Basket Ball in Rural Alaska

This past weekend Sitka hosted the regional basketball tournament!  This event was a very big deal.  Below is an email sent out by my boss and dear friend Brent Cunningham.

Other news & Prayer request: This weekend we are partnering with the local churches to provide a girls discipleship weekend.  We are flying up a speaker from Seattle and have 20+ local women helping facilitate this event. We are hoping to reach 50+ girls from both Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka High School. Pray for girls to come!  Pray for the speaker the leaders and facilitators!  Pray for the holy spirit mighty hand to be at work!  

"Basketball is everything in rural Alaska.  Winters are long and cold.  The gym is the place where LIFE happens.  ESPN just aired a great "ESPN short" on basketball in Toksook Bay, Alaska.  I've been to Toksook to visit some kids from Mt Edgecumbe High School over Christmas break.  Mt Edgecumbe is our high school in Sitka that has approximately 400 students from 120 different villages.  

If you really want a little glimpse of what life is like in bush Alaska...watch this video.  It will capture your heart.

Winter Blast 2016

We had a great time during Winter Blast!  

42 middle school kids came to Wyld Life Winter Blast along with 54 High School kids! Winter Blast this year consisted of two 20 hour lock-in at a church; one for middle school and one for high school.  The high school group went to the pool, went to the gym, had a fancy pinterest style waffle bar breakfast and played some crazy games. The program team from Washington kept the kids laughing and our speaker Kelsey from Michigan did a great job to connect the material to the kids.  Kids heard about Jesus and there were some really great conversations that happened in cabin time. Going deeper during cabin times was like pay day- It was such a treat to hear kids express their gratitude for Young Life and what a difference it has made in their faith.  In the past years I have seen these guys grow up and they are becoming leaders.  Several guys expressed a desire to help the people back home. They want to be a good example and be able to teach people about God.  Guys want people at home know how much God values each person and that he has a purpose for their life. One young man said he wanted to show people that they had value so he could help the suicide problem back home. It was truly a gift to be able to be in the room.

Snap Shots

There are certain things that I see on a weekly basis that really encourage me. I want to take a quick moment so share so please take some time to imagine the following:

• A working mom and  her toddler who both show up at the high school during lunch (and at basketball games) to meet new kids and encourage the ones she already knows
• A teacher who works at school all day and then comes to club at night to demonstrate to his students that he cares about them and that his relationship with God is the most important thing in his life
• A high school girl who has 5 Young Life mentors who she calls to help support her through a tough time
• A breakfast Bible study with 20 guys where one high school student shares how God just spoke to him through the verses to help him deal with his lifelong battle with anger.  Days later he tells me that things are now going better and that he is able to let go of some things..
• A group of 6 people who meet together weekly to study the Bible and to pray for the ministry and for kids in Sitka and around the state
• A group of 10 women who take time away from their families one night a week to plan a discipleship weekend event for high school girls
• A student who text his leader to ask for a verse that he can share at his grandfather's funeral
• Elders who meet every weekday at 7-8am at McDonald’s to open and study the Bible with a group of young people
• A family who really sacrifices financially to give to the ministry because “that is what God has called them to do.”  They simply respond with smile,, "you can't out give God!"
• 15 guys and 15 girls who wake up an hour early to go have breakfast and study the Bible every Tuesday and Friday morning
• The group of 10 men and women who faithfully cook breakfast and prepare Bible studies every week
• A room of 65 high school students sitting in a room hearing about a God who knows exactly what they are going through and a God who cares deeply about their pain. Most of these kids never go to church.  Before the message we were playing crazy games, and as the message was presented, it looked as if about ⅓ of the students were near  tears.  These kids deal with a lot of pain in their life.
• Adult leaders who give hours every week to kids in order to actively demonstrate God’s love  and demonstrate that every kid is valuable.

Thank you to all who help make these things possible. I hope these the mental images of these things has encouraged you as much as they do me.   If you live in Sitka and are interested in being a part of any of this - let me know. Have a great day.

Winter Blast 2016

We had a great time during Winter Blast!  

42 middle school kids came to Wyld Life Winter Blast along with 54 High School kids! Winter Blast this year consisted of two 20 hour lock-in at a church; one for middle school and one for high school.  The high school group went to the pool, went to the gym, had a fancy pinterest style waffle bar breakfast and played some crazy games. The program team from Washington kept the kids laughing and our speaker Kelsey from Michigan did a great job to connect the material to the kids.  Kids heard about Jesus and there were some really great conversations that happened in cabin time. Going deeper during cabin times was like pay day- It was such a treat to hear kids express their gratitude for Young Life and what a difference it has made in their faith.  In the past years I have seen these guys grow up and they are becoming leaders.  Several guys expressed a desire to help the people back home. They want to be a good example and be able to teach people about God.  Guys want people at home know how much God values each person and that he has a purpose for their life. One young man said he wanted to show people that they had value so he could help the suicide problem back home. It was truly a gift to be able to be in the room.

