Family Camp at Kako — Soaring for Christ

Family Camp was simply awesome. I don't know how else to describe it. People heard the gospel, there wasn't much drama, and it was a lot of fun.

Kako has a long history of spiritual warfare, so when we arrived, Jeff and Billy prayed that God would protect the Camp from evil forces. After that Billy said, "Something lifted during our time there. While the flying was very busy, challenging, and stressful in some ways, something was much lighter than ever before."

A Record-Breaking Camp

This year's Family Camp was also historic in a way. Kako had the most people it has ever had for Family Camp: 155 guests, with a total of 180 people including staff. There were so many guests that some of them were staying in tents. And the people who didn't want to sleep in tents were flown in for the day and were returned at night!

As you can imagine, because there were so many people, the pilots were constantly flying. Waking up early, staying up late. And even though they usually get a break in between the incoming and outgoing days, because they were giving people day trips, that didn't really happen. It was exhausting, but they made it through. And it was worth the work.

And, despite having the most guests ever, Family Camp was understaffed. However, all of the staff liked each other and worked diligently. So there wasn't really any of the discord and insanity that comes when a project is understaffed.

*The blue Cherokee, resting at twilight.*

Meeting Time

During the meetings, a local band from the villages led worship. The guys in the band are great musicians and have a strong heart for the Lord.

A Navajo man from Arizona named Daniel was the camp speaker. He preached an excellent sermon series beginning in Genesis and then went through the rest of the Bible. One of his messages was on Abraham and the promise God made to him.

David was very interested in the Native language of the Lower Yukon Valley people, Yupik (well, it's really called Yugtun but that's another story...). At mealtimes, he would ask the band members who were fluent in Yupik what different words were. While David doesn't know his Native language, Navajo, very well, David would begin some of his sermons with a greeting he had learned in Navajo.

Kid's Club

For two of the days, Ellesha, Johnathan, and Lael ran a Kids Club using Good News Club materials. They taught them Bible Lessons and a Memory Verse. The kid's favorite activity we did with them was making balloon animals (and swords, and hats...). Every child, from toddlers to teenagers, was involved in the fun. There's just something particularly exciting about latex tubes...

All in all, Family Camp was excellent. And best of all, the gospel was proclaimed, "for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16)."