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As you are reading this five large boxes are making their way to the Arctic Circle, shipped there by the subject of this story. Longtime Lindstrom resident JoAnn Nielsen will catch up with those boxes at Fort Yukon, Alaska; where for five years she has trekked to provide a vacation Bible school experience to youngsters in this remote corner of the U.S. She ships all her supplies, small gifts, food and all the other necessities for a week-long stay.

Nielsen and her friend Wanda Thoreson, of Zimmerman, MN are able to provide bible school through a special program of the Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots of the USA or LAMP. (The pilot are involved by providing bush plane transport to mission sites where LAMP is active.)

Mission work with the Athabascan Indians of the Fort Yukon area can be bittersweet, Nielsen explains.

Alaska is filled with such breathtaking natural wonders, yet the communities can be desolate places. As a "white woman" there are times she has felt out-of-place. But, the children are clearly in need of intellectual, spiritual and creative inspiration and they are so satisfying to work with, she declared.

More children usually show up for Bible School sessions than there are local resources to support the experience. LAMP relies on individual and congregation aid in providing these schools. Teachers who serve are responsible for gathering all their supplies and sending them to their school sites. If you can donate to the program you can do so by sending a check made out to Immanuel Lutheran Church and write "LAMP VBS" in notation line at bottom. Mail to Nielsen, 13235 295th Street, in Lindstrom, zip code 55045.

Nielsen is anxious to reconnect with the Bible School participants, some of whom have started to warm up to the outsiders. The youngsters range from 3 to 16 years of age. Last summer there were 50 in the vacation bible school session and although a parent might show up to lend a hand now and then; Wanda and JoAnn were kept busy.

Nielsen said she is able to fly commercially into Fairbanks, Alaska and takes a LAMP bush plane into Fort Yukon. Pre-shipped goods will hopefully be waiting at the post office. Teachers stay in a rudimentary building near the Episcopal Church, St. Stephens' town parish hall, where Bible school takes place.

Actual school runs maybe two to three hours, it depends on the how the dynamics are going. Nielsen explained that fetal alcohol syndrome manifests in many of the town youngsters so some days are more productive than others.

"We just try to let them know they are loved and that we are all in this life together and that God loves them too," Nielsen said. In their down time the two women may host a community Bible study or just take a walk; they also look for new ways to enjoy moose meat.

Nielsen explains that the rhythm of life is quite different at the Arctic Circle, where the land of the midnight sun means near daylight conditions 24 hours-a-day.

"We have heavy black sheeting on the windows where we stay," Nielsen said, so their internal clocks stay on course. "But the children sleep when they get tired and they wake when they are through sleeping. It isn't a normal, structured schedule and it takes getting used to," Nielsen explained.

There are aspects about Fort Yukon cultural that Nielsen finds appealing. People do not hurry from point A to B, you don't meet people who are in a rush. There is great appreciation for even small gifts like Beanie Babies (small stuffed animals) that are donated and given out.

"The whole village kind of watches out for everyone," Nielsen mentioned. One evening she and Wanda noticed a man keeping an interested eye on them as they walked past his house, and it made them feel edgy, so they turned back for home. The man called to them as they passed a second time that a bear was nearby and he was keeping an eye out, to make sure they were okay.

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