Looking back on my ministry in Ukraine, if someone stopped me, and told me all the hardships I would face, I likely, never would have gone. I am so glad I did but if I had known beforehand how hard it was going to be I think I might have decided better to stay home. I do not know if that is how Joel and Jeanette felt when they first went to Sitka Alaska, but after spending five years in the teeming metropolis of 8,000 people, they might say the same.
Nestled against the foothills of Mt. Edgecumbe (an active volcano with a large crater to show past volatility), the community features only fourteen miles of road. The people of Sitka boast that there are more boats in Sitka than people because boats or float planes are the only form of transportation from one community to the next. In fact, Joel and his wife lived on their boat when they first moved to Sitka Alaska, before moving into an apartment at the church building. He says that the $130 dollar payment on a boat is a lot more affordable than the $1000 for an apartment in town.
Sitka offers a robust fishing industry kicking off shortly with salmon, trout, char, and steelhead in abundance. Humpback whales frequent Sitka waters and Alaska brown bears, and black-tailed deer will keep you company on land. The island is bigger than New York City, but the city of Sitka is fairly compact hemmed in by the Tongass National Forest.
Joel says the water helps to moderate the temperature in Sitka, their record heatwave reached 86 degrees, while the winters do not get below zero, which seems strange weather for a city that is further north than Moscow. During the summer and winter solstices, daytime lasts twenty-two hours and two hours, respectively.
You might wonder why I am giving you a random tourism advertisement. After a recent blog post about the surgery our translator was going to have (which was successful, by the way), Joel reached out to get help from Zhenya to process a sponsorship for a Ukrainian refugee.
We have been talking for several weeks about other things, including the difficulties of ministering to a community like Sitka. Joel and Jeanette are inviting you to join them for a short internship to boost evangelism efforts.
The church keeps busy volunteering in several organizations:
Brave Heart Volunteers is not actually hospice, but it comes close, as they do not have hospice in Sitka.
The Sitka pregnancy center is a local crisis pregnancy center, which also provides women with post-partum resources.
Joel and his wife have also been providing respite care for foster families in the community and are currently getting approval to provide therapeutic foster care for children with more extreme trauma.
Challenges for them are Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is related to the lack of Vitamin D due to the short days in the winter. Joel and Jeanette are returning to the Kenai Peninsula, Ak Jeanette’s hometown to get some much-needed R and R. before they hit the mission field again. Joel says the Covid pandemic was a challenge for them, as the people there are very Covid conscious.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, 20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Joel and Jeanette took this verse a little more seriously than most. But the payoffs have been worth it. Joel says the experience has allowed him to recognize the hedges we put around ourselves as a society. Being on an island he has learned we have nothing to fear by working out differences if we have the same mind, the mind of Christ.
If you (or someone you know) would be interested in taking in some great scenery or doing some hunting and fishing while serving God, Joel and Jeanette would love to have you. You can contact them here.