The mountainous regions of central Alaska will never be the same again after a recent invasion by warriors from afar who descended wielding swords, shields, hammers, and paint brushes.
First Baptist, Many
SABINE BAPTIST
ASSOCIATION
HEALY, Ala. – The mountainous regions of central Alaska will never be the same again after a recent invasion by warriors from afar who descended wielding swords, shields, hammers, and paint brushes.
World Changers, a student-oriented construction missions thrust of the North American Mission Board, recently met in Healy for one of its summer projects. They had a force of 200 adults and youth from such places as Melbourne, Fl.; Cumming, Ga; and Many, La.
“God changed my life dramatically,” said Daniel Jordan, an eleventh-grade student from Many. “It was amazing. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
The community of Healy, population 1,000, lies in the shadows of Denali National Park.
This first-ever onslaught of Southern Baptist student mission volunteers completed numerous community construction projects that spanned the spectrum. They totally renovated a community recreational park and locker rooms. Numerous private homes saw repairs to roofs, decks, siding, and storage facilities. The only SBC church in town received an overhaul of its bathroom facilities. There were even crews that striped the bark off logs for a home and cleared trees to widen a road.
Tri-Valley School, home of the Vikings, a K-12 facility in Healy, housed all the Baptist warriors. The participants slept on air mattresses and sleeping bags throughout the classrooms of the campus. Meals were served in the school cafeteria by volunteers who were veteran cooks from other Alaskan World Changer sites. Evening worship services were led by World Changer staffers in the school auditorium.
“God showed me that trips are not always about the big projects,” said Matt May, youth minister at First Many. “The little things are sometimes more important than the big things.” May said he was so overwhelmed by the beauty of God’s majesty in the 49th state that he is ready to “go back in a heartbeat.”
Ashley Bogaardt, another eleventh-grade student from Many, said she gained significant insights about her future while serving the Lord at World Changers:
“God gave me the confirmation that one day I will go into fulltime missions,” Bogaardt said. “I always felt going on missions was going overseas. There are similar needs in Alaska to what I experienced last year on a trip to the Dominican Republic.”
First Many has taken its youth group on World Changers projects for a number of years.
They have been to such places as Tupelo, Miss.; Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; and Madisonville, Ky. They selected Alaska this year because it contained all the elements of an international mission trip without the logistical challenges of going to a foreign country.
World Changers allows a student to do hands-on labor for families/communities during the daytime and then provides a central location for them to participate in youth-oriented worship experiences in the evening. The combination of spiritual edification and personal application gives each participant the opportunity to walk with God in a controlled setting as they prepare to replicate this pattern when they return home.
Blu Berner, a youth minister from Spokane, Wash., was the Project Coordinator for the work in Healy. At the conclusion of the week, Blu summarized the work: “We made a very deep and long lasting impact on the people of Healy. It is something I hope they speak of for many years to come.”
This is the essence of World Changers – adults and teenagers traveling great distances to serve other people for a week with the prayer that when they leave they will have met a temporal need but also will have changed someone’s world forever.
– By Steve Kelly