posted 11:23am CDT June 20, 2009

Today was our final day of work at the church in Eagle River.  Even though we already accomplished many tasks, the church still had one more project for us.  We raked, weeded, and cleaned up the playground at the church.  It was in bad shape, with moss on the asphalt which had to go!  We also cleaned up the playground equipment and made it so everything was usable and inviting for the children of the church.  At the end of our time with the Eagle River church, Reverend Piper Cartland led us in a prayer of thanksgiving for us being there to help them, and for our safe travels.

After working, we took some time to go hiking to Thunderbird Falls, which was very breathtaking.  We also explored different paths, some of which led to some hidden wonders and beautiful views of the falls.  The day was both happy and sad.  Happy that the work for the week is completed, sad that we won't get to have the great food that the people of Eagle River brought every day. 

Complete with ice-cream sundaes the size of Alaskan moose and countless teary-eyed good-bye hugs, today marked the completion of Vacation Bible School. Today's lesson focused on the Lord's Prayer and how Jesus taught his followers to worship. To complement the lesson, we had the children create Prayer Amulets out of hemp, cardboard, and various beads. Inside the Amulet, the kids wrote a prayer to themselves and sealed it inside the necklace. However, any kid will tell you that their favorite part of the day was eating gigantic ice-cream sundaes topped with absurd amounts of whipped cream. We ended the week with heartfelt good-byes and a memorable group picture.

This afternoon we attended a World Refugee Day picnic at a local park.  The festivities included people of many nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including Sudanese, Somalian, Vietnamese, Russian and of course, native Alaskans.  We tasted many types of food, and enjoyed dancing and singing from each of the groups.  The VBS crew had supplies left over, and were allowed to set up an area for crafts.  As soon as the boxes were open, kids came from all around to make Fish Kites, God's Eyes, and necklaces.  At the end of the day, we felt fed by the food, uplifted by the music, and lightened by having all our supplies well used and loved.

After the picnic, we visited Earthquake Park which commemorated the 1964 Good Friday earthquake which registered 8.6 on the Richter scale.  The walk was very beautiful, but most of us have never seen mosquitoes in such number!  They were EVERYWHERE!  After all we did today, we were exhausted but enjoyed the comical end to the day with all the bug stories we have to share.  We then returned to the church, got ready for bed, and now it's time for some much needed sleep for tomorrow – another busy day.