Camp Polaris located in Dillingham, Alaska
Greetings friends!
I had hoped I’d have a chance to offer you an update from Alaska, but the summer proved to be very busy. Although this is a bit late, I’d like to share some of my experiences and some of the miracles I saw God work. This summer our team started at Camp Polaris near Dillingham, Alaska. Although it rained most of the time, it was a beautiful place. The camp was totally off the grid and a half an hour boat ride away from the closest village of Aleknagik. The first week, our team did staff training and got to know each other. It was tons of fun and I also got to experience a native, steam sauna called “Maquii” in the Yup’ik language. I definitely saw God work in amazing ways during the first week of camp with campers.
Me on a mountain above Camp Polaris! One of the few sunny days :)
Our week with campers started rather uneventfully. I had my few campers who screamed a few bad words jumping off the dock into the 30 degree water for their swim test, and a camper who was homesick. Nothing totally uncommon though. We did notice that one boy tended to have issues and later found out he was suffering withdrawals from drugs. Sadly, often in the remote, Alaska bush villages, many suffer addictions to drugs, even children. Despite this, things continued to go smoothly. The one boy who was going through withdrawls, continued to want to go home, but we firmly told him he’d have to wait until camp ended. About halfway through the week, I was going around praying with the boys, and asked one of them if he’d like to pray. He whispered to me that he used to pray bit hadn’t for a long time. I told him that it was alright and that he could talk to Jesus just like a friend. I helped him a little and he prayed. This was really special to me, but things got better than that.
Our cabin was in a fierce battle with the Walrus cabin. We were the Eagles and were fighting ferociously for the coveted title of cleanest cabin. Along with that title, would come a special treat. My boys were extremely motivated and took initiative among themselves to keep the cabin clean. We even found a few ways to get extra points, like leaving special notes for the village directors. On Sabbath, the final day, we got Bibles from the lodge and placed them on our beds, knowing that this would earn us extra points. Unfortunately, despite everything, we lost to Walrus cabin by one point. However, something way more important happened that night. As we returned to our cabin, the boy who I had prayed with asked, “Is this Bible for me?” I responded that it was for extra points for cabin check, but told him he could have it if he wanted. Most of the other boys quickly said they’d like a Bible as well. It was exciting to give Bibles to 5 of my 6 boys. Four of them had never had a Bible. It was so special to see them clutching those books and several of them stayed up half an hour past bedtime to read the Bible. Finally, just as I thought the week couldn’t get any better, the boy who struggled with withdrawls started asking questions about drugs. My co-counselor quickly answered his questions. We later found out that he and his best friend, who did drugs with him, chose to quit drugs. Their simple reason why was that they had seen how happy all the staff were at camp even without drugs. It was exciting to see how God had used me to show His love to these kids. The rest of the summer was amazing as well, but I’ll never forget the miracles I saw God work at Camp Polaris.
Finally, I had the opportunity to visit the Wings over Alaska hangar in Big Lake, Alaska. It was a lot of fun and we got to help clear out and organize old airplane parts. I had many good conversations with Pr. Tobin Dodge, a private pilot and the director of Wings Over Alaska. I’m hoping to return in a few years, to continue training with this organization. Please pray for them as they work on purchasing their hangar and developing. Once off the ground, they plan to train missionaries in various aspects of aviation, as well as use aviation to serve the remote villages of Alaska. https://www.wingsoveralaska.org
A Cessna 182 that Wings Over Alaska operates in partnership with AngelOne.
Thanks for the prayers and support this summer. God worked amazing miracles, and I was able to explore new opportunities for mission aviation service and training in Alaska. I’ll be returning to Oklahoma Academy at the end of August. This year, I will graduate high school and hopefully finish up the rest of what I need for my Private Pilot’s License. Feel free to reach out with any prayer requests or comments, or simply for a chat! I love to hear from all of you and pray you had a summer full of blessings. Thanks again for being apart of my support team.
In Service Together,
Micah
Prayer Requests:
That God will continue working on the hearts of all the campers I had this summer.
For Wings Over Alaska, as they fundraise for purchasing their hangar and prepare to use aviation to reach Alaska for Christ!
For me as I finish my last year of highschool, and prepare to launch as a student missionary.
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