Tanalian: A piece of my heart remains in Alaska

Do you ever have those moments occur when you get this deep feeling, knowing that you will remember that
time forever? I had a lot of those at Tanalian over the course of our two absolutely amazing weeks serving there. The night before we left, as we had a huge bonfire by the beach with all the campers, singing worship songs, taking pictures, and laughing both creating and reminiscing about memories created over the past two weeks. At this bonfire, tears filled my eyes as I realized how much the past two weeks had impacted me. I got that feeling deep down, and I chose not to fear, because I know I will remember them for years to come.

Week One: High School Camp

First of all, Alaska truly is the most beautiful place I have ever been. We flew a bush plane through the

glaciers and mountains, over rivers and lakes to get from Anchorage to Port Alsworth, and I was beyond captivated. (And, since it was my 21 birthday, I not only got to be the co-pilot, but he let me fly the plane!) Our creator amazes me significantly the more of the world I see. Chapel was sometimes distracting, as the windows gave sight to a breathtaking view of the mountains and lake. In addition, we went on a hike up to a fresh glacier waterfall. I filled up my water bottle with the water from the falls, and it was some of the best water I've ever had. The mist that came off the rocks, the clearness of the water, the rushing noise of the falls...ah! So great.

We arrived to camp on a Saturday, with plenty of time to get to know the camp, staff and activities before campers began to arrive on Monday morning. The first week we served with the full-time summer staff, along with a group from Southern California, Canada, and South Carolina. They were all a blessing to serve with, and we bonded really well. It was really cool to see how God uses a body of believers who all share a common purpose to skip past typical "get to know you" stuff, and still develop a deep connection and friendship simply from serving Him together. It was really encouraging to see that develop over the two weeks that we were there.

For High School camp, I co-counseled with the most wonderful girl ever, Brittany Wilson. She is from South Carolina, and I am 100% convinced that God destined for us to not only be co-counselors, but to become super close friends in just two weeks. I don't know how or why God planned for us to live so far apart, and not meet until now when we connected so deeply so fast, but I'm thankful it happened nonetheless! She was beyond supportive, inspiring and encouraging every moment of every day. Her genuine love for Jesus and servant-filled heart, as well as wisdom when it came to God and all that He is, was incredible. I couldn't have made it through the week without her. We had so many good memories together. Love you, Britt!
Our cabin High school week was absolutely incredible. We had 5 girls: Lei'lani, Chelsey, Ciera, Kaylee, Valerie and Girlie. We bonded as a cabin and had many late nights full of giggles and crazy ideas. We had a lot of fun together, but also had some really good conversations about God and His love for us. I was blessed to have the opportunity to pour into these girls lives for the week, and talk with them about struggles, family situations, personal growth, living their life for Christ, temptations, and how beautiful God made both them and the world they are blessed to live in. The Holy Spirit evidently worked in their lives, and I was blessed to be a part. Not only was I blessed by the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work through me to pour into them, but they impacted my faith and relationship with God more than they even know. I love the way God works! I am so blessed to serve Him.

One thing I really appreciated about Tanalian was that counselors weren't only bound to connecting with their campers in their cabin. By the end of the week, I knew just about everyone's name, it was so great! It was awesome to become friends with so many of the campers outside of my cabin as well, creating lots of memories with and having good conversations with them as well.


