Participants:
Series Code: OTG
Program Code: OTG000010
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00:01 Alaska, America's last frontier.
00:04 The land of vast beauty and endless miles of open wilderness 00:08 Airplanes are the life blood of Alaska 00:12 Only aviation can connect communities, where there are 00:15 no roads, with violent weather and extreme terrains 00:19 make these the most dangerous skies in America. 00:23 Adventist World Aviation has two outposts 00:26 positioned in north and south Alaska. 00:29 Hauling critical supplies, rescue personnel 00:32 and the Gospel message to remote villages 00:35 all across the Alaskan regions. 00:38 Without aviation, these Alaskan villages would be unreachable. 00:45 This is Adventist World Aviation OFF THE GRID 00:50 Today above the Arctic Circle in northwest Alaska, 00:53 we join Jim Kincaid as he shares with us 00:56 about one of the ongoing AWA projects. 01:00 One village, the village of Shungnak 01:03 where a young missionary couple are now living. 01:07 We are in partnership with Adventist World Aviation. 01:12 Leading the effort to replace the substandard housing 01:16 in which they are residing personally. 01:18 Adventist World Aviation will be involved in the effort 01:24 to provide transportation support for this project. 01:28 Shungnak is about 150 miles east of Dillingham. 01:32 There are no supplies, equipment or materials available in 01:35 Shungnak for this construction project, so everything needed 01:39 to complete this building must be flown in from Dillingham. 01:43 Arial transportation of supplies typically adds 01:46 a huge expense to any construction project; 01:49 however, AWA eliminated that cost by offering to transport 01:54 the supplies for Toni and Irene. 01:56 Jim and Linda Kincaid are the project managers of AWA Alaska, 02:02 and they are very pleased to be included in this project, 02:06 however transporting supplies in Alaska can be full of obstacles. 02:11 Both, Linda and I are pilots. I had my pilot license for 40 02:18 years this year. We fly in extremes. 02:21 Extremes of weather extremes of temperature. 02:24 extremes of geography topography... 02:29 During the winter when there is snow everywhere 02:32 When there is very little vegetation, 02:36 you can't tell the sky from the ground. 02:39 So flying with reference instruments even in VFR 02:47 conditions is what we have to do 02:50 VFR stands for visual flight rules. 02:53 Flying by reference to objects and topography. 03:00 But here in the winter when most of the winter 03:04 there is nothing to look at, until you get to 03:08 a lighted village, or a lighted runway. 03:10 Or there is a stand of trees 03:13 or some willows standing in the creek 03:15 You know, there is nothing to look at. 03:17 So you have to fly following very good judgment... 03:25 It's unarguable that flying in Alaska means 03:28 navigating some of the most dangerous skies in America. 03:32 Unpredictable weather and the vast topography make flying 03:36 up here a challenge. 03:37 However, experience, preparation and awareness can all make 03:43 aviation travel the safest mode of transportation. 03:47 Aviation is a mode of travel, which can be very safe 03:54 and can be an excellent way to get around. 03:59 In some cases, like where we live, there is no other choice. 04:03 You have to travel by air in order to do the work, 04:07 that you need to do. Because there are no roads. 04:10 We are about 400 miles from the nearest road 04:14 here in north west Alaska. 04:18 In Alaska where the geography is such that if Alaska was 04:25 superimposed over the 48 states of America, 04:29 it would almost extend over both, 04:32 eastern and western seaboards and we joke up here, 04:37 that if we divided Alaska in two than Texas would be number 3. 04:43 So it is a huge area, with only a small part of it 04:47 accessible by road. There are 225 native villages in Alaska. 04:53 Most of them are inaccessible except by air. 05:00 At Adventist World Aviation it is our purpose to have an impact 05:06 On all those that are reachable by air. 05:13 This is not just about flying, that is very important, 05:16 very critical, but this is ultimately about 05:20 an eternal mission of reaching people for Jesus 05:25 in north west Alaska. 05:27 Most of Alaskan towns are completely isolated 05:30 with no connecting roads between them. 05:32 The only way in and out of these villages is by aviation. 05:37 They are completely reliant on air support. 05:42 Today Jim is flying out to visit the young missionary couple 05:46 Toni and Irene Sherman, and check on 05:49 the progress of the construction of their new church and home. 05:53 Jim is very involved with this project. 05:56 He knows that the completion of this construction ultimately 05:59 means the furtherance of the gospel 06:01 here in the small village of Shungnak. 