Alaska Village Missions: The First 50 Years

By Jerry Wood

Alaska Village Missions: The First 50 Years is a story of a man and his family seeking the will of God. Pastor Ray Arno left the small church he pastored in Wisconsin and made his way to the Alaskan frontier. Arno’s original intent was to serve in villages of Alaska, to see the Gospel message spread by whatever means possible. However, God had another plan in mind and would soon being to bring about the construction and birth of a Bible school in Homer, Alaska. Initially, God’s plan seemed to be a great struggle; however, as they patiently continued the work God had called them to, he provided resources, help, and the determination to stay the course. The stories and events that followed would not only stretch his faith and shock him, but they would also indelibly show off the power of the living God.

God’s power remains in effect with Alaska Bible Institute, founded in 1965, and its parent organization, Alaska Village Mission, founded in ’64. Our hope in sharing this story is that it may bless, encourage, challenge, and inspire you to respond to the call God has for your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973631507

Jerry Wood

The author, Pastor Jerry Wood, holds two masters degrees from Asbury Theological Seminary and has written and published two other books, “Pentecostal Holiness, the Life and Preaching of Henry Clay Morrision” and “Discovery to Catastrophe”.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 Alaska Village Missions.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3149-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3148-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3150-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907138

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/14/2018

CONTENTS

Foreword

Chapter 1     Introducing The Work Of Alaska Village Missions

Chapter 2     Disappointment In The First Missionary Venture

Chapter 3     Alaska Native Bible Institute And Alaska Village Missions Begins In Earnest

Chapter 4     The Campus Begins To Take Shape

Chapter 5     More Ministries, The Plane, And New Construction

Chapter 6     The Campus Takes Near Final Shape

Chapter 7     The Mission Moves Forward; Port Graham Chapel

Chapter 8     Fifty Years Of Mission Ministry Draws To A Close

Addendum 1: A Testimony As Given By Pastor Ray

Addendum 2: Pastor Ray’s Letter To His Father

FOREWORD

First, allow me to say it has been a privilege to be asked to write the book of the history of Alaska Village Missions and Alaska Bible Institute for its fiftieth year celebration. In the ensuing process I have learned far more of the heart and soul of AVM/ABI than I would have any other way. To see the passion Pastor Ray and Petrea have for the native peoples of Alaska, for their salvation first, and for training young men and women to minister to their own people has been astounding. That passion for the unsaved among the native peoples of Alaska continues to come through in discussions about revising the school year that are occurring now in 2017. I see Pastor Ray as committed to seeing the native peoples ministered to and served as much today as I learned they had at the inception of the mission.

Petrea’s desire to assist in the library and where she is able otherwise, even with the physical limitations she struggles with, is a genuine inspiration.

Secondly, it has been a struggle to write this book – more of a struggle than any of the previous books I have written, because of several issues. To say the resources for researching various aspects of AVM/ABI and its operations throughout the years is limited is certainly an understatement. I appreciate deeply their willingness to dig up old mission newsletters, letters to supporters, meeting minute notes (sparse as they were), personal letters, and some personal journals written sporadically throughout the years. I’m so thrilled they are still with us so I could ‘pick their brain’ and learn much about the call of God upon their life, the steps they took as they prepared to come to Alaska, the early years of the mission and the Bible institute, and … well, honestly, it would not have been possible without their help, assistance, and the tons of personal information they supplied.

Even at that, it is interesting how we remember, or misremember things from the past. This venture to dig up the past has been no different. As various tales were told in the comfort of their home one would need to correct the other about certain details, and sometimes sketchy written information would ‘trump’ them both. We’ve all shared some good laughs about we human’s ability to remember.

Thirdly, it has taken far longer to get this history written than I EVER imagined it might. It has been in the works for far too long to our liking. I will certainly accept my part of the blame for the delay in getting it ready for publication as a summer sabbatical, revisions requested by various readers, publishing discussions, and other matters have delayed getting the manuscript to a printer.

I also appreciate the efforts of Nathan Steele and David Bales who provided the photographs for the book. Nathan scanned old photographs supplied by Pastor Ray, and David took additional photos to help fill in the story toward the end of the book.

I also appreciate the written approval by Pastor Ray to utilize any and all data from his personal letters during this time, the newsletters, letters to supporters, photographs, and sharing the history of AVM by himself and Petrea.

Permission to utilize the minutes of the many board meetings throughout the years by the AVM board was also appreciated. While limited, it also played a part in the telling of the AVM/ABI story.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to play a small part in the telling of this great mission story, a story of a mission that has produced a number of workers for the kingdom of God, and for the building of his church.

