Alaska Mission Strategy

You have read some in previous months about our missionary friends, Justin and Melissa Vold in Alaska. I feel now it would be both educational and inspiring for you to read their overall mission plan in Alaska, so that not only that you could pray for the work of the gospel there, but so that you could see the bigger picture of what is happening in a quality ongoing mission work. The following overall mission plan God has given to the Volds is very useful to be able to pray for them. God is doing a very real work in Alaska, especially among the Upik Eskimos, through the solitary work of Justin Vold.


The biggest reason I am emphasizing prayer for them is because of the unique difficulties of the Alaskan work- the hard travel, the dangers, the loneliness, the isolated places, the lack of fellowship, the possibilities of real persecution, and many other things.


I am scheduled to go there in December, God willing, to be among some of these villages. -- Mack Tomlinson


From Justin & Melissa Vold


Strategic Ministry Plan: The work which the Lord has called us to primarily is to go and proclaim the gospel in villages that are yet to have any church or any gospel witness. We have a list of 104 Arctic Eskimo villages without an evangelical church. We have made it our goal to take the gospel systematically into each of these villages that are not connected to any road system. This means we must fly into a particular area and travel by land or river, to specific villages. We first begin with real prayer, and then we get a local phone book and pray for each person of specific villages by name. We wait on God to open the door to go to a particular area during a 2 week period, and then we do personal evangelism and preach Christ through whatever opportunities God provides.


When we see people come to faith in Christ, we then follow up and disciple the new believers and train them to be a church (Acts 2:42-47). We are currently working with 2 Eskimo men who are growing in the Word of God and prayer. We are training them to be godly husbands and fathers, as well as how to preach the Word. We have trained over 40 indigenous pastors and lay ministers in the past 5 years. We have started, by the grace of God, one church in an unreached village this fall. Our goal is to make that particular church the sending station for indigenous mission trips to the surrounding villages on and around the Yukon River that have no gospel witness.

A second part of our strategic plan includes serving the villagers who do have a fellowship of believers. We do this by training, encouraging, and equipping them. Many of these villages have no pastor or minister and are very hungry for the things of the Lord. We help them through Bible studies, encouragement, and other needs as the Lord leads.

Thirdly, as a staff evangelist with Ambassadors for Christ International, I am given the opportunity to preach in the lower 48 states. The motto for AFCI is "Revival in the Church, evangelism through the Church and traing for the Church worldwide". In keeping with the passion of this ministry for the church, I travel to preach in conferences, retreats or week long meetings at their request, helping the church to re-focus. I also seek to recognize those God is calling into the mission field and help them in their journey. We currently have three looking to the Lord for service in the Arctic fields, as well as several others we have helped in other regions.

Short Term Goals: Our short term goals include the following.


Personal: My personal goals are to devote more time to the Word of God and prayer and enjoying the presence of Jesus Christ. To love Him to know Him. As a husband, my goal is to be like Christ to my wife and love her as Christ does His church. As a father, my goal is to show His love, patience, kindness, and loving discipline to our children and to train them in the ways of Christ.

Short Term ministry goals: As the Lord wills, our plans include going to Pilot Station, AK to continue to sow seed and also to water the gospel seed we have already planted, to preach there and help establish the new church, which is 1 month old as a fellowship, with a married couple, who have been believers for 2 years. Also, I plan to preach in the villages of Manokotaq, Togiak, and Aleknagik October 13-30. In November, my plan is to preach in the village of Chevac, which is a Yupik Eskimo village which has no church. In December, I plan to attend the Ambassadors for Christ Ministry council meetings in Marietta, GA. After this time I hope to have concentrated time in the Word and in prayer, time with the family, and get needed rest through the Christmas break. Then in January, I will resume village missions.

Ministry long term goals:


The long term goals of this work include:


1) Establishing a biblically functioning church in the unreached villages that have no gospel witness, and seek to help them have their own indigenous pastors, elders, flock, with the church having a goal of being mission-minded, sending out those from their own fold whom the Lord is calling as missionaries.


2) To help the churches in villages that are struggling or have ceased to meet, that they would be, by God's grace, revived to bear fruit.


3) To see, with my own eyes, 104 villages that have had no church previously, to be filled with the knowledge of the gospel of Christ and then raising up the next generation of Eskimos to love Christ and make His name known among the nations.


4) To die as a faithful believer, full of His love, grace and truth, having served Him faithfully all my days and having served my family lovingly and having been used by the Lord to bring Him glory, honor and praise.

Your friends and servants in the gospel of Christ,

- Justin and Melissa Vold