Our journey to Kake had a couple hour lay over in Sitka. For the folks who were able to get up early and brave the rain, an interesting experience awaited in downtown Sitka. Most stores were closed as the team disembarked the Taku. What awaited them toward the end of their time in Sitka was an invitation to visit the Russian Orthodox Catholic Church. John somehow found the priest and asked if he would open the church and he did.  One of the team members asked if they could,"take some pictures" and the priest said,"we would like to keep the pictures on the walls." There are comedians everywhere!

Today was the first full day in Kake. First thing in the morning a small team went to clean up the location for Culture camp. There was a lot of glass and beer cans laying around the area where the kids will be playing. We were able to clean up the area and then head to church.  We then headed to church. The service was very passionate, as Dawn put it, "...the singing was so loud and inspiring!"

Lydia and Maria on the shoulders of Drew and Emmanuel.

Emmanuel, Dawn, and Perry work together to cut a stick to use in for the tent at culture camp

At the team meeting at the end of the night tonight we gave a recap of the the days events. This is the hardest part of a blog, how to accurately explain the personal connections that are made on a mission trip of this nature. We heard from many of the first timers about the connections they were able to make. Abbey was able to connect with some of the tribal elders and even got some photos of a lady who has never been willing to be photographed in the past. Megan N., along with a couple other members of our team were riding with one of the ladies and she mentioned how she always loves when we come to town because we remind her of how beautiful the land is where she lives because everyone is always fascinated by the splendor of Gods creation. Megan W. later mentioned how she had had some really deep conversations with some people today. The mission teams from WLC have proven to gain a lot of trust with the people of Kake. This long term commitment has really started to show in the relationships that are forming and trust that the people of this tiny community have in our teams. It has been a great start to our time in Kake and ask that all of you continue to pray for our team and the relationships that will be created and cultivated this week.