Peter T's Reflection on the Mission Trip and Pilgrimage

One of the best parts of visiting Kodiak was basically everybody that lived there was Orthodox. This was very amazing because you would see people in church you had seen at the local café “Monk’s Rock”, walking around town, going out on their fishing boats and even the owner of the local pizza place was Orthodox. Orthodoxy could also be seen in many of the town stores but the best known to us was Monk’s Rock which was a local café slash Icon store. The whole Orthodox community in Kodiak greatly amazed me because Orthodoxy was present in almost every area of the town, from people to stores.

The majority of the beginning of the week consisted of back breaking work. The first day was absolutely miserable because of the amount of rain that had come down on us when we were weeding and digging trenches but, the rain eventually let up. The afternoon and the next few days involved carrying buckets full of rocks weighing about 30 to 40 pounds each but, this was not in the rain so it was ok. A few people would bring the buckets over while some others would throw them in to a trench we needed to fill up due to their drainage problems. This system was very fast and effective and we got it done in about two afternoons. Other jobs during the first two or three days were painting classrooms and decks and then polishing brass in the seminary chapel. The last day of work was on Spruce Island and involved clearing a path though the kelp, which smelled terrible and had maggots in it. After the Spruce Island job we were free and were ready for the Pilgrimage.

Our pilgrim to Spruce Island was a huge success even though the other pilgrims didn’t the trail that we made through the kelp because the high tide cleared most of it away but, the service and the Metropolitan’s arrival went smoothly. The service lasted close to two hours, plus a sermon by Metropolitan Jonah explaining how we should be good Orthodox Christians, how we should surrender ourselves to God and to do what God wants us to do in our life time on earth, which was very well done. After the service, everyone walked down to the picnic and had fish pie, chips, spaghetti with meatballs and other delicious food, which was then followed thirty minutes later by a boat ride back to the seminary.

Also, our group had a great time in Alaska besides just working and going to Church services. We made two new friends, Gabe and Shelby, who were both the kids of priests at the seminary and the Cathedral. We also saw beautiful places like Fort Abercrombie, an old World War II fort on the side of a cliff. We also drove to the top of a mountain where we saw the whole town of Kodiak and other neighboring towns. These places have the same beauty that we DC residents can see in a place such as Great Falls. We played a game called Scoot-Your-Boot which was like a wresting version of musical chairs; this game was very, very entertaining.

Overall, the mission trip was very successful in many ways. We helped the seminary by doing work around their grounds and also we succeeded in going on the pilgrimage to Spruce Island. This trip would not have been possible without your prayers and donations and I thank you very much!!!

Peter T