Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers are ministering to the remote village’s residents in many ways, opening up opportunities to point people to Jesus Christ.
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 inside you could see your breath.
“Well, we didn’t feel good at all about it,” said Don Cross, pastor of the Covenant Church in remote Koyuk, Alaska. “It wasn’t safe. A lot of people in the village were apprehensive about their kids going into the old church.”
Long-time member Grace Morris worried, often asking herself: “Is this church going to collapse?”
Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers pray as they begin work one morning on the new church building in Koyuk, Alaska.
Those fears were finally relieved earlier this year, in late spring, when the old building was demolished and a new one began to take shape through the efforts of Samaritan’s Purse Alaska construction team. Groups of volunteers have been coming in every week or two since early summer.
The new, well-insulated structure, which is nearing completion, features a Triodetic foundation, specially designed for the shifting permafrost conditions of rural Alaska; 24-gauge galvanized steel siding; and steel roofing. There’s a sanctuary that can seat at least 130 people, plus bathrooms, a pantry, a kitchen, a fellowship hall, and an arctic entry/vestibule to keep the harsh wintry elements from entering through the front door. The building should last 100 years.
Pastor Don Cross is excited about the possibilities that a new church building will offer his congregation.
Before construction began this year, the church had perhaps 30 active members (from a village of around 300). Now excitement is already mounting for the new worship center, and a recent Sunday night service—held in Koyuk’s municipal building—swelled to around 70 in attendance.
Among the hopes, prayers, and plans for the new church are a feeding program, men’s ministry, women’s ministry, youth group, and more Sunday school classes for adults and children. Without heating problems, the building will be open for use throughout the week, instead of just on Sundays.
The Prentices are looking forward to their new church building, where men, women, and children will hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
“God will draw His people to the church,” said Beda “Bim” Prentice. She and her husband John, who goes by “Bucky,” have seven children, serve in church leadership, and share a heart to help both the elderly and the youth of their Native community. “We need to draw in the young people and others to Christ.”
Far More Going on Than Just Construction
In August, a team of Samaritan’s Purse volunteers from the Lincolnton, North Carolina, area served for a week in Koyuk, which happens to be one of the final stops along the famous Iditarod dogsled race.
The volunteer team from Lincolnton, North Carolina, prepares to board a Samaritan's Purse aviation flight from Soldotna to Koyuk, Alaska.
They saw the city’s characteristic subsistence lifestyle in full swing as salmon were smoked and moose were stalked by local hunters replenishing their freezer for the upcoming winter. Most village residents are Native Alaskans of the Inupiaq tribe, and they maintain, to a great extent, the traditions of their ancestors by living off the land—fishing, hunting, egg collecting, and berry picking.
The group completed a number of intensive construction tasks—hanging drywall and plywood ceilings in the church building, among several other things—but they also used their time wisely to invest in the community’s families.
“Every time we’re at the stores [there are only two in Koyuk], we’re inviting people to church and sharing with them,” said Pastor Scott Mann of New Vision Ministries in Lincolnton. “If you make a difference in one person, it’s worth it.”
Samaritan’s Purse staff member Russ Richardson and volunteers helped rescue a sinking boat from the mouth of the Koyuk River.
With staff guidance, the volunteer team reattached a Koyuk resident’s porch and adjusted his home’s foundation. They also helped rescue a sinking boat in the bay. They spent quality time on the playground with dozens of the village’s children, with long daylight hours and warm temperatures in August keeping boys and girls outside until late in the evening.
“I love coming up here and building the church and teaching these kids about Jesus and even the parents,” said Dalton Christopher, who was on Pastor Mann’s team to Alaska for the third year in a row. He served in 2021 in Soldotna and 2022 in Scammon Bay.
Dalton Christopher was on this third volunteer trip to Alaska this summer. He enjoyed construction work and invited many adults and children to church services on Sunday.
It was during that first trip that he was brought to his knees and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation. His life has radically changed since then, and his hard partying days are over, he said. Now he’d rather serve those in need alongside Christian brothers and sisters.
“We’re a bunch of crazies who come together to be crazies for Jesus,” he said. “These are my friends. They’re not just my church family.”
Children's smiles brighten the lives of all in Koyuk.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers and staff members have made an impression deep and wide on the community this summer, and there have been multiple individuals who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
“To be able to point people to Christ is such an honor,” said Kristin Holben, program manager with our Alaska Projects. “People open up more to us sometimes than to their own family.”
Pastor Cross thanks God for the new worship center and for the ongoing impact of Samaritan’s Purse in the village.
“The workers have connected…on a personal level,” he said. “It’s really exciting to see not just the physical blessing of a new church, but the spiritual blessing of a ministry that is reaching out and connecting with our people here in the village.”
Volunteer Marc Tench worked on repairing the porch of a town leader.
Please be in prayer for the final weeks of work on Koyuk’s church building. Pray for many people to come and hear and be changed by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
