Northern High-Lights

Northern High-Lights 1.0 July 19, 2019 https://northernhigh-lights.blogspot.com/ Rev. Jeff Childs, Mission Volunteer Some have asked me for a mailing address, so for those of you who might want to, you can write to me at Birchwood Camp, PO Box 670049, Chugiak, AK 99567. I have discovered that though mail is picked up almost every day, out going mail only seems to go out at the end of the week. It seems most campers and staff do not write much.   There is much more texting and tweeting among the younger staff and phone calls and emails (and blogs) from the older volunteers and staff! Last Saturday the camp entered a float in the big weekend at the neighboring community of Elk River. It had a camping theme with a couple canoes, a tent, trees and a fake campfire (dry ice in water created steam rather than smoke.) Our summer intern staff took a couple days to construct it and did a fantastic job. I got to ride along and wave to the crowds from the campfire. It has been a fe...

Northern High-Lights 1.0 July 10, 2019 https://northernhigh-lights.blogspot.com/ Rev. Jeff Childs, Mission Volunteer I have now been in Alaska just over a week. I added another item to my bucket list – to grow a beard. Here is the scruffy Northwoods look after one week! We’ll see if it looks better after a month! Now I can say, this is the longest mission trip I have ever been on, for all of the mission trips I have taken to various locations in Florida, Haiti, Texas, Costa Rica, Louisiana, etc. lasted no more than a week. Living in a fifth wheel trailer has been an enjoyable experience. Later this summer a group of NOMADs will be coming with their trailers to help do some work around the camp and I want to talk with them about their experiences as nomadic missionaries. I could see myself taking part of the winter and driving through the south helping here and there along the way down and back up. So far, no two days have been alike as the various jobs and needs a...

Friday, July 5, 2019 This is a picture of my home away from home. For the next three months I will be living in this 5 th wheel camper parked next to the bath house at Birchwood Camp. After living in a spacious parsonage, it is compact, but it takes care of my needs. And it gives me the opportunity to see what it might be like to be a Nomad and take a trailer on the road and traveling from place to place to help people recovering from disasters. Flying to Alaska turned out to be my first adventure within this retirement adventure. The plane was late getting out of D.C. on Tuesday, and there were no connecting flights that night. So, I slept in a seat at the airport, which helps make this camper feel spacious! But the Alaska Airlines personnel were able to secure flights for all of us who were displaced. I was booked on a 6am flight allowing me to arrive in Anchorage at 8:30am the next morning. Relena Myers, the camp director, picked me up and drove me on up to the camp les...