Ministry Sometimes Means Inflating Slides

So today marks the end of our week at FBC Ketchikan. It has been an incredibly productive week. Just to give you a run down, we have painted a Sunday School room, the church sanctuary, cleaned out and organized the church office and multiple storage rooms, baked 20 dozen cookies for camp, knocked out a wall, and put on 2 Block Parties complete with 2 18 ft. inflatables that we set up and took down (at 300 lbs each). The purpose of these block parties was to draw in kids so that we could tell them about a youth camp and children's camp that will be going on in the next two weeks. The church here actually owns a camp called Orton Ranch, which we will help lead the week after next. The Block party yesterday went really well. There were tons of kids and we handed out all of the pamphlets for camp and had several sign up on the spot. So that was exciting. We were actually supposed to go out to this camp yesterday to take groceries for the youth camp that they are having next week, but we weren't able to for various reasons. By the way, it's a couple hour drive out to the camp, then a 2 mile hike in...and a difficult hike at that. I must say, God knew what he was doing, because I definitely didn't have the energy to make that trek to camp. Doing the Block party the day before was quite physically draining. So we got to chill all yesterday morning and sleep a little bit before doing our 2nd Block Party. Let me tell you, yesterday was a true Alaskan day! It was cold, rainy, and windy...but we still managed to do the party. It was a good time.

Today we are moving out to Coffman Cove. It's on Prince of Wales Island, which is the 4th largest island in the U.S. This town only has about 200 people. There is one small grocery store and a gas station. Sounds like Tar Heel! That will definitely be an interesting experience. We also hear that there isn't any cell phone service and I don't have high hopes for much Internet. But I will live! We aren't completely sure what we will be doing yet. The schedule says Youth ministry. That could mean anything.

So this week has been pretty great. As I've said in my previous post, we have learned the meaning of flexibility in missions this week. I'm actually glad we got to do all the work that we did. I liked the feeling of productivity and we really helped the church out a lot. One of the things I've learned this week is that doing God's work may not necessarily always mean coming in direct contact with lost people. This sounds a little crazy a first, I know. Let me explain. This week, we have been helping out a church by doing some manual labor. Well I honestly believe it helped make a difference. By us getting all of that stuff done, we are allowing other members of the church to go out and share Jesus because they are not having to spend time inside of the church doing what we did. This all goes back to 1 Corinthians 12 when it talks about us having many parts of the body, but we are all part of the body, nonetheless. I think us being behind the scenes this week has shown us yet another part of ministry. A lot of times we don't have appreciation for the people that do the more menial tasks, but they are necessary. Now this isn't to say that we are always supposed to be behind the scenes. I firmly believe God will ask us to do bold things in order to reach people for Him. My point is, the behind the scenes stuff and the out front center stage stuff is all necessary and important. This week we got to experience the behind the scenes stuff, which I'm grateful for. I think it's really cool how we thought we would just be teaching VBS, but God has given us different and unique assignments each week. I feel like we are getting a very well rounded missions experience. I'm very grateful that God is showing me all these different aspects of ministry. I never thought I'd learn so much on a trip where I was supposed to be the teacher!

Prayer Requests:
-Safe trip to Coffman Cove
-Ministry at Coffman Cove Baptist Church
-ENERGY!
-Team Unity
-Ministry opportunities for all of my fellow summer missionaries

