Off the beaten path - Chalkyitsik, Alaska

"This is the kind of stuff you hear about from Mexico", said one of the elderly Pastors from the village as he pulled his gun from his holster. He told us stories of elders being beaten in the village and armed robberies held by teenagers. "Now everyone carries a gun." Many of the people live in fear in the villages. The abuse and alcoholism rate is horrendous. Many live in fear of or heartbreak from losing a loved one. Since we've been here we've heard tons of stories of deaths due to alcohol abuse. One man lost his son, daughter and wife to it all in the past year. The stories broke our hearts, and as we prayed we saw that many began to find hope in Jesus! By the end of the meeting last night at the cultural center, one woman had severe hip problems as she had one leg shorter than the other. We prayed for her, and sure enough it grew out to match the other leg! Many other miracles took place as the service progressed. Tor was getting super tired as it was almost midnight and the service was not yet over. So we took him back to the missionary cabin and put him to bed for the night.

  This morning was insanely busy. Our small Cessna caravan plane was set to pick us up from Fort Yukon directly after the morning service was done for Chalkyitsik. As soon as I woke up, I jumped in the shower, then grabbed the baby and got him ready as Rob showered. I ran over to the only church in the village to help with the Sunday morning service where Rob was ministering. After worship, I watched the children in the church along with Tor and took pictures. Immediately after it was over, I ran back to pack everything we had and feed the baby a little food. Before we knew it, the plane was taking off for Chalkyitsik and we arrived around 3:30 PM. We were shown to the place we would stay for 2 days. It had no running water, but there was an outhouse we could use. The room had a twin size mattress on the ground and enough room for Tor's portable crib. This was a real sweet small village. We were praying for a move of God amongst the brokenhearted! The cabin we had the privilege of staying in was built and lived in by an honorable man named Chief David Salmon. David was a Gwich'in Elder and Priest of the only Episcopalian church in the village of Chalkyitsik that he built with his own hands. He was a very honorable, respected and passionate man of God and his memory is greatly cherished - especially in the heart of his Granddaughter Patti who we had the privilege of spending a lot of time with during our stay. She and our other host Chitsu Mary (Grandma Mary in their Native tongue) made wonderful moose and fish dishes for us during our stay.

(For more info on David Salmon click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Salmon_%28tribal_chief%29)

  Together Chitsu Mary and Patti treated us like royalty and Titus adored the time he got to spend with them too! Our first meeting was small in the village, however, it is a tiny village. Some of the Elders came to the meeting along with our hosts. We were honored to be able to minister to them. The worship leader who came with us from Fort Yukon absolutely adored worshiping the Lord and so passionately praised - it was beautiful! That night we met a couple who taught at the only school in the village, and they asked us to come and give our testimony at the school the next day! How could we pass up an offer like that?

  The next day we got ourselves ready and walked over to the school that all the village children attended. The teachers gathered them into the gymnasium, and they were excited that we had come to visit. We got to minister to the kids and Rob boldly shared his story with them. After he was done, we invited them to the meeting that night at the church if they wanted to know more about Jesus. As Rob was walking in the village that day after the school outreach, he was threatened by a young Native man who let him know that we were not welcome there. Through the opposition, we knew we were where we were supposed to be. We had heard stories of Missionaries attempting to come to this village, and in the middle of the night the cabin that they were staying in was hacked to pieces and they were told to never come back or that they would be killed. Knowing that Christ is the head of all principalities and powers, we counted it an honor to be declaring the Gospel in Chalkyitsik! In fact, that night the little church was packed - and many of those in attendance were the children! We were happy to see such little hearts interested in the things of God! The teachers then invited us to come over to take showers after we preached because they were the only ones in the village with running water in their home. We did take advantage of that opportunity! It felt great to get showers after a few days with none. At the last meeting we brought with us a beautiful Eagle Blanket and a pair of earrings to present to our hosts as a thank you for allowing us into the village and blessing us so. This is customary to do as a token of gratitude when you are going into villages - I learned that in South American villages as it is nearly the same. They presented me with a beautiful Native necklace and earrings. I felt so incredibly blessed to have experienced life with them for the short time. As we were boarding our flight back to Fort Yukon to go back to Fairbanks where we could drive 7 hours home, we were blessed as the Elders of the village came out to see us off at the plane. We thanked them again, and we were off. It was amazing simply staring at the frozen tundra with miles and miles of wilderness beneath our feet.


 We know that on our missions journeys here in Alaska, the road has been paved before us. As we come through, there have been those who have went before us to serve the people so that one day, they might accept the Gospel, as well as white people like us. There's people that have lived in and loved the lands of the far north, and the tribes here whether they were of the tribes themselves or of other nationalities serving as Missionaries. They have lived rough lives and have faced danger for the sake of the Gospel. God has used them and their message not only to change the lives of the ones they are reaching, but us who can now freely come and preach in love to the people as well and see people come to freedom in Christ. Sometimes our language and our messages are worded differently, but we are thankful to be part of the family and team here in Alaska that is all working for the same cause - to bring people to the knowledge of who He is, and of His love for them.

 A special thank you for making this possible to: Pastor Ed Kalnins and family, Pastor Joshua Reese and family, Wasilla Assembly of God, Pastor Marvin Carroll and Golden Heart Church, Pastor Jeremiah Niemuth and family, Johnathon Marks and Fort Yukon Assembly of God, Sam Pitka, Mike Curtis, Patti and the Salmon Family, Chitsu Mary, and any we may have missed. You made this possible. Thank you!