Focal Point Alaska: A Northern Ministry Chronicle

An early retirement opportunity from my forestry career with the U.S. Forest Service lead to a missionary and pastoral ministry on the Last Frontier. My experiences in Christian camping, pastoring a small rural church and serving with an aviation support ministry have led me to relate some of these experiences to better prepare Christian workers who might feel called to serve in Alaska and the Far North. The remote, harsh environment and cultural conditions encountered with the indigenous people in "bush" Alaska require a special preparedness unique to most ministry situations. Hopefully my experience in Alaska will not only be entertaining but be of help to those who feel called to minister in this underserved area. Gary Lidholm grew up in southern Missouri but his forestry career eventually took him and his family to Southeast Alaska. An early retirement opportunity from the U.S. Forest Service resulted in a career change into full time ministry. He served as director of Echo Ranch Bible Camp near Juneau and later became the pastor at Port Chilkoot Bible Church in the small town of Haines. Although now living in Denver, Colorado he continues to serve on the board of Arctic Barnabas Ministries, an aviation support ministry to pastors and missionaries in interior Alaska's "bush" country. His stories of ministry in the Far North are offered to help prepare those who might be called to serve in the remote regions of the Last Frontier.