Noah got blueprints, Abraham got a voice, Moses got a burning bush, Paul got a blinding vision. What about me?
I was invited to share at the Northstar Bible School chapel in Willow, AK last week. This message was for young Bible students on practical steps for seeking God's will for your life based on 2 Peter 1:5-7. If you are anything like me, you may be pursuing your purpose for God rather than God himself. The most effective idols are sneaky aren't they? This is not normally a "sermony" podcast, but I'm making an exception this time.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Cohoe, Alaska sits in a region used for seasonal fishing and hunting by pre-contact Dena'ina people until a wave of Scandanavians arrived in the 1800s. Victor Holms from Finland is credited with building the first cabin on the site, a cabin you can still visit today.
Cold Bay is surrounded by interesting archeological sites that give us hints about the people who lived there long before the Russians arrived. When WWII hit Alaska, Cold Bay became the site of Fort Randall, an air base and the longest runway in Alaska at the time. After the war, the base shut down, but a small community and the long runway remains being used as a refueling station for flights heading out to the Aleutian Island Chain.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
After many months of being away, I am dusting off my microphone. Brief updates, synopsis of the Typhoon Halong disaster in Western Alaska, and winter podcast plans.
Disaster Relief Links:
Job and Bethany Hale in Napakiak:
www.forgetmenot-ministries.com 
Arctic Barnabas Ministries-- type "Aviation Fuel Up" to donate for Aviation Fuel:
https://tinyurl.com/fuelabm2025
To support Send North's Western response please include "Western Alaska Flooding" in the gift notes section:https://www.send.org/give/projects/crisis-response-fund
Click to donate to the maintenance projects on my ministry plane-select "Billy and Erika Tjernlund" in the menu.
SEND North has a long history in Alaska and Canada going back to 1936 when visionary Vincent Joy founded it as Central Alaska Missions and eventually became SEND. Jim Stamberg is the current area director, and Barry Rempel is the former area director, and together we discussed the origins of SEND North, how it changed over the years, and many of the current issues faced today.
Is Alaska reached, unreached, or misreached? How do you work in unity with so many denominations working in one state? How does the complex history of missions in Alaska affect efforts today? What should church look like in a village? What are the keys to longevity in village living? Do you need to know how to operate a chainsaw and hunt game to serve here?
Check out the SEND website at:
Watch the Project Caribou video on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLW0A_gUSGE
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
A new one-year Bible school program is launching this Fall at Northstar Bible Camp near Willow, AK. Father-son duo Mark and Luke share their passion to see young Christians gain a solid foundation of faith in the most beautiful place in the world. The program will be 28 classes on New and Old Testament Surveys, Introduction to the Bible, Spiritual Disciplines, Creation Science, Systematic Theology, Apologetics, Global Missions, and Practical Christian Living. Mark and Luke are passionate about moving from head to heart in this Academic year of Bible School in Alaska.
Check out and apply on their website:
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Clark's Point is located on a spit. What's a spit? I'll tell ya. Named after John Clark who managed a large cannery which today is a huge abandoned facility. Lake Clark is also named after him. Clark's Point is constantly threatened by erosion and was even moved to higher grown in the 1980s. Like many villages, the Russian Orthodox Church was the first church to have a presence in the area, but today, St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church is the prominent church in the village.
Coffman Cove is nestled on Prince of Wales Island on the panhandle of Alaska. It's unclear whether it is named after Navy man Lt Dewitt Coffman or logging man Robert F. Coffman. Who knows? There's some interesting archeology at Coffman Cove and the largest mapped cave in Alaska!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Circle Hot Springs was a booming resort until it shut down in 2002. Now the resort is abandoned but apparently a few people still live there.
Clam Gulch sits on a tall bluff along the Kenai Pininnsula where clamming enthusiasts reduced the population of clams so much that it had to be shut down to save the clams. Today, Clam Gulch may be a worthy stop on your drive to Homer on the Sterling Highway for some mountain and volcano views across the water.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chuloonawick is an abandonded Yup'ik fish camp and there's nothing there! So why is it a registered village? because there's a desire to preserve the heritage of the native people in any way they can.
