The Safest Place

My dear friends from Camp AN, Sabrina and Maggie

Three summers go, right after finishing my first year of college, I went on a missions trip to Camp Agaiutim Nune on the Yukon River near Emmonak, Alaska. Camp AN, which means Place of God, is an annual camp that serves the Native Alaskan youth and children of the Yukon River Delta. This was my second year going and I could not wait to be out there again. The youth of rural Alaska face enormous challenges everyday and for many of them, Camp AN is one of the few places where they are loved, safe, happy. Alcoholism, depression, suicide and drug abuse are problems that plague rural Alaska because of the seasonal darkness, isolation and lack of evangelical witness.

Fourwheeler with our team

Lauren riding on the Yukon River

To get to Camp AN, you first fly on an Alaska Airlines flight to Anchorage, Alaska. Then you hop on a 15-passenger plane to St. Mary’s, then six passenger plane to Emmonak. You land on strip of gravel, grab your stuff and jump on a trailer pulled behind a fourwheeler. Then you are loaded into small fishing boat and ride 45 minutes up the Yukon River to an island. This island holds Camp AN, a campsite without electricity, permanent buildings or indoor plumbing. You sleep in giant tents, eat in tents, have service in tents. Kids and teens ride up to 2 hours by boat to come spend a week at Camp AN to eat sometimes stale food, use outhouses and shower with river water but most importantly to have a life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit.

On the plane to Emmonak, AK

Maggie once only dreamed of reaching 18 until she got
saved, delivered and healed of color blindness at Camp AN

God does miracles at this camp. Teens are set free from bondages, thoughts of suicide, drug and alcohol addictions and depression. I have seen blind eyes opened and deaf ears healed at Camp AN. These kids come with big challenges, deep wounds and hard walls. It takes a while to gain their trust, a while to hear their stories, a while to understand their hearts but when you do, you get an incredible opportunity to see God completely transform the lives of students, to change them from the inside out. By the end of the week their whole demeanors change, they smile, they laugh, they trust, they love. 
They begin to dream, to plan for the future which is something many of them don’t even believe they have. I met teens at Camp AN whose goals were simply to make it to their 18^th birthdays but end up graduating high school and pursuing college. For many of these kids this is the ONLY time of year that they get to hear the gospel, that they hear that they are valuable, that they are loved, that they are created with a purpose. Alaska is a mission field with a huge need and its in our back door. 

Camp AN breaks your heart and changes you. Working with the youth at Camp AN is one of the most challenging things I have ever done but one of the most rewarding. By the end of the week, you have made friends for life and you send them home praying desperately that what God did in them will continue to grow. Once you have been, you can never forget. 

Our team

Lauren and Karen

This particular year was my second year going out to Camp AN. I was going with a group from my college in the lower 48 (continental United States for all you non-Alaskans out there). They were all boys. In the airport on the way to Camp AN, I met two college age girls, Lauren from California and Jessica from Arizona. I got to know these incredible girls over the week of working with them. I got to see their hearts for the Lord, their willingness to serve and their dance skills that are just as good as mine ;). They were goofy and adventurous and fun. In the days that followed at Camp AN, the three of us came together. Being the only girls in a group of eleven college students, we bonded quickly. After heart-breaking goodbyes to the kids, we spent a few days hiking glaciers and falling asleep in Walmart. But more importantly we prayed. I will never forget one day in particular, we had just gotten back to Anchorage after the week at Camp AN was over, the boys were sleeping and we decided to drink tea and have a Bible study. We talked for hours, sharing our hearts, our needs, our fears, our struggles. We all shared from God’s word and prayed for each other, for Alaska, for our futures and for where God was leading us. I still have the notebook pages where I wrote down prayer requests for Lauren and Jessica. 

The Bible time that changed our lives!

When we all left Alaska, ten days after meeting, I knew that I was saying goodbye to some of the dearest, best friends in the world. Little did I know what God had for all of us, together and apart. 


Fast forward a year, Lauren was going to a university in Northern Arizona, Jessica had spent a semester in Spain and was now back in Phoenix and I had gone through a great but tough year and I knew God was leading me somewhere else. We had sort of kept up on Facebook but were all busy with our own lives. Lauren and I were sitting in the same room where the year before all three of us had sat, each of us with new teams that were heading out to Camp AN, even though I wasn’t able to join them. I sent Lauren a text that said “I might be transferring to your college next year”. 

If ever three people were meant to be friends :)

And I did. Although it was nothing that I had planned, I moved to Northern Arizona and transferred to the same university as Lauren (although when I picked that university I had completely forgotten that Lauren went there). In August, I moved to Arizona and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Over this past year, Lauren has become one of my biggest supporters, biggest encouragers and dearest friends. Jessica drove up from Phoenix to visit us shortly before she headed off to spend a semester working with missionaries in Peru, it felt like the three of us had never been apart. Our conversations are always deep, rich, filled with laughter and tears.

Lauren's Send off!

In May, both Jessica and Lauren graduated college, Lauren moved into my apartment and I headed off to Uganda, which was a life long dream fulfilled. I got back from Uganda in August, only days before Lauren headed off to spend a year serving God in Indonesia. The three of us all met in Flagstaff, had a picnic in the rain, took ridiculous pictures and celebrated where God has taken us. We all talked about what He has taught, the prayers He has answered and the dreams He has placed on our hearts. 

Flagstaff Renunion

Jessica and Lauren have become more than friends, they have become my sisters. Through some of the most challenging times of my life, these girls have prayed for me, supported me, encouraged me, blessed me. They have been listening ears, shoulders to cry on and incredible examples of following God’s heart and His leading NO MATTER WHAT. I marvel at God’s goodness and faithfulness. God knew way back then in Alaska that I needed these girls, He knew where I would be, the struggles I would have and I can’t imagine my life without these friends. 
Something I have learned from all of this as well as every other time I have followed God’s heart into the great unknown, whether that has been going to Uganda by myself, changing majors, or changing colleges, is that there is no safer or better or more fulfilling place to be than in the will of God. I’m not saying that is always easy, or even what we want to do but Jesus promises us that HIS burden is easy. Since we first met, I have seen Jessica and Lauren experience joys, victories and triumphs and I have also seen them experience difficulties, disappointments and challenges but they would both agree that God has blessed them abundantly and they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

We are called to die to ourselves and through doing so we gain a life with Christ that is richly blessed. When we give our lives over to God, He blesses it more than we ever could ourselves not because we have earned it but because that is the incredible, lovely God we serve. Why has God blessed our friendship so much? Aside from Him being a loving Father who wants to do good things for us, I think it because all of us have committed everything we have to Him. I know Jessica and Lauren, they have given their hearts, their resources, their time, energy and everything to God. They have literally followed Him around the world and we are all blessed because of it. So, even if it isn’t what I had planned or it doesn’t make sense at the time, I am learning that the BEST and SAFEST place for me to be is in the will of God, even if that looks different than what I thought. God knows what He is doing!

I am so proud of Lauren and Jessica and I cannot wait to see what God has in store in for all of us! I love you guys so much! Thanks for challenging me and blessing my life everyday!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn for me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

"Then He said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23-24

For more information on Camp AN visit www.campanalaska.com