AK Day 7: "CAMPERS ARRIVE"

Day 7 - Blue sky and sunshine! What a way to start the day that would later turn into the official start of camp for 15-20 high school and middle school kids as well as the crew from UFCCH. After breakfast we had time to take care of last minute stuff before we began our hike to the dock at 11:30am.

With great anticipation for the number of campers we would meet at the dock we began our hike. The pace was much quicker than the day before because "berry stops" were less frequent. We got to the dock a bit early. It was a crowded dock so we wondered where the "fast boat" from Salmon Falls would dock. After talking some and meeting some of the other folks who were docked there we heard the roar of a boat coming our way. It was a Salmon Falls boat and it whizzed right past us and kept going. People waved to us so I guessed that the boat was heading down toward the Naha River just to give everyone a glimpse and after the glimpse it would return and dock. Others weren't as sure. A few minutes later the boat did come back toward us and found a place to dock on the inside of the dock.

We were excited to see Leslie and Elenor (Steve & Leslie's foster child) and one, two, three, four...eighteen campers! Karen, we met last year, is from Titusville, FL and was part of last year's camp team that put on VBS at Metlakatla and then did a camp for elementary school aged kids. Trevan was a camper last year, it was so awesome to see him return this year. He decided to come at the last minute and brought a couple of friends with him. Leslie, Jacob, Ben and God all worked to get Trevan to come so we were so excited to see that he did decide to come at the 11th hour. There were a couple of girls who were with us at camp last year as well. Four were familiar and fourteen were new to us.

Once all the campers, their luggage and supplies were unloaded we began the hike over "the hump" to the other dock where the small boat was waiting to take the luggage. Everyone loaded their luggage and then we began the hike to camp. Along the way was a great time to visit with those we knew and get to know those who were new to us. It was a fun hike that went by fast due to the conversation along the way.

It's always fun to get that first glimpse of Orton Ranch. Inevitably someone yells out, "I see it!" I was toward the back so I don't know if Ben did his ceremoniously run across the field a second time. We all gathered at the Pavilion and received our first set of instructions. Moments later the campers were moving in and setting up their bunk and the space around it. There was lots of excitement in the boy's dorm. I could tell we had some interesting characters. After awhile it was time to begin the camp program which included get to know you games, formation of family groups, worship, a message, campfire, hangout time and bed time. This time of beginning camp and getting to know each other was interesting and challenging.

By the time bed time rolled around (the campers had to be in by 11:30pm and quiet by midnight) it became obvious as to who the rowdy campers were. I was bunked by Izzak, Donovan and Austin. All very cool guys. The guys across the way from me were part of the Rowdy Bunch. Trevan, Jarrett, Hugh and eventually Kaleb. They were lively but respectful. When midnight came they quieted immediately and went to sleep. I was shocked but praising the Lord! \o/ I knew if they did that all week we would be fine and get enough sleep to push through each long and exhausting day of camp.

All in all we survived the first day. I am sure there will be some things to address at the morning Staff Meeting so we can be ready for the first full day of camp and more time getting to know the campers who are new to us.

God answered the prayer re: more campers, I know it is just the beginning of his work among us this week.

PTL!

bob g & the AK mission team

AK Day 6: "CAMP TRANSPORTATION"

Day 6 - The night before we prayed selfishly to see some sunshine the next day. This morning we woke up to sunshine! We gave praise to the Lord. It was short lived though. As Ben, Jacob and I arrived at the dock to help load supplies on the boat the heavens let loose again.

As I walked to find the dock where Steve and Leslie were I heard one of the guys scream "STOP RAINING." It didn't right then but 3-4 minutes later the rain stopped. This made loading the supplies so much easier. We had a steep ramp to go down to get to the dock that led to the boat we were taking to camp. As the guys helped Steve and Leslie load the boat I made several trips back to the church to get the rest of the group and their luggage. Earl helped with the final trip so we got everyone and their luggage to the dock in a timely manner. The boat needed to sail by 11:30am.

The 3 hour ride to where we would unload was great. We took in the sights, took pictures, snacked on great cookies, talked, read, slept.... Once we got to our unloading spot we got all of us, our luggage and our supplies off the boat. We then had to hike it all over "The Hump" to a much smaller boat that would transport only our luggage and supplies up the river to the Orton Ranch Camp.

Allison rode in the boat to camp. This meant she would be helping unload all the luggage and supplies once they docked at camp.The TWO MILE HIKE to camp wasn't bad. There is a boardwalk off and on along the way. There are a few places where the boardwalk is in need of repair so we had to get off and step on rocks or a beam or the ground to make our way to the next part of the boardwalk. There were also parts of the hike that were on a muddy trail up and over rocks and trees and tree roots. Also along the way are berries! The hike to camp took longer than usual due to all the berry stops. How cool is that!