Circle is a gold rush town making it's hey-day in the late 19th century. When the gold rush simmered down the town declined to just 91 residents today mostly of Athabascan native people. Why is it called Circle? because they thought it was on the Arctic Circle, but they were off by 50 miles!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chitina was originally a thriving Athabascan village until the outside world brought in disease and conflict and the population was decimated. It later became the commerical center for the famous Kennecott Mines. Since the mines closed in 1938, the village has become more of a historical landmark but is still home to over 100 residents.
Chuathbaluk was orignally a native summer fish camp and became what it is today when a man name Sam Philips settled there and many followed after him. The Russian Orthodox church played a key role in the village culture and history.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chiniak is located on a little corner on the beautiful Kodiak Island. It may be small, but has had national attention that made it's way to the White House. It hosts a SuperDARN, a radar system that studies phenomena in our atmosphere, one of 35 in the world. Early explorers noticed this spot as a native village, but today it's almost all white. Not sure what happened there.
Chistochina is on the Tok Cutoff Highway and at the confluence of the Chistochina and Copper Rivers. It was originally an Ahtna Athabascan fish camp, then a stop for weary travelers seeking gold, and finally a small village of just 60 residents. We discuss the naming of the nearby Mount Stanford which in the Ahtna Athabaskan named "Kelt'aeni" means "The one who controls the weather" and I compare Athabaskan spirituality to the biblical worldview, just for fun.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
There are three Chigniks in Alaska all within a few miles from each other. They are, however, three distinct villages: Chignik, Chignik Lagoon, and Chignik Lake. This area was originally occupied by Kanaigmuit Ekimos and there are some archeological remains. When the Russians arrived they intermarried with the Kanaigmuit and became known as Koniags and half the native population was wiped out by disease.
The only church for these villages is St. Nicholas Orthodox Church and I spent a little time discussing who St. Nicholas was and whether Protestants should be content with only an Orthodox church in a village or should they try to plant a Protestant church.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chickaloon sits in a beautiful valley among the Talkeetna Mountains and is by far the most fun village name to say. Founded by Chief Chiklu and is still called the native name Nay'dini'aa Na' in the village constitution. Chickaloon is home to the Chickaloon Retreat Center which looks like a nice place to book your next church retreat. It's also near Kings Ranch where Kindom Air Corp is training the next generation of missionary pilots.
Chignik is way out there where the Aleutian Chain begins and is home to a Trident Seafood facility, one of the largest seafood companies in the world. Benny Benson, the designer of the Alaska State flag at just 14 years old was born in Chignik. It's also the birthplace of "The Singing Fisherman" known for his country style gospel music.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chenega Bay is located in Sawmill Bay on Evan's Island. What's up with that? The reason is fascinating. This area has been home to the Alutiiq people whom Captain Cook encountered in 1778, and later a scoundrel named Ivan Petroff was the first to mention a village here in the 1880 census. The 1964 earthquake created a tsunami that killed a third of the village population, an unbelievable tragedy. Then in 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster devastated the fishing economy of Chenega Bay. Yet a beautiful blue orthodox church resides here and it appears that the Orthodox Church has been the most prominent faith in this place for a very long time.
Chevak is the moving village as it has been moved twice in it's history because of flooding. The people of Chevak call themselves Cup'ik, a slight variation of Yup'ik and many residents still speak this language. A very blue Catholic Church resides in Chevak and Catholicism seems to be the prominent faith in Chevak.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Chase is a sparsely populated village near Talkeetna, AK with just 19 residents sharing nearly 100 square miles of land. If you are interested in a life of isolation, you might want to check out Chase, AK.
Chefornak was founded in the early 1950s by Alexie Amagiqchik who wanted to find higher ground to live on. The village is located inside a large wildlife refuge to protect waterfowl nesting grounds of many interesting birds. St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church has make this village a mostly Catholic community, but who was St. Catherine of Siena? We go down that bunny trail for a bit. Also, is the nearby Tern Mountain a mountain?
Thanks for listening as we get to know our state one village at a time!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
The word "Aarigaa" means "it is good" in Inupiaq, and the Aarigaa House fills a massive need for Alaskan youth to transfer well from village life to university life while being discipled in a life giving community home.
