WoodsEdge 07/11-07/17

Sunday- I woke up pretty sore from the hike but I had to ignore that because we had to finish getting around for the team coming in that night. While gathering supplies needed I watched Wakarusa Missionary's service back home and was really interested by the lesson given on international missions and the mindset to have since I was doing mission work myself at the moment. I was tasked to get the groceries for the first couple of days since our cook was on another trip until halfway until our first full day so I went to Fred Meyers. I struggled while there because I was not used to the layout of the store and I also had another completely different list due to one of the kids having a bad gluten allergy that he can only have some things and his food can not be cross contaminated. After I got all the groceries we went and pick up the team and took them back to the staff house for orientation and then took them to Rachel Olsen's house who is director of Reach 907 where they will be staying.

Monday- The next morning we had to wake up super early in order to get the team to the church to the camp for their training and once we got there for staff training I found out that they were hoping I would step into the role of life guard during the lake time which if any of you know me know that I can swim to save my life but it does not look pretty. That night after camp we took the team to the lake house for dinner and played games inside since it was raining, during that time I found out that they did not know that Indiana was the basketball state and they thought Houston was so much better. To finish off the night Diana, Jeremiah(their college intern), and I shared our life stories with everyone.

Tuesday- The team did not have to get to the church super early the next day which was nice, and I got a chance to sit down with Justin (their youth pastor) and his wife and get to know them a little more and figure out what they want to happen while on this trip. We went to the lake again that night and the team went out kayaking and canoeing and then we had smores after where three students told their life stories.

Wednesday- Wednesday was a unique day for camp because we were leaving halfway throughout camp to head to Eklutna for the mid-week rec activities. That morning they asked me to open up the camp with the good morning announcements to get some energy going which I had a blast doing. During the lake time that day God opened my eyes to something that I did not realize earlier in the week. I had not gotten in the water during the last two days because I did not feel a need to if no one was in danger and I honestly did not want to but on Wednesday all the kids begged me to get in so I did. After I got in, throughout that lake time three different girls asked if they could jump off the dock into my arms. All three girls were scared of the water but they felt they could trust me to jump in and every time they built more and more trust until the point they loved to jump in the water by their selves. God showed me that by doing something I did not really wanted to do I was able to help three girls who might have not had male figures they could trust in the past learn that their are guys they can trust just like they can trust in their Godly father. Once we got to Eklutna that day I got to really experience God while out on the glacier fed lake and I understood at that moment while they some say the veil between heaven and earth is thinner there. That night for life stories Justin and Chelsea and two students told their life stories and it was an amazing end to a great day.

Thursday- After giving the opening welcome again on Thursday, I took Justin, Chelsea, and Jeremiah to the nearest Starbucks so they could get the I was here mugs that they usually get on all their trips and then took them to Burger Jims, the best burger place in Alaska. That night we went to Independence Mine for an appreciation dinner and then took the trip up to Submit Lake at the top of Hatcher's Pass and got to watch some paragliders take off on the mountain. To end the night Justin asked me to lead the debrief so I posed the question at the beginning of the meeting about looking back at the week what is something you regret you didn't do or do sooner. While they were thinking about that three girls on the trip gave their life stories and were really open and honest and raw and I was in tears by the end of the night. Once they finished I asked people to share some answers to my question and I ended the night by reminding them we have one more day left of camp so if there was one more chance to do the thing you regretted you did not do before you go home with that regret.

Friday- Friday was the last day of camp so it was a very fun day were the kids got to spend the afternoon playing in bouncy houses and water slides and got to get their faces painted. I got my face painted like a pirate and got a mom inside a heart on my arm that I sent to my mom and scared her with saying I got a tattoo. Once the team said goodbye to their kids we went to a nearby park for dinner and then I showed all the Texans what it means to come from Indiana while playing basketball. We then took the team to hike the Butte and finished off the last of groups life stories.

Saturday- Saturday was the groups final rec day so we let them sleep in a little and then took them to Byron Glacier where we had group sledding down the Glacier and a massive slush ball fight. After taking them to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center we stopped at Virgin Falls before heading to Awaken Church where we did our final meetings. I got to participate in the groups tradition of putting paracords on their legs so that people know that they have been through the same things together like the airplane jumpers during the war and we dropped them off and said goodbyes while I got an offer to come be a leader to one of their camps in January which means mini vacation from Indiana snow for me. This group was an amazing group overall, especially with how they worked with the kids and their realness and openness to us as staff and to each other which I really admired.