Christmas letter 2019

    

During Christmas, we often hear the phrase that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” but to be honest, it never made sense to me.  As                             

a child, I learned that I really like receiving, yet the giving was always done

under compulsion.  So really what does the word “blessed” mean?  Often it is associated with personal gain, favorable circumstances, or even financial wealth.  In reading the Bible, we get a different idea of what the word means. In the Christmas story we see the King of Kings humbly coming down - submitting and serving, and finally sacrificing for those who rejected him.  It doesn’t make logical sense in many ways, but Jesus tells us that we too will be blessed if we will follow his example.  Sacrificial living does not come naturally, but

this year I have learned something and I can see the Lord continuing to shape my heart.  I have seen example after example of how sacrificial living really does increase faith, and bring joy.  Through it, we can experience deeper love, and we stand more in awe of the God we serve.

            Here are a few examples of how I have seen this in Sitka Young

Life this year.  A new leader coming to life while forming friendships with

kids and getting to share about who God is.  A prayer team member who

felt led to start a youth gathering at his church and then hosted 12 kids for pizza.  A student who donated a month of his summer to scrub toilets at a camp, only to develop deep

friendships.  Financial partners who help send kids to camp. Or people

who volunteer to cook elaborate breakfasts for hungry teenagers every

week and then go out of their way to make sure every kid feels loved and

cared for.  

Here are a few highlights from ministry this year:

•     One of our SYL grads (Dolena Fox) coming back to our banquet as the keynote speaker and sharing about her heart for her home village and how God is using her to reach those just like her back home in Bethel.
•      Leaders investing in kids and new kids coming to YL
•     A student leaving club and saying “this is my happy place”
•     Campaigners with MEHS students has tripled in size
•     Committee members continuing to take an active role in supporting ministry in Sitka
•     An atmosphere at club where kids feel welcome and where even the quietest student I have ever met loves to come and be a part of the group 
•      Serving with a student for a month at a Young Life camp and

seeing God grow him: 

• Having our first leader/ student meeting spoken entirely in the Y’upik language.·         
• Taking 18 high school kids to camp and hearing from campers       how that one week of camp changed their life
• Taking 9 middle school kids to camp and seeing God grow the group together and plant seeds.
•  Taking a commercial fishing boat to transport kids to a cabin for a weekend camping trip of laughter, food, and seeking God.
•  Ministry capacity expanded by having a new volunteer office administrator      
• Growing relationships leaders around churches around community by meeting with them and partnering in events like all Sitka Worship nights and Winter Blast.
•    Winter blast in February where 58 high school kids and 25 middle school kids got to come together and have fun with friends and leaders and have a chance to talk about who Jesus is.
• People giving sacrificially to the ministry to help pay for: camp, buses, food, club, rent, staffing, leader training, kids being disciplined.

Thank you so much for partnering with us this past year in our mission to reach all the kids in Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe with the message of the Gospel.  This ministry is only possible because of heroes like you who pray, volunteer, and partner financially.  This last month there have been some changes in the Alaska region and Young Life leadership has asked Sitka Young Life to take on a bigger role in reaching rural Alaska.  Our end of year goal is to raise an additional $10,000 to help us to continue to move the ministry forward with students here in Sitka and to impact students from around the state of Alaska. Please consider helping us meet this goal by giving an end of year gift. You can mail your gift in the enclosed envelope or go to www.sitka.younglife.org  and click give in the upper right-hand corner. 

            This Christmas, may we be truly humbled by God’s great gift, and truly experience his full blessing.

Merry Christmas,

Aaron Routon, Chris Voron, and the Sitka Young Life Family