Dates: Leader: Cost: Application: Reference Form: Donate: May 20 - June 22, 2008 Aunie Benson and Colby Anderson Approximately $1,200 This trip is now closed. This trip is now closed. Make a contribution here.

Regional Overview

There are six indigenous people groups in Alaska.  Most live in small villages with populations of several hundred people, hundreds of miles from the road system.  Small plane is the primary mode of transportation between villages in the summer.  Rapid cultural change has come to these villages in the last 150 years.  There is a rich tradition of subsistence culture (hunting, fishing, and gathering) still present in these communities.  Westernization, unemployment, along with the introduction of alcohol and drugs have cause widespread problems.  They also have the highest rates for sexual, alcohol, and drug abuse of any people group in America. The students need to see and hear that there is reason for hope, that they are loved and known by God so their wounds might be healed and the cycles of abuse ended. 

Quick Facts:

Size: 586,412 sq. miles (over twice as large as TX) Same road miles as Rode Island.
Temperatures in Unalakleet range from 35-75 Fahrenheit in May and June
Groups Indigenous to Western AK: (Eskimo) Inupiaq, Yup’ik, Chup’ik
Suicide rate for adolescent Native Alaskan males is over ten times the US average.
Students fly in small planes from over fifteen villages every year for Bible Camp
Number of Outhouses at Camp: Twelve

Our Partner: CYAK

Covenant Youth of Alaska (CYAK) is Covenant ministry primarily focused on developing ministry for Native youth in Alaska, ages 12-25.  CYAK is a resource to village churches throughout Alaska: recruiting, training and supporting youth workers to disciple the youth.  Due to the small size and prevalent unemployment in the villages, churches generally cannot afford to pay a youth minister.  CYAK runs a leadership program geared for youth in villages, out of which a new generation of indigenous leaders is emerging.  CYAK works with a carpentry school and Alaska Christian College, both designed for Native Alaskans, to provide opportunities for students to grow in Christ in a supportive community as they acquire tools for vocational success.  Bible Camp is one of the ministries of CYAK.

What We Will Be Doing:

We will serve on the camp staff of Covenant Bible Camp outside of Unalakleet, Alaska.  We will meet in Anchorage, and then fly to Unalakleet (in a small plane) small village on the Bering Sea.  We will spend the first week preparing for camp- a time called "Call to Worship."  This will entail work projects (digging outhouse holes, cleaning, food preparation, etc), worship and prayer, training sessions, and sharing your testimony of faith with the staff.  

The following weeks will include a High School Leadership week, High School Camp and Junior High. We will be assigned different roles on the camp staff- most students will be counselors, others may be kitchen staff, eminence workers, worship or games leader, etc.  Roles may change from week to week. Flexibility is important, and the ability to function in a new place/culture.  

About the Camp:

The camp is located 10 miles upriver from a village of 800 people.  There is not indoor plumbing (there are outhouses), the cabins are very simple- no electricity (it is light very late in the summer).  All of the wildlife is abundant, unfortunately including the mosquitoes.  You can view pictures of the camp here:

About the Ministry:

Almost all of the campers are Native Alaskans coming from small villages in Western Alaska.  Most of these communities have very high rates of alcohol, sexual and drug abuse and suicide.  The majority of the campers come from difficult home situations. There will be training to help prepare us for cultural/background differences.  Camp is a holy place.  Powerful testimonies are shared, bearing witness to the healing power of the love and hope that we know in Christ.  People encounter God and are changed here in a special way.  We recognize that despite our inadequacies in meeting the needs of the campers, Christ's abiding hand of provision knows no bounds.  We will serve with faith that God will use others to speak to us, and use us to minister to others.  As God does work for His Kingdom, we are excited to take part in it.

Things to Note:

A significant difference between this and many other North Park Mission Trips is the scarcity of time together as a group.  We will fully integrate into the camp staff, and will have very little down time.  The days are active and intense, physically, relationally, spiritually.  Because we will be primarily concerned with serving the campers, our 'group time' will be minimal at the camp, though we will be serving side by side.

Please note: there is a REFERENCE form, please have this completed as soon as possible. The deadline is February 1st.  We will conduct interviews as we receive applications.