Lakeview

EAGLE RIVER, AK (April 28, 2008) – Living conditions for pastors and church members in rural Alaska could significantly improve thanks to new partnerships with Evangelical Covenant Church conferences.

The conferences in the lower 48 states are each adopting at least one church and will offer financial support, which is sorely needed, says Rodney Sawyer, field director for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska.

Villages often are geographically isolated and suffer unemployment rates that can reach 80 percent. Many villagers must live off the land, hunting and farming for their food. “One (village) still doesn’t have running water,” Sawyer says.

“Western Alaska is still very much like going to a foreign country because of the culture,” says Sawyer, noting that Alaska was one of the denomination’s first mission fields.

Living conditions for pastors can be harsh. “Pastors live in poor, unhealthy conditions,” Sawyer says. Many parsonages, for example, do not have enough insulation and are infested with black mold.

The process of connecting conferences with churches began last fall when superintendents met at Alaska Christian College in Soldotna for their semi-annual meeting. As they heard Alaskan Natives discuss their living conditions, they committed to help.

Sawyer hopes that, in addition to assisting with construction projects, conferences will provide for pastors in Alaska to attend the annual meeting in the lower 48 states. Pastors could not afford make the trip, he says.

Sawyer is excited about future work. “I think this will be a tremendous blessing for the conferences and the churches,” he says. “I am just so thankful to God for this marvelous provision of partners.”

Below is a list of conferences and the churches with which they are partnering:
    •    Canada – Hooper Bay Covenant Church
    •    Central – Elim Covenant Church (Zion would help here).
    •    East Coast – Koyuk Covenant Church
    •    Great Lakes – Mekoryuk Covenant Church
    •    Midsouth – White Mountain Covenant Church
    •    Midwest – Mountain Village Covenant Church
    •    North Pacific – Scammon Bay Covenant Church
    •    Northwest – Unalakleet Covenant Church and Shaktoolik Covenant Church
    •    Pacific Southwest – Nome Covenant Church and Golovin Covenant Church
    •    Southeast – Bethel Covenant Church

Elim is located on the northwest shore of Norton Bay on the Seward Peninsula, 96 miles east of Nome. It lies 460 miles northwest of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 64° 37′ N Latitude, 162° 15′ W Longitude (Sec. 15, T010S, R018W, Kateel River Meridian). The community is located in the Cape Nome Recording District. The area encompasses 2 sq. miles of land and 0 sq. miles of water.

This settlement was formerly the Malemiut Inupiat Eskimo village of Nuviakchak. The Native culture was well-developed and well adapted to the environment. Each tribe possessed a well-defined subsistence harvest territory. The area became a federal reindeer reserve in 1911. In 1914, Rev. L.E. Ost founded a Covenant mission and school, called Elim Mission Roadhouse. When the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed in 1971, Elim decided not to participate, and instead opted for title to the 298,000 acres of land in the former Elim Reserve. The Iditarod Sled Dog Race passes through Elim each year.