Trip to the Arctic.
June 24, 2008:
After Interior Campmeeting I persuaded Hal and Judy Thomsen to come to the arctic to view the work there. They graciously consented to accompany me to see the progress of the work there. The day after interior Campmeeting we flew from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. While waiting for the flight to St. Lawrence Island, Pastor Rick Binford gave us a quick tour of the work there in Nome. Pastor’s Rick’s district is about 600 miles across and he has to fly everywhere he goes. Can you imagine the expense of this district when each airline ticket is over $500.00?

Nome:
At one time, Nome was an exciting place for our work. The church was growing and had a mission school with over 40 children, mostly native. This year the school closed it’s doors and the church is struggling with dwindling numbers.
Picture 1--Students camp on the beach and pan for gold Gold Dredge from Gold rush days.

























Gambell:
Later that day we hopped on a small commuter plane and flew to the village of Gambell. The village of 700 Eskimos, sits on a spit of gravel about 35 miles from Siberia. The work here was started back in the 1930’s by dedicated Public School teachers. The members here have been faithful and conduct their church services every week. The Pastor from Nome tries to visit them every 4-6 weeks.


Pastor Hal and Judy sitting on the
jawbone of a bowhead whale.
















Clement, Head Elder in Gambell



















Church and Parsonage in Gambell

















Gerard, another Elder in Gambell




















Savoonga:
My wife and I started our Ministry as volunteers, back in 1979. There was a small church here and 3 or 4 faithful members. Our parsonage was a tiny one-room cabin, 20X20 ft. Back then there was no running water or much electricity. For the next two years these kind, quiet, gentle people won our hearts and we gave our hearts to them. When we left the church was full for we had a lot of baptisms. We found these wonderful people very open to spiritual things and eager to learn. They are intelligent people and are quick to catch unto spiritual concepts including Daniel and Revelation.

Savoonga now has an enlarged Parsonage and a nice church. Sometime the members get together to watch a video but mostly the church sits empty except for the monthly or bi monthly visit from the Pastor.

Walrus and seal drying.

















Chester, newly baptized member in Savoonga
















Girl with drying Polar Bear skin.

















My burden:
For more than 25 years now, the work in the arctic has come to a standstill. We have 7 Churches and Parsonages around the northern rim and in the northern interior of Alaska that have stood virtually empty of Pastoral leadership. In 1983, the classification of Alaska was changed from a Mission to a Conference. At that time, for whatever reason, (mostly financial) it seemed that the the work in the arctic villages contracted and has been in limbo ever since.
It is somewhat painful for someone like me who started my work in a small Eskimo village on St. Lawrence island to see the work now.
We get inquiries on a regular basis from villages to please come and teach them the Bible. However we have no funding to answer their call.

Hal and Judy quickly saw the need in the villages and became advocates to help us reach these areas. They have been campaigning for Alaska ever since.