Good morning. Again, I wanted to thank you for your prayers as upcoming mission work continues to draw closer. Please continue to pray over the World Race Squad as we plan to depart overseas in August. Final details are still being worked out, but things are coming together! Over the coming weeks, we are planning to solidify the final Squad roster for the World Race; and also get a more concrete idea as to which regions in the world we will be travelling to in the coming months. If you would like to pray over my mission work and be involved on my prayer team, please reply in the comment box below! Recently, the Lord opened a door to ministry that I did not expect would take place. Yet it is a terrific opportunity to serve in the months before the World Race, and I wanted to elaborate more about it today. If you feel led to pray, please lift us up as we serve.
In Fall 2017, an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) retreat took place with some friends from Lenoir-Rhyne Univ. (LR). This camp came at a time when I was active in the outdoor waterfalling community; it was both a blessing and a challenge to be a part of it. For most of my life, I greatly cherished the outdoors- and this continued after moving away to college. Yet as I stayed involved in the outdoor community, I continued to feel a burden to help reach them with the Gospel. At that FCA camp, some friends prayed over me; and I saw that in that season, the Lord was calling me to use the outdoors to minister and help further the advancement of the Gospel. Through this time, I also became active in the caving community. It was terrific to build new friendships with people from many different walks of life.
A while after the camp ended, I found out about a Cru ministry called “Lifelines”. Cru is an inter-campus college ministry that seeks to evangelize and equip college students with the Gospel. At LR, I got to know some close friends through Cru; and the small Cru group continued to grow in faith and eventually be sent out to missions. Meanwhile, I started investigating Lifelines as a potential option to do outdoor ministry. Outdoor ministry in this context seemed like an amazing way to serve the Lord. Since Lifelines at the time did not have a significant presence in North Carolina, I waited on the Lord- not knowing that a planted seed would sprout years later.
Fast forward to 2021, and the Covid-19 pandemic restructured life as God placed me in a new community at a new university- Boone. As the spring semester began, I found out about a Lifelines expedition trip to Alaska over the summer. Furthermore, a guy from the Boone area that is affiliated with Lifelines is helping organize the trip. He informed me that it would be terrific to be able to join the trip; and that he is working to put together a group of guys to help serve the Lord in Alaska. As I began to lift up this opportunity in prayer, both the New York and the World Race mission work became fully funded in Mid-March. This opened a crucial door towards being able to go on the trip. In the beginning of April, I officially joined the Alaska mission team and plan to be there in June 2021.
Around 4 guys and 4 girls are planning to fly to Alaska from different parts of the country. After meeting up in Anchorage, we will be taking a bush plane to Port Alsworth, Alaska- where we will serve for the next two and a half weeks. During the first week of the trip, we are planning to backpack and explore Lake Clark National Park. Lake Clark is a beautiful Alaskan lake filled with places to explore off-trail and camp. There are huge waterfalls, breathtaking peaks, and waterways to boat through. In this time, we will be getting in the Word, drawing closer to God, and preparing for our ministry. This will be a time to bond together as a group and experience ministry in the outdoors. Lifelines formed to lead people to Jesus through the outdoors, and we are planning to do just that.
During the second week, the group will serve at Tanalian Bible Camp (TBC) as volunteers. Tanalian Bible Camp was established in the 1960s to help spread the Gospel and draw people in the area closer to Christ. Today, the camp serves Alaskan Native Americans who fly in from nearby villages to experience summer camp and to study God’s word. We will be helping lead camp activities, taking campers on hikes near the Port Alsworth area, and organizing Bible studies. The Camp also has a Leadership Center where it helps train and equip Alaskans who are eager to grow in their faith and discipleship. TBC has been a crucial piece for many peoples’ faith journeys; with outcomes like getting sent out to the Middle East as a missionary taking place. While at the camp, I look forward to pouring into the lives of the campers and helping plant seeds for wherever the Lord may take them. It will also be a neat opportunity to discuss the Great Commission and the importance of missionary work as a global church. Please lift this and any open doors for ministry up as these things take place!
Yet a question remains: “Where does this fit into the World Race?”. The answer is that I see this trip as a “return” trip of sorts. For me, it is a “return” to backpacking and being immersed in God’s creation. Yet as I prepare for this trip, I notice that there is a difference between being in the outdoors; and being immersed in it. Throughout high school, I looked up to a number of people who enjoyed backpacking in the woods and getting into His creation. Some of them served in ministry; like at Wilderness Trail near Mt. Rogers, VA. Through a number of circumstances and as I started college, my style of outdoor adventure began to change. Instead of backpacking and camping in the woods with a tent, the outdoor adventures shifted towards high-intensity day outings with a stated destination in mind. Yet as I write this, I am beginning to realize that one of the beautiful things about the outdoors is not worrying about where you seek to eventually wind up- but to enjoy where you are at. There is something to be said about lighting a campfire, pitching a tent, and looking at the stars; away from civilization and everything that is taking place back home. There is something to be said for being part of nature instead of visiting nature. The paradigm changes, and I am immersed in the woods; part of it. Perhaps the Appalachian Trail thru-hikers and backpackers are right all along. The lifestyle of backpacking beckons because it opens a window towards living a peaceful life in the woods while continuing to grow closer to the Creator. With that, I approach this trip and the World Race (which will have a significant amount of backpacking) as a chance to cherish both the ministry moments and the simple times together in the great outdoors. Excited to see what the Lord is doing in Alaska this summer!
PRAYER POINTS: Please pray for:
– Open doors for ministry; that as a team we will be able to invest deeply into the lives of campers at Tanalian Bible Camp and engage in discipleship.
– Open doors for the Great Commission; that campers and those at TBC will learn and be equipped to carry out mission work to wherever the Lord calls them.
– For the mission team as we grow closer to the Lord and to each other as we trek in Lake Clark National Park and help organize hikes near Port Alsworth.
– Samaritans Purse Operation Heal Our Patriots, a ministry that helps heal soldiers and married couples who served in combat. They are also based out of Lake Clark National Park.
– That I may grow in outdoor ministry/ trekking through this trip; and that the takeaways will help prepare me for similar experiences while out on the World Race.
– That I may learn and develop skills in First Aid as I complete the Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Recertification class shortly before the trip takes place.
– For families throughout Alaska and Native Americans who live there to experience changed lives as a result of the Gospel.
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the Heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth, and all that is on it, the seas, and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” Nehemiah 9: 5b-6.
Lake Clark National Park. Pic from: https://www.princesslodges.com/blog/alaska-national-parks/national-parks-in-alaska/
