working along side other Christians for the good of others is living proof that God is at work here. He had a hand in getting me here, as well as all those that are here. Now as for that pesky mosquito bite that somehow ended up on the top of my foot despite the fact that I had my tennis shoes on ALL day yesterday is another story. But, I am sure I saw God at work when I was standing around the newly finished worship gazebo with many a mosquito buzzing around us, connected to each person in the circle as we blessed and prayed over the work that was finished and the work yet to be done by others who will come to this place in the future.
Below are statements from our youth and adult leaders about where they saw God at work yesterday during the celebrations for flag day.
"I saw God at work through Kelli and her presence here." - Owen
"Through watching and being with you youth today." - Doug
"I saw God at work when a little kid thanked me." - Katie
"When we were on the prayer walk around the grounds. In everything here." - Heather
"I don't know" - Harry
"When the resident youth started opening up to us, helping and wanting to be a part of what was going on." - Steve
"I saw God at work when we were working and I felt like I wanted to just pitch in and work without being asked." - Becky
"I saw God through Richard. He lived at ACS when he was 6 years old and helped to carve the totem pole. His story really touched me." - Chris
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Happy Alaska Flag Day! Day 7 Alaska Missions 2013
"This is the day the Lord hath made! Let us be glad and rejoice in it!" Psalm 118:24
And what a day it has been! This was our final day of working at the Alaska Children's Services and after our four days there this past week we have done so much it is amazing! What a transformation! Not only in the physical look of the location but I feel like there were many transformations in those of us who were here. We had crews working very hard to finish up the last projects before the Alaska Flag Day celebration. While some did last minute weed eating, unloaded tables, chairs and food from trucks, set up grills, blew up balloons and put the finishing touches on the grounds for the celebration, one crew continued to work hard on finishing the flower boxes while yet another crew was at the Maplewood facility finishing the gazebo worship space. ALL PROJECTS WERE COMPLETED! WOW! It is truly amazing what can be done with the power of cooperation, teamwork, love, determination and God's strength! We have the added help of our very own music worship team who we are putting to work with us! David Rogers who has lead worship and played at Quest as well as last year's Immerse, plus his friend Jordan has agreed to join us and help us by leading worship with their music.
Today was a very special day for the ACS as the Alaska Flag design has a direct connection to their history.
In 1927 there was a contest held in the Alaska Territory for help in designing the flag. It was open to elementary aged children. There were many entries but the one that won the contest was he winner of the contest was a seventh grade Aleut student, thirteen year old John Bell (Benny) Benson from Chignik. He was living in an orphanage in Seward, the Jesse Lee Mission Home, at the time of the contest. (Now the ACS).
He designed the present Alaska State Flag with a blue background to represent the sky and the Forget-me-not flower. On that background were placed eight gold stars to represent the Big Dipper and the North Star. The Big Dipper forms part of the constellation Ursa Major or Great Bear; symbolizing strength. The North Star represents the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. Benny's simple, elegant design was adopted by the Alaska Territorial Legislature in May, 1927.
Every year the ACS has a big celebration in honor of Benny and his flag. This year it was extra special because there was a very special announcement! They now have a new name and a new logo which they announced today at the picnic! Their new name is Alaska Child and Family! Our mission team was responsible for helping to set up and volunteer during the celebration and then clean up after. The kids had such a fun time working, and getting things ready. There was definitely a buzz in the air as we rushed around getting things ready. All the kids were excited for the celebration and I don't think I had to bug any youth to really get in and help! AMAZING! Amongst all the hustle and bustle of the party prep Kelli had set aside some time for us to do a prayer walk around the grounds to bless the work we had done, see how things had changed since we had first arrived and be conscious and prayerful about what impact our presence there had made. We said a blessing and set out on our prayer walk. It was moving and a little emotional to think about all the people who have walked those same steps over the many years, to feel their presence and approval for our changes and hard work, to imagine who had walked in my exact steps before me. What were they feeling then? What were they doing then? Where are they now and what would they think if they could see it now? As all of our large group walked silently and prayerfully on the newly cleared trail through the woods these were thoughts I was meditating on. I had no idea that later today I would get an answer to some of these questions in an unexpected encounter with a former resident to the home. As I was taking photos during the picnic, Chris came and told me there was a man that I needed to take a photo of. An older gentleman had lived here when he was young and helped with carving the totem pole in the front yard! Richard looks like he is about 65 years old but I don't think he is as old and his experience and obviously rough life shows he is. He was more than happy to let me take his photo with the totem pole..... As we walked up the hill, he told me a little of his story. At 6 his parents dropped him here at the home because he says "I guess they didn't want me any more," he was a resident until he was 12. He reminisced about the buildings, where he stayed at different ages, about where the girls lived before they were moved and talked about what a troubled young boy he was. Angry, hurt, lonely and left feeling unloved and unworthy. All of these led to bad behavior, pushing away foster parents who wanted him, running away numerous times and ultimately him being told he could leave. He has not been back since he left when he was 12 years old. He has had a rough life of alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness and troubles. He is now living in a group home for people with these issues. As he talked he described how he helped to carve the totem pole, touching the exact area he carved.
