Missionaries leave comfort zones, share in rugged America

KIANA, Alaska-God first began working in John and Kim Piepmeier's lives through their local church. But it wasn't long before they were involved in full-time service close to home-and finally to a land that is about as close to "the ends of the earth" as anywhere.

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Their ministry is now to Kiana Baptist Mission and the people of Kiana, a Native Alaskan village above the Arctic Circle-where temperatures routinely dip to 50 below during the long winters.

"The Bible tells us that the Lord has many offices and places where He wants each of us, and I feel that's what He's done with us," said John. "He's equipped us with the ability to handle it and enjoy it here."

The Piepmeiers are among nearly 5,200 missionaries in the United States and Canada supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. They are featured during the March 7-14 Week of Prayer, which this year focuses on "The World at Our Doorstep."

John and Kim were 36 years old when they accepted Christ, and it was three or four years later that they began to feel God might be calling them to full-time ministry. After working in resort ministry at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, they soon began feeling God's call to work in Alaska.

They served through Mission Service Corps, which allows missionaries to serve under the auspices of the North American Mission Board but with responsibility for raising their own personal financial support.

While awed by the natural beauty of the area, the harsh conditions required an adjustment. There is not only cold, but isolation. Most food - or anything else - is flown in to Kiana's small airstrip. Milk is $5 for a half gallon; bleach is $20 a gallon.

Those factors likely had something to do with why there had not been a Southern Baptist presence in the town since 1975, when a former missionary retired.

"There had been a whole generation that had grown up without the Baptist mission running all the time. Some people have told me they can really tell the difference, and they want their children to be involved here," said John.

Initially they got to know the people by attending basketball games, schools, the store, and just visiting residents.

NAMB photo by Gibbs Frazeur

John Piepmeier (r) talks with Micah Huss (l) and 10-year-old Brad Reich in a general store in Kiana, Alaska, where Piepmeier serves as pastor of Kiana Baptist Mission. Huss was sharing with Piepmeier about how he broke his back during a snowmobile race.

"It's a small village," Kim said. "Going around the outside of the village you'd be lucky if you got a mile and a half. So when you're new in town everybody knows you real quick."

Kim even took advantage of her own interest in sewing to have women teach her particular native crafts. She formed friendships in the process.

The ministry to children and youth is also strong, with a Good News Club offered on Friday afternoons and a youth group every Sunday night. Sunday attendance is often made up of more children than adults.

And they are making a difference, with 73 professions of faith recorded since they arrived.

"We believe that there's going to be a great revival," John said. "... We believe that because of all the recent salvations that we've had we're seeing a spark of what the Lord is about to do."

• Native Alaskans comprise about 16 percent of Alaska's population.

• The Peipmeiers are among 565 Mission Service Corps missionaries serving as church planters. There are currently 1,925 Mission Service Corps missionaries serving in the United States, Canada and U.S. territories.

• Mission Service Corps missionaries are self-supporting or raise their own support, The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering funds supplementary support for some MSC missionaries, including the Piepmeiers. All MSC missionaries receive training, materials and other assistance.