River of Life, Kiana, AK

River of Life Church, Kiana, Alaska
Submitted by Arnol Farmer
 
Approximately 8 years ago, the Lord opened the door for me to give Bible studies where I was employed at Red Dog Mine in northwest Alaska. I was eventually invited to the village of Noorvik by a fellow employee who had been coming to the Bible studies. When I arrived at Noorvik, there was an entire group of people waiting to hear me share the word of God. The Lord moved in a wonderful way, and several were baptized in the precious name of Jesus and received the Holy Ghost.
 
This led to other visits to Noorvik and also to another village called Kiana, where several more were baptized and received the Holy Ghost. At that time my wife and I were living in Oregon and I was commuting to work at Red Dog Mine every three weeks. It became apparent that we needed to be onsite for the people of Noorvik and Kiana. We began to pray about what the Lord would have us to do.
 
After much prayer, my wife and I sold our home and other belongings and purchased a home in Kiana, Alaska in April of 2012. We immediately began having services in both villages. I even obtained a pilot’s license and a plane for traveling between the villages because there is no road system in our region. I also began using a snowmobile or boat depending on the season.
 
We were holding church services in Noorvik on Wednesday evenings and Sunday evenings each week. The Kiana church services were held on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoon. We held Sunday school for the children in both villages, as well as other special services. Both church groups were meeting in small homes.
 
With our home churches being full, we were excited to learn that there was hope of getting a building through the Church in a Day program of North American Missions. After presenting our need and vision for the people in our region, we were glad for the help and support from the NAM team. We were then able to obtain a loan through The United Pentecostal Church Loan Fund to build our own house of worship in Kiana. Here we can continue our efforts to share the word of the Lord and people can find the healing, deliverance and salvation for their souls that only God can bring. We are looking forward to the future of River of Life, and even more building projects in our region.
 
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