Arctic Mission Adventure works to support remote areas in Alaska through outreach and evangelism. In the small village of Savoonga, the mission has made a positive impact by helping community members grow in their faith, resulting in significant baptisms and a stronger church presence.
Alaska is a vast, wild territory in the United States. Much of the state is nearly inaccessible because of harsh landscapes and lack of roads. This creates a big mission challenge. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Alaska came up with a solution named Arctic Mission Adventure.
“Arctic Mission Adventure is the mission of the Alaska Conference to deal with Bush or remote Alaska. When you think about the incredible territory Alaska is, Arctic Mission covers all the remote stuff off the road system and off the southeast water system. We try to provide programming and support for them in evangelism and outreach with VBS and day camps.”
One location that represents this challenge is the small village of Savoonga. It’s located on St. Lawrence Island which is only 40 miles from Siberia in the Bering Sea. On a clear day, you can even see Russia in the distance across the water. For much of the year, this small village is only accessible by plane or dog sled. The Siberian Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island have survived these harsh conditions with subsistence living. This means finding natural resources to supply most basic necessities which includes hunting for food.
“The biggest hunting community in Alaska is Savoonga. We’re the walrus capital of the world. We hunt bowhead whales, which are almost the biggest mammals. I love Savoonga because you know this is home.”
In the 1980s, the Adventist Church in Savoonga grew from 4 to 25 members because of the ministry of pastor Ken Crawford. 40 years later, a member he baptized is still a leader of the church.
“My wife was interested in the Seventh-day church. She did lots of Bible study with Ken Crawford. Then I joined them and we were baptized in 1982 in the Seventh-day Adventist church. I really like it here.”
A missionary named Eloise was sent by Arctic Mission Adventure to support Eugene and the Savoonga Adventist Church. Eloise’s dedicated mission work led to a special day last summer.
“We were able to see one of the largest baptisms in our conference out here in this little village of Savoonga out in the Bering Sea. This really shed a light on what God is doing here in remote Alaska.”
“We had a few young kids baptized here. Even four of my grandkids were baptized.”
One of those grandkids was Faith.
“My grandfather wanted me to be baptized since I was a preteen and I wanted to change. So I got baptized. I’m very thankful to be here because it keeps me on the right track.”
Stories like this are why Arctic Mission Adventure continues to minister in remote areas across St. Lawrence Island and the Alaskan bush.
“We just try to help our mission workers who are living in the village be incarnational and to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. Like it says in Ministry of Healing, Christ's method alone is to show compassion and to mingle and to minister to their needs and then call them to follow Jesus. And so we try to live that out in an incarnational way. When Jesus shows up lives are transformed and we can't always measure the impact.”
Please pray for the work of Arctic Mission Adventure. A portion of your offerings will support their projects in the most remote regions of Alaska. Thank you for your support of mission around the globe.
