Filling the Faith Gap: Youth summer camp draws Owensboro missionaries into Alaskan wilderness

Jul. 22—WASILLA, ALASKA

For 15 missionaries from Owensboro's Walnut Memorial Baptist Church, a youth summer camp recently drew them to the Alaskan wilderness.

From July 9-13, the Laverne Griffin Youth Camp — just north of Wasilla, Alaska — held what it calls Jesus Art Music (JAM) Camp, which is open to middle through high school students.

Shane Kahkola, Walnut's teaching pastor, led the missionaries, who were split into two groups — one that taught the gospel, music and art to the youth and the other worked on repair and maintenance projects for the camp.

"They were struggling for people; they had people commit to help them, to help these kids, but they bailed on them at the last minute," Kahkola said. "...So we came along at the right time, by God's design. We have several people in our church who have amazing gifts and talents and it fit this camp — Jesus, art and music. The whole point was to come out here to cultivate the gifts of the kids who love Jesus and who want to go back and use those gifts to reach others."

The camp is a ministry of the Chugach Baptist Association and led by a board of directors.

Tracy Simmons, president of the board, said the camp, which sits on 58 acres next to the 150-acre Kalmback Lake, was part of a land grant in the 1950s but wasn't developed into a camp until the early 1970s.

"The whole purpose for the grant and these properties was for this to be specifically a camp that focused on young people — kids and teens," Simmons said. "It's open to other activities, but that is its main purpose."

Simmons, 56, added that the camp has been an intricate part of his life, making it a special place for him.

"I do have this history here; my wife and I met at our church's youth group in Anchorage, and we came here as teenagers before we ever got married," Simmons said. "When I was youth pastor at my first church in Anchorage, this is where we brought our kids to have summer camp and winter retreats."

The camp has one full-time employee — Simmons' son, Steven, who manages the operation and lives year round there.

Although the camp has part-time seasonal workers, Simmons said missionaries who volunteer from the "lower 48" help fill the manpower and spiritual gaps in helping spread the Gospel.

"That's a critical component for us," Simmons said. "A couple of things we deal with in Alaska is one, we're very unchurched. ...So when you talk about having enough volunteers for week after week of camps, finding local people to staff those gets pretty difficult."

However, Simmons does have a reliable volunteer in Terry Turner, who has served as the camp nurse for 12 summers.

Turner, a South Carolina native, said she received an email in 2012 about a camp in Alaska needing a nurse.

"I was already bringing up a mission team to First Baptist Church in Kenai, Alaska, to help with vacation Bible school; I was already going to be in Alaska, so why not (be the nurse)," said Turner, who also helps with kitchen and laundry duties.

When Turner, a retired 73-year-old VA nurse, made one of her return visits to Alaska nine years ago, she didn't know it would become her new home.

"In 2014, I decided I wanted to spend one winter in Alaska, and I'm still here," she said. "...I love coming to camp; I love taking care of kids; I help in the fall and spring with other retreats. ...God moved me 5,000 miles away and put me in a kids camp."

Although the Laverne Griffin Youth Camp hosts various camps throughout the eight-week summer season that starts in June, JAM camp recruits mission teams to teach skills such as choir, guitar, piano, art and creative writing.

Tim Poiles, a 24-year-old Walnut missionary, said he has been on other mission trips in the states but none as far away as Alaska.

Poiles, who taught choir and guitar at the Alaskan camp, said the idea of teaching youth about Jesus, art and music was the draw for him.

"My previous experiences in Georgia were with music and art camps," he said. "...It just seemed like a God-timing thing, because He prepared me for this trip by having me do my other trips. ...The only expectation that I had was that God was going to do something really cool on the trip, which He did. There were several people who came to know Jesus, and we had two who got baptized."

Walnut has a history of supporting missionaries in not only the United States but also in other countries, such as Haiti and the Philippines.

And along with the Alaskan mission trip, the church will be sending another team to serve in the Amazon rainforest this year.

Kahkola, who baptized the two youth in the Kalmback Lake on the camp's last day, said it was a privilege for him and a moment he'll cherish from the trip.

"The highlight of the week is when we extend to them 'is Jesus changing your life'?" Kahkola said. "So when they respond to that call from Christ and give their lives to Him, that's the highlight."