Summer at Victory

Pre-Camp Preparation

With summer in Alaska taking its time to immerge, the ice only finished melting off the lake the day summer volunteers started showing up for leadership training. We are so thankful that the Lord has provided all the summer staff and volunteers to run a healthy program. Please continue to pray for each of the cabin leaders as they share the Gospel with dozens of campers each week. In addition to the Doulos teams (which Benjamin leads) and summer camp program, VBC is blessed to have a thriving volunteer base working to improve the campgrounds and maintain all operations in the summer. Enjoy some pictures feature a few of the groups and projects that have been keeping everyone busy so far!

 

An Update on Summer Camp Programs

While we are not directly involved with the day-to-day operations of summer camp, everything we do here is to support and enable the summer camp ministry to take place. Let’s take a peek at what has been happening around here! Wilderness is on their third session, on track to finish their second 10-day trip on Friday of this week. Last week they wrapped at 10-day sea kayaking trip and the rest of the summer they will be back to 5-day backpacking trips. This program provides a unique experience for campers to get out and see parts of the Alaska wilderness while being guided by those who continually turn the conversation back to the Creator and Author of it all. Ranch, Venture, and Alpine programs are in their fourth week of camp – although some of them ran ‘short weeks’ last week and had two shorter batches of younger campers in one week. As we have reached the middle of the summer camp season, please pray that they cabin leaders would continue to lean into the Word of God to be refreshed and renewed. It becomes clear at this point that a whole summer cannot be done well on their own strength, but that it is through the power of God that we are able to daily remain a living sacrifice.

Doulos Group #1

We started the summer out with the largest group that Benjamin and I have ever worked with. Despite the many moving parts and potential for things to go of course, we had a relatively smooth week. Many hands make light work, and we certainly saw a huge improvement in a few labor-intensive projects at camp. Each week you will hear about the wood pile project. Because camp heats its largest building with two large wood boilers, there is always need for wood to be split and stacked. While it may become a repetitive job, it is one that is crucial for winter operations. Each day a new rotation of youth was assigned to the wood pile, and they continued to cut through the stack. This team also let with a fair bit of raking experience as there were multiple projects which required clearing/smoothing the ground. One staff house needed a new yard planted after the septic system had to be torn up and redone last summer. Another patch of ground is being prepared for a new family to park their mobile home and have a small yard for the next few years as they work to rebuild the chapel building which burned down last fall. Finally, there was clean up from the chapel fire itself. Sidewalks and retaining walls which once added walkways for the building needed busted up and removed so the area can be used as a play field.

 

 

 

 

A Closing Thank You

As we continue to pray and trust the Lord for the finances we need to continue in ministry here, we are humbled and blessed by the direct answer to prayer that the Lord often provides. Thank you for partnering with us and encouraging us in this walk. May the Lord continue to bless each one of you as you serve him faithfully! If you have any interest in knowing more about what we are doing or partnering with us in any way, please reach out and we would love to connect with you further!

Thank you also for your prayers for our family as Ethan’s wrist continues to heal (the cast will come off, Lord willing, at the end of July), and as we anticipate the arrival of our first daughter sometime in October.

 

In Christ,

Mikaela