Students from both states were able to attend in 2003, but higher travel costs may make it nearly impossible for some of these students to afford the trip next June, organizers fear. “I don’t think we are planning on going to CHIC this time,” says youth pastor Anthony Vallejo-Sanderson of Aiea, Hawaii. “Flights to the mainland have risen in price dramatically, so we can’t afford to go.”
Byron Bruckner of Alaska says teenagers in the state are facing the same problem. “First there is the cost of flying the youth from the villages to Anchorage,” he notes. “Then we still have to get to the Lower 48.”
Students from Alaska have been coming to CHIC for years, and at CHIC 2003 even the new Covenant church in Hawaii sent students. “Not only was it an incredible experience for those students, but they also shared their culture with the other youth,” says Dale Lusk, who is coordinating the program, “Air Miles for CHIC.”
“At ‘A Place Called Heaven,’ which is a forum for students to share their talents and cultural backgrounds at CHIC, the Alaskan youth organized the first-ever CHIC Eskimo Games with wild challenges of physical skill,” Lusk recalls. “The Hawaiian youth taught an eager group of youth and adults the hula. The people from the mainland were a sight to see.”
The opportunity to experience different backgrounds and cultures is one of the strengths of CHIC, as students gain a better understanding of who God is and how he works through those varied relationships, Lusk says.
The goal is 15 tickets for Hawaii and 50 for Alaska, says Lusk, who will coordinate the flights. “Generally it takes 35,000 air miles for a free ticket from Alaska or Hawaii to Tennessee.” He added that miles from just about any airline will work.
Knoxville is served by nine commercial airlines. Nashville and Atlanta airports also are close enough to the university site to be used to transport students, says Lusk.
Individuals who are interested in donating frequent flyer miles should contact Lusk by email at dale@covmerge.org or by telephone 956-458-9568. It is hoped that all donated miles can be received no later than January 9.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
