Clara Honea remembers when the first missionaries floated down the Yukon River more than 73 years ago to Ruby, Alaska—a gold rush town turned native village, now home to a community of Athabaskan Koyukon people in the state’s remote interior. She remembers some of the first services at Ruby Bible Church and especially the night…
Construction Projects
Church Construction Nearing Completion in Koyuk, Alaska
Freezing and thawing had torn apart the church building’s foundation. Part of the ceiling was collapsing. There were gaps in the floor. It took at least a day—usually longer—to heat the building, at significant cost, so midweek events were held elsewhere. On winter Sundays, even with the heat on, it was sometimes still so cold…
Construction Projects
Warm Fellowship Ahead for One Alaskan Church
The nearly 300 residents of Koyuk, a primarily Inupiat village at the eastern edge of Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, mark the year by dramatic seasonal changes. Winter is long, cold, and dark, but the powdery pillows covering the land allow snowmobile travel, a liberating opportunity that is possible at no other time. A short spring means…
Construction Projects
Rebuild Project Underway in Alaska’s Interior
As Alaska’s interior undergoes its annual thaw, there are just enough weeks of milder weather to rebuild in the state’s hardest-to-reach areas. This would include Scammon Bay, population 500, on the edge of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge where the Kun River meets the Bering Sea. There are no roads leading into or out…
Discipleship, Education & Training
“Nerves of Steel” Pilot Tammie Jo Shults Encourages Military Couples over July 4 Week in Alaska
Accomplished Navy aviators and commercial airline pilots Tammie Jo Shults and her husband Dean, as well as their son Marshall, encouraged ten military couples at Samaritan Lodge Alaska over July 4 week. Special guests of Franklin Graham and Operation Heal Our Patriots, Tammie Jo and Dean joined wounded veterans and their spouses for excursions and…
Construction Projects
Building for the Future of Native Alaskan Students
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. AEC is expanding its outreach to include high schoolers, in…
Construction Projects
New Building Will Help Church Shine the Light of Jesus in Southwestern Alaska
A vessel crossed the Bering Sea in 1919 and traveled inland along the Yukon River to help start the first native-led church in the newly-established settlement of Mountain Village—a small community in southwestern Alaska. The ship’s name was Hope and it was carrying its namesake—the hope found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over…
Alaska Pilots Are a Lifeline in the Wilderness
A deafening buzz nearly every summer morning fills the air, echoing through the trees and mountains surrounding Port Alsworth, Alaska. There’s a good chance that one or two Samaritan’s Purse planes and pilots are responsible for breaking the wilderness silence. “As a young kid I grew up next to an Air Force base, and I…
Construction Projects
New Church Under Construction in Remote Alaska Town
For many years, Lake Clark Bible Church has gathered for worship under challenging conditions in Port Alsworth, Alaska. During summer months, the congregation meets in an open-air gymnasium with no restrooms or running water, often battling mosquitoes and high winds. When harsh winters settle over the remote community, they move indoors to homes throughout the…
Stepping Out in Faith in Alaska
Olga Patterson had already waded out with our chaplains into Lake Clark, shivering and smiling in the waist-deep, glacier-fed waters during a particularly cold season at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. It had only been a few weeks or so since the snow had stopped falling on the surrounding peaks. She probably couldn’t have picked colder water.…
