Council went from wilderness to a booming town of 15,000 people then down to a tiny population in just a few years thanks to the flurry of gold prospectors at the end of the 19th century. Council is considered a "ghost town" today, but is it?
Covenant Life seems to be connected to a religious movement called "The Move" or often referred to as "The Farm" which is a religious group with several communities throughout Alaska. This village is centered around a church and the religious values of "The Move."
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Rob was a pastors kid who rebelled but found his way back to faith. Then a beautiful woman, out walking her dog, changed his life forever: a real beauty and the beast story. Rob spent many years leading trips through Teen Mania in Central and South America, but ultimately he was led back to his childhood home in Healy, AK. Rob runs the YWAM Denali base and Last Frontier Ministries out of Healy, AK and has developed a deep love for the village of Minto, AK. Rob's passion for discipleship is obvious and infectious.
Check out YWAM Denali:
https://ywam.org/location/ywam-denali/b-2595
Check out Last Frontier Ministries:
Website: https://lastfrontierministries.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lastfrontierministries
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Who are the Moravians? We dive into the origin story and how a few courageous men started a movement that would ripple around the world and into Alaska.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
An Ahtna boy was walking in the woods when he heard singing. He followed the voice which led him to dig up a large chunk of copper out of the ground and the boy became a wealthy man. Copper became a useful resource for the Ahtna people in this area known as Copper Valley. Mining in the first few decades of the 20th century cause villages in this area to pop up and Copperville is one.
The area around Cordova was likely a fish camp for the Eyak people, a mix of Aleut, Athabascan, and Tlingit. In 1790, Spanish Explorer Fidalgo made land claims for Spain in the area and named this spot "Cordova." His claims didn't stick, but the name did. When copper was discovered in the area, a man named Michael Heney built a railroad to serve the exports for the mining operations. He became known as "The man who built Cordova." Today, Cordova is sustained by the fishing and tourism industries and is a really nice place to visit.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
They were the first to introduce Christianity to Alaska. How did they do? They were effective, compassionate, and dedicated to sharing the gospel with Native Alaskans. The Russian fur traders may have had insincere motives in bringing in the Russian Orthodox missionaries, but it seems the missionaries themselves came for the sake of the gospel. Many of the Orthodox and Native beliefs were already in alignment and the Native people quickly considered themselves Russian Orthodox. Father Herman is the most famous of the Bishops known as a defender of native people and with a simple humility that laid the foundation for the early years of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Alaska. Many changes happened when the United States purchased Alaska and the Protestants moved in which is critical for understanding the history of the church in Alaska.
I also review the theological distinctions of the Eastern Orthodox Church as compared to the Catholic Church in it's historical context.
Alaska has quite the mixed bag of denominations and good place to start is to understand them. Today, we seek to understand the Russian/Eastern Orthodox Church in Alaska!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
EPISODE 100! I didn't realize it was 100 until after I finished recording this. Thank you everyone who has followed the show for 100 episodes!
The area of Cooper Landing was home to the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, or Dena'ina Indians in the pre-contact era. Some of their semi-subterranean dwellings are still visible in the area. A Russian Engineer found a bit of gold in the area, not a big find, but just enough to spark gold prospectors to seek riches later on which is the reason for Cooper Landing existing today. The village is a cozy nook in the woods along the river. It's nostalgia and natural beauty make it a desireable place to visit.
Copper Center is most known for the nearby Kennecott Mines where one of the largest copper deposits in the world was discovered in 1900. However, the native people who dwelt here before knew about this deposit, and they included copper in their vast trade network with tribes across Alaska. The Copper Center Lodge was the centerpiece of Copper Center since the late 1800s and considered "one of the last of it's kind" until it burned down in 2012. Vince Joy, the founder of Central Alaska Mission (later became SEND North), started his work in Copper Center founding the "Chapel on the Hill," a church building that's still there today.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Get a broad overview of the Episcopal Church in Alaska. This is the first of a series on the denominations of Alaska so we can get to know our state one denomination at a time. A brief history and distinct characteristics of the Episcopal Church are identified in this episode.
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Coldfoot got it's name from gold prospectors traveling their way up the tundra and got "cold feet" and turned around. It became a lively stop for gold miners, but as soon as the gold dried up, so did the town. It was abandoned until the Alaska Pipeline construction project in the 1970s made Coldfoot a base of operations. Today, Coldfoot functions as a truck stop for travelers heading north along the Dalton Highway.
College is host the the University of Alaska at Fairbanks which has shaped what the town of College has become today. UAF is considered one of the premier institutions for Arctic studies as they host a wide range of scientific studies of the Arctic including dinosaur bone digs in Alaska!
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson has been engaged with a multi-disciplinary study of the history of Native Americans for many years as laid out in his recent book They Had Names. Genetics, archeology, linguistics, and oral Native American histories are in agreement to tell a history that challenges the mainstream narrative of Native American history. What is being revealed confirms what Native Americans have been saying about their own history all along. Where did Native Alaskans come from and when? We go into it in this episode. You don't want to miss this one!
To connect with and help Dr. Jeanson with future research go to
www.answersingenesis.org/go/theyhadnames
Check out Dr. Jeanson's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@nathaniel_jeanson
Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com
TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk
Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
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