Here are the guys in my cabin

Our speaker Kelsey did a great job

The high school group

January Update

Hello again from Sitka Young Life:

Welcome to the new year. I hope this email finds you well. Things here in AK are really starting to get moving.

Tanana Liz in Tanana now has a great living situation as she is the care taker for the Catholic Church.  She also is working at partnering with 4 other people in town.  She is doing youth events many nights a week and is inviting other adults to join her. Neighboring Young Life communities (Galena, Fairbanks, and Anchorage) are sending people to help Liz further establish a permanent youth ministry program.

"Pile of Fries" at McDonald's

Sitka: We started this semester with a hang out time at McDonald.  We had over 100 kids there and 8 leaders.  We have started our morning Bible study groups and this last week we had 15 guys and 13 girls show up.  On February 25-28 we will host Winter Blast- a fun outreach weekend. There will be fun activities, good food, and a place to hear about and talk about Jesus.  In march we partnering with churches to plan a high school girls discipleship weekend combining kids from town and  MEHS.

Our MEHS guys morning Bible study group

Bethel: Bethel is the largest hub community in western Alaska and at least 1/3 of our kids come from the Bethel area.  A MEHS grad of 2014, Dolena,feels God leading her to start Young Life there.  The community of 6,400 has several churches but not a ministry that combines folks from different churches to reach the kids who wouldn't come to church.  Within the past week there have been at least 5 people express interest in being involved.  Dolena will be working to partner with churches.  Dolena has ties to the Covenant Church which this last weekend hosted an event where 30 kids made commitments to Christ!

Tok:  A hub community in eastern Alaska  (population 1,300) is working with Fairbanks to start Young Life.  Julie from Tok will be meeting with church leadership this weekend to talk more about how to partner with Young Life and there will be a community support meeting in February.

Craig: Craig is the largest community on Prince of Whales in SE Alaska, (population 1,300) and a teacher named Aly is leading the charge.  They have reformed a committee (some folks have previously had started Young Life- but it has been silent the last 5 years).  Leaders are spending time with kids and they have had Bible studies and club meetings.  Also a couple from neighboring Klawock has started a campaigner Bible study group for kids this year.  

My Friend Jay in Emmonak

I have a friend named Jay and he works with a company that travels throughout rural Alaska. He grew up in Young Life and has a great compassion and heart for the kids he sees in his travel. This summer he worked in Emmonak, a village of 800 on the delta of the Yukon River.  He had many stories from his time there and I asked him if he would mind sharing one with you all.  

Arial view of Emmonak

Writing on the Wall

It’s midnight. I was just in bed, getting ready to get some sleep for the next day’s work when I heard some suspicious mumbling outside and some noises against our building. So I got up, threw on some clothes, and snuck outside. As soon as I opened the door I watched one girl bolt, and two others slowly walking away pointing and saying “it was her.” They walked off and I thought that was going to be the end of it but the two girls came back with a couple guys and began ratting out the third girl. They told me her name, her parents, and even their phone number, then proceeded to run off again. The two guys sat down and decided to hang out for a few minutes. I also sat down and started petting our house dog who had just been in a fight the night before that left him with a gash above his eye and unable to put weight on his hind leg.

We began making small talk (at least what I thought was small talk) and the second kid took off his ring to show me. “My dad gave this to me” he said. I told him it was cool, gave it back, and thought nothing of it. Then his friend chimed in and informed me that his parents had recently passed. Then it hit me. They were the couple I had heard about a few days ago: there was a party and a man shot his girlfriend and himself. I didn’t know what to say. He seemed so nonchalant about talking about it.

Right then, I see a couple girls come around the corner – it was the girl coming back to apologize for writing on our wall. I thanked her for apologizing because that sort of thing is unheard of in the village – at least from the stories I’ve been told. When I asked why she did it, she simply stated “I don’t know, I was bored.”  Again another group of girls round the corner. This time calling out the girl that had just apologized, telling her she was mean and trying to egg on a fight. (Much stronger words than “mean” were used as you could imagine.) She then began making fun of one of the boys. This argument/yelling went back and forth for a while before everyone finally dispersed. Side note: The oldest kid in the group was 9^th grade. Although only 1 in the group of 4 had not flunked at least one grade. He told me proudly that he has not flunked “YET”.

