Building for the Future of Native Alaskan Students

October 5, 2021 • United States

Samaritan's Purse volunteers completed new student housing this summer for Amundsen Educational Center in Soldotna. The Center is expanding its services to high schoolers, in addition to college-age students, from remote villages all over Alaska.

Samaritan’s Purse team members and school leaders dedicated new student housing for Amundsen Educational Center (AEC) in Soldotna, Alaska, on Sept. 30. Participants held a special ceremony and time of prayer asking for God to bless the work and the students who will live there.

Staff, volunteers, and leaders from Amundsen Educational Center gather around the completed student housing to pray for future students and the school.

Staff, volunteers, and leaders from Amundsen Educational Center gather around the completed student housing to pray for future students and the school.

AEC is expanding its outreach to include high schoolers, in addition to the college-age students they’ve been working with for decades. The new living space will help the facility accommodate that younger group.

Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with AEC since 2001 when we built a vocational training center for the school. Luther Harrison, vice president of North American Ministries at Samaritan’s Purse, has seen how the work of AEC has impacted Native Alaskan young people both professionally and spiritually.

“The vocational training they provide is successful because it’s done in a way that equips students for the workplace and, most importantly, for a life lived with Christian values,” Harrison said. “We’re excited to see how the Lord will use this new facility in the lives of high school-age young people throughout Alaska!”

Over the course of 18 weeks this summer, 141 Samaritan’s Purse volunteers joined the construction project that resulted in a two-story, 4,200 sq. ft. building—enough for 12 high school-age students. The site serves multiple villages at once by increasing the school’s capacity.

Volunteer Rosa Petruccelli said each day of work on the project felt like an outpouring of love that she hopes the students will see as they arrive.

“I pray that they’re going to experience love, and they’re going to see all the attention to details and all the work that was done here from all the volunteers and know that it was done because of the love that comes through us from Christ,” Rosa said. “None of this happens without Him and without Him working through us.”

A New Chapter for Native Alaskan Teens

Pastor Joel Oyoumick well knows the challenges facing young people in Alaska’s interior. He grew up in remote Unalakleet, and his life was changed by attending a Christian school where he studied academic subjects, practical skills, and how to study the Word of God. He then went to seminary in Chicago and later returned to pastor in Unalakleet for a decade and a half.

Construction materials and practices in Alaska take into account the severe weather and temperature changes buildings will encounter throughout the year.

Over the course of 18 weeks this summer, 141 Samaritan’s Purse volunteers joined the construction project that resulted in a two-story, 4,200 sq. ft. building—enough for 12 high school-age students.

He says that if teens can learn important life skills and study God’s Word early on, it will profoundly transform their lives and village culture. That’s why he rejoiced with Samaritan’s Purse to celebrate the newly constructed housing.

“In the villages, kids used to know how to hunt, fish, gather berries, and survive,” Pastor Joel said. “Those skills aren’t as necessary now that modern stores have arrived, and there’s no employment in the villages. The self-worth of people in the villages has decreased, especially the men.”

The Amundsen Educational Center aims to continue changing that. For more than two decades, AEC has been training college-age Native Alaskans in residential construction. Now, in addition to adding high schoolers to their student body, the Center will have an aviation school to teach students how to fly and to serve as aviation mechanics. The new high school curriculum will include academic subjects, Bible classes, as well as these practical skills. This training will open better opportunities for the young across Alaska.

“Everyone flies in western Alaska,” Pastor Joel said. “They used to go by dog sled. Now they fly if they want to get somewhere. Students who go back to the villages with these skills and with knowledge of the Bible…can help transform their villages for Jesus Christ.”

Mike Swanson, executive director of AEC, believes that indigenous young men are often searching for a strengthened sense of worth, a sense of belonging, and a sense of competence.

“We want to teach them their infinite value in God’s eyes, what healthy Christian community looks like, and a set of high-demand skills they can take with them everywhere,” he said. “Learning a skill set can be life-giving and life-changing. If a student can swing a hammer or measure and cut a board accurately or learn how to operate and work on an airplane, this competence leads to confidence.”

Only the Beginning

AEC’s many college-age students who already know how to “swing a hammer” will continue the student housing interior buildout—including bunks and other features—this fall and winter in preparation for the high school’s official launch in 2023.

Samaritan's Purse volunteers constructed this beautiful new student housing to accommodate high schoolers at Amundsen Educational Center.

Amundsen Educational Center trains Native Alaskans in various trades including carpentry, construction, and aviation while also teaching them the Word of God.

This construction project marks only the beginning of fulfilling a vision that many AEC leaders have had for years. They plan to continue building capacity for students and for the more advanced programs in aviation and other disciplines.

Russell Richardson, Samaritan’s Purse construction manager for the project, says he’s excited to see how God will continue to use the school to reach more young Native Alaskans with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“There’s a lot of young men that are not only jumping up and down for Jesus but raising Christian children and families because of this program,” Richardson said. “Now we’ll see even more children who will also have an opportunity to come through this program.”

Each year since 2006 Samaritan’s Purse volunteers have constructed churches, homes, and even seminaries in rural Alaska. The project this year marks our 31st construction in The Last Frontier.

Please continue to pray for Native Alaskan villages and for many people to be transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please also pray for this growing work in Soldotna.

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