Egegik - Fishing, Fellowship, and Fun

This was our sixth week of VBS and we got to be in Egegik, which is down the coast about 40 miles from Naknek. In the winter there are only about 35 people who live in Egegik, but the summer brings many fishermen and cannery workers into the town. We stayed with an incredible couple by the name of Paul and Nattie. Their love for the Lord is evident, and they are one of the few, if not only, alcohol free homes in the village. We met their oldest daughter, Maria, and she said that when she was young her friends always knew her home was a safe place they could go whenever they needed. Paul is a long time fisherman who grew up in the area, and has many stories, a few of which he shared with us this week. His wife Nattie is an incredible cook and treated us to many delicacies including smoked, fried, and baked salmon, as well as multiple dishes that contained moose sausage. Their house overlooked the river, so many evenings were spent looking out their window watching all the fisherman on their boats coming and going from the Egegik bay.

This week was a little different since almost all of the children at VBS were fisherman's children. Unlike most weeks, we had many little blondes running around. Most days we had 12 kids ranging from 3 to 11 years of age. We even had one older girl who was willing to help out with puppets. We were grateful for her help, since John and Carol were struggling with some laryngitis during the beginning of our week there. It was evident that many of the children had Biblical teaching at home, since most of them were much more familiar with the Bible stories than the children in our previous villages have been.

The 4th of July was pretty quiet since many of the fishermen were out in their boats. We did watch a few fireworks across the river, but they are a little harder to see here since the sun barely sets! I thought we had an even better show the following evening though, because as we were looking out over the river we began to see the salmon jumping in the water. As they began jumping, more and more seals began to appear. There were at least a dozen seals swimming around, and three of them even had salmon in their mouths!

Game time was unique in Egegik. The church did not really have an area for games, but what they did have was a lot of tall grass and bushes. The kids loved to play hide-and-seek in the tall grass, and the only thing they had to do was sit down and they would disappear underneath the tall flowing grass. The bushes were great for creating forts and fighting off the "bears" (aka other children. No, we didn't let the kids play near real bears). Some days we even made the hike through the tall grass over yonder to the school playground where the kids loved playing.

At the end of each week we have a program so the kids can share with their parents what they learned, and sing their songs. I was amazed how many parents showed up this week, even dads who really should have been out getting their boats ready to fish. It was special to see them set aside that time to come see their children. One of the young boys even stayed through the program even though it meant he would have to run all the way to the beach to his dad's boat afterwards to make it in time to go out fishing. He loved fishing with his dad so much! But even so, he never missed a day of VBS.

After the closing program I was visiting with a mother of five who lived on the other side of the river, a descent boat ride away. She informed me that every night her kids would pray that they could make it across the river the next day for VBS. Never fail, every day they made it to VBS and back home again even despite the heavy fog that came and went quite frequently during our week there.

I love Mark 10:13-16 because it gives us just a glimpse of God's heart towards children. It reads, "And they were bringing children to Him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them."

Thank you for your continued prayers this summer. They are appreciated more than you know. As we head into our final week of VBS please continue to pray that not only the children, but also their families will have open hearts to the Gospel. Pray that He would draw them to Himself and use this time to plants seeds in the hearts of these children, so that they can know just how much they are loved by their Heavenly Father.