06:06 As the run way comes into view, he prepares for his landing 06:09 on the icy runway. He is very accustomed to these conditions 06:13 in Alaska, yet it still demands his entire focus 06:18 to make the landing a smooth one. 06:21 Once on the ground, familiar faces rush over excitedly 06:24 to great him. It's not often 06:27 that the villagers of Shungnak have visitors. 06:30 The young children run out and eagerly greet 06:33 the arriving airplane. 06:35 It's a very heartwarming welcome that Jim never tires of. 06:39 Toni is also at the runway waiting to meet Jim. 06:43 Its spring here in Shungnak so it's perfect time 06:47 for construction. 06:48 There is a very small window of opportunity in Alaska 06:52 where the weather will allow for construction. 06:54 Winter starts very early in September, 06:57 and lasts well into May. So they only have 3 short months 07:03 to work on the new house and church building. 07:13 I am Jim Kinkade, AWA Alaska project manager 07:17 This is Toni Sherman, he and his wife Irene have moved 07:22 to this village sometime back, and we want to learn from you 07:27 Toni, about this village. What's the name of this town? 07:31 My wife and I, we moved to this village 07:33 the name of the village is Shungnak. 07:35 We moved here about 3 years ago now, September of 2010. 07:43 We moved here to take on a position with the Alaska 07:49 Arctic Mission Adventure program through the Alaska Conference 07:52 to be missionaries here. 07:54 There has been a small mission post here, that's been inactive 07:59 since about the late 70s, or something like this, maybe 80s. 08:05 We just felt impressed that this is where God wanted us to move. 08:11 So we came here. There is on this particular road 08:16 in Shungnak we got about 250 people, 08:23 it's all native, all Inupiat. 08:26 Shungnak is a very small village comprised of natives 08:30 situated in the heart of north Alaska. 08:33 They're isolated by the beautiful wilderness 08:36 that surrounds them. 08:37 We live in a beautiful place, there are no roads, that really 08:41 connect village to village. There are some trails 08:45 that people take by snow machine and people can also take by boat 08:48 and go up the Kobuk river and they can take that all the way 08:52 to Kotzebue, if we wanted to. 08:54 Aside from that our main means of traveling is by plane. 09:02 Which is not cheap, but that is the main mode of transportation 09:06 for us here in the village. 09:08 To travel outside the village, aviation is the only option. 09:12 But within the village, natives most often use snow machines 09:16 and 4 wheelers to commute the few miles 09:19 around their small village. 09:21 Toni takes the visitors back to his home 09:24 and shows them the progress. 09:26 We are standing in front of the new house, 09:29 the new unfinished house, that is to replace the shack 09:33 they have been living in, and you can see behind me 09:35 a broadcast antenna. The Alaska conference has 09:42 generously installed a low-power AM station here 09:49 and we're trying to broadcast 3ABN radio by live stream 09:54 off the internet. 09:56 And Toni has been working with that project. 09:59 We haven't got the internet stable enough for real good 10:02 signal for the whole village, but that is the goal. 10:05 And so that is what we are working towards. 10:07 Toni and Irene's old home is a small, one room parsonage 10:12 attached to the old church. It's not insolated properly, 10:16 and the cold winter months are almost impossible to withstand. 10:20 They consume great amounts of expensive heating oil just to 10:24 keep the temperature inside the home manageable. 10:28 The living space is also very small and cramped 10:32 for a growing young family. 10:34 They have outgrown this space and desperately need another 10:37 place to live and keep their new child warm. 10:41 Having a new home would drastically change 10:43 this couple's ministry. 10:44 They would be able to open their doors year round to the natives 10:49 of Shungnak and invite them in to a warm and roomy atmosphere. 10:54 We moved here to Shungnak from Delta Junction, which is 11:00 just south of Fairbanks. We moved here in September of 2010. 11:06 We moved here to take up the position as missionaries 11:12 with the Alaska conference under the guidance here of Jim. 11:18 I also got a job, as a community health aid working at the clinic 11:26 I see patience there and I deal with everybody's medical needs. 11:31 Anything that anybody needs to have done 11:33 is going through us first. 11:37 We moved here because we believe in the Adventist message. 11:42 We believe in what a relationship with Jesus can do. 11:47 We believe that God wants more people in Shungnak 11:52 to hear the full Gospel message and that is why we are here. 12:01 Irene, why don't you comment how it's been living in this house 12:06 for the last 2 and 1/2 years? 