Summer, Alaska, and Ending the Hiatus

Man, it's been a while... I haven't hardly posted since I went back to Texas for the summer. A lot has happened since then, so many fun times and events, but I want to share just a little bit. Aside from seeing my friends and family back home, I had some great opportunities for ministry. I was given the chance to lead worship for my old youth group, which is always a blessing, as well as being a lifeguard and counselor for a kids camp for some under-privileged kids from the Midlothian and South Dallas area. A wealth of good times and serving Christ back at Oak Crest Baptist, but the main thing I want to touch on is the mission trip to Alaska that I took with the OC (Oak Crest, for those not paying attention).

After a lot of hard times trying to fund myself for the trip, the time finally came to head out on a plane to Anchorage, Alaska. The plane ride itself was quite uneventful, except for a strange, elderly LDS couple that sat behind us after the layover in Salt Lake, but also the trip was as tiring as ever. After we land and wait forever trying to find the van we were using for the week, we begin our four hour car ride to the other side of the Kenai Peninsula. (Oh, side note! One thing I found in Alaska is that there are no short 20 minute rides to another town. It was like a two and a half hour minimum to go anywhere!)

When we finally arrive in Kenai, Alaska it is almost 10:00 PM, but it looks and feels like 3:00 in the afternoon. After we get there and have a day of training and setting up, we go out to the beach. (Now would probably be a good time to explain what we were doing there.) Every year, for about a two week period, Alaskan residents are given the chance to dip net for salmon as they swim from the ocean up river. Almost like a hunting season. We were set up at the mouth of

the Kenai River where the people just lined up on either shore by the hundreds to dip net for salmon. Many people were sportsman catching fish, but in direct contrast, many were also very poor and the salmon they caught would feed their family for the year. Because of state law, we were not allowed to touch anything that had to do with the fish, so we served the people free hot dogs, hot chocolate and coffee. We also had a bounce house and kids area where we could minister to the children while parents were busy fishing, along with a fire that people could come get warm by and they would come just sit and talk with us. Our group was set up on a beach only accessible by 4x4 or ATV, but there were still tons of people.

The last day we had a beach chapel service where we sang some songs, Nathan Clardy (student minister at Oak Crest) spoke, and we had some locals join in with us.

We had some great times and got to see some of Alaska and go sight seeing, but apart from that my eyes were really opened to the need in our own country. The state of Alaska is so full of wilderness and beauty, but it also seems like the place the rest of America has forgotten about, aside from cruise stops, and the people there have very much learned to be self sufficient. It was strange to go to some place where many people there have never even heard of Jesus, much less go to church. There are so many thing about Alaska I could talk about, so just ask if you want to know. I hope that God continues to bless the ministry there, and that one day I might again have the opportunity to go back.