Flexibility Includes Painting and Cookies

So this week has gotten off to a great start! We are now in Ketchikan at the First Baptist Church. As you probably know, it took a 36 hour ferry ride to get here. It was actually really great. I didn't expect to like it at all. We camped out on the top deck of the ferry in lawn chairs and sleeping bags. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. Most of the time we were weaving in an out of these little narrow bays that were enclosed by snow capped mountains. We even got to see some whales! So we got off of the ferry at 6am...not so fun...and got to our host home, then went to church services. The highlight of my day was finding out that they have a drumset...and to make things even better, they don't have a drummer, so I got to play with the band during Worship. With no practice, by the way. It was awesome! I hadn't played drums in about a month and a half. Talk about withdrawels! A big surprise came when we found out that VBS here got canceled. This was were the "flexibility" part of the summer came in the we have been hearing about so much. We found out instead that we would be helping the church out with some different stuff and hosting a Block Party geared towards kids, and complete with bounce houses. On Monday, we went to the local high school with the pastor (who is also the Culinary Arts teacher at the school) and baked about 20 dozen cookies for a youth camp they are doing next week. That was fun stuff. Last night we went to an older couple's house for dinner. And boy, it was a real Alaskan meal! We had grilled silver salmon and homemade frenchfries. A-MAZING! Then we played this amazing game with dominoes called Mexican Train. It was a blast. The man had us playing a million rounds. He was quite the competitor. By the way, I won. Them being an older couple, I didn't expect it to be such a good time, but they were awesome. It might sound superficial, but the people in this church are a lot of fun! Today we painted the sanctuary of the church and catalogued the Director of Missions library. It's been a pretty good day. Tonight we had prayer meeting. It was great. We song some worship songs and just straight up prayed for 30 minutes. It was good stuff. To back track a little bit, a woman from the church took us out to eat Chinese food for lunch, then the pastor's oldest son took us out for Mexican food for dinner. So exciting. I love me some Mexican food! It was really nice to fellowship with some people from the church. They really have a heart for lost people and they are definitely a praying church. They are also very welcoming and want to do everything they can for us. So for the rest of the week, we are doing some odd jobs around the church...filing a lot of papers, maybe some more painting, pulling up blueberry bushes...and then there is the Block Party on Thursday. Hopefully it will be great.

So something that God has been showing me over the past 3 weeks is that there are so many people that have gone through so much stuff in their lives, but they are still faithful and close to God. I've had many conversations with people from several different churches while I've been in Alaska, and so many of them have so much pain and hurt in their lives. In many cases, these people are some of the most predominant leaders in the church. I've talked to people about their painful divorces, difficult loses in their family, and many other things. It's amazing to see that despite all of the bad that they have gone through, they still choose to follow Jesus. A lot of people tend to blame God for the bad things that happen in their life, or stray away from Him to find quick fixes, but there are so many people that depend so heavily on God instead. That just amazes me. I have a hard time not letting things get in the way of me and God, and I haven't had any huge tragedies in my life. But these people that I talk to have had some of the worst things imaginable happen to them, and they are rock solid in their faith. I definitely look up to these people a lot. This summer is definitely as much a learning experience as it is a mission experience. I feel like God has taught me a lot already, and he still has 7 weeks to teach me a lot more. My friend, Maria, wrote a blog talking about "seeing and being" Jesus...meaning that we should try to see Jesus in other people in order to know how to be Jesus to others. I feel like that's what has been happening with me. I have been surrounded by some of the most Godly people I have ever met, and I have learned so much from them about how to shine the light of Jesus. I suppose that this week, even though we aren't doing a whole lot of hands on evangelism, I think God still has some cool stuff in store for the week. I'm sure He has a lot to teach me this week too.

Prayer Requests:
-Block Party on Thursday
-Energy (We are doing 7 AM mornings again)
-Opportunities to share Jesus

I'm On A Boat!...For 36 Hours.

So this week is winding down. We are going to be leaving Emmanuel Baptist Church and heading to FBC Ketchikan, in Ketchikan today. Did I mention that Ketchikan is a 36- HOUR ferry ride? Crazy! We get to camp out on the deck with our sleeping bags. It's going to be an experience, for sure. From what we hear, we should be able to see some cool stuff along the way. I'm really hoping for some whale sightings. Anyway, I'm pretty excited about going to a new town. I love it here in Juneau, but I'm ready to check out a new place. I originally thought this whole trip was going to be based completely in Ketchikan, so I did a ton of research on the area before I found out I was going to be traveling all over Southeast. It seems like a pretty cool place.