We arrived at Orton Ranch and Ben made his ceremoniously run across the ranch to the T-House proclaiming that we had arrived. We located our luggage and moved into our dorms. After that we helped unload kitchen supplies and gather supplies to stock the bathroom in our dorm. Once all the work was done we got to take some time to be introduced or reintroduced to Orton Ranch Camp and it's beautiful setting on the Naha River.

Steve fixed dinner and we ate! We only snacked along the way to camp so everyone was hungry. On Saturday prior to leaving for camp on Monday we did a bit of group building because many on the Team were new to each other. It helped some but there was more to be done. This became evident to me at camp and at dinner. I decided that after dinner we would have a team meeting and work on coming together so that the week ahead we could minister to the middle and high school kids as a group united and not divided.

Our meeting was great and God led.

We had some open and honest discussion that helped us clear the air and come together. No stone was left unturned. I truly felt that we made huge progress in unifying as a group. After our unity discussion we talked about Camp. We wanted to make sure we were all on the same page as we got ready to start camp the next afternoon. We were excited about the possibility of 20 campers coming to join us. Just three weeks earlier only 1-2 campers had signed up for camp so we were stoked that the number of potential campers had risen significantly.

After our time of meeting everyone took time to hang out and have fun before the generator went out at 11pm. Tomorrow will include hiking to the dock to meet Leslie and the campers, hiking the campers to Orton Ranch and then getting Camp started. It's going to be exciting!

As always, thanks for your prayers!

bob g & the AK mission team

AK Day 5: "LORDS DAY"

Day 5: "LORDS DAY" Deer Mountain in Ketchikan, Alaska

Today was a long day! We had to wake up, pack up, clean up and move our stuff out "before" Sunday School and church. We got that all done then Abby shared a devotion with us before Sunday School. We went to the youth class. Pastor Doug shared about the message to the church at Ephesus found in Revelation. Worship was really good. Ben Edwards, Doug's son, led us in a great time of praise then Pastor Doug shared with us how we could live holy in an unholy world. The service and people were super. We also got to meet more youth and encourage them to come to camp. Several said they would.

We ate sandwiches and then loaded up to go hike Deer Mountain. The rain had let up until we got to the trailhead. We headed up knowing that it would take a couple of hours to get to snow and the first overlook. The trail was covered at times so that kept the rain off us some. Because of the massive amounts of snow that fell this winter there was a lot of water coming down the mountain as it melted.

Therefore, our feet got soaked along with the rest of our body. There were some great picture stops along the way as well as places to take a break. The group divided into two due to pace. Both groups made it up to the snow and down in good time. It felt so good to get to the Overlook, what an accomplishment! It then felt great to get back to the van and then to church so we could warm up in the shower and put on dry clothes.

At 6pm we met with the youth group. Several were coming to camp so it was great to get to know them beforehand.

At 7:30pm our dinner showed up. Vee ordered Chinese from our new friend Lee. We hAd a great variety which included Sweet and Sour Halibut. After dinner two groups went to the Ginter's to help bake cookies and do laundry. A third group went to Wal*Mart one last time before camp. The Wal Mart group finished shopping and joined everyone else at the Ginter's. We ate cookies, talked, watched tv, listened to music, finished up the cookies and some of the laundry. By this time it was nearing 11 pm. Many were tired from the hike so we went back to church and thanked the Lord for a great day. Then it was off to sleep.

Tomorrow we again have pack and clean up so we can head to camp! We have to load all the food and our stuff on the boat. Then we have a three hour boat ride to the two mile trail we have to hike into camp. We will do all that we need to do to get settled and ready for camp. We will hike back to the dock on Tuesday at noon to meet the campers and hike in with them. Camp will begin Tuesday afternoon.

Everything is going great, keep the prayers coming!

bob g

& the Alaska Team

AK Day 4: "ZIP LINE"

Day 4: "ZIP LINE" in Ketchikan, Alaska

Yesterday was all about the whole group coming together. Today was about small groups working together.

After breakfast everyone jumped into their morning devotions, reading and/or journaling. Some even took some time to shower. We have one shower for twelve people so it takes team work to get every one through. At 9:20am Ben Anderson shared a devotion with the group before we set out. He reminded us about the importance and significance of service.

After our morning devotion we loaded up in vans and headed to the Rainforest Sanctuary. Mike Rigas arranged for us to go on the zip line but it had to be done in two groups at different times. We dropped the 10am group off and loaded the 12:30pm group up so they could go help Steve with a work project at the bunk house.

Steve & Leslie bought this house to live in the future and lodge mission teams. The 12:30pm group got busy unloading a trailer of wood. Of course it was raining so it was awesome to see them tackle the task no matter the conditions. While they unloaded the wood I took Brooke to the Randall's house to help Leslie with lunch. Good thing because Leslie got a call and had to head out (she's a flight nurse). Brooke was going to get everything ready for the work group to eat at 11:45am so they could be at the zip line at 12:30pm. When the 10am zip line group was finished they would go up to the house for lunch and then head to work at the bunk house. Most of the trailer got unloaded, lunch was awesome and the first group loved the zip line.