Week Two: Junior High Camp

Before my high school girls had all left, the Junior High group was already beginning to come in. I was tired and emotionally drained from the awesome week of High School camp. I was also extremely sad they were all leaving, cause I knew I would miss them immensely, and the likelihood of me seeing them again soon was not very high at all. I was able to sneak away for a couple hours in the afternoon and take a nap, which was much needed. I leaned on God A LOT during the transition period. Of course, He is good, all the time, and He helped me through it. I co-counseled with Girla Sorensen the second week, and she was just phenomenal. I admire her so much! She is a native Alaskan, and her story is so inspiring! She can connect with the native girls on a different level than I ever could, because she grew up just like them.
Alaska is much like a different country in a lot of ways, having the native villages still being very influential in culture and how they live their lives. This was something I learned a lot about in my time at camp, and was completely naive to before. If you would like to learn more about this, and the background of where these kids come from, please let me know, I would be happy to talk with you about it!
Junior High camp was a lot harder for me than the first week, but God did so many amazing things! When the week came to a close, I was amazed at seeing how much the Holy Spirit had done from day one, to day seven. Hard hearts were softened, heaviness was lifted, burdens were given up, and God's love was accepted.
We had a blast doing all kinds of stuff from late night pillow fights, to jumping in the lake, to water fights and singing at the top of our lungs. My cabin was sweet, and I love them all so much. Katrina, Chassy, Amber and Tatyana. I admire these girls so much for all they taught me about what it means to be strong. These girls are brave and have gone through hard things, but they know they are created by a God who loves them, and created them beautiful.

Leaving Tanalian, the staff there, the South Carolina group, the beauty of the creation we were
surrounded by, all the awesome campers and the memories and conversations with them, and so much more, was far more difficult than I ever anticipated. Since I was 15, I have had to say goodbye to people and places I love on a fairly regular basis. I have become quite good at "psyching myself out" and being able to say goodbye well. When it came time to leave camp, I cried. That doesn't happen. I don't do that. My heart just broke and I had developed such a heart for the camp, campers and ministry going on there! I have so many new friends there, and I didn't want to leave; I wanted God to keep using me there! No matter how much I wanted to stay though, the plane was still leaving, and I knew this was only the beginning of my summer adventure, that God still has more in store for me and my team this summer. The transition has been difficult, but I am trusting in what God has planned, keeping Him as my refuge.


 One of the many things God has been teaching me lately is "stand firm." I see these two words occur over and over in Scripture. I know it occurs in  the Word several times for a reason. I also see the application to those words in both my own life, my team's lives and the lives of those around me daily. Onward I go, standing firm and choosing joy in all situations. My favorite worship song we sang at camp, and yes, I have been playing it over and over the past few days is called "Glory to God Forever." Click here to listen to it.

Prayer Requests:

- Pray for Alaska and the people there. They live difficult lives, and need the love of our Savior.
- Pray for my campers as they go home and their "camp high" wears off, that their faith would be strong and they would continue to live it out.
- Pray for health in our team. I have completely lost my voice, and am struggling with not being able to talk. I got sick during junior high week for about two days, and have been recovering since then. I also strained my voice from singing loudly and yelling during games. I go all out during camp, but I need to remember to not completely drain myself. :)
- Bryce has become very sick, and needs rest as well.
- Pray for me as I have been missing my family a lot. I have been counseling youth about the age of many of my siblings, and it makes me quite homesick.

Thank you for your prayers, they really do make a huge difference, and are extremely encouraging. Also for the letters I have received; they have made my day every time, and really make a difference in how my week goes!
Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you have made it all the way to the bottom! I know it was a long post. :)



Some of the crazy events/stories/ quotes from the weeks include:
- I tried Caribou heart
- Got attacked by a bat
- Only woke up once in two weeks where it was actually dark outside
- Got to pray for a counselor with other staff as she prayed with a camper to accept Christ
- Killed a mosquito in between my pinky and ring finger. Yes, I got that good at it! ;)
- Competed in NYO (Native Youth Olympics) as an event one day

- Tucker: "give me a T!" 

Everyone: "T" 

Tucker: "Go T!" 

Everyone: laughter...yeahhh!!! 

- being the president in paintball and shooting Drew (the other president) 

- saw a moose 

- playing rabbit sticks, reach the beach, and capture the domesticated farm animal

- chasing Caleb through the forest in capture the domesticated farm animal: he dives to the ground and goes through the bushes and SMACK he hit a tree. Rolls out and says "they call me Rambo..." 

- 

A Few More pictures! Look on my Facebook Page for the complete Album :)