Scotty Goldman said every time he goes somewhere, he hears about someone who’s headed to Alaska or someone who’s just been.
Goldman, who directs the office of global missions at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said it’s “just amazing to me how these folks are responding and how many Alabama Baptists are going to Alaska.”
The Alabama Baptist State Convention started its partnership with Alaska Baptists in 2021, and since then, the partnerships between individual churches and associations in both states have taken on a life of their own, he said. “They’re making those connections. It’s a perfect picture of what we had hoped would happen.”
Building relationships
The partnership was introduced to the state convention in 2021 as a five-year commitment, but Goldman said he doesn’t see it ending anytime soon.
“It takes that long for folks to get their minds and hands around it. By the time we get folks on board and they explore and build relationships, it takes three to four years for it to blossom,” he said.
Alabamians are really excited about going right now, and the momentum is still building, Goldman said.
“If our partnership were to come to a close, the needs in Alaska are still going to be there and be strong,” he said. “We have not talked about a formal extension, but as long as folks are responding well, let’s move full steam ahead.”
‘Amazing’ momentum
Jae McKee, director of missions and church planting for the Alaska Baptist Resource Network, said the partnership’s momentum going into 2024 has been “pretty amazing.”
“I couldn’t be happier from the partnership perspective,” he said. “We have close to 40 teams that showed up last year, some large, some small. Those ranged anywhere from vision trip teams to 20-plus-member teams showing up to do bigger projects.”
Associational mission strategists like Danny Courson of St. Clair Baptist Association and Ric Camp of Shelby Baptist Association have come alongside pastors and other church leaders to encourage them.
Shelby Association and Montgomery Baptist Association also sent volunteers to serve at Birchwood Behavioral Health, which serves a similar role in Alaska to Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries. A team from First Baptist Church Pelham also led a sports camp there.
McKee said he was “in awe of all they were able to accomplish in terms of physical labor but also the investment of the sports camp.”
‘Excitement’
Their service also had a great impact on the staff, he said. “Their morale from when the teams were there has been a 180-degree turn in attitude and excitement.”
A number of Alabama churches have also gone deeply into partnerships with Alaska churches. For one, Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Clanton has partnered with Liberty Baptist Church in Craig, Alaska, to do a lot of projects, the most recent of which is to help them build a Baptist camp.
All of these partnerships are “building relationships that are going to be long lasting and have eternal impact,” McKee said.
For more information about how to partner with Baptists in Alaska, visit alaskabrn.com/get-involved/mission-opportunities or email Goldman at sgoldman@alsbom.org or McKee at jae@alaskabrn.com.