He told me about walking through the woods to a sledding hill where they went in wintertime, about remembering the ice skating rink (the one we just took down), and just about simple details of everyday life. God is truly good. It is amazing to me where he puts us to receive blessings and see him in the people that we meet and in the experiences we have. Truly amazing.
The youth had a fun time helping cook food, serve drinks, play with little children, walk and love on Kelli's dog and to just be and enjoy an old fashioned summer picnic!
At the end of the party we were to help clean up and tear down the equipment and out things away. It was so impressive how everyone worked together and literally "Swept" through and cleaned everything up in no time!
After leaving the main AKChild facility we headed to the Maplewood site to see the finished gazebo! Kelli was there to give a blessing, pray and say good-bye to us all.
It was a hard but heartwarming moment that even included a large group hug! It is truly amazing how quickly you can get close to a person when sharing work, worship and a good hot sweat lodge! I know I am not the only one who feels like it is way more than five days since we met Kelli the first time we stepped through the heavy double doors at the Alaska Children Services.
I will never forget my experience here and I hope it will never forget me as well. My footsteps I have left in the forest, the soil I have moved with my hands, the flowers I have watered with my tears and in this place, I have left part of my heart and soul.
We ended our day with a time of devotions, reflection and worship.
And what a day it has been! This was our final day of working at the Alaska Children's Services and after our four days there this past week we have done so much it is amazing! What a transformation! Not only in the physical look of the location but I feel like there were many transformations in those of us who were here. We had crews working very hard to finish up the last projects before the Alaska Flag Day celebration. While some did last minute weed eating, unloaded tables, chairs and food from trucks, set up grills, blew up balloons and put the finishing touches on the grounds for the celebration, one crew continued to work hard on finishing the flower boxes while yet another crew was at the Maplewood facility finishing the gazebo worship space. ALL PROJECTS WERE COMPLETED! WOW! It is truly amazing what can be done with the power of cooperation, teamwork, love, determination and God's strength! We have the added help of our very own music worship team who we are putting to work with us! David Rogers who has lead worship and played at Quest as well as last year's Immerse, plus his friend Jordan has agreed to join us and help us by leading worship with their music.
Today was a very special day for the ACS as the Alaska Flag design has a direct connection to their history.
In 1927 there was a contest held in the Alaska Territory for help in designing the flag. It was open to elementary aged children. There were many entries but the one that won the contest was he winner of the contest was a seventh grade Aleut student, thirteen year old John Bell (Benny) Benson from Chignik. He was living in an orphanage in Seward, the Jesse Lee Mission Home, at the time of the contest. (Now the ACS).
He designed the present Alaska State Flag with a blue background to represent the sky and the Forget-me-not flower. On that background were placed eight gold stars to represent the Big Dipper and the North Star. The Big Dipper forms part of the constellation Ursa Major or Great Bear; symbolizing strength. The North Star represents the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. Benny's simple, elegant design was adopted by the Alaska Territorial Legislature in May, 1927.
