Alaska

We stopped for breakfast at a small roadside coffee shop, Birch & Alder, near Beluga Point. Sitting on their deck overlooking the Turnagain Arm off Cook Inlet, snow-capped mountains across the water, eagles soaring overhead, my mocha and breakfast focaccia warmed me from the inside out. We were on our way to Seward, Alaska for a wildlife cruise.

The twelve of us had flown into Anchorage the night before. I say, “the night before,”  when actually from the time we got up Friday morning until the time we landed in Alaska we’d been awake for roughly 24 hours. Flight delays and a 3:00 am wait at the car rental lobby, even though our team leader had reserved our two vans weeks in advance, had us all exhausted. Our first day was scheduled to be a fun day before we headed to our mission destination to volunteer for the week. So, even though we’d had only a few hours of sleep, we were excited to be driving to Seward for a wildlife cruise on Resurrection Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Our four-hour cruise was cold and damp, but worth all the missed sleep and long travel time. We saw eagles, sea otters, puffins, furry seals, huge starfish clinging to the tide line, and best of all, we got to hang out with a pod of humpback whales feeding at the surface for about thirty minutes. No complaints from our team. We had layered up and loved every minute of our adventure.

Next day, Sunday, we attended services at First Baptist Church in Anchorage before embarking on the three-hour drive to Soldotna, traveling over the much of the same route we’d taken the day before. With the Turnagain Arm on one side and the Chugach Mountains on the other, sleepy as I was, I didn’t want to doze off. And, we all wanted to be the first to see a moose, so there was that. We made a turn and were soon following the Kenai River. Too beautiful to miss. No sleeping for me.

Our team was in Alaska to work at Solid Rock Bible Camp in Soldotna. We were there to do whatever they needed from Monday morning through Friday lunch. Our team leader told us, “They’ll give us a list every morning, tell us what they need most, and leave it to us as to how much we accomplish each day.” With the long hours of daylight, we’d also have time to do a few fun things in the late afternoon and evening a couple days. In the weeks of preparation, we were told to pack work clothes and be prepared to do anything from construction to cleaning bathrooms. We were here to serve.

Solid Rock Bible Camp opened in 1958 when a group of churches in the Kenai Peninsula came together with a common mission, “To know Christ and to make Him known.” Providing adventure-based opportunities in a Christ-centered environment, they minister to all children. No child is turned away because of inability to pay. Their seasonal camp staff ages run from 8^th graders all the way up to young adults around 30 years of age. The younger teens serve as kitchen staff–learning life and work skills and earning camp credit instead of a paycheck. Upper high schoolers are assistant counselors and wranglers–connecting with the campers as well as learning and growing in their own faith. Older teens and young adults run the programs and activities. They have experience with education and camp programs and are developing leadership and ministry skills.

There are thirteen adults on the year-round staff. They, as well as the teen staff, raise their own support and the camp is nondenominational. Three residences on the grounds house staff members, and others live in nearby Soldotna. Support for the staff and camp through prayer, encouragement, and financial support are their biggest needs Our group was one of several teams who come in during the year to help maintain the facilities and do whatever is needed.

Solid Rock has four camps running year-round including Wilderness Camp (campers go “into Alaska’s great outdoors” backpacking, canoeing, and learning outdoor skills), Wagon Train Camp (horsemanship, outdoor adventure, and living in a frontier-style western setting), Sports Camp (focused coaching on athletic skills in the summer camp atmosphere), and Lakeside Camp (traditional summer camp experience with archery, waterfront fun, climbing, crafts, etc.).

Campers at Solid Rock come primarily from the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, and the Mat-Su Valley. They also serve remote Alaskan communities, including Alaska Native youth. Serving such a diverse group of kids can be challenging and many of the campers have little to no experience with Christian teaching and may be openly hostile to the message of Christ. With Alaska’s “extremely high rates of child abuse, sexual violence, and addiction, the impact on kids is heartbreaking.” Many kids at camp have experienced homelessness, abuse, domestic violence, losing friends or family members to suicide, and food insecurity. “Intentionally accessible” and “intensely missional,” Solid Rock’s “goal is to effectively disciple all of these young people.”

During our week at Solid Rock, our team members did many loads of laundry, cleaned bathrooms, did trail maintenance, packed a week’s worth of lunches and snacks for the wilderness campers, did repairs in the dining room, took down several dangerous trees near one of the cabins, and cut/split enough firewood to keep the camp boiler going all winter to heat cabins and provide hot water. We were also able to provide enough firewood to heat one of the staff homes most of the winter.

A road trip to Homer one evening for sightseeing and dinner, and an afternoon at the Soldotna City Market gave us a break from work and some great memories. What a week! Not much down time, and we were all exhausted by Friday, but I don’t think any of us would trade a single minute for anything else. Getting to know and form closer friendships with our team members and serving alongside the staff at Solid Rock was a growing, learning, stretching, and absolutely amazing experience. I’m ready to go back next year.

Morning breaks on a mountain of fire

Sunlight pouring through a sky so wide

A river runs like a silver wire

Through the quiet where the eagles fly

Alaska

-David Armstrong

Blessings!

Whale photo credit to Kent Smith