I have traveled to many Western Alaskan villages and from my experience as well as accounts from others, this is a typical story growing up in rural Alaska. Children out here need more love than any human can give them. They need a God’s love – A God who sacrificed his son because he loved them so much. They need adults who can show them what it looks like to be loved and truly cared about. They need someone to simply pay attention to them and to walk with them.Young Life, from my experience, does exactly that. They focus on meeting kids where they are and simply loving on them. They make a point of demonstrating to kids that they DO matter and that there IS hope in Jesus Christ. Young Life excel’s in providing the exact entertainment/activities needed so kids are not “bored” and getting into trouble. 

The end of the 2015

Routon Family update:

Have you seen the "Life is Good" clothing brand? The company prints clothes with a scene of a stick man doing something enjoyable (like playing Frisbee or sunbathing) and the caption "Life is Good."   When I am doing the things I enjoy I do feel that "life is good" and I wish the enjoyable times to  go on forever.  It seems that "good" translates to enjoyable, pleasant, and fulfilling. In the Christian world there is similar phrase that has been growing in popularity and that can often be understood in the same manner. The phrase "God is good" sounds nice but recently I have been forced to reconsider what it means. 

Some of you have been following the birth of our son Ezra and followed our blog that detailed our journey http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/babyrouton. Ezra's surgery was a success and he is a healthy baby boy.  During the past three months of our medical ordeal I have been in contact with a close friend who also had a little baby with a life threatening condition. Their baby is one month older than Ezra and will most likely not survive. The couple love and serve God and daily they must go through heart breaking events.  Not a day goes by where I don't think of this family multiple times.

Baby Ezra two days ago

Having a good life does not mean ease or comfort. If we think that God is good only when our circumstances are favorable, then does that mean that God is not good in hard circumstances such as death, poverty, starvation and war?  God promises us abundant life and recent events have reminded me that abundant life doesn't mean a life of ease, comfort and favorable circumstances. I am growing convinced that the life Jesus promises doesn't have to do with riches or pleasure, but rather- it has to do with experiencing God's presence. Experiencing his comfort and power, his holiness and love, his justice and forgiveness. Not being pain-free realizing that he is with us and knows what we face.  Being confident in his love for you, the love that motivated him to go through the pain of human life and death. Abundant life is life with him.  Now when I hear people say "God is good," I don't confuse his goodness with the ease or pleasure of my circumstances. He is just as good when we are in deep waters as when we are high on the mountains. 

Sitka Young Life Update

This year marks the 20th year that Young Life has been in Sitka and wow- ministry is booming.  Our attendance in campaigners is at an all-time high.  We have four weekly high school Bible study groups involving over 50 kids and 15 adults. Our weekly outreach club meetings averaging over 80 students, many of which have no knowledge of God. Fifteen high school students are being mentored through a student leader program as they serve other students.  Sitka Young Life is also reaching other rural communities in Alaska and helping them start youth ministries: 4 villages are actively starting youth ministries and another 6 communities are interested. It is awesome to see God answer prayer as people are coming forward wanting to know how they can help.

 Some of our guys Bibles study breakfast crew after a weekend camping trip to a cabin

Young Life is also growing around the state and this September we had our largest all-state ever Young Life conference in Anchorage.  It was during breakfast at this conference that I had the chance to meet two women who had come to learn how they can help the youth of their community.  Weather had prevented them from making it for 70% of the conference yet they persisted and came to the last few hours. It was at breakfast on the last day of the conference that I had a chance to sit down with them and hear their story. Two weeks prior to the state retreat, one of these ladies lost her son to a drug overdose and so she and her sister came to the conference to learn how they can reach the other kids in their community.  They wanted to be able to do something to help the kids of their community. That weekend the hotel conference room was filled with people who have a conviction and passion for the youth in their communities. Thirteen villages were represented and we had a great time to listening and encourage one another.

The all-state Young Life conference takes a lot of prayer, time, and resources, but it was so worth doing in order to encourage and equip people as they headed back to their homes. We want people to find hope in God and we want the light of Christ in as many villages and homes as possible. Our vision is to continue to raise up, train, and support native youth workers in rural villages as they shine Christ's hope in dark places.  To make this happen it takes prayer, time, and resources.

Over the past years Sitka Young Life has had a grant to help jump start my position.  2015 was the last year of the grant and now we raise additional funds in order to continue this position.. It has been extremely valuable to have a Young Life staff position dedicated to rural Alaska and currently we need additional funding for this position. My goal is to raise the an additional $15k to make up for the grant. Please prayerfully consider becoming a monthly supporter of the ministry. Monthly gifts or one-time donations can be made by sending in the enclosed envelope or by logging on at sitka.younglife.com and clicking the “Give” tab. Also- if you would like to share any of these emails with friends or family you can find all my past emails on a blog at ruralalaskayounglife.blogspot.com.  Thank you for your support.