Every year the ACS has a big celebration in honor of Benny and his flag. This year it was extra special because there was a very special announcement! They now have a new name and a new logo which they announced today at the picnic! Their new name is Alaska Child and Family! Our mission team was responsible for helping to set up and volunteer during the celebration and then clean up after. The kids had such a fun time working, and getting things ready. There was definitely a buzz in the air as we rushed around getting things ready. All the kids were excited for the celebration and I don't think I had to bug any youth to really get in and help! AMAZING! Amongst all the hustle and bustle of the party prep Kelli had set aside some time for us to do a prayer walk around the grounds to bless the work we had done, see how things had changed since we had first arrived and be conscious and prayerful about what impact our presence there had made. We said a blessing and set out on our prayer walk. It was moving and a little emotional to think about all the people who have walked those same steps over the many years, to feel their presence and approval for our changes and hard work, to imagine who had walked in my exact steps before me. What were they feeling then? What were they doing then? Where are they now and what would they think if they could see it now? As all of our large group walked silently and prayerfully on the newly cleared trail through the woods these were thoughts I was meditating on. I had no idea that later today I would get an answer to some of these questions in an unexpected encounter with a former resident to the home. As I was taking photos during the picnic, Chris came and told me there was a man that I needed to take a photo of. An older gentleman had lived here when he was young and helped with carving the totem pole in the front yard! Richard looks like he is about 65 years old but I don't think he is as old and his experience and obviously rough life shows he is. He was more than happy to let me take his photo with the totem pole..... As we walked up the hill, he told me a little of his story. At 6 his parents dropped him here at the home because he says "I guess they didn't want me any more," he was a resident until he was 12. He reminisced about the buildings, where he stayed at different ages, about where the girls lived before they were moved and talked about what a troubled young boy he was. Angry, hurt, lonely and left feeling unloved and unworthy. All of these led to bad behavior, pushing away foster parents who wanted him, running away numerous times and ultimately him being told he could leave. He has not been back since he left when he was 12 years old. He has had a rough life of alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness and troubles. He is now living in a group home for people with these issues. As he talked he described how he helped to carve the totem pole, touching the exact area he carved.
He told me about walking through the woods to a sledding hill where they went in wintertime, about remembering the ice skating rink (the one we just took down), and just about simple details of everyday life. God is truly good. It is amazing to me where he puts us to receive blessings and see him in the people that we meet and in the experiences we have. Truly amazing.
The youth had a fun time helping cook food, serve drinks, play with little children, walk and love on Kelli's dog and to just be and enjoy an old fashioned summer picnic!
At the end of the party we were to help clean up and tear down the equipment and out things away. It was so impressive how everyone worked together and literally "Swept" through and cleaned everything up in no time!
After leaving the main AKChild facility we headed to the Maplewood site to see the finished gazebo! Kelli was there to give a blessing, pray and say good-bye to us all.
It was a hard but heartwarming moment that even included a large group hug! It is truly amazing how quickly you can get close to a person when sharing work, worship and a good hot sweat lodge! I know I am not the only one who feels like it is way more than five days since we met Kelli the first time we stepped through the heavy double doors at the Alaska Children Services.
I will never forget my experience here and I hope it will never forget me as well. My footsteps I have left in the forest, the soil I have moved with my hands, the flowers I have watered with my tears and in this place, I have left part of my heart and soul.
We ended our day with a time of devotions, reflection and worship.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
What a SWEATY day! Day 6 July 8, 2013
Boy was it hard to get up this morning when the alarm went off! It was kind of a rough start in many ways for many of us.......Thank God for our many blessings! Some of those would be....
1. There is a Starbucks in the Fred Myer (King Soopers) grocery store just a couple of blocks up the road! Good morning Chai!
2. Gordon made his famous green chile sauce and Lynda and Suzanne helped him make a very tasty batch of breakfast burritos! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
3. We got to leave about an hour later this morning since we had such a late night last night
4. The rain we woke up to again this morning stopped before we got to our work sites today and we had a very productive day of work for our last day of jobs and clean up of the campus before their Alaska Flag Day celebration tomorrow that we are helping with.
5. We were very blessed to be invited to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony led by Kelli
Today was a day of work, a day of prayer, a day of reflection and a day with a sense of resolution. Resolution not only for some who went through the Sweat Lodge ceremony but also for the work jobs we have finished over the past several days.
We had a lot of little jobs to finish up as well as some larger ones.
The youth all did such an amazing job of really getting down and dirty, pitching in and helping out in many different areas. It is good to see that our two groups have begun to really break down those invisible barriers of separation among the groups and work together freely, opening and with a sense of togetherness. The grounds look amazing! As we broke into our working crews a smaller part of the groups would break away to experience the sweat lodge ceremony. To be given to opportunity to experience a different way of worship, a different way of connecting with our God and ourselves and with others is such a huge gift. Many people live their entire lives without experiencing the worship styles of an entirely different culture. What a powerful way of showing love to everyone no matter who they are or how they worship! I think for those who participated in it, it will be something they will never forget and for some a life changing experience, as well as bringing those who shared their 1 hour ceremony much closer to each other as well as to God.