Karl and Simone Thistle facilitate the home and invest themselves in the residents of the Aarigaa House. Each resident has a unique story with wounds and challenges to overcome, and the Aarigaa House is a place where they can unravel the layers of life's hardships one at a time.
Check out the Aarigaa House website here:
https://www.cyak.org/aarigaa-house.html
To financially support Karl and Simone click here:
https://forms.donorsnap.com/form?id=93ee73e8-0417-4da2-b2fe-f8392f2b4328
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Steve and Jill Horsman are the Field Directors of InterAct Ministries of Alaska and I had a great time speaking with them about the history of InterAct as well as a wide range of topics wherever the wind took us. The wind took us to the richness of risking a missionary life, the gospel, volcanoes, native languages, native oral histories, and more!
InterAct has been working in Alaska, Canada, and Russia for 70 years and has played a heavy hand in founding many ministries such as Victory Bible Camp, Lazy Mountain Church, Wasilla Bible Church, Tanalian Bible Camp, Kako Retreat Center, Kokrine Hills Bible Camp, and more!
Check out their website at: interactministries.org
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Central, like many other villages, started as an outpost for gold miners at the turn of the century. It is the location of the midway point for the Yukon Quest Race which happens every year in February at the Steese Roadhouse. You can also check out the Circle District Museum which holds artifacts from the gold rush days and the first printing press north of Juneau on which the first Alaska newspaper of the interior was printed.
Chalkyitsik means "Fish with a hook, at the mouth of the creek" in the Gwich'in language. It started 70 miles upriver when William Salmon built a home in 1901 and called it Salmon Village. When a boat carrying building materials for a school at Salmon village made it's way up the river, it only made it to today's site for the village where the school building was built and the village sprung from there. William Salmon's son, David Salmon became the chief of Chalkyitsik and "First Traditional Chief of the Gwich'in people." David became an Episcopal preacher spending most of his life sharing the gospel in the language of his people in Chalkyitsik and the surrounding area. He has also advocated for education and preserving the traditional ways of the Athabascan people. What a legacy!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Jeffrey and his wife Moriah are the founders of Genesis Coffee Lab based in Wasilla, AK. Jeffrey shares how he went from growing up in an alcoholic home to a gang member in Los Angeles to a dedicated follower of Jesus and tentmaker for the gospel in Alaska and Ethiopia. His passion for the transformational power of the gospel is evident in his testimony. Be sure to check out genesiscoffeelab.com and buy the best coffee roasted in Alaska according to Food and Wine Magazine which will support efforts for schools, pro-life efforts, and churches in Ethiopia.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Butte was originally named Bodenburg Butte name after John Bodenburg, the first modern settler of the site in 1917. It's most known for the geological formation called a butte which is a popular hike with spectacular views. If you have seen YouTube videos of Alaska adventures it's very likely it was filmed near Butte because it's located next to the Knik Arm, a very popular outdoor adventure area.
Cantwell started out as a railroad stop and became a community when the fur trade dried up and work was found at the railroad. Cantwell was named after a military explorer who explored Alaska in the late 19th century. It's the place where the popular 2007 movie "Into the Wild" was filmed and home to an iconic igloo building where tourists stop for selfies. Be sure to stop by Cantwell Bible Church. I met the pastor there recently and he is a down to earth, easy to talk to guy.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Elishaba is the eldest daughter of the infamous "Papa Pilgrim," a man who raped Elishaba and abused her other 14 siblings in the wilderness of New Mexico and Alaska for a decade. Elishaba goes in depth of how she was able to forgive her father of what most would consider unforgivable, and how she continues to be a follower of Jesus when Christianity was used by her father as a tool to keep his family under his thumb. In 2022 she released a book "Out of the Wilderness: Escaping My Father's Prison and My Journey to Forgiveness" which tells her story, and she discusses the challenges from her siblings not wanting the book published as the wickedness of her father are still having ripple effects today even though he died in prison years ago. Elishaba has recently defeated stage 4 brain cancer, and went through a nasty divorce. She discusses her ongoing pursuit of forgiveness while grappling with the hurt she continues to endure.
Check out Elishaba's website:
www.outofthewildernessbook.com
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
