Thank you everyone for your prayers and support during my time in Alaska. It’s taken some time to actually process what I did and how to share it. The trip wasn’t like any others in the past. It’s not due to the duration of time spent in Alaska or the task that was fulfilled. This past trip was a time of being guided and redirected by God in a way that reflects His purpose for the here-and-now, and what is to come.
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| My humble home while I was at Victory (Blueberry Cabin) |
In May I was contacted by Joel Ruisch (Victory’s Camp Director) as to if I had interest in coming up and helping run the fair booth. It wasn’t long before a ticket was purchased, and I was surrounded by mountains on a cold Alaskan day (it was abnormally cold that day).
The time spent in Alaska can be broken into three parts.
There was the preliminary work; working the fair; then the clean up.
The preliminary work took up the first three weeks. This included creating and producing the material that went into the fair booth, as well as getting the booth designed and moving our trailer-like booth into place. The fair itself ran for twelve days; starting on a Thursday and ending on Labor Day. Clean up only took a day to actually go in to the fair and dismantle the inside on the booth. Then it was waiting for the ok to move our booth into storage.
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| Victory's state fair booth |
The whole point of Victory’s fair booth is to connect with people, and eventually build relationships with them, so we can either help them grow closer in their relationship with Christ or start one if they haven’t already. In the past, we did this by running puppet shows and putting out information about our camp. Last year, I wanted to try something different. I put up a second display board, and displayed pictures and information about our conference center on part of it. Though our booth drew in our normal campers, it was amazing to hear how many people say,
“Wait, you guys are open year round”
“You guys have all of that up there”
“Since when did you have a conference center”
Obviously, word isn’t getting out that we did more than just summer camp. So when the opportunity came to work on the booth again, it was agreed between the leadership, and my team working on the booth, that conference center would be the focus.
The biggest draw to our booth was from one picture. On our one door was a 20”x30” poster of Miracle Lodge. Now if you had been to Victory before, but not in the last ten years or so, you would not have seen this building. So for anyone that had been to Victory before, this drew them in. From there, we would show them what was new, what God was doing in the ministry, what Victory is doing now, find out why they haven’t been back, see where their relationship with Christ is, and offer an open door to them. It’s amazing the conversations we had. There were the lulls that made time stand still. But there were the days that time flew by, and you wished that the conversations would never end. It was great making connections with people, no matter where they stood in their faith or beliefs.
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Part of one of our display boards
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Some of the brochures we created for the booth
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The view from on top our booth
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| Steven Matlock reading the fair newsletter |
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Aside from the fair came other tasks. My arrival at Victory came at the time that when the ministry transitions from summer camp, into conference season. It was a Thursday when I arrived, and by Saturday, I was driving a camper to a town two hours away. A few days later I was making espresso, running the camp rock-wall, and helping with hosting duties in the dining hall.
It’s crazy to think that a year has made me forget what guest services was like. But a year did that. It took away the mindset that we are there to serve our guests... even when it means putting down our work to assist them. I forgot this. With a time crunch to develop all the new material, my mindset was strictly on the booth. I did want to help, but only when I could afford to. This is where God had to step in... and a few co-workers/friends as well. There was a night that I had to wrestle with my reasoning, my calling, and some burdens that were on my heart. It was a time where God had to break me, and show me what He had planned, not what I had planned for myself. This is where I finally could see why God had brought me back to Victory.
SIDE NOTE: If you have never been to Alaska before, you are missing out. What I love about where Victory is situated, you can’t help but see evidences of God around you. If you are having a rough day, need to clear your head, or need to talk to God... you just need to step out the back door of the office.
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| The view from Inspiration Point |
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| An evening (night) view outside of the offices at Miracle Lodge |
It’s funny how I am suppose to be facilitating the mission statement, but at the same time, becoming the same person that the mission statement of Victory is directed to.
VICTORY MISSION STATEMENT: We exist to connect people of all ages with God through the ministry of Christian camping and conference retreats.
Through serving at Victory, and helping with the camping and conference retreats, I am being connected with God. In return, He is connecting me back to what His intent is for me, then allowing me to help connect people back to Victory through the work He has gifted me to do.
Well, we have come to the end of this update. Sorry if there wasn’t a lot about what I did. Most of my time was spent sitting in the office working on designing material, sitting in our fair booth, or reconnecting with the staff around Victory. I truly miss being there. It was hard to leave, especially when God’s work was evident each and every day.
Proverbs 19:21 says “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” (NLT) This verse meant a lot to me as I saw God working. Support has been coming in slower than I had imaged. But for God, it has been all in His timing. I can worry all I want about support and make all the plans I want... but it is through God, and His plans that His purpose and timing will prevail. It may not be the most enjoyable (like sitting here in PA), but God has a purpose for this time, just like my time in Alaska.
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| What I saw on my commute to and from the Alaska State Fair in Palmer Alaska |
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| Stopped outside Sutton just to take in some of the beautiful creation |
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| Just another beautiful day outside Miracle Lodge |
Grace and Peace,
Daryl J. Howard
P.S.- I'll post the display boards we had in our booth and some of the other material at a later date.
