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Make an incredible difference this summer! |
Can you imagine the joy in Heaven as God welcomes a new child into His family? Each summer, we're privileged to get a small glimpse into this wonderful reality as we help young men and women meet God for the first time at Bible camp. Join with us to fly Alaskan youth to Bible camps where they can experience Christ's love!
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Emily's Story: the life-changing difference of unconditional love
Emily grew up in a small village of 250 people located in the isolated west of Alaska. She loved the beauty of the rivers, snow machining with her brothers in the winter, and berry picking with her mother in the summer. Her small house was wonderfully filled with the smell of smoked salmon and boiled caribou soup, and Emily loved the joyful sound of a house full of relatives on the weekends--well, that is until late in the evenings when the happy sounds of family fell into the angry cadence of alcohol-induced bravado. Emily didn't like this time of night at all. In fact, she was scared... but she couldn't share her pain with anyone.
Winters were especially hard. During the sunlit nights of summer, she could easily escape her house and walk to the safety of her aunt's house. At least then she only had to worry about mosquitos and the occasional scavenging bear looking for unattended fish racks during her short walk. But, winters were a different story. With the sub-zero temperatures and oppressive weather, Emily couldn't easily escape her house-or her bedroom. She was always afraid. She couldn't tell anyone about her cousin who came at night to her room. She couldn't escape the shame. She couldn't escape the hopelessness. She began to think about ending her life. Emily was only 12 years old.
But the next summer, Emily was invited to Bible camp. She remembers the friendly MARC pilot who met their group of kids from the village to fly them across the mountains to camp. She remembers the kind counselors who were spending their summer with the kids. She remembers the friendly faces of the cooks. She remembers being loved. She remembers feeling safe every night. Mostly, Emily remembers meeting Jesus for the first time at the bonfire assembly on her third night at camp.
He promised to love her unconditionally. He promised to never forsake her. He promised to protect her. He promised her eternal life and gave her hope for tomorrow. Jesus changed Emily's life and gave her strength to confront and change the reality of her home situation. Then, God changed her family too.
Emily is no longer afraid.
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The unconditional love of God makes all the difference!
With the highest suicide rate in the country, with the highest Fetal Alcohol Syndrome rate in the nation, and with over 8,000 child sexual assaults reported each year, we're keenly aware of the difficulties in creating permanent change here in Alaska. However, we're comforted knowing that it's not our challenge... God can make all the difference.
In helping demonstrate Christ's love for the youth of Alaska, MARC is privileged to fly many kids to camp each summer. Meanwhile, we're also privileged to support over 91 churches, missionaries, and other Christian outreach organizations working throughout the isolated communities of Alaska to make a real difference in the villages for the kids to come home to. Spiritual change is essential for the future of Alaska.
This past year our MARC team made over 1,173 ministry flights into 81 remote communities in western Alaska impacting a combined population of over 81,000 people. Each work team, each pastor, each missionary, each relief & development flight, and each act of love in Jesus' name we support is essential to impacting remote Alaska.
You can help make a difference! Your financial gift will help enable MARC to fly more kids to Bible camp this summer. Each gift helps us provide camp scholarships and cover the significant fuel and maintenance expenses we incur. Thank you for your help!
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