Back from Alaska

This past weekend I went with a group of 13 from PNEUMA to Ketchikan Alaska. The trip was absolutely incredible. The area around Ketchikan is beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn't get snowed in or anything. It actually snows very little there. They have the exact same weather as Seattle so there is more rain than snow. The area is surrounded by mountains which are covered with snow on the top, but at the level of the city, there is no snow.

While I was there I was speaking at the Southeast Alaskan Winterfest. The people that were there and that were in charge of the event were incredible. I kind of feel sorry that they got stuck with me as the speaker, but still, we all seemed to have a good time. The youth that I took were incredible. If you are a youth pastor and are reading this blog, I had to say that I have the best youth in the world in PNEUMA. There cannot be any that are greater. The blew me away with their willingness to serve this weekend. Here's a listing of what we did. The first service I talked about the new creation: re:visioning creation. The youth drama group performed after the evening service at a "fun time." They did one spoken piece and one percussion drama piece. The second morning I team taught a Bible study with our children's pastor Annette on Truth. That afternoon was fun time in the gym and that night I taught on re:visioning sex. We had a great night that night. After the service we went cosmic bowling. Everyone knows that my life-long dream was to go bowling in Alaska. I can die happy now. The third day I spoke in the Winterfest service on the feast of Sukkot and the use of water in the festival (COG seminary students should recognize this). The drama team did a dance piece in the morning service as well. Immediately following I spoke in the main church service on the Elijah narrative. Good times.

Anywho, all this to say that I really enjoyed the trip. The pictures from the trip should be on the PNEUMA web site later today. www.pneumayouth.com We are all ready to go back. We have a possibility of going back in February. We'll see what happens.