The phone rang in the church office one cold February afternoon. I picked up the receiver on the third ring to hear a frantic voice of a teen on the other end: “Ms. Lynette, I need your help. I’ve lost my cell phone, and I need to use your phone to handle a situation at home.” I told her to come on over and use the phone.
No sooner had I hung up when the phone rang again. This time, the caller was a young lady who chose to change her life and go into rehab for drugs. She calls the church periodically excited to share her progress with me. She’s out of rehab and in a foster home, employed and doing well in school. Prayers do get answered. She attended Alaska Camps a couple of years and then fell in with the wrong crowd, eventually getting on drugs. She personally made the choice last fall to stop using. A second young lady followed her example and is still in rehab. We keep praying for them.
As I hung up from the second call, I pondered the fact so many kids here remember the church phone number — 5160 — even though they lose their phones or move away. I am humbled that kids connect with this number and this church and that we are viewed as a stable, reliable and positive influence in this village.
Lynette Goude answers a "5160" call.
Arctic Mission Adventure volunteers Lynette and John Goude spend time with Togiak children.
Kids in Togiak playing outside on a cold, crisp winter day.
Togiak children participate in a youth program.
