Tacoma Team Report from Hazelton Campground - Wednesday, July 14

Subject: VBS, Day 3

Hi Friends,

It's actually Thursday, and we're getting ready to head out to the villages for Day 4, but it's my first chance to update.

Yesterday was a really awesome day for us in Kitsegukla. My team - 15 of us from the Tacoma area plus 2 leaders and 3 youth from Edmonton, Alberta - has really jelled. Not only are they working together well, but they're really having a lot of fun! We had 70 kids again yesterday, so once again we were the last team to return to camp. Our days go like so: leave camp around 11:45 for the 25-minute drive to the site; set up and greet (and play with) kids until about 1:15; sing, teach the lesson and pray until around 1:45; do crafts with older kids while younger kids play outside for about 20 minutes; switch who's doing crafts and playing outside; close with songs and prayer and then serve snack around 2:30.

We then sit in a circle on the gym floor for about a half an hour, taking a well-needed break and eating snacks while we debrief. When we're done we head outside to play soccer and basketball - or jump rope and play on the playground with the smaller kids. We've been heading back to camp around 5, making it just in time for dinner at 6.

Last night we had guests at dinner - Willis and Judith Fitzpatrick. Judith grew up in Kitwanga and attended college in Kansas City, where she met Willis. They married, and eventually moved their family back up here, where Willis was a minister to the village for many years. Both of them shared their stories and thanked us for being here. Willis then encouraged our teens to just love the kids with all their hearts, and to tell them about the love of Jesus every chance they get.

Later in the evening we had our first real rain, which meant a quick scurry from the campfire to the covered shelter. Around 90 of us (teams plus local visitors) crowded into the picnic shelter, where the acoustics made our singing sound exceptionally awesome! It rained on and off all night, which always sounds worse on the tent and the tarp than it actually is.

This morning we woke to showers and gray skies and COLD temps, but it's supposed to clear up by this afternoon. This is good, because we're expecting around 200 visitors for dinner - it's Family Night! We've been inviting people from our villages all week to join us at 6 for a potluck dinner and then maybe some soccer and socializing. We'll end the night with worship around the campfire, when several of our youth will tell how they came to know Jesus and what it means to live for him. Last I heard, Aunna, Dylan, Matt Lambertson, and McCrea were slated to speak, but that keeps changing.

Got to run - need to pack my lunch, gather my gang, and head out to Kitsegukla.

Thank you for your prayers - please keep them coming!

In Christ,

Sue Acuna

I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me. Ps. 6:13