Covenant Youth of Alaska Special Edition: Covenant Bible Camp Update
Volume 18, Issue 3 August 2022
Welcome Back to Camp 2022!
Welcome Back! After two years without in-person camp in Unalakleet, we are finally on the North River again, “Where campers encounter a supernatural God in a very natural place.” We are so glad to be back experiencing the things Christ has for us as staff and our campers. Camp does not happen without the support of countless people, and for those who support camp financially, in prayer, in service, and by sending your kids and grandkids we say a gigantic Quyana (thank you). The camp season has been a whirlwind. We started the camp season behind, but as we reached out we got to see God’s people respond. We went from understaffed to overstaffed in a matter of weeks and got to meet old friends and new ones from all over–not just the country, but the world. Friends came from Anchorage, Mekoryuk, Bethel, Nome, California, Florida, and Sweden to name a few! The impact of camp this season was as deep as it was wide. Throughout the summer we had roughly 250 campers and over 100 staff. The theme this year was “Welcome back!” We encouraged students who have been largely “away” in the time of covid: away from the church, away from family, away from each other, and away from camp, and had the opportunity to welcome them back. We welcome them into a relationship with God and into a community that cares deeply about them, not just at camp but at home, across the state, and around the world. In CYAK we believe strongly in our continuum of care, where we walk alongside students from childhood all the way through to adulthood, and camp has historically been the convergence of that continuum of care.
We are beginning to see multiple generations of campers within single families who have come to camp, and it is a joy to see this place being woven into people’s family stories, not just individual stories. Many of you who have been to camp know that we have shirts hanging in the dining hall rafters for every year of camp, and it was fun to sit with staff and students alike as they discussed which shirt was their first, and in some cases which was their parents’ first. The past two years have been steeped in challenge and difficulty and so, for many, camp was a chance to come and reconnect differently. Allowing campers to get out of their local village contexts for a moment and to give all kids a place where they can be kids. So often camp is full throttle: high-energy games, silly antics in the evenings, high-energy singing at chapel. But camp can also be a place of quiet contemplation where students encounter themselves and encounter Christ in new ways. To watch that encounter happen in real-time is truly a blessed gift. Words cannot capture all that this summer was, but in short, it was Good. Indeed very good. God has done work in the hearts and lives of our campers this year, and we believe that that work will continue as they rejoin the things Christ is doing in their home communities. It has been a true joy to serve in this way. Let’s do it again next year!
Drew Williams Program Director 2022
For those of you who prefer to see rather than read here is a youtube video made by one of our Pathfinders counselors who traveled from California to be with us. Thanks Daniel. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNbzwG037c