Past Missions- How It All Began

I graduated from college with a degree in Elementary Education in May 2004. God immediately gave me a great job at a Christian school the same year. As the school years ended in 2005 and 2006, I felt God calling me to more than spending my summers with no real purpose. I started praying the following school year how God would have me spend my summer. I was talking to the father of a friend who had moved to Kodiak, Alaska, to work. He said I should call the director of Kodiak Baptist Mission. I called in the fall of 2006 and left a message inquiring about summer opportunities, but didn't hear anything back. I assumed that was not the direction God wanted me to take and moved on. Several months later- not very many weeks before camp started- I got a call saying yes they needed help and asked if I was still interested. I was very surprised! I felt God was definitely calling me to go, so I quickly bought my plane ticket and started packing. I was a counselor for the Kodiak Baptist Mission day camp. It was for grades 1-6. I planned or helped lead activities for different camps: pottery, horses, tide pooling, trips to parks, etc. I worked with first graders for small group devotions- read Bible stories and went over memory verses. I volunteered some at the preschool. There were many hardships during these summers including a long flight to Alaska (I hate flying!), getting used to being on an island (no quick way off), Kodiak Brown Bears, lots of rain (we did everything even in rain), and sleeping when it's still light out. I learned that evil darkness still exists in many parts of the world, especially when we went to Native villages. It was very oppressive spending time in these places. We would plan activities for the children to do during the week we were in the village like painting, baking, kayaking, or just hanging out with them. My heart went out to these kids. My 3rd summer in Alaska I had a severe ankle injury that occurred a couple weeks into camp (while on our backpacking trip) and it limited me greatly the rest of the summer. I wasn't able to travel around with the kids as much, but it gave me a chance to help out around the camp with other tasks like helping in the food pantry. God taught me so many things during my summers in Kodiak. A small act of love can make a child's day. I learned how to do a lot of new things like kayaking and white water rafting. What hit me most was the awesomeness of God's creation- the mountains, sighting whales and other wildlife, the beautiful sunsets over the water, finding sea glass on the beaches. I met and was able to build relationships with amazing people. I learned how to depend on God instead of my church and family. I realized how much the enemy will battle God's work and the amount of time I needed to spend in the Word and prayer to contest this spiritual warfare. After the summer of 2007, I was drawn back the next two summers. I saw God do so much in my life, the lives of the campers I spent time with, and the other staff I worked alongside during these three summers! I still miss this place, but God had other plans for me the next several summers.....