Winter Blast

Do you remember moments in your life you wish time would just stand still, a time in your life that just seemed so good that you didn't want it do end?  If you were to talk to students in attendance at the 2014, 4th annual Winter Blast, many would fall right into that category!



A fun time a club

Winter Blast is what we in Sitka call our annual winter Young Life camp.  Kids from Mt. Edgecumbe, Sitka High, Pacific High, as well as home schoolers all join forces with their Young Life leaders to share a weekend of fun, laughter, worship, the gospel, and conversations.  This year there were 30 students who participated from MEHS (a record number in any YL camp, summer or winter!) and 34 students from Sitka.  Tom and Jessica Mute from Nome came and led our music; Jim Stuck, from Idaho, was our speaker; and Kent Williams, from Oregon, was in charge of making sure we were all laughing- providing us with hysterical up front skits and leading us in great group games.  The last night of the camp students and leaders stayed up till 2 because they didn't want camp to end.  Patrick, a MEHS leader heard from many kids that they wish the weekend would happen every week.  Elise, our longstanding MEHS girls leader said that girls in her group said that they wished their friends back in their villages had a chance to experience Winter Blast.  





 

Our group photo of MEHS students at Winter Blast

Camp is about breaking down walls and forming bonds, and that is just what happened.  This is the reason why kids wanted to stay.  Kids were hanging out with leaders and with peers from other schools. Camp is a special place where leaders can demonstrate God's love and where adults have an opportunity to share about the difference that God has made in their own lives.  It is a place where kids can ask questions and where people don't feel judged.  One of our MEHS alumni Jennifer Immingan was able to put her feelings into words when she wrote:

YL camp was the first place where I felt like I wasn't a loser. I was astonished every day by how the camp served me and put on surprise events for me. It was the place where I first sat still and reached out to the God I had previously seen as distant. I had never been served before camp, and I didn't know what to do with all the kindness from my leaders and the camp staff. That kind of selflessness and affection did not exist in my life, and it made me yearn even more for the goodness, more curious about the God behind it all.

There was so much laughter and I was able to see high schoolers giggle like little kids on scooter boards in the gym.  I wish you all could have been there to see what you are a part of through your prayers and support.  It was really ... amazing.

 

 a great time in the gym