If you were to look at the sweat lodge from the top it would look like a pregnant woman's stomach. The entrance/exit being narrow and with a pathway leading out. As you exit it is symbolic of being born anew. The sweat lodge face to the East and the sacred fire pit. This has very significant spiritual value. Each new day for all begins in the East with the rising of The Father Sun, the source of life and power, dawn of wisdom, wile the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world, eternity, and it is a new spiritual beginning that we seek in the sweat ceremony. There are 4 sections to the ceremony, each about 15 minutes, with a break in between each prayer section. We had 15 youth and adults in each session and had 4 sessions today. The average temp in a sweat lodge is 120 - 140 degrees. I am not sure what the temp was in our experience but Kelli did an amazing job of creating a safe and knowledgeable ceremony for us and a wonderful job of leading and guiding each group through the prayers, the explanations, the emotions and the entire experience. I am not sure how she survived to 4 ceremonies back to back in those conditions. She is truly a unique and wonderful blessing to the Alaska Children's Services, to us and to anyone who meets her.
Below are a few quotes from our journal question today, which was....
"Describe how your experience was in the sweat lodge ceremony."
"Emotional and cleansing to the soul."
"HOT AND SWEATY"
(10 people had this response and this response only)
"Very cleansing"
"Lost some weight. Really connected with the emotional aspect of it but had a hard time staying in for the entire session on a couple."
"Very emotional, more than I expected. I wasn't prepared for such an experience but I would love to do it again sometime.
"I started with a negative attitude about the experience but ended with feeling like spiritually and mentally I could get through or past the heat and I got a lot out of it."
"Out of body experience."
"Claustrophobic"
"The power of God helped me to power through it."
"What better way to strengthen our faith than to give others the chance to experience different ways to pray and worship." Quote from Kelli Williams
I for one would love to repeat that experience given the chance. Please make sure you ask you youth to explain more about their personal experience.
Oh yeah..... I almost forgot! We ended our day with a stop off at Dairy Queen....
BEFORE dinner!
1. There is a Starbucks in the Fred Myer (King Soopers) grocery store just a couple of blocks up the road! Good morning Chai!
2. Gordon made his famous green chile sauce and Lynda and Suzanne helped him make a very tasty batch of breakfast burritos! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
3. We got to leave about an hour later this morning since we had such a late night last night
4. The rain we woke up to again this morning stopped before we got to our work sites today and we had a very productive day of work for our last day of jobs and clean up of the campus before their Alaska Flag Day celebration tomorrow that we are helping with.
5. We were very blessed to be invited to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony led by Kelli
Today was a day of work, a day of prayer, a day of reflection and a day with a sense of resolution. Resolution not only for some who went through the Sweat Lodge ceremony but also for the work jobs we have finished over the past several days.
We had a lot of little jobs to finish up as well as some larger ones.
The youth all did such an amazing job of really getting down and dirty, pitching in and helping out in many different areas. It is good to see that our two groups have begun to really break down those invisible barriers of separation among the groups and work together freely, opening and with a sense of togetherness. The grounds look amazing! As we broke into our working crews a smaller part of the groups would break away to experience the sweat lodge ceremony. To be given to opportunity to experience a different way of worship, a different way of connecting with our God and ourselves and with others is such a huge gift. Many people live their entire lives without experiencing the worship styles of an entirely different culture. What a powerful way of showing love to everyone no matter who they are or how they worship! I think for those who participated in it, it will be something they will never forget and for some a life changing experience, as well as bringing those who shared their 1 hour ceremony much closer to each other as well as to God.
If you were to look at the sweat lodge from the top it would look like a pregnant woman's stomach. The entrance/exit being narrow and with a pathway leading out. As you exit it is symbolic of being born anew. The sweat lodge face to the East and the sacred fire pit. This has very significant spiritual value. Each new day for all begins in the East with the rising of The Father Sun, the source of life and power, dawn of wisdom, wile the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world, eternity, and it is a new spiritual beginning that we seek in the sweat ceremony. There are 4 sections to the ceremony, each about 15 minutes, with a break in between each prayer section. We had 15 youth and adults in each session and had 4 sessions today. The average temp in a sweat lodge is 120 - 140 degrees. I am not sure what the temp was in our experience but Kelli did an amazing job of creating a safe and knowledgeable ceremony for us and a wonderful job of leading and guiding each group through the prayers, the explanations, the emotions and the entire experience. I am not sure how she survived to 4 ceremonies back to back in those conditions. She is truly a unique and wonderful blessing to the Alaska Children's Services, to us and to anyone who meets her.
Below are a few quotes from our journal question today, which was....
"Describe how your experience was in the sweat lodge ceremony."