May God be glorified in its reading, telling, and retelling in the years to come.

In Christ Jesus,

Jerry Wood, M.Div.; MA Th. Studies (Research)

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCING THE WORK OF ALASKA VILLAGE MISSIONS

Where does a mission work begin? What leads to the founding of a specific mission institution or organization? What defines the mission as a mission work, versus simply doing good to serve others, being helpful to the needy or less fortunate, or being a charitable organization?

To build a viable mission organization, I’m convinced that laborers need God’s love and passion for people, and these inspired laborers must be people who will catch God’s vision for the lost. They will allow God to birth within them the same deep love, empathy, and passion for reaching to the least, the last, and the lost, which God Himself possesses. Love, since God spares no cost to accomplish His purposes; empathy, because God put Himself in humanity’s shoes in the person of Jesus Christ; and passion, since He poured out every ounce of His potential as God through Christ Jesus.

They will be passionate about that which God births within them, and they will envision what God can accomplish through their efforts and those of co-laborers. They will cling to it tenaciously, pursue it single-mindedly, doggedly attack the work, diligently pursue it, and hang on to it relentlessly. God will take that kind of attitude and spirit, and He will build a mission work He can use for the salvation of lost souls and the building of believers. He will disciple them into disciplers who will build a viable, enduring ministry and build His church.¹

With God as our helper, we shall see as we begin the story of Alaska Village Missions and its work, including the founding of Alaska Bible Institute.

Raymond Leroy Arno was saved while a senior in high school in Kalispell, Montana. Upon graduation, and at the urging of his pastor, he enrolled in the 1953 fall term at St. Paul Bible Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota. The school was started in 1916 and was a part of the Bible school movement during the early part of the nineteenth century as a reaction to modernity and to secularism in colleges and universities of the period, which spoke disparagingly of God’s holy Word. Fundamentalism sprang up as a reaction to the failure of these institutions to take God’s Word seriously and to give the Word its proper due. It was during that period when dozens of Bible schools were started across the United States—and eventually around the world.

During his first year at St. Paul Bible Institute, in a Friday-night chapel service, Peter Deyneka, founder of the Slavic Gospel Association, addressed the students. He spoke passionately about the need for mission work in Alaska among the descendants of early Russian pioneers and native peoples, also speaking to the grandeur of the land, the vast wilderness, and the need for hardy men and women to go into that vast land to tame it for God and His kingdom. His powerfully persuasive and Spirit-filled preaching stirred the heart of young Ray Arno, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Petrea Helen Madsen gave her heart and life to the Lord as a young girl, and when she was about the tender age of ten, God placed his hand upon her life to become a missionary. In fact, she never entertained the idea of being anything other than a missionary after God placed that idea in her mind and that hope in her heart. She attended a small congregation, and the first pastor and wife she remembers soon went into God’s work as missionaries. Another young couple, Ken and Elsie Castner, who later pastored the congregation, went on to spend their life in ministry as missionaries to Nigeria. The small congregation of which she was a part was unable to afford to pay a pastor for a period of time, so they had numerous speakers who came and shared the gospel and spoke to their involvement in God’s work. Many went on to serve in one mission field or another, and God spoke to Petrea’s heart through them. From early on, she knew she was going to be a missionary.

She found that the Alaskan field of missions appealed to her, especially after she met young Ray Arno when he enrolled St. Paul Bible Institute. Though she was still in high school, she was especially drawn to the Alaskan field of work because of her love for young Ray. In contemplating the choices before her, she received some advice from a trusted older Christian friend: "If the Lord does not tell you not to do a particular aspect of God’s work, then you may freely do it." This sagacious advice helped her to make the decisions that guided her life.

Being raised as an independent young woman in a family with independent, hardworking, and giving parents, she was encouraged to pursue her dreams and her heart’s desires. She watched her immigrant father build a creamery in their backyard—and later recover from a devastating fire in which everything was destroyed. Especially inspired by her father’s ability to do well in spite of the Great Depression, Petrea found the heart and courage to pursue her own dreams and realize those dreams were achievable by the grace of God—and with hard work on her part. Additionally, she spent her summers working with the American Sunday School Union doing VBS work in Northern Minnesota under Rev. Ellsworth Moritz. Reverend Moritz exerted a tremendous influence on her life in areas of ministry, service, and Christian living.

Early in 1954, two local youth groups sponsored a roller-skating party for local church youth and Bible college students, and Ray and his roommate attended the party. Ray’s roommate’s brother Danny went to high school with Petrea, and Ray’s roommate George later introduced Ray and Petrea at the party; at the time, Petrea was only fifteen. At school the next week, Petrea’s friends and Danny sang a singing telegram and gave her a Valentine’s Day greeting reported to be from Ray. She, in turn, reciprocated with a Valentine’s Day card to Raymond.