12:13 It's been lot of challenges and really have to be patient 12:23 because, it is not too bad, when it is not too cold, 12:28 but during the winter time when it is the coldest temperature, 12:33 things get really rough with the little guy, but we survive. 12:36 We've been here for almost 3 years now, even though it's hard 12:43 we are still here. 12:44 When you look out the window and see a new house next door, 12:49 what do you think of? 12:50 Well I am really looking forward to be moving into the new house. 12:56 hopefully this year, if everything works out. 13:00 But now that I see the new house just next door and I am still 13:07 here. It's a little bit of pain, kind of because the house 13:15 is just right there, but living in this house has thought us 13:20 a lot to be more patient and just you know trust 13:27 and everything will come in time. 13:31 Toni, why don't you tell us what it is like to live here 13:35 in extreme climate, or the weather, summer to winter, etc. 13:40 What is it like? 13:42 Well, it is a pretty extreme place to live you know. 13:46 I'll be honest, I am fairly used to it, I grew up in Delta 13:50 Junction, just south of Fairbanks. And in the winter 13:55 time it's not uncommon, for when it is really cold 13:58 to get down to 70 below Fahrenheit. 14:01 Here in Shungnak it is not really any different 14:05 in terms of climate. During the winter time from about October 14:10 till May you have snow, and from about November, December time 14:19 all the way through till March it could still get down 14:22 to 20 or 30 below, pretty easily and in the winter time 14:28 lot of people know that it gets dark up here and that is true. 14:32 I think the darkest day of the year in December, 14:37 it probably gets to couple of hours of daylight. 14:43 You go into the summer time and it is totally the opposite. 14:46 It's almost 10pm and the sun is still out, like it is 5pm. 14:55 So it is totally the opposite from summer to winter. 14:59 The construction can only be done during the summer months. 15:03 Fortunately during that time, the sun doesn't set until 11pm, 15:09 making for extra long work days. 15:11 Having AWA involved with this project has expedited 15:15 the project substantially. Supplies and building personnel 15:20 are not restricted to another airline's time schedule 15:23 and costs. 15:24 Jim is happy he can assist and expend this ministry 15:28 here in Shungnak with the tool of aviation. 15:39 So Toni, tell us about your work, 15:42 what do you do in this town? How do you survive? 15:45 Well currently, right now I am a health-aid, and what that is, 15:50 every village in the region, they have a small clinic. 15:53 You can call it like an outpost clinic. And all these clinics 16:00 work in conjunction with Maniilaq Health Center, 16:03 which is the main hub hospital in Kotzebue. 16:09 What I do, is I basically.. have gone through a training program 16:14 that Maniilaq, the Health Center has paid for me to go through. 16:17 So that I can see patients, I can see anybody for any problem 16:22 with the help and aid of the doctor, who lives in Kotzebue. 16:27 So all the emergencies, or regular patient care, 16:33 or chronic care patients. We see them all year, 16:35 and that is my job. I have met a lot of people. All my friends, 16:40 all the people that I know here, primarily, 16:43 I've got to know them through my job. 16:45 The town's clinic has also been a great ministry tool for Toni. 16:50 Not only does it financially help sustain his mission, 16:53 but it also gives him great opportunities to interact 16:57 and get to know all the villages personally. 17:01 The whole entire region here in the north-west arctic 17:04 has 11 villages total, including the hub which is Kotzebue. 17:10 On a daily average, I probably see about maybe anywhere 17:16 from 5 to 10 patients. Depending on what is going on. 17:20 Emergencies may vary. I imagine each month we probably med-evac 17:27 about, anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 people, depending upon 17:31 what the incident was... To go to some of the other villages 17:39 that are much busier, such as Point Hope, I go and cover there 17:43 sometimes when they are short staffed. This is something 17:46 that is pretty common. Some of the villages don't have regular 17:48 staffing, so they call on us, who have more consistent staff. 17:52 I might go to Point Hope I might go to Kobuk, I might go to 17:57 Norwick, or one of these other villages and cover in some 18:01 larger place. I might see more. And have emergencies every night 18:09 and have a med-evac every couple of nights, and that is 18:12 something that is more common in some of our larger villages. 18:18 We are a very active clinic and it seems to keep getting busier 18:22 and busier every day, and to make an important point, 18:26 without this job, I would not have nearly the relationships, 18:32 that I have with the people in the community. 