"Emotional and cleansing to the soul."
"HOT AND SWEATY"
(10 people had this response and this response only)
"Very cleansing"
"Lost some weight. Really connected with the emotional aspect of it but had a hard time staying in for the entire session on a couple."
"Very emotional, more than I expected. I wasn't prepared for such an experience but I would love to do it again sometime.
"I started with a negative attitude about the experience but ended with feeling like spiritually and mentally I could get through or past the heat and I got a lot out of it."
"Out of body experience."
"Claustrophobic"
"The power of God helped me to power through it."
"What better way to strengthen our faith than to give others the chance to experience different ways to pray and worship." Quote from Kelli Williams
I for one would love to repeat that experience given the chance. Please make sure you ask you youth to explain more about their personal experience.
BEFORE dinner!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska July 7, 2013
So.... the down-side with blogging at the end of every day to reflect on each day is that when your day happens to be ending at 1 AM after a very long day of worship, walking, shopping, eating and hiking the last thing on a person's mind is, "Hey! I get to sit down for an hour or 2 to type up all that happened on today!" Which, last night at 1 (or this morning depending on your perspective of that) was the LAST thing on my mind! Except maybe feeling a tad guilty for not doing it anyway.
Oh well.....no one lost their life over the fact that I didn't share it last night. Or at least I hope not!
Our morning started off with an AMAZING, and energetic worship here at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage, Alaska with their reverend Dr. Alonzo Patterson preaching for the 8 AM service we attended. There were a few of our youth whose comments were things like, "I loved the worship! It was different, passionate and loud!" ---or---- "I am really tired and I was trying to sleep, but every time I would start to dose off, the preacher would get really loud!" ---or--- "It was kind of cool."
After service the church treated us to a yummy brunch before we headed off for another part day of exploring the downtown area. It was a nice day for a walk with the rain giving us a little break and the sun even came out a little later in the afternoon! I broke down and had to put my sunglasses on for a while. There was a street marketplace set up there with a lot of local artists, crafts and local merchandise......I found a wonderful photographer named Dennis who had some beautiful images of the Northern Lights. There was food and entertainment as well as plenty of shopping for our youth to get rid of the money that was burning a hole in their pockets. Heather Michel even found a wall that she was allowed to paint on!
We had dinner at a place called "The Sourdough Mining Company" and it was ......Yummy, yummy BBQ chicken and brisket, corn fritters with honey butter, potatoes all served family style and ice cream for dessert. We even got to meet some reindeer up close and pet them while at the restaurant!
We then headed to our next adventure to hike up the "Flat top." If you make it to the top of the mile and a half hike you are supposed to be able to see Russia on a clear day. Well, no chance of seeing Russia yesterday! As soon as we started our ascent the fog rolled in and covered the mountain tops with an beautiful and mysterious mist of ocean mist and clouds. It was a very cool feeling walking in that mist---that is of course until you get a little turned around if you are not paying attention! Many made it to the top, several made it part way and a few chose to walk an observation loop that gave a somewhat less spectacular view.
How far did I make it, you ask? OK, I have to be totally honest.....when we first got there I had not intention of even doing the hike. I was tired, sore and really wasn't feeling it. I figured I would walk around the short loop and hang out with the kids who "forgot" to bring the right shoes (flip flops were not on the list for the walk), or didn't bring a jacket because "I don't need a jacket, I never get cold." (While they are standing in front of you shivering but trying to act cool). Well, I guess God had a different plan for me because while I was standing at the bottom of the stairs that head up the trail Vicki, an adult leader from Prairie, Deena and one of their youth walked up talking about the hike and trying to convince the young lady that despite her fear of heights and nervousness she should at least try to go part of the way. As we were discussing it, I changed my mind and started walking with them. Vicki suggested to her that we just go to the first clearing at the edge of the trees and take a look from there as the view was much better (our fog had not yet reached us to hinder seeing quite a distance). We then made it to that landing and Vicki picked another spot up ahead as her goal, and then at reaching that goal another goal higher up still. I was snapping pictures of their hike, we were chatting, talking to her about how best to ascend the hill ahead of us and making new goals. Before we knew it we were at the top of the first big hill and over the other side! We kept making our way up as the clouds kept coming and we declared that we were "walking on a cloud!" We made it about half-way when I finally decided that I had gone far enough. Getting cold, tired and knowing my knees, legs, other body parts were not going to want to work later and today after coning back down if I went all the way to the top. Besides.....It was so dense at that point you couldn't see anything any way. I waited for a few of our group to come by on their way back down as the three ladies continued upwards towards the summit, and headed down happily snapping photos along the way. The three of them ended up making it all the way to the summit and back down again safely....even if they were the last ones off the mountain late in the evening.