Ray’s reaction was to ask her to the next roller-skating party, and she agreed to attend the party with him. Since he was one of the few who had a car, he was in a position to drive to her house and pick her up. The roller-skating party had been their only contact, and he was unsure of what she looked like. He was hoping she didn’t have a sister and he would pick up the wrong girl; she had no sister, so he picked up the right girl and took her to the party. Things began to develop from there.

As a simple farm boy, it was his perspective that he had little luck with the girls, but he liked the characteristics, attitude, and confidence he saw in Petrea—and her view of him was reciprocal.

Over the next few months and during the following summer, a relationship was created. The next fall, Petrea attended Northwestern College, founded in 1902 as the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School, on a full scholarship. Ray and Petrea later worked with the Billy Graham office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, near Northwestern College.

After five semesters at St. Paul Bible Institute, Ray transferred to Northwestern College in Minneapolis. Some of the credits received from St. Paul Bible Institute did not transfer to Northwestern College, so it took him two more years to complete the requirements for his bachelor’s degree. Though he began his studies in the Missiology Department at St. Paul Bible Institute, the credits received didn’t align with the requirements of Northwestern College’s missiology department, so he completed his studies and graduated with the broader and less specialized liberal arts degree.

As a result of God’s call to Alaska through the influence of Peter Deyneka, and with the realization that he was falling in love with Petrea, Ray wanted to make sure that Petrea was willing to go to the far-flung reaches of the last frontier before he pursued things further. During conversations in the early months of building a relationship, Ray asked Petrea if she was willing to go to Alaska. He did not want to give his heart to her, or for her to give her heart to him, only to later discover she was unwilling to go into the Alaskan frontier. Albeit, and with great reluctance, he was willing to cut the ties he was beginning to feel for Petrea if she wasn’t willing to share in the rigors of ministry in Alaska. He already knew God was leading him there, and he wanted a willing companion to accompany him where God led. With a deep sense of relief and joy, he heard her say that she would go anywhere with him and was willing to become a missionary to any place God was calling him—except to Africa. Africa was out, as it was way too hot! Though deep within her heart, she was even willing to go there to serve and minister, if that’s where the Lord led them. Young Petrea knew she loved him, and she knew she would accompany him in his mission work. She knew within her heart that she was going to be his companion to Alaska, and she knew she would complement the man she was falling in love with. And she was indeed a complement to Raymond.

Her training in music and education prepared her to assist him in many ways and to enhance the ministry to which God had called them separately. They were soon to be joined as husband and wife for the work of God’s kingdom. Together they made beautiful music, not only around her accomplished work as a pianist but also as a missionary couple doing God’s work of spreading the good news of the gospel of Christ to a people in the far-flung reaches of Alaska.

Ray’s brother, James, was stationed in Alaska with the US Army in the 1950s, and he often wrote glowingly about the beauty and wildness he saw around him. He found it appealing, growing up as he did in Montana ranch and farm country. He served in the Army in the Fairbanks and Delta Junction area, and found the wilderness of Alaska – with its tales of pioneers, meeting early settlers, seeing the diverse variety of wildlife, and fishing Alaska’s lakes and rivers – all but overwhelming. He wrote home about his adventures, though his military obligations limited him significantly, and he spoke passionately of them when furlough allowed him to visit home and family.²

Peter Deyneka, as an independent non-denominationally affiliated missionary, returned to St. Paul Bible School each year to speak to the student body. While Ray had transferred to Northwestern College, he kept in touch with Rev. Deyneka and his work – Slavic Gospel Missions. Ray graduated, and soon, with his new bride, began to pastor Grace Bible Church in Boyceville, WI, about sixty miles east of St. Paul, MN. He waited patiently for his bride to complete her last term. The first six months of their pastorate, they lived in Bethel, and drove to Boyceville, WI weekly.

The strong preaching of Peter Deyneka, bolstered by his powerful prayer ministry, spoke intensely to Ray. Deyneka’s clear distinct call to preach to those of Russian decent, Alaskan natives, and others in Alaska, accompanied by the establishment of churches in Kenai, Kodiak, Perryville, King Cove, and other locations established him as a missionary God was using to reach lost souls for Christ. Out of his headquarters in Chicago, IL the mission work (Slavic Gospel Association) was organized and operated.