I was in the second zip line group. We met up with Mike, signed our Waiver and headed out. We were transported up to the start of the zip line in a big people moving truck that could go up steep hills easy. Once up top Mike introduced us to Chris who would be assisting him. They got us in our equipment and instructed us on how to zip correctly. We practiced on a short zip line, everyone did well. Now it was on to the first of seven zip lines that ranged anywhere from 150 feet to over 700 feet. The total zip line experience was awesome and it was good for the small groups as they got to know each other better, work together and have some fun.

We stopped by the bunk house to see how much the 10am group got done on the deck and how they were doing. When we arrived we saw that they did great work and found out they had returned to the church to get cleaned up. We went on to the church to meet up with them and decide on afternoon plans. By this time it was raining even harder so everyone got cleaned up, warm and dry. We decided to just relax until we went out to meet Steve to snag some King Salmon. It was nice to relax for a bit in the warm.

At 5:30pm we left to meet Steve. Brooke, Allison and Beth stayed at the church. They would have dinner ready for us at 8:30pm. Snagging was fun. Steve and Jacob caught one each and everyone else got to try it for a bit. A couple of bears put on a show for us across the Cove and the eagles showed up in mass. It was amazing.

We returned to church to a great dinner of Shake-n-Bake chicken, mashed potatoes and creamed corn. Alisha is the M&M Queen so we never have a shortage of sweets. After dinner we had a time of worship, debriefing and discussion of the day to come.

It was a good, challenging and fun day filled with blessings. Thanks for your prayers, keep them coming!

bob g

& the Alaska Team

AK Day 3: "GROUP BUILDING"

Day 3 - "GROUP BUILDING" in Ketchikan, Alaska

Our first full day in Ketchikan was about group building and having some fun together. After everyone spent time reading, journaling, doing their devotions we circled up in the fellowship hall and began some group building. The first activity was Family, Favs and Faith. Everyone took turns sharing about these three areas of their life. This went on for an hour or so so after we were finished we took a short break.

The next activity was the Tennis Ball Game. In their circle they had to toss a tennis ball around to each person to form a pattern. After the pattern is formed the tennis ball is passed from person to person according to the pattern. It gets tricky as a second, third, fourth...more tennis balls are added to the pattern. It is a great activity for communication, working together and problem solving.

We used passages from "Bulletproof" and I Corinthians to add to our discussion and debriefing.

Our final group building activity for the morning was grocery shopping. We walked to Safeway and discussed what we would need for our meals at the church. We split into groups and headed out to find our assigned items. We all came back together to see what we had and see if we forgot any thing. We noticed a thing or two we forgot so different team members set off to get them. We paid for all our stuff and then each one grabbed a bag and we headed back to church.

After lunch we went downtown to get introduced to Ketchikan. A few groups walked the mile and a half and others rode. As you get downtown you see large cruise ships and lots of tourists and places for tourists to shop and see. After seeing, shopping, taking care of internet stuff we returned to church for dinner. The dinner crew prepared us a great dinner and the clean up crew did a great job washing dishes, pots, pans.... Once everything was cleaned up we went out to meet Steve at the Rainforest Sanctuary.

He led us on a bear walk. We went down the boardwalk and trail, no bears. We retraced our tracks and as we walked I selfishly prayed that God would show his children some bears (they were so anticipating seeing one). Ten seconds later I heard Steve say, "there's one!" After that we got to see several, it was so awesome PTL!

After the walk we returned to the church to worship and work on camp a bit. It was a great day and we closed our time by giving thanks to God for an amazing day. Tomorrow we have a group work project and we get to do the zip line! Mike Rigas got this arranged for us, we are looking forward to this exciting experience.

As always, your prayers are appreciated!

bob g

& the Alaska Team

AK Day 2: Orlando, FL to Ketchikan, ALASKA

Day 2 - What a whirlwind after the breakdown was taken care of. We finally got to the Quality Inn Airport at 10:45pm. We met for a few moments to talk about the game plan for the morning then we prayed and headed off to sleep.

4:30am came early! We got up, cleaned up, packed up, ate breakfast and caught the 5:30am shuttle to the airport. Beth, Allison, Brooke and Jacob met us there. After getting checked in we had an hour before boarding so people got something to eat or chilled out at the gate.

The flight to Portland was 5 1/2 hours. We all slept some and read some. Once in Portland the excitement began (once again). We got to our gate and found that the flight was delayed. We ate lunch close to the gate and then heard that our flight was canceled. I took all our boarding tickets to the agent and he booked us on another flight to Seattle.

