Sherrie Williams
Sherrie Williams
Sherrie Williams
Sherrie Williams
Sherrie Williams
Forty-three young people participated in the YiELD Alaska Mission Trip from June 30 to July 10, 2023. YiELD is a multi-church youth discipleship ministry of the Collegedale, McDonald Road, Collegedale Community, and Ooltewah, Tenn., churches. This is the third mission trip offered.
Camp Pioneer in Palmer, Alaska, was their home for the week. The main project for the trip was to focus on 12 of the cabins and insulate them.
On Sunday morning they emptied the cabins of beds and personal items the Alaskan families had left in their cabins for the yearly Camp Meeting. Once down to their bare shell, the team began cutting and placing a total of 144 bags of insulation.
Other projects for the week included mowing and weed-whacking more than two feet of grass, painting, removing brush, replacing shingles, repairing steps, installing cabin windows, fixing the tractor and forklift, building three fire pits, working in the kitchen, and more.
Thursday was excursion day with a two-hour tour of Matanuska Glacier. After donning helmets and shoe spikes, the team was taken out on the glacier where some did a glacial facial (glacier mud makes your skin soft), and drank glacier water while enjoying the views.
Friday held extra pressure in getting the cabins completed. The plywood was mostly mounted, but many cabins still needed it installed on either end where the windows and door were, and trim had to be cut and placed over each seam.
Friday it was misting, but all the projects, even painting, continued. As the end of the work day came, there were two more hours needed to complete the trim work.
For most it was a new experience to be where the sun did not completely set. Sunset was around 11:40 p.m. and sunrise at 4:20 a.m., but that in-between time was a dusky light. While recounting daily accomplishments, the catch-phrase “and the sun was still shining” was established.
While in the “Land of the Midnight Sun,” the team learned that families often celebrate the Sabbath hours differently. Some choose to honor the Sabbath sundown to sundown, which could make your Sabbath very long or short depending on the time of year. Other families choose a time from 8 p.m. to 8 p.m. The team leaders had chosen the latter, which would work well in giving them time on Saturday night to finish the cabins. Late Friday, it was learned that one of the camp residents celebrated Sabbath the literal sundown to sundown, so the team decided to respect his Sabbath hours and not work Saturday night.
On Sabbath the team joined the Palmer Church in worship and a potluck. That afternoon they visited Byron Glacier and enjoyed playing on the glacier, sliding down it, and snowball fights.
A small group got up at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to finish the cabin trim work before heading to the airport and home.
What were some things learned? In the words of the youth:
1. Roofing
2. How to use a can opener
3. Not everything goes as planned
4. Where the air filter is on a Thomas school bus
5. Continue to persevere
6. How to measure correctly
7. How to frame a cabin and install a window
8. Perfection is not always required
9. How to play volleyball
10. Trust your gear and you won’t fall
All this happened while the sun was still shining … and the Son shone through the youth and their work.
Georgia-Cumberland | September 2023
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