18:34 This job, has given me a level of responsibility in the village 18:38 in which a lot of people have extended their trust to me, 18:42 because of it. And without it, I don't think that I would have 18:45 nearly the respect, that I probably have 18:52 with most of the community. So this job is really a miracle 18:57 when I first got here, that it was even open for me to have. 19:03 It can take years to build up a mutual respect 19:08 with a different culture. This is true any place in the world 19:13 and it is very true here. 19:17 The native people are used to for over a hundred years 19:19 of non-natives coming and taking jobs. And there are some 19:25 lucrative jobs here for those that are qualified. 19:28 Taking lucrative jobs and then retiring to their ranch in Texas 19:32 or what ever. 19:36 So they see as non-local, non-native people, 19:39 they look at all of us as just passing through. 19:42 So why take the time to make a friendship, 19:47 if they are going to be gone. 19:49 So for Christians, who want to make an impact 19:53 continuity, longevity, tenure, these things are what can make 20:00 the greatest impact all the time. 20:03 Often times, outsiders are not welcomed into small native 20:07 Alaskan communities. 20:09 The job as the village health aid greatly assisted Toni 20:14 in being accepted in the village and helped develop close 20:17 relationships with the very people he is here to minister to 20:22 Toni's main reason for being in Shungnak is not to work 20:27 as a health aid, but instead, to spread the word of Jesus Christ. 20:31 His passion and ultimate goal is to spiritually reach the natives 20:36 and offer them God's gift of salvation. 20:39 Building relationships, teaching other's God's message 20:44 is the ultimate long term endeavor for the Sherman's. 20:48 We've been here now for about a year and the people are friends 20:56 with us. I can walk through the village and I am not going to 20:59 walk through the village and not hear someone say, hi Toni! 21:02 How are you doing? Where is Irene? 21:04 Is she back from Kotzebue? Is she back from the hospital? 21:07 Is she here? 21:09 So we made good friends. We get to visit people in their homes. 21:13 We have elderly that are bummed out if we don't swing by 21:16 at least once a week and give them a backrub, 21:19 or help clean up their house, or just sit and talk. 21:22 We've been very well accepted here. 21:26 Well, Toni why don't you tell us a little bit about what you and 21:34 your wife, Irene are attempting to do to interact with the 21:42 community aside from your interactions at work. 21:46 Aside from work, my job as a health aid Irene and I have made 21:53 a point to visit with people. We started mostly visiting with 21:57 the elderly, the elders of the community. 22:00 And that's were we had probably the most fruitful relationships 22:06 with people, who are in their elder ages. 22:10 We do visitations probably, when we are not back and fort 22:17 out of the village, when we have our routine we are usually 22:19 visiting people's homes, about two times a week. 22:22 Aside from that we started in January a Bible Study 22:27 with a family, that has been going very well. We've been 22:29 doing that every Wednesday and it's been going very well. 22:32 On Mondays we do Alcoholics Anonymous at the local NANA 22:38 office here. We also do music class on Tuesday nights, 22:43 we are teaching guitar to a couple boys. 22:45 We also do Bible school on Saturday, we could have anywhere 22:53 from 3 or 4 kids to 20 kids that might come and also been a very 23:01 fruitful experience. 23:07 Aside from that it's mostly just seeing people when we go 23:14 to their houses. If we do home visitation, that is the most 23:18 important thing that we can do right now. 23:19 Currently we don't have a church facility that is really suitable 23:24 for any real formal interaction and so that is something 23:28 we are hoping we'll be able to look forward to in the future 23:32 to solving that. 23:35 The current condition of the church is almost unusable 23:40 therefore Toni and his wife Irene cannot hold 23:43 regular weekly meetings in it. 23:45 There are many structural issues with its current condition 23:50 so Toni and Irene eagerly await the completion of the new church 23:54 building so they can expand and faithfully continue 23:58 in their mission. 23:59 This little chapel was built in about 1969, or there abouts. 24:06 But that was a long time ago. It only has 4" walls, 24:12 The windows are Plexiglas, the kind that snap in. 24:15 It really wasn't an energy efficient building that can be 24:19 heated, economically with $11/gallon heating oil. 24:27 The building is structurally sound, but it needs retrofitting 24:32 for insulation, electrical wiring and heating system. 