So yesterday, I got to do one of the coolest things I've ever done. A lady in the church, who's extra apartment me and Turner are also staying in, invited us out to her lodge. This place is out in the middle of nowhere and it is GORGEOUS. There's massive mountains with huge amounts of snow on them that sit on the shore of the ocean. The boys went out with the lady's husband and they took a little bass boat up to a river and
they were jumping huge beaver dams and logs. Us girls had a more tame experience, though awesome, nonetheless. The lady, who's name is Naomi, took us out on her jet ski to this island that has huge sea lions on it. I'm not talking 3 or 4 of them. I'm talking like 40 sea lions all beached up on this cliff. The ride to the island was about 15 minutes and it was the most gorgeous scenery I have ever laid eyes on. I was speechless riding through everything. I kept thinking that God did a phenomenal job when He made everything I saw yesterday. I have some pictures...but they still don't do it justice.

We've continued to do VBS this week. It's been good. We've had about 15 kids total all week. I've had all girls except for one boy. They are all so sweet. Love them. I have a very well behaved group. That has definitely been nice. They're also very inquisitive. They love to ask some questions! We went through the 10 commandments this week and of course, we got asked what adultry is. Try explaining that to 5-7 year olds. Ha. They have been asking a lot of good questions though. What is sin? What is repentance? What is worship? It's cool that their minds are wondering all this.

So today, we got to do something pretty exciting. The people that took care of us so much last week, Breehia and JK, had a little baby boy a few days ago, and we got to go see him. His name is Tell Carver Mitchell. Fun name, huh? Very Alaskan-y. They called us up this morning and invited us to come see them. It was great to get to visit with Breehia. She's really awesome. It was just really great to see some people from last week. We were pretty stoked that they thought enough of us to call us over. Speaking of people from last week, they are still being so awesome to us, even though we're not at their church anymore. JK got us all these amazing rainboots to borrow while we're in Southeast AK. We're definitely going to need them. Also, another lady, Stacie, from last week as been a huge encouragement to me this week. If you read the last post, you'll know that this week has not been easy. Well Stacie has been sending me notes of encouragement on Facebook. They definitely meant a lot. Two other women from last week, MeLissa and Susil, have also been big encouragements to me this week too. I just can't say enough good things about the people at FBC Juneau. That's not to say that the people this week weren't great to us too. They definitely have been.

Thanks to everybody that has been praying for me and my team! I appreciate it a ton.

Prayer Requests:
-A safe ferry ride to Ketchikan
-VBS at FBC Ketchikan
-Good attitudes
-Energy and focus
-Good relationships with FBC Ketchikan
-That God will give us opportunities outside of VBS to minister to people.
-My mom-She found out this week that she has fluid on her heart.

Challenge

So this week so far has been...interesting. We moved to a new church on Saturday that is about 7 miles down the road from where we were last week. Me and Turner got to move into a sweet apartment that has wireless internet!!! Jake and Aaron are staying with a family a few streets down from us. We also were given a car for the week. That has definitely been nice so we don't have to depend on other people to get around. We've also got to go a lot more places this week. So anyway, this week has definitely been a challenge. We quickly found out that the philosophy this church has about outreach is definitely a lot different than what I am used to and what I would personally use. This has prompted a lot of thinking and meditation on my part. I have one of those personalities that tends to think I'm right all the time. I have to fight against that...a LOT. This is most definitely one of those instances. I have this instinct sometimes to think that because something isn't done my way, then it isn't right. I know that when I sit and think about, that's not usually the case. I'm just a really strong willed person and I have to keep that in check, especially when dealing with delicate situations like church relations. So the past few days, I've been weighing out a lot of stuff, praying, reading a lot of scripture, etc. so that I can better understand why it is that this church is doing stuff this way. I'm having to learn to go against my nature with this. I still have this huge voice inside of me screaming that I want things to be done my way, but I'm having to make myself pipe down and recognize that the people in this church have the same passion and desire that I have, and that is to reach lost people. There's a verse in 1 Corithians 15:58 that has been rolling around in my head the whole week that says, "So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." I have to keep reminding myself of this. Even though I don't prefer to use the methods that this church does, it is still useful to God. I mean, they aren't saying anything that goes against the Bible, they are just emphasizing some points that I wouldn't necessarily emphasize when trying to tell somebody about Jesus. God is showing me that it's ok though.