In addition to the powerful preaching of Deyneka the book, Much Prayer, Much Power, (written by Deyneka) moved the heart of Ray to assure him the Slavic Gospel Association was the mission organization he was to serve under in Alaska. When he graduated from Northwestern College, Ray knew he eventually would go to Alaska as a missionary. Though he had to wait until the love of his life completed her education, he and Petrea knew they would eventually be missionaries to the native peoples in Alaska.

After the first year at Boyceville, WI church the Arno’s were accepted as missionary candidates under the Slavic Gospel Association. They continued to pastor the local congregation at Boyceville as they prepared to move, and to raise the needed four hundred dollars a month support for what was soon to be their mission in Alaska under SGA. Pastor Ray and Petrea patiently and faithfully served the Grace Bible Church for two and a half years.

About a year after their marriage their first child, Rae Marie was born (1958). Their second child, a son, Michael (1960) was born to them; both of them came into the world prior to the Arno’s move to Alaska. Later, while they served as the parsonage family at Christian Community Church (C.C.C.), their third child (a second son) Peter, was born. A few years later, after their return to Homer from serving as pastor and village evangelist at King Cove on the Alaskan Peninsula (near the beginning of the Aleutian chain), their fourth child, Faye Michelle, was born in the Soldotna (Alaska) clinic.

While pastoring in Boyceville, Wisconsin, Ray filled out a questionnaire in preparation to go to Kodiak and to assist the pastor of the local congregation, in conjunction with SGA’s mission work in the Kodiak area.

Later, while still pastoring at Boyceville, Ray flew from Boyceville, WI to Kodiak, AK to begin a nearly one month missionary trip with Peter Deyneka. Ray accompanied Peter Deyneka to various churches, and ministered in Alaskan cities including Kodiak, Kenai, Homer, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. In June Ray traveled to Juneau on the Alaskan panhandle to fill a speaking engagement Deyneka was unable to make. He flew in by commercial air – which at that time in Alaska was by a small twin engine propeller driven plane. No one met him at the airport as planned, and he was disappointed and felt quite alone. He handed out tracts in the Juneau area in an attempt to make good use of his time and the expenses it cost to make the trip, and God richly blessed the evangelistic effort.

A week was spent in Kodiak where Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) held their annual Alaska Missionary Retreat. The initial intent for the Arno’s was to come to AK with SGA, go to Kodiak to assist an SGA missionary who served in that town, and begin a Bible school there for Alaskan youth.

Ray and Petrea were appointed, and plans were made for Ray and Petrea to go to Kodiak. But on the trip with Deyneka (prior to moving to Kodiak) Ray met with the pastor and discussed a number of issues, behaviors, and personal beliefs – including Bible doctrines.

Regarding the doctrine of eternal security, one of the missionaries stationed at Kodiak quoted him as saying, I would not preach [eternal security] even if I believed it. That ended the Arno’s hopes of going to Kodiak to serve and minister. Ray does not recollect the subject of eternal security being discussed at that time, however.

Coming from the Christian & Missionary Alliance movement – itself an outgrowth of the Holiness Movement that began near the end of the Civil War, and the revival movement that heavily influenced the church scene for the first fifty years of the twentieth century – had instilled in Ray the clearly understood teachings of scripture that all persons may come to God through faith and repentance in response to God’s call. The Christian and Missionary Alliance also preached the necessity of believers being filled with the Spirit subsequent to conversion. Accordingly he appealed to Peter Deyneka, as they had already been accepted as missionaries by SGA in respect to the place of appointment.

Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) had been called upon at times to provide pastors for Christian Community Church in Homer, Alaska, and the opportunity soon opened for Ray and Petrea Arno to pastor there. The pastor at the church was in the process of moving, and the church would soon be in need of a pastor. Consequently Ray and Petrea were accepted by the congregation and assigned to pastor the church in Homer through SGA. They were still in need of raising $100 of their total $400 a month support to complete their full funding requirements as missionaries under SGA, and Homer C. C. C. agreed to pick up the remaining amount needed. Since the church picked up the last amount of funding, they were released to go to Alaska, and to pastor the church in Homer under the oversight of SGA, and in keeping with what the Arno’s have now come to understand to be God’s plan.

Earlier, though while still in Boyceville, they had traded their VW Beatle in anticipation of the journey to Alaska for a small (underpowered) 36 h.p. VW micro-bus. After saying goodbye to the church in Boyceville, WI, they began their journey from their home in MN to Ray’s parent’s home in Kalispell, MT with the little VW Microbus loaded to the gills; all their possessions were inside and atop the small VW bus.

In Kalispell, MT Aubrey Eayrs, a family friend and VW mechanic, told them they would not be able to travel the entire distance in the little VW micro-bus loaded as they were. He gave them an open trailer on which to put the belongings which they had carried on the roof of the VW bus. They loaded their belongings on the trailer with homemade side boards, then covered the load with a tarp, and secured the tarp to the trailer. Loaded heavily they began their trip.