24:38 That is what is holding Toni and Irene back from holding services 24:43 weekly services in this building in the winter time. 24:47 So Toni, once you get a church building, so that you can hold 24:53 services, what are you planning to do? 24:55 That is a good question, we have a few different ideas of things 25:01 that we would like to do. There are number of different services 25:05 that we would like to be able to provide for youth. 25:08 We would like to be able to start a youth group here 25:11 we would like to be able to have a... important for us 25:16 we'd feel good just to be able to have a weekly Sabbath service 25:19 here that we can invite the community to. 25:22 We know that over time people would start coming. 25:26 We know of people right now, who already told us that they would 25:28 come to us, to a church service here, if we had church service. 25:36 That is what we want to do most. Like I said, we'd like to hold 25:40 youth groups, we'd like to do work shops, we'd like to hold 25:46 mid weeks here. Having this facility open and be able to 25:52 keep it heated, which would be wonderful. There is a lot 25:55 times that we have kids people want to come to our house 25:58 sometimes the house is just too small and we don't have very 26:03 much privacy and so having a place apart from our home 26:08 where we don't have to worry about kids peeping into our 26:11 bedroom, or going through our house... it would be really nice 26:16 So Toni, what would it take to remodel or improve the church 26:23 building that you have, so that it would be useful like you are 26:26 suggesting? 26:27 Well, some things that need to happen for the Shungnak church 26:30 to be functional, we would need to reinsulate the church 26:34 we would need to remodel all the windows really 26:39 need to be replaced. The porch needs to be replaced. 26:43 The whole entire floor, walls and ceiling all need to be 26:46 re-insulated right now there is only 2" of white foam board 26:50 it's like R5, or something like that. 26:55 The interior it self isn't cosmetically very appealing. 27:00 We could have new tile put in, we could have it repainted, 27:04 We could... I mean there is a lot of things that could be done 27:06 But the main things have to do with heating and just being 27:13 energy efficient - energy efficiency is the main problem. 27:18 A new church and a new home for the missionary couple of 27:21 Shungnak are going to drastically advance 27:24 mission opportunities here. 27:27 Adventist World Aviation is pleased and honored to assist 27:31 Toni and Irene in the spreading of the gospel, 27:34 by offering air support for this construction project. 27:38 The construction of the buildings is not yet complete; 27:42 however they are very close to opening their new doors. 27:46 With these new buildings Toni and Irene can continue to work 27:50 and minister to the people of Shungnak. 27:53 This couple is determined to make this village their home 27:57 and to reach the people who live here with the Gospel message. 28:03 What Irene and I hope to achieve what we hope is to be able 28:10 to be used by God in a way that we would be able to establish 28:14 a group of believers here, that are active in ministry, that are 28:20 active and excited the about the message that we hold. 28:26 We're hoping that we'll be able to move beyond just simply 28:30 visiting with people, even though we know 28:31 that is the first step, meeting people in their homes. 28:34 We are hoping that in time we'll be able to study with people 28:38 in their homes, study the Bible with families 28:41 to be able to create a church here that would have a name. 28:46 We would have a face. 28:47 We would have a group of people, who are active. 28:57 You know, at Adventist World Aviation we go to these 29:01 communities, Again this community that we are in 29:04 is 250 people here. We are hundreds of miles from 29:07 from any other source of civilization. 29:11 Any needs, that are brought in here, 29:13 are brought in here by Aviation. 29:14 We can't supply all their needs here, we don't. 29:17 Certainly there are other Aviation organizations that fly 29:20 supplies for those, who needs them 29:22 One of the things that Adventist World Aviation does, 29:25 we support our local missionaries. 29:27 We want to increase our support here. 29:29 What we find many times in communities like this 29:33 We find death, we find despair, we find disease, 29:36 we find of course suicide, we talked about that. 29:38 What we leave with is hope and hope in Jesus! 29:42 Hope in the second Coming! We leave them with truth 29:45 and something to hang unto. 29:47 As a result of that, communities improve! 29:49 We can make a difference! 29:51 But we need your help, we need your prayers! 29:54 We desperately need your prayers! 29:55 I pray that you will continue your prayer support! |
Revised 2014-12-17