Another thing that God is showing me through this is that ministry isn't always sunshine and rainbows. There are going to be difficult times. There are going to be sticky situations. There are going to be times when I just don't feel like getting out there and doing what I need to do. All of this stuff today sort of culminated a few minutes before we were going to start VBS tonight. I starting thinking so negatively about everything and was almost to the point of bitterness. I didn't want to go to VBS tonight. I just didn't feel like being around people, much less a bunch of screaming kids. So I did not have the best attitude in the world driving over to the church this afternoon. As we were getting out of the car, I threw up a prayer asking God to take away my negativity and help me get excited about what we were doing. God chose to answer that in a pretty cool, yet unexpected way. I was still feeling sort of annoyed with everything during the first few minutes. During the first song, though, I look over at the door and there is standing this new kid that hadn't been there last night...and low and behold, it was this little 9 year old girl that I had in my group last week that had been one of my favorites. She is also one of the girls I wrote about earlier who asked me about witnessing to her friend. I all but ran over to her and she ended up being in my group for this week. I know this probably sounds strange, but having this little girl show up tonight did me a lot of good. Maybe it was the familiarity of having somebody I knew from last week, or maybe something else, but my entire attitude changed when she showed up. She was such a huge encouragement to me. So the night ended up being pretty good. Go God!

So I suppose this week is just all about God teaching me some hard lessons about ministry. I think I'm getting a more realistic view of ministry. There are going to be ups and downs, just like anything else. And there's nothing wrong with that. This is by far the longest mission trip I've ever been on, and it's ridiculous for me to expect it all to be peachy. It might not be the most pleasant thing for God to have to teach me this stuff, but the more I think about it, the more I know it's quite necessary...especially since my whole life is going to be doing ministry stuff. So I guess the bottom line is, even though this week isn't the best one I've ever had, God is still using it for a lot of good...and hey, I still get to tell kids about Jesus! That's always something to be grateful for!

Prayer Requests:
-VBS at Emmanual Baptist Church this week
-That the 36-hour ferry ride to Ketchikan this weekend goes well
-VBS at FBC Ketchikan next week
-Team unity
-Good attitudes
-Energy, patience, preserverence, enthusiasm

Thanks for all the encouragement and prayers!

Lyndsey

Here are some pictures and a video...the video is a view of Downtown Juneau from a mountain.

So! I haven't been able to blog in a few days. We only get internet this week when we go to someone's house that has wireless. Thankfully tonight we got some Internet...I was about to have withdrawals. So anyway, this week has been amazing. We finished up our first week of VBS tonight with Parent Night. All of the kids parents came and watched their kids perform all of the songs and hand motions that they have learned all week. It was pretty great to see how much they learned. The Bible studies this week have been amazing. Wednesday I got to share the plan of salvation with my kids and gave them all decision cards. 10 of 12 said that they were already Christians, and I really believe that they are. The other 2 said they were interested in making a decison about Jesus. I got to talk to them and as of now, they have both decided that want some more time to think it through. But hey, I'm ok with that. I firmly believe that the seed has been planted and God is going to water that and harvest it all in His good time. Another really awesome thing that happened in my group this week was when these two girls pulled me aside after Bible study and started asking me about getting baptized. Both of them have been saved, but wanted to know why it was important to get baptized. So I got to talk to them a while all about that, and both have decided that they want to take that step. After that, they started telling me about a friend that they have that doesn't know Jesus and how they really want to tell her about him, but don't know how. So I got to tell them how they could go about doing that and I got to pray with them about all that. I don't know if that seems really simple to you, but to me, I thought it was pretty cool. Then today, a guy came up to me after Missions class and started telling me about this friend that he has that isn't a Christian and his parents won't let him go to church because they are of a different religion. Once again I got to talk to him about how he can tell his friend about Jesus. The huge thing that has been so awesome to me this week is that these 9,10, and 11 year old kids are so concerned about other people's salvation. Already at that age they feel the urgency to tell people about Jesus. So overall, I must say, it has been an awesome week.