Leaving Ray’s parents home in Kalispell, Montana, in December of 1960 they soon approached the Canadian border loaded with all their belongings. This included Ray’s 30-30 lever action rifle, which had been purchased from his father; with his rifle, ammo, no passports, and other items which today (2016) would be cause for Canadian authorities to stop them and search their vehicle. However, they went through without hindrance as the relations between the US and Canada at the border crossings was much more relaxed during that period. Their journey up the Canadian highways led them through Alberta, through Edmonton. They skirted Calgary to save a few miles, finally to reach the Alcan Highway which began at Dawson Creek, BC.

The trip up the Alcan Hwy was quite an eventful trip for the young missionary family. The 36 h.p. VW microbus was totally underpowered to carry four persons and all their belongings, as Rae Marie and Michael had made their way into the world by this time. They had loaded the bus from front to back and bottom to top, and only left room for themselves in the front bucket seats of the bus. A small ledge immediately behind the front seats allowed space for the children to sit, and to lie down and sleep as needed.

The December weather on the trip was extremely cold going through Canada and the central parts of Alaska, reaching fifty below zero. Cloth diapers (which needed to be washed regularly), placed toward the rear of the bus, froze solid. Jars of home canned pickles, placed immediately behind the front seats so they would make the trip in a somewhat tempered space (above 32 degrees F.), froze and burst – leaving a mess on the floorboard of the VW bus.

Throughout the entire trip the top speed of the little VW bus was about 45 mph – and that was when they were going downhill! While driving up Steamboat Mountain, British Columbia at night, Ray perceived the terrain was headed down hill, but he could barely keep the VW bus and trailer moving. He decided to stop the bus and see which way it would roll – which way gravity would pull it. He stopped the bus and let it roll, but when he did he was surprised to see it begin to roll backward, or to his perception - UPHILL!

While stopped on the road they decided to rest a while. For safety the parking lights were left on and everyone was soon asleep. When Ray awoke the lights were out and the battery was dead. In an effort to restart the engine, the bus must be allowed to coast backwards to allow him to pop the clutch and start it. However, with the trailer attached that was impossible, so he had to disconnect the trailer and maneuver it aside, though that maneuver was difficult as the highway was barely plowed out its two lane width. He finally got the trailer out of the way, and headed the bus downhill so he could get it started. Fortunately, there was little traffic on the road that night at that time of the year. He started the little VW bus, turned back around, got the trailer reconnected, and was slowly able to get the trailer moving, and crawled up the highway for the next several miles.

The trip from Kalispell, MT to Homer, AK was long, arduous, and cold. It took the Arno’s seven (7) days of hard driving, driving day and night. They would trade off the driving responsibilities every few hours, to give the driver a break and time to slump back in the passenger seat to rest their weary body.

They stayed in a motel one night throughout the entire seven day trip, and tried to eat one good, solid restaurant meal a day; otherwise meals consisted of sandwiches and snacks. The location of the one night’s stop was at a little, now unremembered, roadside motel about half way along their route. The motel had a place where they could pull their VW bus loaded with its contents inside out of the weather. That, and the ability to take a warm bath, were a real blessing to the road weary travelers. The meal they purchased each day was usually breakfast, typically the least expensive meal which could be bought at a restaurant. Prices then, as now, were typically costly traveling up the Alcan Highway; often as much as thirty to fifty percent higher than prices ‘outside’ (Alaska), or in the lower forty-eight contiguous United States.

The rest of the time they ate baloney sandwiches for lunch and supper with various snacks in between for the sake of economy. Petrea learned such distaste for baloney during that seven (7) day trip, that to this day, Petrea reports it is one of her least favorite luncheon meats – to put it mildly.

The condition of the Alcan Highway, initially completed during WWII (1942) was in a continual state of major construction until 1949. In 1960 it was still rutted gravel and not well maintained.³ Fortunately, at that time of the year it was frozen solid, so it was not soft and did not offer the added resistance a softened surface would have offered in the spring, during ‘break-up,’⁴ or in rainy weather. It was also reasonably smooth – reasonably by early Alcan standards – as the snow plows had filled the ruts with snow and previous traffic had compacted the snow to a relatively solid, semi-smooth surface graded moderately level by snow plows.

The one line joke You Might Be an Alaskan if … ‘You look forward to driving in the winter because the ruts and potholes are packed with snow and ice,’ is not just a joke on Alaska’s gravel roads – it is a reality! And for the Arno’s, it was a real blessing as they made their way up