A Report of the STM team from Newbern Memorial Chinese Alliance Church
Written by Ralph Hardy.
It began when the missionary pastor from Alaska, Pastor Mike Cooke, stood before our predominantly Chinese congregation in March and said simply, "Come! All you need to do is be willing. God will do the rest." And these words rang true every step of this journey. The first big hurdle was overcoming the small size of the team. In order to be effective, we really needed at least 6 and preferably more people. But in the end we came to respect the fact that God had put the call on the hearts of only four people to "be willing" and, yes, He did the rest.
With only four people we realized we would need to limit our focus to the children in the small First Nations village of Hydaburg. Yet we still wanted to build a bridge into the community and took Pastor Mike's suggestion to host a Cultural Food Exchange as the means of accomplishing this. The challenge before the team was immense: we had to prepare the details of all our meals and the food to be prepared for the Exchange dinner. We were advised that buying food on Prince of Wales Island was a poor option, so we would need to bring all our food with us, taking what we could from Vancouver and buying the rest in Ketchikan. On top of that, most of the team had very little facility with food preparation.
Another challenge was to preparations was even more obvious: none of us were experienced working with children. All in all, this venture looked like a recipe for disaster. But, as the Bible so often illustrates, it's not by human competence or capability, but by God's Spirit that great things are accomplished (see Zech 4:6). So with a van stuffed to the gills, our little group hit the road, leaving Vancouver at 5am on Saturday, August 8th. Eighteen hours later, we roosted in the home of my son-in-law's parents in Terrace. There we were provided with mattresses on the floor and a couch. After receiving breakfast we leisurely drove from Terrace to Prince Rupert and caught the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Ketchikan after passing through US customs without a hitch (it helps to be a US citizen).
After a six hour ferry ride, we arrived in Ketchikan purposely low on gas in order to take advantage of the lower prices on the other side of the border. But the plan to pick up gas on the 20-minute drive to the church in Clover Pass was foiled: the gas stations were closed. This rattled the nerves of a couple of team members and we were pressed into trusting God. When we pulled into the church parking lot, we noticed that the church and Pastor Mike's house next door were dark and wondered if anyone was home. It turns out there was a power failure and the power only just came back online. We unloaded and slept in Clover Pass Community Church on foam mattresses on the floor. The next morning we load up and head down to Ketchikan. Pastor Mike takes the team out for breakfast before we spend $300 on groceries to take to Prince of Wales with us on the ferry that afternoon. It poured buckets and we got totally soaked while shopping and loading the van.
I received a wonderful surprise shortly after the ferry pulled out from dock. Brian and I had been standing at the rear of the ship and were making our way back inside when a young lady came up and suddenly asked if I was Pastor Ralph. After nodding affirmatively, she introduced herself as Selina, the person I had been in contact with in Hydaburg; she was the one who was totally instrumental for getting the kids to come to our VBS. What a great encouragement to our team to see tangible evidence of the support that God had already provided. After a 3 hour ferry ride, we landed in Hollis on Prince of Wales Island with just enough time before darkness to unload and begin preparation for our first day in Hydaburg.
We were blessed with great facilities provided by the Hollis Bible Church. It was like a mini-camp, having a great kitchen and meeting room area and then 2 cabins filled with bunk bed and a separate building housing the washrooms and showers. The pastor and his wife (Jeff and Rhonda Jones) and six (yes I said "6") kids were great hosts - very encouraging and supportive. They moved from Georgia 51/2 years ago to live and minister in this small remote community.
The next day began the first of five where we would get up, prepare breakfast, cleanup and then complete our preparation for what we were going to do that day during VBS. We also carved out some time to talk and pray as a team. Then we would hit the trail (so to speak). After loading up the van with everything we'd need to for the day, we would take a 45-50 minute drive down a windy, hilly road that was marked with road signs, some of which were barely discernible because of the "target practice" they had suffered.
We were privileged to bring a lady, named Marty, with us the first two days who had a daughter and a grandson in Hydaburg. She introduced us to the eldest elder in the village, Claude Morrison, who was 99 years old. On our return trip after the second day, Marty volunteered to guide us to some scenic places around the towns of Klowock and Craig - some 30 miles or so away from Hollis. This gave the team an opportunity to see a little more of what life was like for those living on Prince of Wales Island - and appreciate even more gorgeous Alaskan/Prince of Wales scenery.
Every evening, after a very demanding day, we would return to Hollis and cook up dinner, clean up and then begin our preparations for the next day. Four of the nights were particularly challenging. The first was because we got back almost two hours later than usual after the wonderful detour sigh-seeing but still had to fit in the same activities before retiring for the night. The next evening was just as challenging because we had to prepare for the Food Exchange dinner. Then Friday night, we stayed in Hydaburg after VBS and prepared the Chinese food we were going to serve that night to the people of Hydaburg. While having 4 "cooks" in the kitchen proved to provide much tension, the mission was accomplished and Brian's coconut pudding squares were hands down the winner with the locals. We enjoyed eating with about a dozen or so adults who came to dine with us, bringing an assortment of seafood they caught and prepared themselves. The final challenge came the evening after we completed the last day of the VBS. We had invited the Jones family to dinner - so we were under pressure to put the meal together fairly quickly after returning from Hydaburg. While we won't brag about the results of the cooking, we do have very fond memories of sharing our lives with this wonderful, godly family.
The VBS was a wonderful time of singing, doing actions to songs, talking with kids, having the kids share, doing crafts, playing games and even eating snacks with them. The kids seemed to be very accepting of us - more quickly than we could have imagined. Each member of the team brought their unique personality and gifts that the kids responded positively to. I can tell you that the children were easy to fall in love with. In the end, four young girls prayed for forgiveness of their sin and acceptance of Jesus into their lives. Praise God for how His Spirit touched them and drew them to Himself.
In final discussion with Selina, we were told that we were very welcome to come back and that June or July would be better months as far as kids being available. Jeff Jones also threw out the "welcome mat" and he looks forward to making plans beginning in the early part of the new year for a Newbern STM next summer.
Our trip back brought us again into a very wet Ketchikan - like what we experienced upon our arrval. Our day to decompress and take in some sights was somewhat dampened because of the weather. Nevertheless, we were able to see a bear from a distance and visit a totem museum as well as buy some souvenirs. We were up the next morning at 4:30am to being our long journey home. After the six hour ferry ride, we began our 20 hour overnight drive to Vancouver and were truly glad to see the familiar sights of home as we approached the lower mainland.
I am totally convinced that what God intended to do through this team of faithful followers of Jesus was accomplished. We praise Him for the privilege of serving Him this way and gladly trust our LORD with the results - both in Hydaburg and in our own lives.
**Often there are churches and communities such as this that can't afford to put on the big VBS that is so common here. They don't have the resources and the volunteers! Often some of those churches are in our very own family of the Alliance. Isn't it great when the churches that have the resources like Newbern step out in faith to lend a hand? If you're church is interested in venturing out like this next year, one of our Affiliated churches would love to partner with you! They would love to have a VBS for preschool through grade 6 at Sicamous Bible Church, but need the help to make it happen! If your church is interested contact Laurie Hudson at Sicamous Bible Church: 250.836.5430