On a more personal note, God has been running the verses from the Bible in my head about becoming, "even more undignififed that this...". This is mainly due to the fact that me and my team have had to lead the VBS songs and do the motions. For any of you that don't know how this stuff goes, the motions to these songs can seem a little ridiculous sometimes and are a bit embarrassing to do when you aren't 10. As a matter of fact, last summer I went to Hawaii and we were supposed to do these songs, and I basically refused to do them because I thought they were dumb. Well the first thing we hear when we get here is that we have to lead this stuff. So I immediately started asking God to take about that embarrassment and help me not have any inhibitions about these songs. And God did just that. God showed me that even though I might not love having to do those songs, they mean a lot to those kids. It is worship for them. He showed me that if I have to look absolutely ridiculous to reach kids and help them come closer to Jesus, it is completley worth it. Oddly enough, the music ended up being one of my favorite parts of the week. Go Jesus!

So tomorrow we move on to another church here in Juneau, about 7 miles down the road from where we are now. It should be great! Please be in prayer for Emmanuel Baptist Church and their VBS. Please pray that me and my team will have energy, patience, and endurance. I appreciate the prayers that I know have gone on already.

On a very random note, I got to see Sarah Palin's house this week. AWESOME!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Grace and Peace,
Lyndsey

So today is Day 5 in beautiful Alaska! I cannot even express how amazing this place is. The people are absolutely amazing. I'm actually sitting at a family's house right now, who is about to feed us dinner. They're also letting us mooch off their wireless! This family, the Mitchells, have really taken care of us this week. This is our second time at their house. The first time we came, they fed us and then took us to see this amazing glacier and also took us on this impromptu hike to this cliff that overlooks these huge snow-capped mountains and a bay. It was about a mile hike, with lots of intense jumps. The cool part is that the lady did all this will 8 months pregnant. She's a beast. Alaskan women are pretty dang tough! When we were out on the point, we got to see some seals. That was pretty sweet. Yesterday we got to go downtown, which is the tourist area and where all the government buildings are. Yes, that's where Sarah Palin works and lives part time, though I didn't actually get to see her house. Last night we went to a cookout with a bunch of church people, and the lady's house we had it at is a graduate of Appalachian State. I thought that was pretty awesome! We got to see mountain goats at last night too.

So today we had our first Vacation Bible School. It was pretty great! I had 9,10,and 11 year olds. I had 11 kids. I was in charge of Bible Study and took them to the rest of their classes. They were pretty good. I have about 6 11 year old boys, and they're just a bit rambuncious, but it's all good. We ended up having about 40 kids all together, which is amazing for the area. The population here isn't that big, so 40 kids for them is awesome. Tonight we get to do VBS for the youth. We're not too sure how many kids will be there, because this is the first year they have done youth VBS. It should be good though.

I must say, God is awesome. I can see Him all through the people in this church. It's really rare to see so many people that are on fire for Jesus and that are so passionate about telling other people about Him. It's really been a blessing to be able to hear about all the people here and the stories they have. We met one guy yesterday who works 3 jobs but in his spare time he prayer walks in a community that is known for being really rough and he stops and tells people about Jesus. I think that's pretty awesome. The church is full of stories like that.

Well it's officially dinner time. I'll write again soon.

Grace and Peace,
Lyndsey