While this was going on Ben and Allison were on a different flight straight to Seattle. Allison was to fly with us to Ketchikan and Ben was to follow us a bit later. When our flight was canceled I realized we would probably miss our flight in Seattle so I called Ben and had him get Allison booked on his flight so they would stay together. He called me back and said it was taken care of.

The flight to Seattle was quick but awesome. Awesome because I sat next to Sean who is a Christian and working on a degree in Christian Counseling. He is schooling in Phoenix but originally from Vancouver. I told him how much Celeste loved it up that way and we intended to visit there next summer. He also was involved in inner city ministry with a friend. It was a great time of sharing but too short. I gave him my card so I hope to hear from him.

Once in Seattle we checked the Departure board and our flight wasn't listed so we guessed it was gone. It was. No problem though, we were now booked on the same flight with Ben and Allison. We were finally all together! We went to D-1 and found them chilling out. We had some time before the flight so people took advantage of the food court and shops. Then it was time to go to Alaska!

The flight there was amazing. Snow covered mountain peaks everywhere! Then, there is the city of Ketchikan with Cruise Ships at the docks. We got off the plane and headed to baggage claim. There we saw Steve, Leslie and Karen who was on the Titusville, FL team last year. Karen has worked in Ketchikan all summer. We all got our luggage except Jacob and Sarai. The Alaska Airline reps told them what flight their bags were coming in on and when they would be delivered to the church. Jacob's would show up at 9:30pm and Sarai's the next morning.

We loaded our luggage in Steve's truck and walked to the Ferry. We had to wait a bit so we took time to take a group photo. Finally the Ferry arrived and we all loaded up. The ride over to Ketchikan is quick. All this time we were adjusting to the much cooler weather. It must have been in the upper 50's!

We got over to Ketchikan where Earl and his sister Mattie met us. It's always great to see them! We loaded up and went to First Baptist Church to unload. They are hosting us while in Ketchikan. When we got there we were greeted by Mike Rigas. How awesome to see Mike once again! We settled in then walked down the hill to Ocean View to eat pizza.

There I got to meet Angel from LA. We had a great time of talking. He and his family are from Mexico and come up to Ketchikan to work during tourist season. They are active in the Catholic church. He gave me his card so I will be dropping him a note. Dinner was great! By this time we were getting tired so we went back up to church to talk about the night to come and the days to come. We also took time to thank God for delivering us and most of our luggage to Ketchikan.

After talking about the game plan for the night and days to come some of us made a Wal*Mart run for personal and trip supplies. After that it was time for bed! It had been a super long day but God really did some cool stuff. We are looking forward to what he is going to do.

More later. Blessings! Keep the prayers coming,

bob g

& our UFCCH Alaska Mission Team

Ben Anderson

Dixie Cline

Abby Crowe

Jacob Frye

Alisha Hagan

Aaron Mayo

Beth Phillips

Brooke Powell

Allison Sudik

Crystal Swartzfager

Sarai Young

& Mike Rigas (our UFCCH Alum) joined us !

AK Day 1: ALASKA MISSION TRIP - Gainesville to Orlando, FL

Day 1 - "The Best of a Bad Situation"

Most of the Alaska Mission Team and I are sitting in Ocala, FL at Tires Plus waiting for the UFCCH van to be fixed.

We met at the Campus House between 2 and 3pm so we could get to Orlando and get a good night's sleep before an early flight tomorrow. After everyone arrived and loaded up we prayed over the trip and then loaded up to begin the journey that we have anticipated for over 6 months. The enthusiasm was evident.

There was a lot of introductory conversation going on which was good. Then, just before SR 200 I noticed that the Check Gauge light was on and the AC got warm. I immediately turned the AC off, rolled down the windows and got off the Interstate on to 200 west. Right away I saw a Tires Plus on the south side of 200. I worked to get over so I could turn around. Because the power steering belt had come off it was work to get turned around. I pulled in and parked.

Upon walking in I met Phillip and Scott. I told them what had happened and Phillip said they would check it out right away. He and Scott began to examine it and inform me of what they found initially. Before they could move it into the garage they had to let it cool down. At that point we all moved into the Waiting Room. Team members began to do a variety of things. Read, journal or watch television. After awhile we decided to walk to Steak n Shake for dinner. It was good and a good time of community. During dinner it began to rain so we took our time.

Now we are back at Tires Plus waiting for the repairs to be done so they can run a block test. Phillip's preliminary report is that they think the block and heads are fine. That is our prayer. If the test comes back bad then Ed from Central Christian Church will come pick us up and take us to Orlando.

I find that when bad things rain down on God's people it generally is the best of a bad situation. We know God is in control and will provide so we sit here trusting in him and giving thanks for how this situation has played out thus far.

I will keep you posted. Prayers appreciated!

bob g