It took much longer to hike up and back down than anticipated because of the fog and a little disorientation from hiking participants but everyone made it down safely we only a few muddy pants bottoms and a couple of scrapes here and there.....include to this experience a couple of really cool moose sitings and you have one exciting way to spend a Sunday night!
I will try and be diligent in getting updates done each night, so stay tuned for this evenings edition of Calvary Youth in Alaska!
Oh well.....no one lost their life over the fact that I didn't share it last night. Or at least I hope not!
Our morning started off with an AMAZING, and energetic worship here at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage, Alaska with their reverend Dr. Alonzo Patterson preaching for the 8 AM service we attended. There were a few of our youth whose comments were things like, "I loved the worship! It was different, passionate and loud!" ---or---- "I am really tired and I was trying to sleep, but every time I would start to dose off, the preacher would get really loud!" ---or--- "It was kind of cool."
After service the church treated us to a yummy brunch before we headed off for another part day of exploring the downtown area. It was a nice day for a walk with the rain giving us a little break and the sun even came out a little later in the afternoon! I broke down and had to put my sunglasses on for a while. There was a street marketplace set up there with a lot of local artists, crafts and local merchandise......I found a wonderful photographer named Dennis who had some beautiful images of the Northern Lights. There was food and entertainment as well as plenty of shopping for our youth to get rid of the money that was burning a hole in their pockets. Heather Michel even found a wall that she was allowed to paint on!
We had dinner at a place called "The Sourdough Mining Company" and it was ......Yummy, yummy BBQ chicken and brisket, corn fritters with honey butter, potatoes all served family style and ice cream for dessert. We even got to meet some reindeer up close and pet them while at the restaurant!
We then headed to our next adventure to hike up the "Flat top." If you make it to the top of the mile and a half hike you are supposed to be able to see Russia on a clear day. Well, no chance of seeing Russia yesterday! As soon as we started our ascent the fog rolled in and covered the mountain tops with an beautiful and mysterious mist of ocean mist and clouds. It was a very cool feeling walking in that mist---that is of course until you get a little turned around if you are not paying attention! Many made it to the top, several made it part way and a few chose to walk an observation loop that gave a somewhat less spectacular view.
How far did I make it, you ask? OK, I have to be totally honest.....when we first got there I had not intention of even doing the hike. I was tired, sore and really wasn't feeling it. I figured I would walk around the short loop and hang out with the kids who "forgot" to bring the right shoes (flip flops were not on the list for the walk), or didn't bring a jacket because "I don't need a jacket, I never get cold." (While they are standing in front of you shivering but trying to act cool). Well, I guess God had a different plan for me because while I was standing at the bottom of the stairs that head up the trail Vicki, an adult leader from Prairie, Deena and one of their youth walked up talking about the hike and trying to convince the young lady that despite her fear of heights and nervousness she should at least try to go part of the way. As we were discussing it, I changed my mind and started walking with them. Vicki suggested to her that we just go to the first clearing at the edge of the trees and take a look from there as the view was much better (our fog had not yet reached us to hinder seeing quite a distance). We then made it to that landing and Vicki picked another spot up ahead as her goal, and then at reaching that goal another goal higher up still. I was snapping pictures of their hike, we were chatting, talking to her about how best to ascend the hill ahead of us and making new goals. Before we knew it we were at the top of the first big hill and over the other side! We kept making our way up as the clouds kept coming and we declared that we were "walking on a cloud!" We made it about half-way when I finally decided that I had gone far enough. Getting cold, tired and knowing my knees, legs, other body parts were not going to want to work later and today after coning back down if I went all the way to the top. Besides.....It was so dense at that point you couldn't see anything any way. I waited for a few of our group to come by on their way back down as the three ladies continued upwards towards the summit, and headed down happily snapping photos along the way. The three of them ended up making it all the way to the summit and back down again safely....even if they were the last ones off the mountain late in the evening.
It took much longer to hike up and back down than anticipated because of the fog and a little disorientation from hiking participants but everyone made it down safely we only a few muddy pants bottoms and a couple of scrapes here and there.....include to this experience a couple of really cool moose sitings and you have one exciting way to spend a Sunday night!
I will try and be diligent in getting updates done each night, so stay tuned for this evenings edition of Calvary Youth in Alaska!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)